Spectral irradiance calibration in the infrared. IX. Calibrated stellar spectra using DIRBE radiometry

The absolute calibration of the COBE/DIRBE data in the range 1-25 mu m is examined through the in-band fluxes of DIRBE's own set of point-source calibration objects. Using the values of DIRBE fluxes expected for Sirius and for 10 of our published set of absolutely calibrated K and M giants that are in common with DIRBE's own calibration network, I find consistency with the project's formal basis, namely, our published calibrated spectrum of Sirius. This consistency means that one can use the DIRBE radiometry to construct absolutely calibrated "stellar templates" (i.e., continuous calibrated spectra from 1 to 35 mu m) on the assumption that the intrinsic stellar spectrum of a star of given spectral class matches the intrinsic spectrum for the star of the same spectral class among the set of K and M giants, the spectrum of which has been absolutely defined. This technique is validated using a set of early M giants with well-characterized ground-based photometry and confirmed with IRAS low-resolution spectra.