MILES extended: Stellar population synthesis models from the optical to the infrared

¹ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Vía Láctea s/n, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
e-mail: benny.roeck@gmail.com
² Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, 38205, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
³ Departament d’Astronomia i Astrofisica, Universitat de Valencia, c/Dr. Moliner 50, 46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain
⁴ Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, Postbus 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands

Received: 15 October 2015
Accepted: 25 February 2016

Abstract

We present the first single-burst stellar population models, which covers the optical and the infrared wavelength range between 3500 and 50 000 Å and which are exclusively based on empirical stellar spectra. To obtain these joint models, we combined the extended MILES models in the optical with our new infrared models that are based on the IRTF (Infrared Telescope Facility) library. The latter are available only for a limited range in terms of both age and metallicity. Our combined single-burst stellar population models were calculated for ages larger than 1 Gyr, for metallicities between [ Fe / H ] = − 0.40 and 0.26, for initial mass functions of various types and slopes, and on the basis of two different sets of isochrones. They are available to the scientific community on the MILES web page. We checked the internal consistency of our models and compared their colour predictions to those of other models that are available in the literature. Optical and near infrared colours that are measured from our models are found to reproduce the colours well that were observed for various samples of early-type galaxies. Our models will enable a detailed analysis of the stellar populations of observed galaxies.