The Two Micron All Sky Survey was a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (California Institute of Technology). The University of Massachusetts was responsible for the overall management of the project, the observing facilities and the data acquisition. The Infrared Processing and Analysis Center was responsible for data processing, data distribution and data archiving.
Observing facilities at Mt. Hopkins and Cerro Tololo were operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and the National Optical Astrononomy Observatories (NOAO), respectively.
2MASS development, operations, data analysis and archiving were funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Proof-of-concept and prototyping activities for 2MASS were supported by funds from the Air Force Offices of Scientific Research and the Air Force Geophysics Laboratory. The U.S. Naval Observatory provided partial funding for the Mt. Hopkins telescope.
The 2MASS Point Source Catalog is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Robert M. Light (1959-1998).
[Last Updated: 27 February 2003; by R. Cutri & R. Stiening]