Journal article
The hidden life of stars: embedded beginnings to asymptotic giant branch endings in the PHANGS–JWST sample. I. catalog of mid-infrared sources
- Abstract:
- We present a multiwavelength catalog of mid-infrared-selected compact sources in 19 nearby galaxies, combining JWST NIRCam/MIRI, Hubble Space Telescope UV–optical broadband, Hα narrowband, and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array CO observations. We detect 24,945 compact sources at 21 μm and 55,581 at 10 μm. Artificial star tests show 50% completeness limits of ∼5 μJy for the 10 μm catalog, and ∼24 μJy for the 21 μm catalog. We find that 21 μm compact sources contribute ∼20% of the total galaxy emission in that band, but only contribute 5% at 10 μm. We classify sources using stellar evolution and population synthesis models combined with empirical classifications derived from the literature. Our classifications include Hα-bright and dust-embedded optically faint clusters, red supergiants, oxygen-rich and carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch stars, and a range of rarer stellar types. In sampling a broad range of star-forming environments with a uniform, well-characterized selection, this catalog enables analyses of infrared-bright stellar populations. We find that Hα-faint sources account for only 10% of dusty (likely young) clusters, implying that the infrared-bright, optically faint phase of cluster evolution is short compared to the Hα-bright stage. The luminosity functions of 10 and 21 μm sources follow power-law distributions, with the 21 μm slope (−1.7 ± 0.1) similar to that of giant molecular cloud mass functions and ultraviolet bright star-forming complexes, while the 10 μm slope (−2.0 ± 0.1) is closer to that of young stellar clusters.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 18.7MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.3847/1538-4365/ae4aa5
Authors
+ European Research Council
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/0472cxd90
- Grant:
- 101020943
- Programme:
- European Union Horizon 2020
+ European Research Council
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/0472cxd90
- Grant:
- ERC StG-101077573
- Programme:
- ISM-METALS
+ Université Côte d'Azur
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/019tgvf94
- Grant:
- ANR-15-IDEX-01
- Programme:
- Initiative of Excellence
+ Canadian Space Agency
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/03a1gte98
- Grant:
- JWSTAO2
+ Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/018mejw64
- Grant:
- 541068876
- Publisher:
- American Astronomical Society
- Journal:
- Astrophysical Journal: Supplement Series More from this journal
- Volume:
- 284
- Issue:
- 1
- Article number:
- 3
- Publication date:
- 2026-04-21
- Acceptance date:
- 2026-02-09
- DOI:
- EISSN:
-
1538-4365
- ISSN:
-
0067-0049
- Language:
-
English
- Keywords:
- Source identifiers:
-
3969362
- Deposit date:
-
2026-04-21
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Hassani et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- © 2026. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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