Planck PSZ2: All-Sky Catalog of 1,653 Sunyaev-Zeldovich Galaxy Clusters

The Planck 2nd Sunyaev-Zeldovich Source Catalog (PSZ2) is the largest SZ-selected sample of galaxy clusters, containing 1,653 detections from 29 months of full Planck mission data. It includes 1,203 confirmed clusters with identified counterparts from multi-wavelength searches using radio, microwave, infrared, optical, and X-ray data. NASA HEASARC created this table in May 2017 based on the CDS catalog J/A+A/594/A27.

Use Cases

• Study galaxy cluster selection functions based on the catalog's assessed completeness and statistical reliability.
• Analyze the population of low-redshift, X-ray under-luminous clusters revealed by SZ selection.
• Validate SZ strength parameter estimates (Y_5R500) against simulations that account for pressure-profile variation.
• Cross-match and validate cluster counterparts using the multi-wavelength identification methodology described.

Strengths

• Contains 1,653 SZ source detections, with 1,203 confirmed clusters, making it the first SZ-selected survey with over 10^3 confirmed clusters.
• The catalog's purity is placed at a lower limit of 83%, and its completeness and reliability were assessed through internal and external validation.
• Constructed from the union of three independent detection pipelines (MMF1, MMF3, PwS), potentially increasing robustness.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific modeling tasks.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA HEASARC), based on CDS Catalog J/A+A/594/A27.

Collection Method

Detected from 29 months of full Planck mission data using three pipelines: two Matched Multi-Filter implementations and PowellSnakes.

Time Range

Coverage from the 29-month Planck mission.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 17:43:27.607923; freshness should be verified.

Geography

All-sky survey.