The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Legacy in the Magellanic Clouds: An Online Stellar Sight Line Atlas1

Abstract

We present an atlas of stellar sight line data from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellite for 287 stars in the Magellanic Clouds, obtained from eight years of satellite operations. The intent of our project is to make this rich ensemble data set accessible to a broad community of researchers in a standardized format that will enable easy identification of subsets of these data that are appropriate for pursuing specific science programs. We present the data in a standardized manner, showing key interstellar lines on a velocity scale, optical (MCELS) and infrared (Spitzer) sight line context images, and overview plots of the spectral region containing the O VI λλ1032, 1038 doublet, and the entire 905-1187 Å spectral range observed with FUSE. Objects with multiple observations have had their data summed to directly provide the highest signal-to-noise ratio available. These data are accessible online as a High Level Science Product through the Multimission Archive at Space Telescope (MAST). In this article, we describe the data sets and processing, the atlas materials, and the MAST interface in detail, and also provide examples of how to use these materials.