Herschel SPIRE Point Source Catalog: 350-Micron Submillimeter Observations

A catalog of point and slightly extended sources detected at 350 microns (857 GHz) by the Herschel Space Observatory's SPIRE instrument. The catalog is derived from 6,878 scan maps covering approximately 9% of the sky, with flux densities and uncertainties established through artificial source insertion experiments. It was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Identifying and cataloging submillimeter point sources based on systematic extraction from 6,878 scan maps.
• Analyzing source reliability and photometric accuracy using the four different photometry extraction methods and provided flags.
• Studying source spatial extent and orientation based on the additional flags included in the catalog.
• Cross-referencing catalog objects with original Herschel Science Archive observations using the available identification table.

Strengths

• Systematic and homogeneous source extraction across approximately 9% of the sky.
• Photometry derived from 6,878 standard configuration scan maps, including calibration observations.
• Flux density uncertainties established via artificial source insertion experiments across a range of celestial backgrounds.
• Provides flux estimates from four different photometry extraction methods for comparison.

Limitations

• Regions with strong Galactic emission, mostly in the Galactic Plane, were excluded.
• Many sources near the extragalactic confusion limit were rejected for not passing the SNR threshold.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Source extraction from Herschel-SPIRE instrument scan maps at 350 microns.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 18:59:49.446462; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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