The X-shooter Spectral Library (XSL)

I. DR1: Near-ultraviolet through optical spectra from the first year of the survey^⋆

¹ Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, PO BOX 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
e-mail: chenyp.astro@gmail.com; yanping@astro.rug.nl
² Observatoire Astronomique, 11 rue de l’Université, 67000 Strasbourg, France
³ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), 38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
⁴ Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, 38205 Tenerife, Spain
⁵ Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, 69622 Villeurbanne, France ; CRAL, Observatoire de Lyon, CNRS UMR 5574, 69561 Saint-Genis Laval, France
⁶ National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson AZ 85719 USA

Received: 19 August 2013
Accepted: 10 March 2014

Abstract

We present the first release of the X-shooter Spectral Library (XSL). This release contains 237 stars. The spectra in this release span a wavelength range of 3000–10 200 Å and have been observed at a resolving power of R ≡ λ/ Δλ ~ 10 000. The spectra were obtained at ESO’s 8-m Very Large Telescope (VLT). The sample contains O–M, long-period variable, C and S stars. The spectra are flux-calibrated and telluric-corrected. We describe a new technique for the telluric correction. The wavelength coverage, spectral resolution, and spectral type of this library make it well suited to stellar population synthesis of galaxies and clusters, kinematical investigation of stellar systems, and the study of the physics of cool stars.