The Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) Spectral Library: Cool Stars
  We present a 0.8 -5 micron spectral library of 210 cool stars observed at a
resolving power of R = lambda / Delta lambda ~ 2000 with the medium-resolution
infrared spectrograph, SpeX, at the 3.0 m NASA Infrared Telescope Facility
(IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The stars have well established MK spectral
classifications and are mostly restricted to near-solar metallicities. The
sample contains the F, G, K, and M spectral types with luminosity classes
between I and V, but also includes some AGB, carbon, and S stars. In contrast
to some other spectral libraries, the continuum shape of the spectra are
measured and preserved in the data reduction process. The spectra are
absolutely flux calibrated using Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) photometry.
Potential uses of the library include studying the physics of cool stars,
classifying and studying embedded young clusters and optically obscured regions
of the Galaxy, evolutionary population synthesis to study unresolved stellar
populations in optically-obscured regions of galaxies, and synthetic
photometry. The library is available in digital form from the IRTF website.
