SAGE-SMC: Infrared Source Catalog for the Small Magellanic Cloud

Spitzer Space Telescope Cycle 4 legacy program data mapping the Small Magellanic Cloud at 160 microns. The catalog combines observations from two epochs separated by 9 months to remove imaging artifacts and constrain source variability. NASA produced this dataset as part of the SAGE-SMC project, with initial results described by Gordon et al. in 2010.

Use Cases

• Identify and classify evolved stars based on infrared point-source variability across two epochs.
• Study young stellar objects (YSOs) using multi-epoch infrared photometry from the Spitzer MIPS instrument.
• Analyze the effects of low metallicity on star formation using data from the tidally-disrupted Small Magellanic Cloud.
• Remove striping and column/row artifacts in infrared imagery by combining data from two detector orientation angles.

Strengths

• Sources were filtered for point-like morphology with a correlation value >0.89, removing approximately two-thirds of initial entries.
• Final catalog sources have a signal-to-noise (S/N) >5, with an estimated reliability of less than 1% unreliable sources.
• Observations from two epochs separated by 3-9 months provide constraints on source variability.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The 'Full List' contains all extracted sources, including spurious ones, requiring user caution.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Spitzer Space Telescope

Collection Method

Infrared observations from the Spitzer MIPS instrument at 160 microns, processed with StarFinder code.

Time Range

Observations from two epochs (Epochs 1 and 2) separated by 9 months for MIPS data.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 17:34:31.535094; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a tidally-disrupted, low-metallicity dwarf galaxy.