C2D Full CORES Catalog: Spitzer Observations of Star-Forming Cores

The Cores to Disks (C2D) Spitzer Legacy Program used three instruments to observe sources from molecular cores to protoplanetary disks. It targeted about 150 known compact cores and surveyed five of the nearest large molecular clouds for new candidate protostars. The Full CORES Catalog provides a list of sources from 82 small cloud cores, described as the most complete but least reliable list for these fields.

Use Cases

• Identify candidate protostars and substellar objects based on infrared observations from the Spitzer IRAC and MIPS instruments.
• Study the evolution of circumstellar dust, the raw material for planetary cores, in systems up to about 10 million years old.
• Compare star-forming environments across a wide range of cloud masses and stellar masses mentioned in the program description.
• Analyze the properties of sources within 82 small cloud cores (CORES fields) cataloged by the program.

Strengths

• Observations from three Spitzer instruments (IRAC, MIPS, IRS) provide multi-wavelength infrared data.
• Targets about 150 known compact cores and surveys five of the nearest large molecular clouds.
• Program specifically probed faint objects as low as 0.001 solar luminosities.

Limitations

• The catalog is described as the 'most complete but least reliable' list of sources for its 82 fields.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Observational data from the Cores to Disks (C2D) Spitzer Legacy Program.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:37:29.705507; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Observations of five of the nearest large molecular clouds and 82 small cloud cores.