Milky Way Molecular Cloud Catalog from CO Emission Measurements

A catalog of 8,107 molecular clouds covering the Galactic plane within +/- 5 degrees latitude, derived from 20 years of CO line observations. The total H2 mass is 1.2 x 10^9 solar masses, with clouds showing a range of surface densities and systematic variations with Galactic radius. The HEASARC created this table in March 2019 based on data from Dame et al. (2001).

Use Cases

• Analyzing the line width-size relation for molecular clouds across the Galactic disk.
• Studying the systematic variation of cloud surface density and velocity dispersion with Galactic radius.
• Disentangling kinematic distance ambiguities using the correlation between velocity dispersion and cloud properties.
• Investigating turbulent energy injection rates in the inner versus outer Galaxy.

Strengths

• Catalog of 8,107 molecular clouds provides a large sample for statistical analysis.
• Covers 98% of the 12CO emission observed within the specified Galactic latitude range.
• Total H2 mass of 1.2 x 10^9 solar masses, in agreement with previous estimates.
• Data derived from a 20-year observational campaign with consistent methodology.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect observational biases inherent to the specific telescopes and survey strategy.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA HEASARC), based on CDS Catalog J/ApJ/834/57.

Collection Method

Hierarchical cluster identification applied to a Gaussian decomposition of Dame et al. (2001) CO survey data.

Time Range

Observations collected over a period of 20 years.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:17:04.715562; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Entire Galactic plane, with Galactic latitude b +/- 5 degrees.