PCCS2: Planck Catalog of 143-GHz Compact Sources Release 2

The Planck Catalog of Compact Sources Release 2 (PCCS2) is a list of discrete astronomical objects detected across the entire sky by the European Space Agency's Planck mission. It supersedes previous catalogs and includes both Galactic and extragalactic sources detected in single-frequency maps from the full mission duration. The catalog provides polarization measurements for seven sensitive channels and is divided into the PCCS2 and PCCS2E subcatalogs based on source location and reliability.

Use Cases

• Cross-matching and identifying extragalactic sources like galaxies and quasars based on submillimeter and microwave flux densities.
• Analyzing polarization properties of compact sources using the provided polarized flux densities and orientation angles.
• Separating Galactic foreground emissions from the cosmic microwave background signal using the high-frequency extended wavelength data.
• Studying dust emission in the far-infrared and submillimeter wavelengths, an area where Planck provided an unprecedented window.

Strengths

• Provides full-sky coverage, detecting sources over the entire celestial sphere.
• Includes polarization measurements for seven Planck channels, offering data on polarized flux densities and orientation angles.
• Supersedes previous versions with improved data processing, reduced noise, and increased number of objects for the target 80% reliability.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale statistical analysis.

Provenance

Source

European Space Agency (ESA) Planck mission, with contributions from NASA.

Collection Method

Sources detected in single-frequency maps from the full duration of the Planck mission.

Time Range

Mission launched 14 May 2009; First Light Survey began 12 August 2009.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 17:38:38.088248; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Entire sky.