A MODEL OF THE 2-35-MU-M POINT-SOURCE INFRARED SKY

The Point Source Infrared Sky Model of Wainscoat et al. [ApJS, 83, 111 (1992)] is extended to make predictions for any filter lying wholly within the range 2.0 to 35.0 mum. The development of a library of complete 2-35 mum low-resolution spectra (with 0.1 /mum step size) that represent the 87 categories of Galactic object and four types of extragalactic source implicit in the Model supports this extension. This library is based upon the ''spectral template'' technique whereby existing spectral fragments for individual sources (from ground-based, airborne, and satellite-borne instruments) are combined into complete spectra. Templates provide a natural way to represent the complete spectral energy distributions of celestial sources for which only infrared photometry and/or partial spectroscopy are available. Consequently, templates bear upon the important general problem of establishing midinfrared calibration sources. The new Model is validated by comparison with broadband K (2.2 mum) source counts.