GLIMPSE360 Archive: Infrared Point Sources from the Galactic Plane

GLIMPSE360 is a Spitzer Space Telescope program that mapped 187 degrees of Galactic longitude not covered by prior surveys, completing a full circle of the Galactic plane. The Archive provides point source data with less stringent selection criteria than the official Catalog, maintained by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The dataset was last updated on 2026-03-13.

Use Cases

• Mapping stellar density and distribution based on infrared point source detections across the Galactic plane.
• Studying the Galactic warp by analyzing the latitude center of the surveyed region.
• Comparing source properties with more stringent catalog subsets to understand selection effects.
• Completing infrared coverage of the Milky Way by filling gaps from previous Spitzer surveys.

Strengths

• Covers a specific 187-degree longitudinal span of the Galactic plane, filling gaps from seven prior surveys.
• Provides a less restrictive point source archive, likely containing a broader set of detections than the official catalog.
• Latitude coverage of about 2.8 degrees follows the Galactic warp, providing context-aware spatial sampling.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected by the Spitzer Space Telescope's Warm Mission Cycle 6 Exploration Science Program (PIDs 60020, 61070, 61071, 61072, 61073, 70072).

Time Range

Likely corresponds to the Spitzer Warm Mission observational period.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 18:11:38.715292; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Galactic longitudes l=65°-76°, 82°-102°, and 109°-265°, with a latitude range of about 2.8° centered on the Galactic warp.