2MASS Extended Source Images
Permalinks
DOI
10.26131/IRSA666
Publisher
IPAC
Author(s)
Jarrett, Tom
Title
2MASS Extended Source Images
Description
2MASS Extended Source Catalog (XSC) sources, which include galaxies, HII regions, nebulae, etc., have associated non-lossy-compressed 'postage-stamp' images available. These images cover small areas centered on and encompassing each extended source. The image size is scaled to the size of the object, ranging from 21" x 21" for the faintest galaxies (Ks > 13th mag) to the maximum 301" x 301" for the largest galaxies that the 2MASS pipeline can fully image (e.g., NGC 7479). For galaxies larger than a few arcmin, the source probably is in the 2MASS Large Galaxy Atlas.
The 2MASS Extended Source images are 6-dimensional FITS image cubes. Each plane contains the J, H and Ks 2MASS image data, respectively, with stars removed from the final 3 planes. The near-infrared background emission has been subtracted from each image plane. Positional and photometric calibration information are included in the image header.
This dataset or service is made available by the Infrared Science Archive (IRSA) at IPAC, which is operated by the California Institute of Technology under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Data type
Dataset
Version
Date of data collection
Year of publication
2026
