%0 Generic %1 poznanski2012empirical %A Poznanski, Dovi %A Prochaska, J. Xavier %A Bloom, Joshua S. %D 2012 %K correlation dust sodium %T An Empirical Relation between Sodium Absorption and Dust Extinction %U http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.6107 %X Dust extinction and reddening are ubiquitous in astronomical observations and are often a major source of systematic uncertainty. We present here a study of the correlation between extinction in the Milky Way and the equivalent width of the NaI D absorption doublet. Our sample includes more than 100 high resolution spectra from the KECK telescopes and nearly a million low resolution spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We measure the correlation to unprecedented precision, constrain its shape, and derive an empirical relation between these quantities with a dispersion of order 0.15 magnitude in E(B-V). From the shape of the curve of growth we further show that a typical sight line through the Galaxy crosses about three dust clouds. We provide a brief guide on how to best estimate extinction to extragalactic sources such as supernovae, using the NaI D absorption feature, under a variety of circumstances.

@misc{poznanski2012empirical, abstract = {Dust extinction and reddening are ubiquitous in astronomical observations and are often a major source of systematic uncertainty. We present here a study of the correlation between extinction in the Milky Way and the equivalent width of the NaI D absorption doublet. Our sample includes more than 100 high resolution spectra from the KECK telescopes and nearly a million low resolution spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We measure the correlation to unprecedented precision, constrain its shape, and derive an empirical relation between these quantities with a dispersion of order 0.15 magnitude in E(B-V). From the shape of the curve of growth we further show that a typical sight line through the Galaxy crosses about three dust clouds. We provide a brief guide on how to best estimate extinction to extragalactic sources such as supernovae, using the NaI D absorption feature, under a variety of circumstances.}, added-at = {2012-06-28T07:25:59.000+0200}, author = {Poznanski, Dovi and Prochaska, J. Xavier and Bloom, Joshua S.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2c48f374bf714dd96dc10b0e26eeb01f1/miki}, description = {[1206.6107] An Empirical Relation between Sodium Absorption and Dust Extinction}, interhash = {d054c61256f576fe3b389b72ee9412ed}, intrahash = {c48f374bf714dd96dc10b0e26eeb01f1}, keywords = {correlation dust sodium}, note = {cite arxiv:1206.6107Comment: Submitted to MNRAS}, timestamp = {2012-06-28T07:26:00.000+0200}, title = {An Empirical Relation between Sodium Absorption and Dust Extinction}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.6107}, year = 2012 }