MSX: Ultraviolet Point Source Catalog with 47,283 Astronomical Objects

47,283 ultraviolet point sources were cataloged from the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) satellite, surveying approximately half the sky. The NASA-led mission used six filters across narrow and wide-field imagers, providing positions, magnitudes, and cross-identifications with the SIMBAD astronomical database for 11,662 matched objects. The catalog was last updated by the HEASARC in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Cross-match and identify astronomical objects based on positional data and SIMBAD cross-references.
• Analyze ultraviolet magnitude distributions across six specific spectral filters (IUN3, IUN4, IUN6, IUW3, IUW6).
• Estimate false identification rates in astronomical catalogs based on the reported ~3% false match rate.
• Study the spatial coverage and completeness of ultraviolet surveys, given the catalog covers half the sky.

Strengths

• Contains 47,283 point sources with positional and photometric data.
• Includes 11,662 cross-identifications with the SIMBAD database, providing additional object metadata.
• Data originates from a defined space mission (MSX/UVISI) with documented instrument specifications and filters.

Limitations

• The catalog is not complete to the limiting magnitudes for the filters due to variations among observation sets.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• One filter (IUN5) was removed from the table as all sources had null values for it.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), via the HEASARC and CDS.

Collection Method

Observations from the MSX satellite's UVISI instrument, comprising 201 sky surveys and 32 pointed observations.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 17:35:58.453494; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Covers approximately half the celestial sky.