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2MASS 6X Point Source Working Database Table

Metadata Updated: April 10, 2026

During the final months of 2MASS observatory operations, a campaign of targeted "long exposure" observations was carried out during times when no previously unscanned parts of the sky were available for the main survey. These observations used the same freeze-frame scanning technique employed for the survey, but with READ2-READ1 exposures six times longer than was used for normal survey observations (hence they are referred to as "6x" observations). The 2MASS 6x measurements were intended to probe ~1 magnitude deeper than the main survey in unconfused regions.\n\nApproximately 590 deg2 of sky distributed in 30 targeted regions were scanned at least once using the long exposures. Most of this area is concentrated in two large, comprehensive surveys of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, 383 deg2 and 127 deg2, respectively. Twenty-eight additional smaller fields were mapped in the 6x mode from both observatories, covering targets that include the Pleiades open cluster, galactic star formation complexes, M31, nearby galaxy clusters and the Lockman Hole. \n\nData processing produced a 6x Image Atlas and 6x point and extended source Working Databases (6x-PSWDB and 6x-XSWDB), analogous to those from the main survey. "Catalogs" of point and extended source detections (6x-PSC and 6x-XSC) that represent uniform, higher reliability single-epoch snapshots of the near infrared sky were drawn from the 6x WDBs using SNR and quality criteria similar to those used to construct the All-Sky Release PSC and XSC (A3.6.c). The 6x-PSC and 6x-XSC have not received the same level of scrutiny and validation as the 2MASS All-Sky PSC and XSC, though.\n\nUnlike the All-Sky Release Catalogs, the 6x Catalogs are not released as separate tables. The 6x Point and Extended Source Catalogs are instead integrated into the respective 6x Point and Extended Source WDBs. Sources comprising the Catalogs are denoted in the WDBs with the cat flag, and have cat="1".

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: See this page for license information.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date April 10, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date April 10, 2026
Publisher NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive
Maintainer
Identifier ivo://irsa.ipac/2mass/catalog/6xpswdb
Data Last Modified 2026-04-06
Category Astrophysics
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 5e2c8a77-46e9-4300-a923-020fa83934dd
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Homepage URL ivo://irsa.ipac/2mass/catalog/6xpswdb
License https://www.usa.gov/government-works
Program Code 026:000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 261af308bc2fe5d83e234b2c0519beaf68a86d3e38c9459bc71133e34e9b574d
Source Schema Version 1.1

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