Infrared Astronomical Satellite, IRAS

The Faint Source Survey (FSS) is the definitive IRAS data set for faint point sources. The FSS was produced by point-source filtering the individual detector data streams and then coadding those data streams using a trimmed-average algorithm. The resulting images, or plates, give the best estimate from the IRAS survey data of the point source flux density at every surveyed point of the sky. The Faint Source Catalog (FSC) is a compilation of the sources extracted from the FSS plates that have met reasonable reliability requirements. Averaged over the whole catalog, the FSC is at least 98.5% reliable at 12 and 25 microns, and ~94% at 60 microns. For comparison, the IRAS Point Source Catalog (PSC) is > 99.997% reliable, but the sensitivity of the FSC exceeds that of the PSC by about a factor of 2.5. The FSC contains data for 173,044 point sources in unconfused regions with flux densities typically greater than 0.2 Jy at 12, 25, and 60 microns and greater than 1.0 Jy at 100 microns.

Sources with SNR > 3 but which do not meet the reliability requirements of the FSC are cataloged in the Faint Source Reject File (FSR). The FSR contains data for 593,516 sources. Moshir et al. (1992) describe the processing methods used to produce the FSR and give cautionary notes about its interpretation.

[Adapted from the Explanatory Supplement.]

Reference:
Moshir, M. et al. 1992, Explanatory Supplement to the IRAS Faint Source Survey, version 2, JPL D-10015 8/92 (Pasadena: JPL).

Version and release date: 2.0, 1990 Sept

The Faint Source Catalog

See the format of the Catalog

Explanation of color correction

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