COBE DIRBE Point Source Catalog

COBE DIRBE Point Source Catalog DIRBEPSC ivo://nasa.heasarc/dirbepsc NASA/GSFC HEASARC Smith et al. 2026-10-09 NASA/GSFC HEASARC help desk heasarc-vo at athena.gsfc.nasa.gov Survey Source This table contains the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) Point Source Catalog, an all-sky catalog containing infrared photometry in 10 bands from 1.25 microns to 240 microns for 11,788 of the brightest near and mid-infrared point sources in the sky. Since DIRBE had excellent temporal coverage (100-1900 independent measurements per object during the 10 month cryogenic mission in 1989 to 1990), the catalog also contains information about variability at each wavelength, including amplitudes of variation observed during the mission. Since the DIRBE spatial resolution is relatively poor (0.7 degrees), the authors carefully investigated the question of confusion, and flagged sources with infrared-bright companions within the DIRBE beam. In addition, they filtered the DIRBE light curves for data points affected by companions outside of the main DIRBE beam but within the `sky' portion of the scan. At high Galactic latitudes (|b| > 5 degrees), the catalog contains essentially all of the unconfused sources with flux densities greater than 90, 60, 60, 50, 90, and 165 Jy at 1.25, 2.2, 3.5, 4.9, 12, and 25 microns, respectively, corresponding to magnitude limits of approximately 3.1, 2.6, 1.7, 1.3, -1.3, and -3.5. At longer wavelengths and in the Galactic Plane, the completeness is less certain because of the large DIRBE beam and possible contributions from extended emission. For each source, for comparison, the names of the sources in other catalogs, their spectral types, variability types, IRAS and 2MASS photometry, SIMBAD spectral types and published variability types, and whether or not the sources are known OH/IR stars are also included. Unlike the IRAS and 2MASS Catalogs, the DIRBE Point Source Catalog was not constructed by searching the DIRBE database with a point source template and extracting sources based on S/N and confirmation criteria. The DIRBE Catalog was constructed using a target sample list obtained from other infrared catalogs. Since DIRBE is much less sensitive per scan than IRAS or 2MASS, essentially all of the point sources with high S/N light curves in the DIRBE database are already contained in IRAS, 2MASS, and/or MSX. Thus, for simplicity, the authors used these previous catalogs to select a sample for the DIRBE Point Source Catalog. Their initial sample included a total of 21,335 sources; the final catalog contains 11,788 sources. The initial sample was selected from the IRAS Point Source Catalog (1988), the 2MASS Point Source Catalog (Cutri 2003), and/or the MSX Point Source Catalog Version 1.2 (Egan et al. 1999, A&A, 349, 236) that satisfied at least one of the following criteria: (a) 2MASS J magnitude <= 4.51 (F1.25 >= 25 Jy), (b) 2MASS K magnitude <= 3.81 (F2.2 >= 20 Jy), (c) IRAS or MSX F12 >= 15 Jy, or (d) IRAS or MSX F25 >= 27.5 Jy. The 1.25 and 2.2 micron limits are equal to the average 1-sigma sensitivity per scan in the raw DIRBE light curves of Smith et al. (2002, AJ, 123, 948), while the 12 and 25 micron limits are 0.5 times the average noise levels per scan in that study. These low limits were selected in order to avoid missing variable stars that may have been faint during the 2MASS, IRAS, or MSX mission and to improve the completeness at 3.5 and 4.9 micron. Since the filtering process improves the average per measurement uncertainty, a sensitive selection criterion is warranted to include as many sources as possible. There were 7872 sources with 2MASS J <= 4.51, 20,492 sources with 2MASS K <= 3.81, 4969 sources with IRAS F12 >= 15 Jy, 40 sources in the MSX IRAS Gaps survey with MSX F12 >= 15 Jy, 2753 sources with IRAS F25 >= 27.5 Jy, and 18 sources in the MSX IRAS Gaps survey with MSX F25 >= 27.5 Jy. Thus, the initial list is dominated by stars selected by the 2MASS criteria. These lists were merged together to make a single target list, containing 21,335 sources. To merge the 2MASS and IRAS/MSX lists, the authors used a 60 arcsecond matching radius. If more than one 2MASS source was within 60 arcseconds of the IRAS position, they assumed that the brightest K band source was the match. Note that the authors did not include sources in their input list based on their 60 and/or 100 micron IRAS flux densities, as extended emission from cirrus becomes more significant at these wavelengths. This means that the DIRBE Point Source Catalog is biased against very cold objects, such as galaxies and molecular clouds. Since the authors only used the point source catalogs of 2MASS, IRAS, and MSX for source selection, their sample is also biased against extended objects. Note also that they are only targeting sources bright enough to detect their possible variability in the DIRBE database (i.e., sources that may be detected in a single DIRBE scan at at least one DIRBE wavelength). By co-adding the full light curves, it may be possible to detect fainter objects in the DIRBE database, but without variability information and with a higher likelihood of confusion. The COBE DIRBE Point Source Catalog as presented here contains the time-averaged DIRBE flux densities Fnu in the 10 DIRBE bands for all 11,785 sources in the initial list that had a flux at minimum in the weekly averaged light curve in any of the six shortest DIRBE wavelengths greater than 3 times the average noise per data point, plus three additional sources (see Section 6 of the reference paper). These flux densities were calculated after filtering the light curves. The name of the object in the catalog from which it was originally selected from is also given (IRAS/MSX and/or 2MASS). This table was created by the HEASARC in April 2012 based on <a href="https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/ApJS/154/673">CDS Catalog J/ApJS/154/673</a> files table1.dat, table4.dat and table8.dat, and contains the DIRBE data for 11,788 of the brightest near- and mid-infrared point sources in the sky together with supporting data from 2MASS, IRAS, MSX and other catalogs. This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC . 2004ApJS..154..673S https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/W3Browse/all/dirbepsc.html Catalog Research served-by HEASARC TAP https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/xamin/vo/cone?showoffsets&table=dirbepsc& GET text/xml 180 99999 true 218.87941667 -89.77169444 0.0833333333333333 https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/xamin/vo/tap https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/W3Browse/getvotable.pl?name=dirbepsc GET text/xml https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/W3Browse/w3query.pl?tablehead=name=heasarc_dirbepsc&Action=More+Options&Action=Parameter+Search&ConeAdd=1 COBE 0.0833333333333333 Infrared public dirbepsc COBE DIRBE Point Source Catalog name DIRBE Source Designation meta.id;meta.main char nullable twomass_name 2MASS Source Designation meta.id.cross char nullable ra Right Ascension degree pos.eq.ra;meta.main double nullable dec Declination degree pos.eq.dec;meta.main double nullable flux_1p25um 1.25-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.IR.J double nullable flux_1p25um_error Average 1.25-Micron Light Curve Error Jy stat.error;phot.flux.density;em.IR.J double nullable flux_2p2um 2.2-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.IR.K double nullable flux_2p2um_error Average 2.2-Micron Light Curve Error Jy stat.error;phot.flux.density;em.IR.K double nullable flux_3p5um 3.5-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.IR.3-4um double nullable flux_3p5um_error Average 3.5-Micron Light Curve Error Jy stat.error;phot.flux.density;em.IR.3-4um double nullable flux_4p9um 4.9-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.IR.4-8um double nullable flux_4p9um_error Average 4.9-Micron Light Curve Error Jy stat.error;phot.flux.density;em.IR.4-8um double nullable flux_12um 12-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.IR.8-15um double nullable flux_12um_error Average 12-Micron Light Curve Error Jy stat.error;phot.flux.density;em.IR.8-15um double nullable flux_25um 25-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.IR.15-30um double nullable flux_25um_error Average 25-Micron Light Curve Error Jy stat.error;phot.flux.density;em.IR.15-30um double nullable conf_flags_60um 60-Micron Confusion Flags meta.code.qual;em.IR.30-60um short nullable flux_240um 240-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.mm.750-1500GHz double nullable iras_cirr2_flag IRAS CIRR2 Flag meta.code.qual short nullable mag_4p9um_amp_error Uncertainty in the 4.9-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag stat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.4-8um;src.var.amplitude double nullable iras_qual_flag_60um IRAS 60-Micron Quality Flag meta.code.qual;em.IR.30-60um short nullable ctrpart_name_1 The SIMBAD Source Designation meta.id.cross char nullable alt_name IRAS/MSX Source Designation meta.id char nullable mag_60um_amp_error Uncertainty in the 60-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag stat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.30-60um;src.var.amplitude double nullable flux_2p2um_sigma Standard Deviation (Sigma) of the 2.2-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy stat.stdev;phot.flux.density;em.IR.K double nullable number_obs_2p2um Number of 2.2-Micron Unfiltered Data Points meta.number;obs;em.IR.K short nullable iras_flux_12um The IRAS 12-Micron Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.IR.8-15um double nullable gcvs_name GCVS, NSV, or NSVS Source Designation meta.id.cross char nullable iras_qual_flag_25um IRAS 25-Micron Quality Flag meta.code.qual;em.IR.15-30um short nullable mag_25um_amp 25-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag phot.mag;em.IR.15-30um;src.var.amplitude double nullable jmag 2MASS J Magnitude mag phot.mag;em.IR.J double nullable conf_flags_12um 12-Micron Confusion Flags meta.code.qual;em.IR.8-15um short nullable iras_flux_60um The IRAS 60-Micron Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.IR.30-60um double nullable opt_catalog_flag Flag [TU0] Indicates the 2MASS Associated Optical Catalog meta.code char nullable conf_flags_3p5um 3.5-Micron Confusion Flags meta.code.qual;em.IR.3-4um short nullable variability_type The GCVS Variability Type meta.code;src.var char nullable flux_240um_sigma Standard Deviation (Sigma) of the 240-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy stat.stdev;phot.flux.density;em.mm.750-1500GHz double nullable jmag_error Uncertainty in 2MASS J Magnitude mag stat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.J double nullable conf_flags_1p25um 1.25-Micron Confusion Flags meta.code.qual;em.IR.J short nullable bmag 2MASS Optical B Band Magnitude mag phot.mag;em.opt.B double nullable hmag_error Uncertainty in 2MASS H Magnitude mag stat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.H double nullable mag_140um_amp_error Uncertainty in the 140-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag stat.error;phot.mag;em.mm.1500-3000GHz;src.var.amplitude double nullable mag_4p9um_amp 4.9-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag phot.mag;em.IR.4-8um;src.var.amplitude double nullable number_obs_12um Number of 12-Micron Unfiltered Data Points meta.number;obs;em.IR.8-15um short nullable mag_100um_amp_error Uncertainty in the 100-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag stat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.60-100um;src.var.amplitude double nullable mag_100um_amp 100-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag phot.mag;em.IR.60-100um;src.var.amplitude double nullable iras_conf_flag IRAS Confusion Flag meta.code.qual char nullable mag_3p5um_amp_error Uncertainty in the 3.5-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag stat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.3-4um;src.var.amplitude double nullable mag_1p25um_amp 1.25-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag phot.mag;em.IR.J;src.var.amplitude double nullable object_type_1 The SIMBAD Object Type src.class char nullable mag_3p5um_amp 3.5-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag phot.mag;em.IR.3-4um;src.var.amplitude double nullable flux_100um_sigma Standard Deviation (Sigma) of the 100-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy stat.stdev;phot.flux.density;em.IR.60-100um double nullable iras_qual_flag_100um IRAS 100-Micron Quality Flag meta.code.qual;em.IR.60-100um short nullable flux_240um_error Average 240-Micron Light Curve Error Jy stat.error;phot.flux.density;em.mm.750-1500GHz double nullable flux_140um_error Average 140-Micron Light Curve Error Jy stat.error;phot.flux.density;em.mm.1500-3000GHz double nullable lii Galactic Longitude degree pos.galactic.lon double nullable vmag 2MASS Optical V Band Magnitude mag phot.mag;em.opt.V double nullable mag_12um_amp_error Uncertainty in the 12-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag stat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.8-15um;src.var.amplitude double nullable period_limit Limit Flag for Period meta.code;time.period char nullable mag_140um_amp 140-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag phot.mag;em.mm.1500-3000GHz;src.var.amplitude double nullable ohir_star_name OH/IR Star Compilation meta.id.cross char nullable period GCVS/NSV/NSVS Period d time.period double nullable iras_cirr3_flag IRAS CIRR3 Flag meta.code.qual short nullable flux_60um 60-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.IR.30-60um double nullable flux_25um_sigma Standard Deviation (Sigma) of the 25-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy stat.stdev;phot.flux.density;em.IR.15-30um double nullable number_obs_240um Number of 240-Micron Unfiltered Data Points meta.number;obs;em.mm.750-1500GHz short nullable conf_flags_4p9um 4.9-Micron Confusion Flags meta.code.qual;em.IR.4-8um short nullable conf_flags_25um 25-Micron Confusion Flags meta.code.qual;em.IR.15-30um short nullable bii Galactic Latitude degree pos.galactic.lat double nullable iras_flux_100um IRAS 100-Micron Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.IR.60-100um double nullable mag_25um_amp_error Uncertainty in the 25-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag stat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.15-30um;src.var.amplitude double nullable iras_qual_flag_12um IRAS 12-Micron Quality Flag meta.code.qual;em.IR.8-15um short nullable flux_140um 140-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.mm.1500-3000GHz double nullable mag_60um_amp 60-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag phot.mag;em.IR.30-60um;src.var.amplitude double nullable number_obs_4p9um Number of 4.9-Micron Unfiltered Data Points meta.number;obs;em.IR.4-8um short nullable conf_flags_100um 100-Micron Confusion Flags meta.code.qual;em.IR.60-100um short nullable number_obs_140um Number of 140-Micron Unfiltered Data Points meta.number;obs;em.mm.1500-3000GHz short nullable mag_1p25um_amp_error Uncertainty in the 1.25-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag stat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.J;src.var.amplitude double nullable mag_12um_amp 12-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag phot.mag;em.IR.8-15um;src.var.amplitude double nullable mag_2p2um_amp_error Uncertainty in the 2.2-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag stat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.K;src.var.amplitude double nullable flux_100um 100-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.IR.60-100um double nullable flux_140um_sigma Standard Deviation (Sigma) of the 140-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy stat.stdev;phot.flux.density;em.mm.1500-3000GHz double nullable flux_1p25um_sigma Standard Deviation (Sigma) of the 1.25-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy stat.stdev;phot.flux.density;em.IR.J double nullable conf_flags_240um 240-Micron Confusion Flags meta.code.qual;em.mm.750-1500GHz short nullable iras_var_flag IRAS Variability Parameter meta.code;src.var short nullable offset_2 Offset Between the Two SIMBAD Positions arcsec pos.angDistance double nullable flux_3p5um_sigma Standard Deviation (Sigma) of the 3.5-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy stat.stdev;phot.flux.density;em.IR.3-4um double nullable conf_flags_140um 140-Micron Confusion Flags meta.code.qual;em.mm.1500-3000GHz short nullable mag_2p2um_amp 2.2-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag phot.mag;em.IR.K;src.var.amplitude double nullable number_obs_25um Number of 25-Micron Unfiltered Data Points meta.number;obs;em.IR.15-30um short nullable ctrpart_name_2 The Second SIMBAD Source Designation meta.id.cross char nullable spect_type_1 The SIMBAD Spectral Type src.spType char nullable offset_1 Offset Between SIMBAD and DIRBE Positions arcsec pos.angDistance double nullable flux_60um_sigma Standard Deviation (Sigma) of the 60-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy stat.stdev;phot.flux.density;em.IR.30-60um double nullable flux_60um_error Average 60-Micron Light Curve Error Jy stat.error;phot.flux.density;em.IR.30-60um double nullable spect_type_2 The Second SIMBAD Source Spectral Type src.spType char nullable kmag 2MASS Ks Magnitude mag phot.mag;em.IR.K double nullable flux_4p9um_sigma Standard Deviation (Sigma) of the 4.9-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy stat.stdev;phot.flux.density;em.IR.4-8um double nullable mag_240um_amp 240-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag phot.mag;em.mm.750-1500GHz;src.var.amplitude double nullable flux_12um_sigma Standard Deviation (Sigma) of the 12-Micron Weighted Mean Flux Density Jy stat.stdev;phot.flux.density;em.IR.8-15um double nullable object_type_2 The Second SIMBAD Source Object Type src.class char nullable number_obs_100um Number of 100-Micron Unfiltered Data Points meta.number;obs;em.IR.60-100um short nullable number_obs_3p5um Number of 3.5 -Micron Unfiltered Data Points meta.number;obs;em.IR.3-4um short nullable iras_cirr1_flag IRAS CIRR1 Flag meta.code.qual short nullable hmag 2MASS H Magnitude mag phot.mag;em.IR.H double nullable iras_flux_25um The IRAS 25-Micron Flux Density Jy phot.flux.density;em.IR.15-30um double nullable conf_flags_2p2um 2.2-Micron Confusion Flags meta.code.qual;em.IR.K short nullable oh_exp_velocity OH Expansion Velocity km/s phys.veloc double nullable mag_240um_amp_error Uncertainty in the 240-Micron Light Curve Variation Amplitude mag stat.error;phot.mag;em.mm.750-1500GHz;src.var.amplitude double nullable kmag_error Uncertainty in 2MASS Ks Magnitude mag stat.error;phot.mag;em.IR.K double nullable iras_lrs_type IRAS LRS Type meta.code;src.class char nullable number_obs_1p25um Number of 1.25-Micron Unfiltered Data Points meta.number;obs;em.IR.J short nullable flux_100um_error Average 100-Micron Light Curve Error Jy stat.error;phot.flux.density;em.IR.60-100um double nullable number_obs_60um Number of 60-Micron Unfiltered Data Points meta.number;obs;em.IR.30-60um short nullable "__x_ra_dec" System unit vector column double nullable "__y_ra_dec" System unit vector column double nullable "__z_ra_dec" System unit vector column double nullable "__row" System index column char nullable