Herschel SPIRE Point Source Catalog: 250 Micron Submillimeter Sky Survey

The Herschel-SPIRE instrument mapped about 9% of the sky. This catalog contains the results of a systematic and homogeneous source extraction from 6878 scan maps at 250 microns, performed by NASA, with data last updated in March 2026. It includes point sources and slightly extended sources, with flux uncertainties established via artificial source insertion experiments.

Use Cases

• Identify and catalog submillimeter point sources based on systematic extraction from 6878 scan maps.
• Analyze source reliability and spatial extent based on the range of additional flags provided.
• Compare photometric accuracy for point sources using the four different extraction methods mentioned.
• Study extragalactic confusion limits by examining sources near the imposed SNR threshold.

Strengths

• Covers approximately 9% of the sky, providing a substantial submillimeter survey.
• Source extraction was performed systematically and homogeneously on 6878 available scan maps.
• Flux density uncertainties were established using artificial source insertion experiments into real data.

Limitations

• Regions affected by strong Galactic emission, mostly in the Galactic Plane, were excluded.
• 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

Source extraction from Herschel-SPIRE instrument scan maps using four different photometry methods.

Time Range

The temporal coverage of the observations is not explicitly stated in the provided description.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 17:05:57.197985; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Approximately 9% of the sky, excluding regions with strong Galactic emission.