MYStIX: Mid-Infrared Source Catalogs for 20 Nearby Star-Forming Regions

Spitzer IRAC observations and photometric catalogs are presented for the Massive Young star-forming complex Study in the Infrared and X-ray (MYStIX). The study provides a multi-wavelength census of young stellar members across 20 nearby Galactic star-forming regions, all containing at least one O-type star. The catalogs were created by the HEASARC in February 2014 based on data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, aiming to provide deeper and more reliable source lists than existing studies.

Use Cases

• Identify young stellar objects based on mid-infrared excess associated with dusty disks.
• Distinguish spurious nebular detections from genuine point sources using IRAC color-color diagrams.
• Study stellar ages and disk evolution by analyzing source distributions on color-magnitude diagrams.
• Match infrared source catalogs to Chandra X-ray sources to improve census completeness of young stars.

Strengths

• Covers 20 nearby Galactic star-forming regions, all containing at least one O-type star.
• Catalogs typically contain fainter sources than existing Spitzer studies, improving match rates to X-ray sources.
• Includes data from multiple Spitzer surveys, including GLIMPSE and the Vela-Carina survey.
• Camera spatial resolution is FWHM = 1.6" to 1.9" across the 3.6 to 8.0 µm range.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Increased possibility of spurious point-source detections, especially peaks in nebulosity, due to deeper catalogs.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Combined IRAC source lists from GLIMPSE photometry and aperture photometry of archival Spitzer data.

Time Range

Observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope missions.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 16:49:11.935461; freshness should be verified.

Geography

20 nearby Galactic star-forming regions (distances < 4 kpc).