Whether the near-infrared ( NIR ) extinction law is universal has been a long debated topic .
Based on the APOGEE H-band spectroscopic survey as a key project of SDSS-III , the intrinsic colors of a large number of giant stars are accurately determined from the stellar effective temperature .
Taking this advantage and using a sample of 5942 K-type giants , the NIR extinction law is carefully re-visited .
The color excess ratio E ( { J } - { H } ) / E ( { J } - { K _ { S } } ) , representative of the NIR extinction law , shows no dependence on the color excess when E ( { J } - { K _ { S } } ) changes from { \sim } 0.3 to { \sim } 4.0 , which implies a universal NIR extinction law from diffuse to dense regions .
The constant value of E ( { J } - { H } ) / E ( { J } - { K _ { S } } ) , 0.64 , corresponds to a power law index of 1.95 .
The other two ratios , E ( { H } - { K _ { S } } ) / E ( { J } - { K _ { S } } ) and E ( { J } - { H } ) / E ( { H } - { K _ { S } } ) , are 0.36 and 1.78 respectively .
The results are consistent with the MRN dust size distribution .