Recalibrating the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) W4 Filter
  We present a revised effective wavelength and photometric calibration for the
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) W4 band, including tests of
empirically motivated modifications to its pre-launch laboratory-measured
relative system response curve. We derived these by comparing measured W4
photometry with photometry synthesised from spectra of galaxies and planetary
nebulae. The difference between measured and synthesised photometry using the
pre-launch laboratory-measured W4 relative system response can be as large as
0.3 mag for galaxies and 1 mag for planetary nebulae. We find the W4 effective
wavelength should be revised upward by 3.3%, from 22.1 micron to 22.8 micron,
and the W4 AB magnitude of Vega should be revised from m = 6.59 to m = 6.66. In
an attempt to reproduce the observed W4 photometry, we tested three
modifications to the pre-launch laboratory-measured W4 relative system response
curve, all of which have an effective wavelength of 22.8 micron. Of the three
relative system response curve models tested, a model that matches the
laboratory-measured relative system response curve, but has the wavelengths
increased by 3.3% (or 0.73 micron) achieves reasonable agreement between the
measured and synthesised photometry.
