WISE 3-Band Cryo Source Database: 261 Million Infrared Detections

261,418,479 source detections in 3.4, 4.6, and 12 μm infrared bands from NASA's WISE telescope survey between 6 August 2010 and 29 September 2010. The data covers approximately 30% of the sky and includes positions and photometry, but contains spurious detections and artifacts. It serves as a working database to complement the more reliable WISE All-Sky Release Source Catalog.

Use Cases

• Testing for object motion based on a second, independent epoch of measurement for 30% of the sky.
• Analyzing flux variability of infrared sources by comparing with the All-Sky Release Catalog.
• Investigating the reliability of very faint source detections mentioned in the description.
• Cross-correlating detections with the vetted All-Sky Catalog to identify artifacts or transient events.

Strengths

• Contains 261,418,479 source detections across three infrared bands.
• Provides a second observational epoch covering 30% of the sky for cross-validation.
• Records are cross-correlated with the vetted WISE All-Sky Release Source Catalog.

Limitations

• The database is not a well-vetted, reliable catalog and contains spurious detections of artifacts, noise, and transient events.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Extracted from observations made by the WISE telescope during its 3-Band Cryo survey phase.

Time Range

6 August 2010 to 29 September 2010

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 18:36:07.742669; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Covers approximately 30% of the celestial sky.