Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalog

About ESZ

Early Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster list (ESZ)

The Planck Early Sunyaev-Zeldovich (ESZ) cluster sample is a list of SZ cluster candidates which are detected by their multi-frequency signature through the Planck bands. The thermal SZ effect is the result of energetic electrons in the hot intra-cluster medium inverse-Compton scattering off the CMB photons. The net result is a distortion in the shape of the CMB spectrum which results in a deficit of flux density below 220 GHz and an increment in flux density at higher frequencies. By utilizing a matched multi-frequency filter, the spectral signature of this distortion can be detected and measured in the Planck all-sky maps, which enables cluster candidates to be detected. When a Planck SZ cluster candidate is identified as an X-ray cluster the coordinates of the X-ray counterpart (i.e., the X-ray centroid) are given in the catalog.

Planck ESZ Data Column Descriptions

Name Intype Units Description
INDEX int Index number
NAME char Source name
GLON double deg Galactic longitude from Planck
GLAT double deg Galactic latitude from Planck
RA double deg Right Ascension from Planck (J2000)
DEC double deg Declination from Planck (J2000)
SNR double Signal-to-noise ratio returned by the matched multi-filter (MMF3)
EXT_ID char Name of associated cluster
REDSHIFT double Redshift of cluster
GLON_X double deg Galactic longitude of associated X-ray cluster
GLAT_X double deg Galactic latitude of associated X-ray cluster
RA_X double deg Right Ascension (J2000) of associated X-ray cluster
DEC_X double deg Declination (J2000) of associated X-ray cluster
THETA_X double arcmin Angular Size at 5R500 from X-ray data
Y_PSX double arcmin^2 Integrated Compton-Y at X-ray position and within THETA_X
Y_PSX_ERR double arcmin^2 Uncertainty in Y_PSX
THETA double arcmin Estimated angular size from matched multi-filter (MMF3)
THETA_ERR double arcmin Uncertainty in THETA
COMPTON_Y double arcmin^2 Integrated Compton-Y at Planck position and within THETA_X
COMPTON_Y_ERR double arcmin^2 Uncertainty in Compton-Y