Spitzer Documentation & Tools
Legacy Programs

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


List of Legacy Programs

Nickname
PIDs
Title
Primary Investigator - Institution
Extragalactic
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
Galactic / Planetary
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