Bibcode
DOI
Cohen, Martin; Hammersley, Peter L.; Egan, Michael P.
Bibliographical reference
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 120, Issue 6, pp. 3362-3370.
Advertised on:
12
2000
Citations
35
Refereed citations
32
Description
We describe our methods to validate the absolute calibration of the
infrared (IR) radiometry of the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) Point
Source Catalog, version 1.2 (PSC1.2). These are based upon stars drawn
from our current all-sky network of absolute calibrators and upon other
stars that also support the calibration of ESA's Infrared Space
Observatory and of several other satellites. Based on the mean ratios of
(observed/predicted) irradiances for this ensemble of stars, all four of
MSX's mid-IR bands are consistent with this network; i.e., there are no
mean ratios that deviate more than 3 σ from unity. However, the
two narrowest bands (near 4.3 μm) are significantly discrepant by a
few percent. This paper probes the radiometry of stars fainter than
those validated by an independent study of the primary and secondary MSX
standards by Cohen et al. To provide the user of the PSC1.2 with a basis
for comparison, we derive the IR properties of normal stars from
measurements by MSX's IR focal planes.