The GALEX-SDSS-WISE Legacy Catalog 2 (GSWLC-2) Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. Salim S.
  2. Boquien M.
  3. Lee J.C.
  4. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

We study the dust attenuation curves of 230,000 individual galaxies in the local universe, ranging from quiescent to intensely star-forming systems, using GALEX, SDSS, and WISE photometry calibrated on the Herschel ATLAS. We use a new method of constraining SED fits with infrared luminosity (SED+LIR fitting), and parameterized attenuation curves determined with the CIGALE SED-fitting code. Attenuation curve slopes and UV bump strengths are reasonably well constrained independently from one another. We find that A_{lambda}_/A_V_ attenuation curves exhibit a very wide range of slopes that are on average as steep as the curve slope of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The slope is a strong function of optical opacity. Opaque galaxies have shallower curves --in agreement with recent radiative transfer models. The dependence of slopes on the opacity produces an apparent dependence on stellar mass: more massive galaxies have shallower slopes. Attenuation curves exhibit a wide range of UV bump amplitudes, from none to Milky Way (MW)-like, with an average strength one-third that of the MW bump. Notably, local analogs of high-redshift galaxies have an average curve that is somewhat steeper than the SMC curve, with a modest UV bump that can be, to first order, ignored, as its effect on the near-UV magnitude is 0.1 mag. Neither the slopes nor the strengths of the UV bump depend on gas-phase metallicity. Functional forms for attenuation laws are presented for normal star-forming galaxies, high-z analogs, and quiescent galaxies. We release the catalog of associated star formation rates and stellar masses (GSWLC-2; GALEX-SDSS-WISE Legacy Catalog 2).

Keywords
  1. galaxies
  2. catalogs
  3. extinction
  4. ultraviolet-astronomy
  5. visible-astronomy
  6. spectroscopy
  7. infrared-sources
  8. surveys
  9. spectral-energy-distribution
  10. redshifted
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2018ApJ...859...11S
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/859/11
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/859/11
Document Object Identifer DOI
doi:10.26093/cds/vizier/ba-tv-b

Access

Web browser access HTML
https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/859/11
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/859/11
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/859/11
IVOA Table Access TAP
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Run SQL-like queries with TAP-enabled clients (e.g., TOPCAT).
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/859/11/gswlc-a2?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/859/11/gswlc-a2?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/859/11/gswlc-a2?
IVOA Cone Search SCS
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https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/859/11/gswlc-m2?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/859/11/gswlc-m2?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/859/11/gswlc-m2?
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/859/11/gswlc-d2?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/859/11/gswlc-d2?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/859/11/gswlc-d2?
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/859/11/gswlc-x2?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/859/11/gswlc-x2?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/859/11/gswlc-x2?

History

2026-03-19T08:25:38Z
Resource record created
2026-03-19T08:25:38Z
Created
2026-03-20T09:54:51Z
Updated

Contact

Name
CDS support team
Postal Address
CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
E-Mail
cds-question@unistra.fr