Fermi LAT Bright Source List: High-Significance Gamma-Ray Sources

A list of bright gamma-ray sources detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) with statistical significances of 10 sigma or higher. The list was created by NASA HEASARC in February 2009 based on the first three months of the telescope's survey data. Its primary purpose was to assist proposers for the Guest Investigator Cycle 2, with a due date of 6 March 2009.

Use Cases

• Identifying candidate gamma-ray sources for follow-up observations based on high statistical significance.
• Analyzing the spatial distribution of bright gamma-ray emitters in the early Fermi mission data.
• Comparing source properties prior to the release of the full LAT Source Catalog.

Strengths

• Sources have a high statistical significance threshold of 10 sigma.
• Data originates from the authoritative Fermi Science Support Center and NASA HEASARC.
• Created for a specific, documented purpose (Guest Investigator Cycle 2 proposals).

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The list was intended to be superseded by a later catalog, which may affect its current relevance.

Provenance

Source

NASA HEASARC, based on data from the Fermi Science Support Center.

Collection Method

Created from the first three months of Fermi LAT survey data.

Time Range

First three months of Fermi mission survey data (likely 2008).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 18:45:04.551141; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Celestial (sky survey).