5mJy Unbiased Spitzer Extragalactic Survey

5muses

5Muses

5MUSES • Research Project • Operational

Overview:

The 5mJy Unbiased Spitzer Extragalactic Survey (5Muses) is a mid-infrared spectroscopic survey of 330 galaxies with the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS). The targets all have 24-micron flux densities of 5-100 mJy, and cover a wide range of infrared luminosity (1×1010 L☉ to more than 1×1013  L☉) and redshift (with most falling between 0.05 < z < 1.0), and are selected from the Spitzer First Look Survey (FLS) and SWIRE survey fields.

The sample bridges the gap between the bright, nearby infrared galaxies known before Spitzer (e.g., the LIRGs and ULIRGs discovered with IRAS and ISO), and the much fainter, more distant sources which have been the focus of much of the dedicated Spitzer IRS follow-up to date.

The legacy of the 5Muses survey will be a library of high quality IRS spectra that will be critical for providing:

  1. a statistically complete accounting of the relative contribution of stars and AGN in IR-bright galaxies
  2. an overview of the prevailing physical conditions in the dusty ISM in galaxies over the past 2-5 Gyr
  3. proper modeling of the number counts and backgrounds in the infrared out to z=1, and a critical resource for future missions like WISE, Herschel and JWST

5Muses is a Spitzer Legacy Science program, selected in cycle 4.

IPAC's role:

The 5Muses principal investigator is George Helou, Director of IPAC. The 5Muses team includes many past and present IPAC scientists, including Lee Armus, Daniel Dale, Kalliopi Dasyra, Dario Fadda, Sabrina Stierwalt and Yanling Wu. The team's website is hosted by IPAC.

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