KINGFISH—Key Insights on Nearby Galaxies: A Far-Infrared Survey withHerschel: Survey Description and Image Atlas1
Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: The KINGFISH project (Key Insights on Nearby Galaxies: a Far-Infrared Survey with Herschel ) is an imaging and spectroscopic survey of 61 nearby ( d < 30 Mpc) galaxies, chosen to cover a wide range of galaxy properties and local interstellar medium (ISM) environments found in the nearby universe. Its broad goals are to characterize the ISM of present-day galaxies, the heating and cooling of their gaseous and dust components, and to better understand the physical processes linking star formation and the ISM. KINGFISH is a direct descendant of the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS), which produced complete Spitzer imaging and spectroscopic mapping and a comprehensive set of multiwavelength ancillary observations for the sample. The Herschel imaging consists of complete maps for the galaxies at 70, 100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 μm. The spectral line imaging of the principal atomic ISM cooling lines ([O I ] 63 μm, [O III ] 88 μm, [N II ] 122,205 μm, and [C II ] 158 μm) covers the subregions in the centers and disks that already have been mapped in the mid-infrared with Spitzer . The KINGFISH and SINGS multiwavelength data sets combined provide panchromatic mapping of the galaxies sufficient to resolve individual star-forming regions, and tracing the important heating and cooling channels of the ISM, across a wide range of local extragalactic ISM environments. This article summarizes the scientific strategy for KINGFISH, the properties of the galaxy sample, the observing strategy, and data processing and products. It also presents a combined Spitzer and Herschel image atlas for the KINGFISH galaxies, covering the wavelength range 3.6–500 μm. All imaging and spectroscopy data products will be released to the Herschel user-generated product archives.
DOI: 10.1086/663818
Authors: R. C. Kennicutt, D. Calzetti, G. Aniano, P. Appleton, L. Armus, P. Beirão, A. D. Bolatto, B. Brandl, A. Crocker, K. Croxall, D. A. Dale, J. Donovan Meyer, B. T. Draine, C. W. Engelbracht, M. Galametz, K. D. Gordon, B. Groves, C.-N. Hao, G. Helou, J. Hinz, L. K. Hunt, B. Johnson, J. Koda, O. Krause, A. K. Leroy, Y. Li, S. Meidt, E. Montiel, E. J. Murphy, N. Rahman, H.-W. Rix, H. Roussel, K. Sandstrom, M. Sauvage, E. Schinnerer, R. Skibba, J. D. T. Smith, S. Srinivasan, L. Vigroux, F. Walter, C. D. Wilson, M. Wolfire, S. Zibetti
Institutions: University of Cambridge, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Princeton University, California Institute of Technology, Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, University of Maryland, College Park, Leiden University, Leiden Observatory, University of Toledo, University of Wyoming, Stony Brook School, Stony Brook University, University of Arizona, Space Telescope Science Institute, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Tianjin Normal University, Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Observatories, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation, European Space Agency, McMaster University, University of Copenhagen
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2005376363