Herschel SPIRE Point Source Catalog Definitions
Overview
The Herschel-SPIRE instrument mapped about 9% of the sky in Submillimeter broad-band filters centered at 250, 350, and 500 microns (1199, 857, 600 GHz) with spatial resolutions of 17.9", 24.2", 35.4" respectively. In total, we used the 6878 standard configuration scan maps that are available, including calibration observations. The SPIRE Point Source Catalog contains the result of a systematic and homogeneous source extraction on those maps using 4 different photometry extraction methods. Only regions affected by strong Galactic emission, mostly in the Galactic Plane, were excluded, as they tested the limits of the available source extraction methods. Aimed primarily at point sources, that allow for the best photometric accuracy, the catalog contains also significant fractions of slightly extended sources up to a limit. With most SPIRE maps being confusion limited, uncertainties in flux densities were established as a function of structure noise and flux density, based on the results of artificial source insertion experiments into real data along a range of celestial backgrounds. Many sources have been rejected that do not pass the imposed SNR threshold, especially at flux densities approaching the extragalactic confusion limit. A range of additional flags provide information on the reliability of the flux information, as well as the spatial extent and orientation of a source. Users are encouraged to check the flux density estimates of all 4 methods and follow the guidelines given in the Explanatory Supplement regarding their interpretation for point- and extended sources. For tracing back catalog objects to the originally contributing detections in SPIRE observations, a cross identification table is available that provides the relevant observation identifiers used by the Herschel Science Archive. For further details on catalog construction, detailed content, and validation, please see the Explanatory Supplement.
Direct download (csv):
SPIRE Point Source Catalog: 250 microns
SPIRE Point Source Catalog: 350 microns
SPIRE Point Source Catalog: 550 microns
Cross-Reference Matrix
| Name | Intype | Units | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPSCID | Object identifier | ||
| DET | SPIRE detector array PSW = 250 microns PMW = 350 microns PLW = 500 microns |
||
| ra | deg | Right Ascension (J2000) | |
| dec | deg | Declination (J2000) | |
| RA_ERR | arcsec | Positional uncertainty in RA | |
| DEC_ERR | arcsec | Positional uncertainty in Dec | |
| POS_FLAG | Source position flag T = position uncertainties > search radius of the catalog consolidation algorithm |
||
| ASTROM_FLAG | Astrometry flag T = one or more contributing detections came from a map with positional offset > 5" from WISE. A total of 390609 records were flagged. |
||
| NMAP | Number of times the source should have been detected | ||
| NDET | Number of actual detections | ||
| DUPL_FLAG | Duplication flag T = more than one source from the same map was identified as part of this object |
||
| FLUX | mJy | Average TML derived flux | |
| FLUXTML_ERR | mJy | Propagated weighted error of TML derived flux | |
| CONF_ERR | mJy | Confusion uncertainty | |
| FLUX_ERR | mJy | Total flux uncertainty | |
| SNR | Signal to noise ratio | ||
| INSTERR_FLAG | Instrument noise flag This flag indicates that the TML returned no count for the number of readouts in the central aperture. To still be able to derive an instrument noise component, a typical number was used, based on the instrument configuration and multiplied with the number of repeats of the observation. |
||
| FLUXSUS | mJy | Average Sussextractor derived flux | |
| FLUXSUS_ERR | mJy | Propagated weighted error of Sussextractor derived flux | |
| FLUXDAO | mJy | Average DAOphot derived flux | |
| FLUXDAO_ERR | mJy | Propagated weighted error of DAOphot derived flux | |
| FLUXTM2 | mJy | Average TM2 derived flux | |
| FLUXTM2_ERR | mJy | Propagated weighted error of TM2 derived flux | |
| FWHM1 | arcsec | Average major axis FWHM | |
| FWHM2 | arcsec | Average minor axis FWHM | |
| FWHM1_ERR | arcsec | Uncertainty of FWHM1 | |
| FWHM2_ERR | arcsec | Uncertainty of FWHM2 | |
| ROT | deg | Average rotation angle, measured counterclockwise from west | |
| ROT_ERR | deg | Uncertainty of ROT | |
| PNTSRC_FLAG | Point source flag T = major and minor axis FWHM are compatible with a point source at that flux level. It is an indicator but not conclusive, in particular not for small fluxes. |
||
| EXTSRC_FLAG | Extended source flag T = any of the major or minor axis FWHM are larger than the threshold for point sources. Very likely to be extended or a combination of more than one point source. |
||
| LOWFWHM_FLAG | Low FWHM flag T = any of the major or minor axis FWHM is smaller than the lower threshold for point sources. Possibly a statistical outlier, or a spurious source due to map artifact. |
||
| LARGEGAL_FLAG | Large Galaxy Atlas flag T = catalog position is within the ellipse for a galaxy in the 2MASS Large Galaxy Atlas with major axis > 1'. |
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| MAPEDGE_FLAG | Map edge flag T = at least one contributing source shows ≥ 10% of map pixels as NaN within the outer background annulus. |
||
| SSOCONT_FLAG | SSO contamination flag T = at least one contributing source is within a rectangle defined by the tracklet of a known asteroid and the beam FWHM of the map. |
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| Q3CTILE | Q3C tile identifier |