Spitzer South Ecliptic Pole MIPS Extended Source Catalog

The Spitzer South Ecliptic Pole MIPS Extended Source Catalog contains candidate extended sources identified from Spitzer/MIPS 24 and 70 μm imaging of an 11.5 square degree region near the South Ecliptic Pole. This data was collected by NASA to complement sub-millimeter observations from the BLAST telescope and support the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES). The catalog was last updated on 2026-03-13.

Use Cases

• Characterizing sub-millimeter selected galaxies based on multi-wavelength infrared imaging.
• Cross-matching extended infrared sources with known objects in the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED).
• Analyzing galaxy morphology and flux properties based on point response function (PRF) and aperture photometry comparisons.
• Supporting multi-wavelength surveys like HerMES by providing complementary infrared data.

Strengths

• Covers a specific 11.5 square degree region of sky near the South Ecliptic Pole.
• Integrates data from multiple major astronomical projects: Spitzer, BLAST, and HerMES.
• Sources are identified using a defined 3-sigma criterion comparing PRF-fitted and aperture fluxes.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect observational bias inherent to the specific sky region and instrument sensitivities.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Imaging from the Spitzer Space Telescope's MIPS instrument, with source identification via PRF and aperture flux comparison.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 17:29:34.505343; freshness should be verified.

Geography

An 11.5 square degree region near the South Ecliptic Pole in the sky.