Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe DR5

Point Source Catalog

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This is a catalog of 501 point sources detected in the nine year WMAP sky maps independently from any previous surveys. The sources listed in the catalog were detected as ≥ 5 sigma peaks in WMAP maps that have been weighted by the square root of the number of observations and optimally filtered for point source detection. The position of each source is obtained by fitting a Gaussian profile plus a baseline to each detected peak. Of the 501 detected sources, 463 have one or more possible 5 GHz counterparts. Of the sources with no 5 GHz identification, some are close to the detection threshold and may be spurious. The catalog lists the following parameters for each source:

Cols 1 -- 2Right Ascension and Declination (2000); formatted hhmmss.s and dddmmss
Cols 3 -- 4Galactic Longitude and Latitude
Cols 5 -- 9WMAP Flux (Jy) for each frequency band
Cols 10 -- 14Flux Error (Jy) for each frequency band
Cols 15 -- 165 Ghz Identification
Col 17Flag for multiple 5 GHz identifications
Col 18WMAP DR1 Identification Number
Col 19WMAP Spectral Index
Col 20WMAP Spectral Index Error
Col 21Bitmask indicating bands where SNR > 5

The CMB-free method identifies 502 point sources in a linear combination map formed from Q, V, and W band maps using weights such that CMB fluctuations are removed and flat-spectrum point sources are retained. Source fluxes are then estimated by integrating the Q, V, and W temperature maps within 1.25 degrees of each source position and applying a correction for Eddington bias due to noise. The catalog lists the following parameters for each source:

Cols 1 -- 2Right Ascension and Declination (2000); formatted hhmmss.s and dddmmss
Cols 3 -- 4Galactic Longitude and Latitude
Cols 5 -- 7WMAP Flux for Q, V, and W (Jy)
Cols 8 -- 10WMAP Flux Error for Q, V, and W (Jy)
Cols 11 -- 125 Ghz Identification
Col 13M for sources with multiple 5 GHz IDs
Col 14WMAP Source ID

Additional Information

  • "Extragalactic Point Source Search in Five-Year WMAP 41, 61, and 94 Ghz Maps", Chen, X., and Wright, E.L., 2009, ApJ, 694, 222

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A service of the HEASARC and of the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA/GSFC
Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
HEASARC Director: Dr. Andrew F. Ptak
LAMBDA Director: Dr. Thomas M. Essinger-Hileman
NASA Official: Dr. Thomas M. Essinger-Hileman
Web Curator: Mr. Michael R. Greason