Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey: Millimeter-Wave Images and Source Catalog v2.1

Version 2.1 of the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey includes improved millimeter-wave images and an associated source catalog. The catalog has about a 75% overlap with the previous v1 release, with differences primarily among faint, low signal-to-noise sources. NASA released this updated version, which corrects a flux calibration error from v1, making sources on average brighter by approximately a factor of 1.5.

Use Cases

• Identify and catalog star-forming regions based on millimeter-wave emission.
• Compare source detection and properties between survey versions v1 and v2.
• Study molecular cloud structures in specific regions like M17, Mon R2, and Orion.
• Calibrate or cross-match astronomical catalogs using the noted positional accuracy information.

Strengths

• Includes new fields not in the v1 release, expanding coverage in the outer and inner galaxy.
• Images have improved fidelity and more uniform noise compared to the previous version.
• Catalog parameters were selected to minimize false positives, increasing confidence in objects present in both v1 and v2.
• A flux calibration error from v1 is understood and corrected in this version.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description notes positional offsets of a few arcseconds in some fields, which may affect cross-matching.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data gathered from the Bolocam instrument survey of the Galactic Plane, with source extraction performed by Bolocat.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:50:39.377561; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Covers the Galactic Plane, including specific regions like M17, IRAS 22172, Mon R2, NGC 2264, Orion, and scattered fields at various longitudes.