Supplementing the GALEX Source Catalog With the Final GALEX Data Release
Abstract
The NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) mission provided a vast wealth of ultraviolet imaging data. The archival data will be a legacy that will be utilized for decades to come. However, the nature of the many varied surveys GALEX completed, and in particular the heavy overlap within and between the surveys, makes it paramount to provide unique, vetted, uniform source catalogs supported by corresponding footprint, exposure time, and artifact maps. The GALEX CATalog (GCAT) project has done this for all GALEX data up to the penultimate GR6 data release with the GALEX All-Sky Source Catalog (GASC) and the GALEX Medium Source Catalog (GMSC). These catalogs are unique source catalogs of 40 million objects in 26,000 square degrees (GASC, AB mag < 21) and 22 million sources in 5,000 square degrees (GMSC, AB mag < 23). They are widely used in the major NASA data archives the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) and the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST, the official GALEX archive). However, the GALEX mission extended beyond the GR6 data release. An Extended Mission, partially privately funded, imaged an addition 5,300 square degrees of the sky. This is referred to as the GR7 supplement to GR6. We propose a modest program to include the incremental GR7 data as a supplement to the GCAT products. We have determined that this will add 1,200 square degrees of new footprint area to the GCAT and add 5.3 million new sources to the GASC and 1.8 million new sources to the GASC. This constitutes a significant 24% increase to the GMSC. Supplementing the GCAT with GR7 incremental data will enhance the legacy of the GALEX mission by enabling its dissemination and widest possible use.
- Publication:
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NASA ADAP Proposal
- Pub Date:
- 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016adap.prop..115M