Planck Catalog of Galactic Cold Clumps: 13,188 Cold Sources

13,188 Galactic cold sources were detected across the whole sky by combining Planck satellite data at 857, 545, and 353 GHz with IRAS data at 3 THz. The Planck Catalogue of Galactic Cold Clumps (PGCC) was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, with the last metadata update in 2026. Reliable distance estimates for 5,574 sources allow the derivation of physical properties like mass, size, density, and luminosity.

Use Cases

• Study the spatial distribution of cold molecular material based on the whole-sky coverage.
• Model star formation processes based on the physical properties of cold clumps.
• Analyze the temperature structure of the interstellar medium based on source temperatures ranging from 5.8 to 20 K.
• Cross-match with other astronomical surveys based on the multi-frequency detection method.

Strengths

• Contains 13,188 Galactic sources, providing a large sample for statistical analysis.
• Includes reliable distance estimates for 5,574 sources, enabling derivation of physical properties.
• Covers the whole sky, from the Galactic plane to high latitudes.
• Sources have a defined median temperature range between 13 and 14.5 K.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Multi-frequency detection combining Planck satellite bands (857, 545, 353 GHz) with IRAS data at 3 THz.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 17:07:55.671928; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Whole sky (Galactic)