The Infrared Massive Stellar Content of M83

Abstract

We present an analysis of archival Spitzer images and new ground-based and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) near-infrared (IR) and optical images of the field of M83 with the goal of identifying rare, dusty, evolved massive stars. We present point source catalogs consisting of 3778 objects from $Spitzer$ Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) Band 1 (3.6 $\mu$m) and Band 2 (4.5 $\mu$m), and 975 objects identified in Magellan 6.5m FourStar near-IR $J$ and $K_{\mathrm{s}}$ images. A combined catalog of coordinate matched near- and mid-IR point sources yields 221 objects in the field of M83. Using this photometry we identify 185 massive evolved stellar candidates based on their location in color-magnitude and color-color diagrams. We estimate the background contamination to our stellar candidate lists and further classify candidates based on their appearance in $HST$ Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) observations of M83. We find 49 strong candidates for massive stars which are very promising objects for spectroscopic follow-up. Based on their location in a $B-V$ versus $V-I$ diagram, we expect at least 24, or roughly 50%, to be confirmed as red supergiants.

arXiv comment32 pages, 23 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (57)

• Measuring Reddening with SDSS Stellar Spectra and Recalibrating SFD
• SINGS: The SIRTF Nearby Galaxies Survey
• Mass Loss: Its Effect on the Evolution and Fate of High-Mass Stars
• Calibrating Extinction-Free Star Formation Rate Diagnostics with 33GHz Free-Free Emission in NGC6946
• The PPMXL catalog of positions and proper motions on the ICRS. Combining USNO-B1.0 and 2MASS
• Spitzer Survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud, Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution (SAGE) I: Overview and Initial Results
• The Spitzer Local Volume Legacy: Survey Description and Infrared Photometry
• The Effective Temperature Scale of Galactic Red Supergiants: Cool, But Not As Cool As We Thought
• An H-alpha Imaging Survey of Galaxies in the Local 11 Mpc Volume
• A Survey of Local Group Galaxies Currently Forming Stars. I. UBVRI Photometry of Stars in M31 and M33
• Young massive star clusters in nearby galaxies. II.Software tools, data reductions and cluster sizes
• The Unprecedented 2012 Outburst of SN 2009ip: A Luminous Blue Variable Becomes a True Supernova
• On the massive stellar population of the Super Star Cluster Westerlund 1
• Interacting Supernovae and Supernova Impostors. SN 2009ip, is this the end?
• Bright OB stars in the Galaxy - III. Constraints on the radial stratification of the clumping factor in hot star winds from a combined Halpha, IR and radio analysis
• A panchromatic view of the restless SN2009ip reveals the explosive ejection of a massive star envelope
• Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Stripped, Low Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud (SAGE-SMC). I. Overview
• Spitzer SAGE Infrared Photometry of Massive Stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Discovery of the Dust-Enshrouded Progenitor of SN 2008S with Spitzer
• The Spitzer Deep, Wide-Field Survey
• Revised Stellar Temperatures for Magellanic Cloud O Supergiants from FUSE and VLT-UVES Spectroscopy
• A New Class of Luminous Transients and A First Census of Their Massive Stellar Progenitors
• Spitzer SAGE survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud II: Evolved Stars and Infrared Color Magnitude Diagrams
• Spitzer SAGE-SMC Infrared Photometry of Massive Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• The dust condensation sequence in red super-giant stars
• The Luminosity, Mass, and Age Distributions of Compact Star Clusters in M83 Based on HST/WFC3 Observations
• A Hidden Population of Massive Stars with Circumstellar Shells Discovered with the Spitzer Space Telescope
• Planetary Nebulae in Face-On Spiral Galaxies. I. Planetary Nebula Photometry and Distances
• The Red Supergiant Progenitor of Supernova 2012aw (PTF12bvh) in Messier 95
• Multi-epoch spectropolarimetry of SN 2009ip: direct evidence for aspherical circumstellar material
• Red Supergiants in the Andromeda Galaxy (M31)
• Young Clusters in the Nuclear Starburst of M 83
• Red and dead: The progenitor of SN 2012aw in M95
• Clues To The Nature of SN 2009ip from Photometric and Spectroscopic Evolution to Late Times
• Mid-Infrared Variability from the Spitzer Deep, Wide-Field Survey
• Luminous and Variable Stars in M31 and M33. II. Luminous Blue Variables, Candidate LBVs, Fe II Emission Line Stars, and Other Supergiants
• Spectral Types of Red Supergiants in NGC 6822 and the Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte Galaxy
• An Expanded HST/WFC3 Survey of M83: Project Overview and Targeted Supernova Remnant Search
• Red supergiants around the obscured open cluster Stephenson 2
• M33's Variable A -- A Hypergiant Star More Than 35 Years in Eruption
• Chandra X-ray spectroscopy of the very early O supergiant HD 93129A: constraints on wind shocks and the mass-loss rate
• The Magellan/IMACS Catalog of Optical Supernova Remnant Candidates in M83
• Census of Self-Obscured Massive Stars in Nearby Galaxies with Spitzer: Implications for Understanding the Progenitors of SN 2008S-Like Transients
• HV 11423: The Coolest Supergiant in the SMC
• A New Method for Measuring Metallicities of Young Super Star Clusters
• Dissecting the Spitzer color-magnitude diagrams of extreme LMC AGB stars
• Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Star Clusters in M101
• Identification of red supergiants in nearby galaxies with mid-IR photometry
• Planetary Nebulae in Face-On Spiral Galaxies. II. Planetary Nebula Spectroscopy
• The Resolved Stellar Population in 50 Regions of M83 from HST/WFC3 Early Release Science Observations
• The Wolf-Rayet population of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 5068 uncovered by VLT and Gemini
• Finding η Car Analogs in Nearby Galaxies Using Spitzer: I. Candidate Selection
• The Massive Star Population in M101. I. The Identification and Spatial Distribution of the Visually Luminous Stars
• Object-X: The Brightest Mid-IR Point Source in M33
• Re-analysis of VLT Data for M83 with Image Subtraction -- Nine-fold Increase in Number of Cepheids
• Discovery of a young and massive stellar cluster: Spectrophotometric near-infrared study of Masgomas-1
• Characterization of the Most Luminous Star in M33: A Super Symbiotic Binary

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Red supergiant stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud. II. Infrared properties and mid-infrared variability
• A Spectroscopic Study of the Rich Supernova Remnant Population in M83
• Spitzer Photometry of ~1 Million Stars in M31 and 15 Other Galaxies
• Identification of dusty massive stars in star-forming dwarf irregular galaxies in the Local Group with mid-IR photometry
• Investigating episodic mass loss in evolved massive stars: I. Spectroscopy of dusty massive stars in ten southern galaxies
• Dissecting the Mid-Infrared Heart of M83 with JWST
• Evolved Massive Stars at Low-metallicity IV. Using 1.6 $\mu$m "H-bump" to identify red supergiant stars: a case study of NGC 6822
• Spitzer mid-infrared point sources in the fields of nearby galaxies
• Investigating episodic mass loss in evolved massive stars: II. Physical properties of red supergiants at subsolar metallicity
• Discovery of Five Candidate Analogs for $\eta$Carinae in Nearby Galaxies
• Discovering new B[e] supergiants and candidate Luminous Blue Variables in nearby galaxies
• Deconstructing a galaxy: colour distributions of point sources in Messier 83
• Red Supergiants in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies