The NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) is built around a master list of extragalactic objects for which cross identifications of object names and positions are established using data published in journal articles and survey catalogs covering all wavelengths. Detailed photometry, positions, and redshift data are assimilated, entered with uncertainties when available, and linked to bibliographic references, abstracts and online literature. NED also maintains an image archive that currently contains over 1.9 million images, maps and links to external images. NED's image archive focuses on unique FITS images acquired from authors of journal articles, but also includes cut-outs from very large sky surveys such as 2MASS and the Digitized Sky Survey. NED currently contains data for over 7.5 million objects, and the content is continually being updated. Revised versions of the public database are released every few months.

NED images are represented as overlays in red on the ISSA all-sky composite image above. Either type in a coordinate or click on any red region to get a close-up of the area; the size of the search is adjustable.

Please note that the above all-sky grid is in Galactic coordinates, however, the default coordinate search is done using Equatorial J2000, unless specified otherwise within the coordinate input string. This service is a collaborative project between the NED group and the Infrared Science Archive (IRSA) group at the Infrared Processsing and Analysis Center (IPAC).