Finding η Car Analogs in Nearby Galaxies Using Spitzer: II. Identification of An Emerging Class of Extragalactic Self-Obscured Stars

Why JWST is important:- While we have shown that surveys for extragalactic Eta Carina analogs is feasible using archival Spitzer data, JWST will be a far more powerful probe of these stars. The HST-like resolution will be enormously useful to either greatly reduce the problem of confusion or to greatly expand the survey volume. Far more important will be the ability to carry out the survey at 24?m, which will increase the time over which dusty shells can be identified from hundreds of years to thousands of years, greatly improving the statistics and our ability to survey the long term evolution of these systems and the relationship between stellar eruptions and supernovae. (click here for the abstract)

Reference: Rubab Khan, NASA Goddard / The Ohio State University, Co-authors:- C. S. Kochanek, K. Z. Stanek, Jill Gerke, http://arxiv.org/abs/1407.7530 Submitted to ApJ