The Hidden Life of Stars: Embedded Beginnings to AGB Endings in the PHANGS-JWST Sample. I. Catalog of Mid-IR Sources

Abstract

We present a multiwavelength catalog of mid-infrared-selected compact sources in 19 nearby galaxies, combining JWST NIRCam/MIRI, HST UV-optical broadband, H$\alpha$ narrow-band, and ALMA CO observations. We detect 24,945 compact sources at 21 $\mu$m and 55,581 at 10 $\mu$m. Artificial star tests show 50% completeness limits of $\sim$5 $\mu$Jy for the 10 $\mu$m catalog, and $\sim$24 $\mu$Jy for the 21 $\mu$m catalog. We find that 21 $\mu$m compact sources contribute $\sim$20% of the total galaxy emission in that band, but only contribute $5%$ at 10 $\mu$m. We classify sources using stellar evolution and population synthesis models combined with empirical classifications derived from the literature. Our classifications include H$\alpha$-bright and dust-embedded optically faint clusters, red supergiants (RSGs), oxygen-rich and carbon-rich AGB 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 enables analyses of infrared-bright stellar populations. We find that H$\alpha$-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 H$\alpha$-bright stage. The luminosity functions of 10 and 21 $\mu$m sources follow power-law distributions, with the 21 $\mu$m slope ($-1.7 \pm 0.1$) similar to that of giant molecular cloud mass functions and ultraviolet bright star-forming complexes, while the 10 $\mu$m slope ($-2.0 \pm 0.1$) is closer to that of young stellar clusters.