C2D High Reliability OFF-CLOUD Catalog: Spitzer Observations of Star-Forming Regions

The Cores to Disks (C2D) Spitzer Legacy Program catalog from NASA contains observations of sources spanning the evolutionary sequence from molecular cores to protoplanetary disks. The High Reliability OFF-CLOUD Catalog provides a reliable list of sources from five nearby large molecular clouds, derived from the Full Catalog with good signal-to-noise detection requirements. The dataset was last updated on 2026-03-13.

Use Cases

• Identifying candidate protostars and substellar objects based on infrared flux data from IRAC and MIPS instruments.
• Analyzing the evolution of circumstellar dust, the raw material for planetary cores, in systems up to about 10 Myr old.
• Comparing star-forming environments across different molecular clouds like Chamaeleon II, Lupus, Ophiuchus, Perseus, and Serpens.
• Studying the correlation between cloud mass, stellar mass, and the luminosity of young stellar objects.

Strengths

• Observations from all three Spitzer instruments (IRAC, MIPS, and IRS) provide multi-wavelength data.
• Targets about 150 known compact cores and surveys five of the nearest large molecular clouds.
• Probes about 190 systems likely to be in early stages of planetary system formation.
• Catalog focuses on high reliability, requiring good signal-to-noise detection in some bands.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect observational bias inherent to the specific Spitzer Legacy Program fields.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Observational data from the Spitzer Space Telescope's Cores to Disks (C2D) Legacy Program.

Time Range

Observations likely span the operational period of the Spitzer Space Telescope.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 17:45:09.977385; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Observations of five molecular clouds: Chamaeleon II, Lupus, Ophiuchus, Perseus, and Serpens.