IRAS Point Source All Sky Map

An image of infrared point sources in the entire sky as seen by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS). The plane of our Galaxy runs horizontally across the image. Sources are color coded by their infrared colors. Blue sources are cool stars within our Galaxy, which show an obvious concentration to the galactic plane and center. Yellow-green sources are galaxies which are basically uniformly distributed across the sky, but show an enhancement along a great circle above the galactic plane. This enhancement is caused by galaxies in the Local Supercluster. Reddish sources, the infrared cirrus, are extremely cold material close to us in our own Galaxy. Black areas were not surveyed by IRAS. The map was produced with an Aitoff projection.