Deriving extinction laws with O stars: from the IR to the UV (1410.5184v1)

Abstract: We have recently derived a family of extinction laws for 30 Doradus that provides better fits to the optical photometry of obscured stars in the Galaxy and the LMC. Simultaneously, we are extending our Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey (GOSSS) to fainter, more extinguished stars to obtain accurate spectral types for massive stars with more than 6 magnitudes of $V$-band extinction. I have combined both lines of research with 2MASS, WISE, and Spitzer photometry to obtain the 1-10 micron extinction law for O stars in the solar neighborhood. I present these results and compare them with the extinction laws in the same wavelength range derived from late-type stars and H II regions. I also discuss plans to extend the newly derived optical-IR extinction laws to the UV.