Infrared Astronomy

We present an analysis of IRTF-TEXES spectra of Jupiter’s mid-to-high latitudes in order to test the hypothesis that the CH4 homopause altitude is higher in Jupiter’s auroral regions compared to elsewhere on the planet. A family of photochemical models, based on Moses & Poppe (2017), were computed with a range of CH4 homopause altitudes. Adopting each model in turn, the observed TEXES spectra of H2 S(1), CH4, and CH3 emission measured on 2019 April 16 and August 20 were inverted, the vertical temperature profile was allowed to vary, and the quality of the fit to the spectra was used to discriminate between models. At latitudes equatorward of Jupiter’s main auroral ovals (>62°S, <54°N, planetocentric), the observations were adequately fit assuming a homopause altitude lower than ∼360 km (above 1 bar). At 62°N, inside the main auroral oval, we derived a CH4 homopause altitude of km, whereas outside the main oval at the same latitude, a 1σ upper limit of 370 km was derived. Our i...

The Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) is a remote-sensing Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) on the Cassini orbiter that measures thermal radiation over two decades in wavenumber, from 10 to 1400 cm -1 (1 mm to 7µm), with a spectral resolution that can be set from 0.5 to 15.5 cm -1 . The far infrared portion of the spectrum (10-600 cm -1 ) is measured with a polarizing interferometer having thermopile detectors with a common 4-mrad field of view (FOV). The middle infrared portion is measured with a traditional Michelson interferometer having two focal planes (600-1100 cm -1 , 1100-1400 cm -1 ). Each focal plane is composed of a 1 ×10 array of HgCdTe detectors, each detector having a 0.3-mrad FOV. CIRS observations will provide three-dimensional maps of temperature, gas composition, and aerosols/condensates of the atmospheres of Titan and Saturn with good vertical and horizontal resolution, from deep in their tropospheres to high in their mesospheres. CIRS's ability to observe atmospheres in the limb-viewing mode (in addition to nadir) offers the opportunity to

Amica (Antarctic Multiband Infrared Camera) is a dual-channel Infrared Imager (2-28μm), that will be located at the Nasmyth focus of the IRAIT telescope at Dome C. Dome C base, on Antarctic plateau offers an unique chance for infrared astronomy. It has several advantages like temperature, pressure and site environment. Temperature, around –60°C (mean) allows a good atmospheric stability (good seeing and good windows transparency) a low atmospheric background and the reduction of instrumental background. Pressure (equivalent of 4000 m a.s.l.), implies low content of water vapors; this means higher transmission, broader and new astronomical windows. The site offers the possibility of very long observations (about 6 months winter night).

The All-Sky Meteor Orbit System (AMOS) is an automated system used for the detection and orbit determination of meteors. AMOS has been developed and is operated by the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics of the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia (FMPI CU) and the system currently consists of two major parts, the all-sky AMOS-Cam and AMOS-Spec. AMOS-Cam is a global system of cameras which monitor meteor activity around the world, nowadays five stations are located in Slovakia, two in Canary Islands, two in Chile and two in Hawaii. The AMOS-Spec is a video system connected to AMOS-Cam for the systematic spectroscopic observations and detection of meteor spectra. It is currently worldwide distributed with one station in Slovakia, one in Canary Islands, two in Chile and one in Hawaii. Expansion of the observation network is planned in the future in central and eastern Slovakia as well as in South Africa and Australia. Network distribution secures large sky coverage,...

We report spatially-resolved [C II]λ158 µm observations of HE 0433-1028, which is the first detection of a nearby luminous AGN (redshift 0.0355) with FIFI-LS onboard the airborne observatory SOFIA. We compare the spatially-resolved star formation tracers [C II], as provided by our SOFIA observations, and Hα from MUSE optical integral-field spectroscopy. We find that the [C II] emission is mainly matching the extended star formation as traced by the extinction-corrected Hα line emission but some additional flux is present. While a larger sample is needed to statistically confirm our findings and investigate possible dependencies on AGN luminosity and star formation rate, our study underlines the necessity of collecting a spatially-resolved optical-FIR dataset for nearby AGNs, and shows that it is technically feasible to collect such datasets with FIFI-LS onboard SOFIA.

We use high-resolution Herschel-PACS data of 2 nearby elliptical galaxies, IC1459 & NGC2768 to characterize their dust and stellar content. IC1459 & NGC2768 have an unusually large amount of dust for elliptical galaxies (1 to 3×10 5 M ), this dust is also not distributed along the stellar content. Using data from GALEX (ultra-violet) to PACS (far-infrared), we analyze the spectral energy distribution (SED) of these galaxies with CIGALEMC as a function of the projected position, binning images in 7.2" pixels. From this analysis, we derive maps of SED parameters, such as the metallicity, the stellar mass, the fraction of young star and the dust mass. The larger amount of dust in FIR maps seems related in our model to a larger fraction of young stars which can reach up to 4% in the dustier area. The young stellar population is fitted as a recent (∼ 0.5 Gyr) short burst of star formation for both galaxies. The metallicities, which are fairly large at the center of both galaxies, decrease with the radial distance with fairly steep gradient for elliptical galaxies.

A spectrally filtered Optical Frequency Comb (OFC) laser is proposed as a versatile calibration source for astronomical spectrometers in the 1-2 μm spectral range. Such a source overcomes the limitations of current calibration lamps providing a uniform spectrum of equally spaced lines with similar intensity and extremely high long-term frequency stability. We present preliminary studies and results of a system which filters the OFC from a 100 MHz comb spacing to 16 GHz one, an adequate spacing for spectrometers with resolving power λ/λ >30000. The first approach employs two Fabry-Perot cavities in series, made of dielectric coated mirrors, followed by a nonlinear optical broadening system. The limitations of such a filtering process are discussed. These can be overcome by the second approach, based on filtering cavities with metallic coated mirrors.

Low-resolution, mid-infrared Spitzer/IRS spectral maps are presented for three nearby, low-metallicity dwarf galaxies (NGC 55, NGC 3109 and IC 5152) for the purpose of examining the spatial distribution and variation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission. The sample straddles a metallicity of 12 + log(O/H) ≈ 8, a transition point below which PAH intensity empirically drops and the character of the interstellar medium changes. We derive quantitative radiances of PAH features and atomic lines on both global and spatially-resolved scales. The Spitzer spectra, combined with extensive ancillary data from the UV through the mid-infrared, allow us to examine changes in the physical environments and in PAH feature radiances down to a physical scale of ∼50 pc. We discuss correlations between various PAH emission feature and atomic line radiances. The (6.2 µm)/(11.3 µm), (7.7 µm)/(11.3 µm), (8.6 µm)/(11.3 µm), (7.7 µm)/(6.2 µm), and (8.6 µm)/(6.2 µm) PAH radiance ratios are found to be independent of position across all three galaxies, although the ratios do vary from galaxy to galaxy. As seen in other galaxies, we find no variation in the grain size distribution as a function of local radiation field strength. Absolute PAH feature intensities as measured by a ratio of PAH/(24 µm) radiances are seen to vary both positionally within a given galaxy, and from one galaxy to another when integrated over the full observed extent of each system. We examine direct comparisons of CC mode PAH ratios (7.7 µm)/(6.2 µm) and (8.6 µm)/(6.2 µm) to the mixed (CC/CH) mode PAH ratio (7.7 µm)/(11.3 µm). We find little variation in either mode, and no difference in trends between modes. While the local conditions change markedly over the observed regions of these galaxies, the properties of PAH emission show a remarkable degree of uniformity.

We present ground-based infrared photometry, JHK spectroscopy, and 5-28 μm SOFIA FORCAST spectroscopy documenting the early temporal development of Nova Delphini 2013 (V339 Del). We derive a distance of ∼4.5 kpc using data available from the early expansion of the fireball. This distance gives an outburst luminosity of ∼8.3 × 10 5 L ☉ making V339 Del the most luminous CO nova on record. Our data provide new constraints on the ejected gas mass and the dust yield in fast CO novae. The ejected gas mass as estimated by the cutoff wavelength during the free-free emission phase is ∼7.5 × 10 -5 M . ☉ There is evidence for the formation of ∼1.2 (±0.4) × 10 -7 M ☉ of dust about 102 days after outburst. The gas to dust ratio of ∼470/1-940/1 implies that dust production was much less efficient in V339 Del than is the case for most CO novae.

The joint U.S. and German Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) will be a premier facility for studying the physics and chemistry of the stellar evolution process for many decades. SOFIA spectroscopic science applications will be discussed, with special emphasis on investigations related to infrared spectroscopy of astrophysical gas, grains, and ices. Examples will be given of spectroscopic studies of the interstellar medium, protostars, obscured sources in molecular cloud cores, circumstellar disks around young stellar objects, remnants of nova and supernova explosions, and winds of evolved stellar systems.

The details of the processes which result in the formation of new stars are still virtually entirely obscure. Surprisingly little can be said with any assurance beyond the general view that the interstellar medium collects in large clouds, involving at least tens of solar masses, which then fragment into smaller pieces which proceed to collapse into individual stars. Numerous highly detailed theo retical predictions have been generated for the sequence of events expected in the fragmentation and collapse processes. However, the meager observational evidence we have on suspected young objects is fascinatingly at variance with these predictions.

We have examined the atmospheric transparency at 19.5 and 23 fxm from the Wyoming Infrared Observatory over the past six years. We find that the transparency is largely controlled by the season. Four months: June, July, August, and September have very poor 20-fim transparency. During the rest of the year the transparency is usually quite good at 19.5 fim and moderately good at 23 |xm. Using Rawinsonde data and theoretical calculations for the expected infrared transparency we have calibrated our measures of 20-micron transparency in terms of atmospheric water-vapor content. The water vapor over the Wyoming Infrared Observatory is found to compare favorably with that above other proposed or developed sites:

Broadband optical/infrared photometers responding from 0.5 to 23 microns mounted on the Univ. of Minnesota (UM) O'Brien 76-cm telescope, Wyoming Infrared Observatory 234-cm telescope, and UM's Mount Lemmon Infrared Observatory 152-cm telescope were used to measure comet Halley more than 30 times between 12 Dec. 1985 to 6 May 1986. The Wyoming system was used to measure P/Encke on 24 Jul. 1987. The equipment and observations of Halley were fully described by Gehrz and Ney. Conclusions based on a preliminary analysis of the Halley and P/Encke data are reported.

We consider the problem of determining the host galaxies of radio sources by crossidentification. This has traditionally been done manually, which will be intractable for widearea radio surveys like the Evolutionary Map of the Universe. Automated cross-identification will be critical for these future surveys, and machine learning may provide the tools to develop such methods. We apply a standard approach from computer vision to cross-identification, introducing one possible way of automating this problem, and explore the pros and cons of this approach. We apply our method to the 1.4 GHz Australian Telescope Large Area Survey (ATLAS) observations of the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) and the ESO Large Area ISO Survey South 1 fields by cross-identifying them with the Spitzer Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic survey. We train our method with two sets of data: expert cross-identifications of CDFS from the initial ATLAS data release and crowdsourced cross-identifications of CDFS from Radio Galaxy Zoo. We found that a simple strategy of cross-identifying a radio component with the nearest galaxy performs comparably to our more complex methods, though our estimated best-case performance is near 100 per cent. ATLAS contains 87 complex radio sources that have been cross-identified by experts, so there are not enough complex examples to learn how to cross-identify them accurately. Much larger data sets are therefore required for training methods like ours. We also show that training our method on Radio Galaxy Zoo cross-identifications gives comparable results to training on expert cross-identifications, demonstrating the value of crowdsourced training data.

1 I describe a European collaborative project to survey ∼ 20 square degrees of the sky at 15µm and 90µm with ISO. This is the largest open time project being undertaken by ISO. The depth and areal coverage were designed to complement the various Guaranteed Time surveys. The main science thrust is to explore star formation in galaxies to a much higher redshift than was probed by IRAS. We expect to detect around 8000 extragalactic objects and a similar number of Galactic sources. The maps and source catalogues will represent a major legacy from ISO, inspiring follow up work for many years to come.

Uranus' thermal behaviour is different from that of the other Jovian planets Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. It emits significantly less intrinsic energy than these other planets, and the actual net intrinsic emission may be zero. Naturalistic explanations have failed so far to ...

One of the main design considerations of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) was the goal to resolve the habitable zones (HZs) of the nearest stars at mid-infrared wavelengths around 10 µm. The LBT Interferometer (LBTI) makes use of the telescope's two 8.4 m mirrors on a common mount and their 22.7 m edge-to-edge separation for sensitive, high-angular resolution observations at thermal-infrared wavelengths. In addition to adaptive optics imaging using the two mirrors separately, the instrument enables nulling and Fizeau imaging interferometry exploiting the full resolving power of the LBT. The LBTI team has successfully completed the Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial planetary Systems (HOSTS), for which we used nulling-interferometry to search for exozodiacal dust, and we are continuing the characterization of the detected systems. Here, we describe a new program to exploit the LBTI's Fizeau imaging interferometric capabilities for a deep imaging search for low-mass, HZ planets around a small sample of particularly suitable, nearby stars. We also review the LBTI's current status relevant to the proposed project to demonstrate the instrument is ready for such a large project.

San Pedro Mártir in the Northwest of Mexico is the site of the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional. It was one of the five candidates sites for the Thirty Meter Telescope, whose site-testing team spent four years measuring the atmospheric properties on site with a very complete array of instrumentation. Using the public database created by this team, we apply a novel method to solar radiation data to estimate the daytime fraction of time when the sky is clear of clouds. We analyse the diurnal, seasonal and annual cycles of cloud cover. We find that 82.4 per cent of the time the sky is clear of clouds. Our results are consistent with those obtained by other authors, using different methods, adding support to this value and proving the potential of the applied method. The clear conditions at the site are particularly good showing that San Pedro Mártir is an excellent site for optical and infrared observations.

Far infkared interferometers in space would enable extraordinary measurements of the early universe. the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets, and would have great discovery potential. Half the luminosity of the universe and 98% of the photons released since the Big Bang appear at far-IR and submillimeter wavelengths (40 to 500 pm). Because the Earth's atmosphere prevents sensitive observations from the ground at wavelengths shorter than about 300 pn, and large effective apertures are required to achieve sub-arcsecond angular resolution, this is one of the last unexplored frontiers of observational astronomy. We present the engineering and technology requirements that stem from a set of compelling scientific goals and discuss possible configurations for two proposed NASA missions, the Space M a r e d Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT) and the Submillimeter Probe of the Evolution of Cosmic Structure (SPECS).

The Far Infrared Supplement contains a subset of the data in the full Catalog of Infrared Observations (all observations at wavelengths greater than 4.6 microns). The Catalog of Infrared Observations (CIO), NASA RP-1294, is a compilation of infrared astronomical observational data obtained from an extensive literature search of scientific journals and major astronomical catalogs and surveys. The literature search is

A mid-infrared (3.6Y8 m) survey of the Galactic center has been carried out with the IRAC instrument on the Spitzer Space Telescope. This survey covers the central 2 ; 1:4 ($280 ; 200 pc) of the Galaxy. At 3.6 and 4.5 m the emission is dominated by stellar sources, the fainter ones merging into an unresolved background. At 5.8 and 8 m the stellar sources are fainter, and large-scale diffuse emission from the ISM of the Galaxy's central molecular zone becomes prominent. The survey reveals that the 8-to-5.8 m color of the ISM emission is highly uniform across the surveyed region. This uniform color is consistent with a flat extinction law and emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Models indicate that this broadband color should not be expected to change if the incident radiation field heating the dust and PAHs is <10 4 times that of the solar neighborhood. The few regions with unusually red emission are areas where the PAHs are underabundant and the radiation field is locally strong enough to heat large dust grains to produce significant 8 m emission. These red regions include compact H ii regions, Sgr B1, and wider regions around the Arches and Quintuplet clusters. In these regions the radiation field is k10 4 times that of the solar neighborhood. Other regions of very red emission indicate cases where thick dust clouds obscure deeply embedded objects or very early stages of star formation.

Giant exoplanets on 10-100 au orbits have been directly imaged around young stars. The peak of the thermal emission from these warm young planets is in the near-infrared (∼1-5 µm), whereas mature, temperate exoplanets (i.e., those within their stars' habitable zones) radiate primarily in the mid-infrared (mid-IR: ∼10 µm). If the background noise in the mid-IR can be mitigated, then exoplanets with low masses-including rocky exoplanets-can potentially be imaged in very deep exposures. Here, we review the recent results of the Breakthrough Watch/New Earths in the Alpha Centauri Region (NEAR) program on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. NEAR pioneered a ground-based mid-IR observing approach designed to push the capabilities for exoplanet imaging with a specific focus on the closest stellar system, α Centauri. NEAR combined several new optical technologies-including a mid-IR optimized coronagraph, adaptive optics system, and rapid chopping strategy to mitigate noise from the central star and thermal background within the habitable zone. We focus on the lessons of the VLT/NEAR campaign to improve future instrumentation−specifically on strategies to improve noise mitigation through chopping. We also present the design and commissioning of the Large Binocular Telescope's Exploratory Survey for Super-Earths Orbiting Nearby Stars (LESSONS), an experiment in the Northern hemisphere that is building on what was learned from NEAR to further push the sensitivity of mid-IR imaging. Finally, we briefly discuss some of the possibilities that mid-IR imaging will enable for exoplanet science.

Star formation in galaxies takes place in molecular clouds and the Milky Way is the only galaxy in which it is possible to resolve and study the physical properties and star formation activity of individual clouds. The masses, luminosities, dynamics, and distribution of molecular clouds, primarily giant molecular clouds in the Milky Way are described and analyzed. The observational data

The Sky View Virtual Observatory was used for the systematic search of dust structures within the far-infrared loop G229-03. The source (object) responsible for the formation of the cavity of interest was detected by the Set of Identifications, Measurements, and Bibliography for Astronomical Data (SIMBAD) database. The total mass of the loop was 8.50031 × 1029 kg which is about 0.425 times the mass of the Sun at a distance of 1300 pc. The size of the cavity was 3.67° × 3.6°, whereas its core size was 0.531° × 0.255° located at R.A. (J2000) = 7h10m0.8s and Dec.(J2000) =15h55m30s. The minimum and maximum temperatures were between 20.24 ± 1.16 K and 18.63 ± 1.96 K respectively. In the core region, the average temperature was 19.53 K, approximately equal to Gaussian center 19.267 K with an offset temperature of 0.4 K showing that the core region of the cavity is dynamically stable. The Far-infrared loop was found to be located within a 1° radius around the high-velocity cloud HVC orient...

Far infkared interferometers in space would enable extraordinary measurements of the early universe. the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets, and would have great discovery potential. Half the luminosity of the universe and 98% of the photons released since the Big Bang appear at far-IR and submillimeter wavelengths (40 to 500 pm). Because the Earth's atmosphere prevents sensitive observations from the ground at wavelengths shorter than about 300 pn, and large effective apertures are required to achieve sub-arcsecond angular resolution, this is one of the last unexplored frontiers of observational astronomy. We present the engineering and technology requirements that stem from a set of compelling scientific goals and discuss possible configurations for two proposed NASA missions, the Space M a r e d Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT) and the Submillimeter Probe of the Evolution of Cosmic Structure (SPECS).

We report on completion of the SAFIR Vision Mission study, as organized by the NASA Science Mission Directorate. This study resulted in a focused baseline design for this large aperture space observatory that capitalizes on architectures being actively developed for JWST and other missions. Special opportunities for achieving thermal performance of this <10K telescope are reviewed, as well as efforts to understand capabilities and needs for focal plane instrument and I&T on this large (10m-class) telescope.

We describe the observable characteristics of classical novae and recurrent novae obtained by different techniques (photometry, spectroscopy, and imaging) in all the available spectral ranges. We consider the three stages in the life of a nova: quiescence (pre- and post-outburst), outburst, final decline and nebular phase. We describe the photometric properties during the quiescent phase. We describe the photometric properties

VISIR is the ESO-VLT instrument dedicated to observations through the two mid-infrared atmospheric windows (the so-called N and Q bands). VISIR was installed in April 2004 at the Cassegrain focus of Melipal, the third of the four 8.2 meter VLT unit telescopes; first light was obtained on May 1st. This cryogenic instrument combines imaging capabilities at the diffraction limit of the telescope (0.3 arcsec at 10 microns) over a field up to 51 arcsec, and long-slit (32 arcsec) grating spectroscopy capabilities with various spectral resolutions up to 25,000 at 10 microns and 12,500 at 20 microns. The instrument will be offered to the community for ESO period 75 (proposal due date: October 1st 2004 ).

The use of charge-coupled-devices, or CCD's, has been documented by a number of sources as an effective means of providing a measurement of spacecraft attitude with respect to the stars. A method exists of defocussing and interpolation of the resulting shape of a star image over a small subsection of a large CCD array. This yields an increase in the accuracy of the device by better than an order of magnitude over the case when the star image is focussed upon a single CCD pixel. This research examines the effect that image motion has upon the overall precision of this star sensor when applied to an orbiting infrared observatory. While CCD's collect energy within the visible spectrum of light, the targets of scientific interest may well have no appreciable visible emissions. Image motion has the effect of 'smearing' the image of the star in the direction of motion during a particular sampling interval. As the interpolation process effectively finds the centroid of the image read out from the CCD pixels, the fact that the star was actually at the extreme end of the smeared image at the end of the sampling period must be accounted for. In addition, errors grow rapidly if the star moves off the edge of the integration area. This problem may be remedied in part by the use of larger integration areas, but this has drawbacks as well. A compromise may be selected by increasing the size of the readout array in the direction of motion, as opposed to the normally square integration area used for a

We have fabricated absorber-coupled microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) arrays for sub-millimeter and farinfrared astronomy. These sensors are comprised of arrays of O/2 stepped microwave impedance resonators patterned on a 1.5ȝm thick silicon membrane, which are optimized for optical coupling. The detector elements are supported on a 380ȝm thick micro-machined silicon wafer. The resonators consist of parallel plate aluminum transmission lines coupled to low impedance Nb microstrip traces of variable length, which set the resonant frequency of each resonator. This allows for multiplexed microwave readout and, consequently, good spatial discrimination between pixels in the array. The Al transmission lines simultaneously act to absorb optical power and by employing an appropriate surface impedance and effective filling fraction. Our novel fabrication techniques demonstrate high fabrication yield of MKID arrays on large single crystal membranes and sub-micron front-to-back alignment of the microstrip circuit.

High-resolution Airborne Wide-band Camera (HAWC[Formula: see text]) is the facility far-infrared imager and polarimeter for SOFIA, NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. It is designed to cover the portion of the infrared spectrum that is completely inaccessible to ground-based observatories and which is essential for studies of astronomical sources with temperatures between tens and hundreds of degrees Kelvin. Its ability to make polarimetric measurements of aligned dust grains provides a unique new capability for studying interstellar magnetic fields. HAWC[Formula: see text] began commissioning flights in April 2016 and was accepted as a facility instrument in early 2018. In this paper, we describe the instrument, its operational procedures, and its performance on the observatory.

Infrared astronomy is currently benefiting from three main technologies providing high performance hybrid active pixel sensors. In the near infrared from 1 to 5 µm two technologies, both aiming for buttable 2Kx2K mosaics, are competing, namely InSb and HgCdTe grown by LPE or MBE on Al 2 O 3 , Si or CdZnTe substrates. Blocked impurity band Si:As arrays cover the mid infrared spectral range from 8 to 28 µm. Adaptive optics combined with multiple integral field units feeding high resolution spectrographs drive the requirements for the array format of infrared sensors used at ground-based infrared observatories. The pixel performance is now approaching fundamental limits. In view of this development a detection limit for the photon flux of the ideal detector will be derived, depending only on the temperature and the impedance of the detector. It will be shown that this limit is approximated by state of the art infrared arrays for long on-chip integrations. Different detector materials are compared and strategies to populate large focal planes are discussed. The need for the development of small-format low noise sensors for adaptive optics and interferometry will be pointed out.

The European Southern Observatory (ESO), the Institute for Space Imaging Science (ISIS) and the AstroMeteorology group at the Universidad de Valparaiso collaborated on a project to understand the precipitable water vapour (PWV) over the La Silla Paranal Observatory. Both La Silla and Paranal were studied with the goal of using them as reference sites to evaluate potential E-ELT sites. As ground-based infrared astronomy matures, our understanding of the atmospheric conditions over the observatories becomes paramount, specifically water vapour since it is the principle source of atmospheric opacity at infrared wavelengths. Several years of archival optical spectra (FEROS) have been analysed to reconstruct the PWV history above La Silla using an atmospheric radiative transfer model (BTRAM) developed by ISIS. In order to better understand the systematics involved, a dedicated atmospheric water vapour measurement campaign was conducted in May 2009 in close collaboration with Las Campanas observatory and the GMT site testing team. Several methods of determining the water column were employed, including radiosonde launches, continuous measurements by infrared radiometers (IRMA), a compact echelle spectrograph (BACHES) and several high-resolution optical echelle spectrographs (FEROS, HARPS and MIKE). All available observations were compared to concurrent satellite estimates of water vapour in an attempt to ground-truth the satellite data. We present a comparison of the methods used, and results from the archival study and measurement campaign. A mean PWV of 3.4 ± 2.4 mm is found for La Silla using FEROS data covering the period 2005-2009. Important lessons on the strengths and limitations of satellite data are presented. The value of a stand-alone high time resolution PWV monitor has been demonstrated in the context of parallel observations from Las Campanas and La Silla.

CatWISE is a program to catalog sources selected from combined WISE and NEO-WISE all-sky survey data at 3.4 and 4.6 µm (W1 and W2). The CatWISE Preliminary Catalog consists of 900,849,014 sources measured in data collected from 2010 to 2016. This dataset represents four times as many exposures and spans over ten times as large a time baseline as that used for the AllWISE Catalog. CatWISE adapts AllWISE software to measure the sources in coadded images created from six-month subsets of these data, each representing one coverage of the inertial sky, or epoch. The catalog includes the measured motion of sources in 8 epochs over the 6.5 year span of the data. From comparison to Spitzer, the SNR=5 limits in magnitudes in the Vega system are W1=17.67 and W2=16.47, compared to W1=16.96 and W2=16.02 for AllWISE. From comparison to Gaia, CatWISE positions have typical accuracies of 50 mas for stars at W1=10 mag and 275 mas for stars at W1=15.5 mag. Proper motions have typical accuracies of 10 mas yr −1 and 30 mas yr −1 for stars with these brightnesses, an order of magnitude better than from AllWISE. The catalog is available in the WISE/NEOWISE Enhanced and Contributed Products area of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive.

The Concordia Station (Candidi 2003), on the Antarctica Plateau, will soon become one of the best observatories to perform infrared observations in the 2-20 µm atmospheric windows and beyond, thanks to its low sky background, low temperature and high atmospheric transparency. The possibility of passively cooling the telescope is a further advantage. We describe here the first permanent Antarctic infrared telescope, under development for the Dome C base. It is the International Robotic Antarctic Infrared Telescope (IRAIT). We briefly outline a few scientific motivations for it, then we review the technical characteristics and the status of its development. The infrared camera for IRAIT is described in another dedicated paper in this volume.

This work is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, and the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment through the E.E.T. program (EETK97115) and by the Council for Chemical Sciences of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (CW-NWO) and the Eindhoven University of Technology in the PIONIER program (98400).

The European Southern Observatory (ESO), the Institute for Space Imaging Science (ISIS) and the AstroMeteorology group at the Universidad de Valparaiso collaborated on a project to understand the precipitable water vapour (PWV) over the La Silla Paranal Observatory. Both La Silla and Paranal were studied with the goal of using them as reference sites to evaluate potential E-ELT sites. As ground-based infrared astronomy matures, our understanding of the atmospheric conditions over the observatories becomes paramount, specifically water vapour since it is the principle source of atmospheric opacity at infrared wavelengths. Several years of archival optical spectra (FEROS) have been analysed to reconstruct the PWV history above La Silla using an atmospheric radiative transfer model (BTRAM) developed by ISIS. In order to better understand the systematics involved, a dedicated atmospheric water vapour measurement campaign was conducted in May 2009 in close collaboration with Las Campanas observatory and the GMT site testing team. Several methods of determining the water column were employed, including radiosonde launches, continuous measurements by infrared radiometers (IRMA), a compact echelle spectrograph (BACHES) and several high-resolution optical echelle spectrographs (FEROS, HARPS and MIKE). All available observations were compared to concurrent satellite estimates of water vapour in an attempt to ground-truth the satellite data. We present a comparison of the methods used, and results from the archival study and measurement campaign. A mean PWV of 3.4 ± 2.4 mm is found for La Silla using FEROS data covering the period 2005-2009. Important lessons on the strengths and limitations of satellite data are presented. The value of a stand-alone high time resolution PWV monitor has been demonstrated in the context of parallel observations from Las Campanas and La Silla.

This edition of the Far Infrared Supplement contains a subset of the data summarized in the Catalog of Infrared Observations. Please note the following characteristics and limitations of the Supplement: 1) The supplement lists all observations at wavelengths greater than or equal to 5 microns, thus eliminating the majority of visible stars from the catalog listings. This allows the far infrared researcher to more easily locate objects of particular interest. 2) Objects listed in the supplement may also have been observed at wavelengths less than 5 microns. Consult the full Catalog of Infrared Observations for additional near infrared observations.