The Legacy Program was motivated by a desire to enable major science observing projects early in the Spitzer mission, with the goal of creating a substantial and coherent database of archived observations that can be used by subsequent Spitzer researchers, including General Observers (GOs). Legacy Science projects are distinguished from GO investigations by the following fundamental principles:

• They are large and coherent science projects, not reproducible by any reasonable number or combination of smaller General Observer investigations;
• They are projects of general and lasting importance to the broad astronomical community with the Spitzer observational data yielding a substantial and coherent database; and
• They are projects whose raw and pipeline-processed data enter the public domain immediately upon SSC processing and validation, thereby enabling timely and effective opportunities for follow-on observations and for archival research, with both Spitzer and other observatories.

The original Spitzer Legacy Science Program is comprised of six projects selected by the Spitzer Science Center (SSC) in November 2000 following a solicitation of proposals and competitive peer review. The six original projects used a total of 3160 hours of Spitzer observing time, primarily in the first year of the mission, and integrate substantial ancillary data from ground-based observatories and other space-borne telescopes. Each Legacy Science project has developed post-pipeline data products and/or analysis tools that were delivered to the SSC for wider dissemination to the community. These products, including catalogs and image mosaics, are invaluable to researchers planning future GO proposals. The data are available from the Infrared Science Archive (IRSA).

Additional Legacy programs were selected in subsequent observing cycles. The Legacy Science Program ended with the conclusion of the cryogenic mission.

Legacy History

	Nickname PIDs	Title Primary Investigator - Institution
	GOODS 169, 194	GOODS: Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey Mark Dickinson - National Optical Astronomy Observatory Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	SWIRE 142, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185	SWIRE: The Spitzer Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic Survey Carol Lonsdale - IPAC/Caltech Abstract Primary Article Data Deliveries
	S-COSMOS 20070	SCOSMOS: The Spitzer Deep Survey of the HST COSMOS 2-Degree ACS Field David Sanders - University of Hawaii Abstract Primary Article Data Deliveries
	S-COSMOS 30143	S-COSMOS: The MIPS Deep Survey of the COSMOS 2-sqdeg Field David Sanders - University of Hawaii Abstract Primary Article Data Deliveries
	SINGS 159, 193	SINGS: The Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey - Physics of the Star-Forming ISM and Galaxy Evolution Robert Kennicutt Jr. - University of Arizona Abstract Primary Article Data Deliveries
	SIMPLE 20708	A Public Deep IRAC Survey in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South Pieter van Dokkum - Yale University Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	SAGE 20203	SAGE: Spitzer Survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud: Surveying the Agents of a Galaxy's Evolution Margaret Meixner - Space Telescope Science Institute Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	GOALS 30323, 3672, 50702	GOALS - The Great Observatories All-Sky LIRG Survey Lee Armus - Spitzer Science Center Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	FIDEL 30948	A Deep-Wide Far-Infrared Survey of Cosmological Star Formation and AGN Activity Mark Dickinson - National Optical Astronomy Observatory Abstract Data Deliveries
	SSGSS 30742	SSGSS: The Spitzer SDSS GALEX Spectroscopic Survey David Schiminovich - Columbia University Abstract Primary Article Data Deliveries
	SpUDS 40021	A Spitzer Public Legacy Survey of the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey James Dunlop - Institute for Astronomy, Royal Observatory of Edinburgh Abstract Data Deliveries
	SAGE-Spec 40159	SAGE-Spectroscopy: The Life Cycle of Dust and Gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud Alexander Tielens - NASA Ames Research Center Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	LVL 40204	The Local Volume Legacy Survey Janice C. Lee - Carnegie Observatories Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	SAGE-SMC 40245	SAGE-SMC: Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally- Disrupted, Low-Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud Karl Gordon - University of Arizona Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	5MUSES 40539	5MUSES: 5 milli-Jansky Unbiased Spitzer Extragalactic Survey George Helou - IPAC/Caltech Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	SDWFS 40839	SDWFS: The Spitzer Deep, Wide-Field Survey Daniel Stern - JPL/Caltech Abstract Primary Article Data Deliveries
	S5 50568, 50569	S5: The Spitzer SDSS Statistical Spectroscopic Survey David Schiminovich - Columbia University Abstract Data Deliveries
	COSMOS-IRS 50286	IRS Legacy Survey of the Green Valley in COSMOS Nick Scoville - California Institute of Technology Abstract Data Deliveries
	MAGES 50148	MIPS AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey Buell Jannuzi - National Optical Astronomy Observatory Abstract
	EGAMI 50249	Ultra-Deep MIPS Imaging of the Lockman Hole Eiichi Egami - University of Arizona Abstract
	Nickname PIDs	Title Primary Investigator - Institution
	GLIMPSE 146, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 195	GLIMPSE: Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire Ed Churchwell - University of Wisconsin Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	GLIMPSE II 20201	GLIMPSE II: Imaging the Central +/- 10 Degrees of the Galactic Plane with IRAC Ed Churchwell - University of Wisconsin Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	GLIMPSE 3D 30570	GLIMPSE 3D: The Vertical Stellar and Interstellar Structure of the Inner Galaxy Robert Benjamin - University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	MIPSGAL 20597	MIPSGAL: A 24 and 70 Micron Survey of the Inner Galactic Disk with MIPS Sean Carey - Spitzer Science Center Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	MIPSGAL II 30594	MIPSGAL II: Surveying the innermost part of the Galactic plane at 24 and 70 microns with MIPS Sean Carey - Spitzer Science Center Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	c2d 139, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179	From Molecular Cores to Planet-Forming Disks Neal Evans II - University of Texas Abstract Primary Article Data Deliveries
	GouldsBelt 30574	Gould's Belt: Star Formation in the Solar Neighborhood Lori Allen - Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Abstract Team's Site
	FEPS 148	The Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems: Placing Our Solar System in Context Michael Meyer - University of Arizona Abstract Primary Article Data Deliveries
	Taurus-2 30816	Taurus 2: Finishing the Spitzer Map of the Taurus Molecular Clouds Deborah Padgett - Spitzer Science Center Abstract Primary Article Data Deliveries
	Cygnus-X 40184	A Spitzer Legacy Survey of the Cygnus-X Complex Joseph Hora - Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Abstract Primary Article Team's Site Data Deliveries
	SMOG 50398	Spitzer Mapping of the Outer Galaxy Sean Carey - Spitzer Science Center Abstract Data Deliveries
	Exoplanet ToO 50517	New Transiting Exoplanets: Targets of Opportunity for Spitzer's Legacy Joseph Harrington - University of Central Florida Abstract