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| Maraston models | |
|---|---|
| Name | Maraston models |
| Field | Astrophysics |
| Creator | Claudia Maraston |
| First release | 1998 |
| Latest release | 2011 |
Maraston models are a suite of stellar population synthesis tools developed for interpreting the integrated light of stellar systems such as globular cluster, elliptical galaxy, star cluster, and stellar population studies. They provide spectral energy distributions, photometric colors, mass-to-light ratios and absorption-line indices across a wide range of ages and metallicities, and are widely used by teams working on Hubble Space Telescope observations, Very Large Telescope surveys, Sloan Digital Sky Survey analyses and cosmological investigations such as the Lambda-CDM model constraints. The models emphasize phases like the thermally-pulsing asymptotic giant branch that impact near-infrared light, informing interpretations of data from facilities including Spitzer Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, Keck Observatory, and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array.
Maraston models synthesize integrated spectra and photometry for simple stellar populations (SSPs) and composite stellar populations to aid analyses by teams at institutions like the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, University of Portsmouth, University of Cambridge, Institute of Astronomy (Cambridge), and the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica. They are compared against results from other synthesis frameworks such as the Bruzual & Charlot models, the PEGASE code, the Starburst99 suite, and the FSPS package developed in collaboration with groups at Carnegie Observatories and Princeton University. Observational programs employing the models include surveys led by the CANDELS collaboration, the COSMOS survey, and follow-up studies tied to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III and DEEP2.
The models were introduced in the late 1990s by Claudia Maraston and collaborators with key papers presented at meetings such as the International Astronomical Union symposia and published in journals read by members of the Royal Astronomical Society community. Subsequent revisions incorporated improved prescriptions for post-main-sequence phases, updates following comparisons to datasets from the Hubble Deep Field, the Two Micron All Sky Survey, and spectra from the Keck Observatory. The evolution of the models paralleled developments in stellar evolution theory from groups at Geneva Observatory, Padova Observatory, and the Yonsei-Yale collaboration, and was influenced by empirical calibrations using systems like 47 Tucanae, Omega Centauri, and M31 globular clusters.
Maraston models construct SSPs by integrating stellar evolutionary tracks and libraries, adopting isochrone synthesis akin to techniques used in works by the Padova group and the Geneva group. The methodology pairs fuel consumption theorems from theoretical work at institutes such as the Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik with empirical spectral libraries utilized by researchers at the European Southern Observatory and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Age and metallicity grids are sampled to match observational programs like Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectral fitting and HST photometric studies, enabling parameter estimation in surveys such as GAMA and the SHELS project.
Key ingredients include stellar evolutionary tracks from sources connected to the Padova tracks, empirical and theoretical stellar spectra from libraries like the MILES and BaSeL compilations, and initial mass functions such as those by Salpeter, Kroupa, and Chabrier. The treatment of phases like the thermally-pulsing asymptotic giant branch draws on studies by groups at the Observatoire de Paris and the University of Bologna, while assumptions about chemical composition reference solar abundance work tied to the Asplund et al. determinations and measurements from the Galactic Archaeology field. Nebular emission and dust attenuation are sometimes coupled following prescriptions used by the Calzetti attenuation law and comparisons with Spitzer Space Telescope infrared observations.
Outputs include spectral energy distributions, broadband colors for filter systems used on instruments like Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3, mass-to-light ratios applied in dynamical studies from institutions such as University of Oxford groups, and Lick/IDS-style absorption indices used by teams at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. Predictions have been tested against observed color–magnitude diagrams of systems like M67, integrated spectra of elliptical galaxy samples, and near-infrared photometry from the Two Micron All Sky Survey. The models provide grids that support stellar mass estimates in cosmological analyses performed by collaborations including Planck and large surveys like VIPERS.
Researchers use Maraston models for stellar mass estimation in extragalactic surveys from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to CANDELS, age and metallicity dating of globular cluster systems in hosts such as M31 and M87, and interpreting rest-frame near-infrared light in high-redshift galaxies observed with Spitzer Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope programs led by teams at STScI and European Space Agency. The models inform studies of galaxy formation in frameworks like the Lambda-CDM model and feed into semi-analytic models developed by groups at Durham University and Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics.
Comparative studies contrast Maraston outputs with those from the Bruzual & Charlot models, PEGASE, Starburst99, and FSPS, showing differences in predicted near-infrared light primarily due to varying treatments of the thermally-pulsing asymptotic giant branch and input spectral libraries. Benchmarks against observational datasets from Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and ground-based surveys led by Keck Observatory and Very Large Telescope teams reveal systematic offsets in mass-to-light ratios and colors that have guided subsequent revisions and cross-calibrations by consortia including the MANGA and ATLAS3D projects.
Category:Stellar population models