NEOWISE-R: Single-Exposure Infrared Image Metadata for Asteroid Detection

NASA's NEOWISE-R mission systematically images the sky at 3.4 and 4.6 μm to detect and characterize asteroids and comets. The metadata table contains processing information, image center coordinates, and derived statistics for each single-exposure frame, such as source counts and artifact flags. The data was last updated on March 13, 2026.

Use Cases

• Filtering processed image frames based on pipeline status flags mentioned in the description
• Analyzing source detection statistics based on profile-fit photometry Signal-to-Noise ratios
• Correlating image metadata with extracted source catalogs using unique scan and frame identifiers
• Assessing data quality by examining counts of sources affected by artifacts like latent images

Strengths

• Data originates from the NASA Planetary Science Division's NEOWISE mission, a dedicated infrared survey.
• Metadata includes specific derived statistics, such as the number of sources with SNR > 3.
• Systematic imaging at two infrared wavelengths (3.4 and 4.6 μm) provides consistent observational data.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description notes much information is processing-specific and may not interest general users.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected by the NEOWISE space-based infrared survey telescope.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 17:50:55.044430; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Sky survey data; spatial coverage is celestial.