CGRO/EGRET Third Catalog: 271 High-Energy Gamma-Ray Sources

271 high-energy gamma-ray sources detected by the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory between April 1991 and October 1995. The catalog includes 5 pulsars, 66 high-confidence blazars, and 170 unidentified sources, with data reprocessed to correct errors from prior versions. This database table was created and is maintained by NASA's High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC).

Use Cases

• Classifying high-energy gamma-ray source types based on cataloged identifications like pulsars and blazars.
• Analyzing temporal variability of gamma-ray sources using the multiple viewing period entries for each source.
• Validating or comparing source detection models against the 14 sources dropped from the previous catalog due to statistical significance.
• Studying the spatial distribution of high-confidence gamma-ray sources like the Large Magellanic Cloud and Cen A.

Strengths

• Contains 271 distinct high-energy sources with an average of about 20 temporal entries per source, totaling 5246 entries.
• Data is completely reprocessed to correct errors from the Second EGRET Catalog, improving reliability.
• Includes high-confidence identifications for 66 blazars and notes potential identifications for other sources.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count for the underlying detailed entries is known, but the specific features per row are not described.
• Data collection ended in 1995; freshness should be verified against more recent observations.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC).

Collection Method

Data obtained by the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on board the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory.

Time Range

1991 April 22 to 1995 October 3

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:58:30.346663; freshness should be verified

Geography

Space-based observations; celestial sources.