II. User's Guide to the 2MASS All-Sky Data Release

1. General Properties of the Data Release

• Range of Dates Over Which Release Data Were Acquired:
  
  
  • North: 1997 June 7 - 2000 December 1 UT
  • South: 1998 March 18 - 2001 February 15 UT



• Total Number of Fully or Partially Photometric Nights Represented in the Release:
  
  
  • North:     631     (out of total 691 nights available)
  • South:     725     (out of total 725 nights available)
  
  
  
• Number of Tiles Included in Release (59,650 nominal Survey Tiles plus 81 special "gap-fill" Tiles)     59,731



• Tile selection criteria described in V.2



• Area of Release (III.2.c):
  
  
  • Nominal imaging area:                                                                       41,252.255 deg² (99.998% of the sky)
  • Effective area of PSC* (excludes a 10´´ border for each Tile):     41,251.703 deg² (99.997% of the sky)
  • Effective area of XSC* (excludes a 15´´ border for each Tile):     41,251.313 deg² (99.996% of the sky)

  *   Note that the effective areas of the PSC and XSC are further reduced by the obscuring effects of bright stars (c.f. I.6.a.i).




• PSC and XSC All-Sky Maps



• Point Source Catalog Source Counts (galactic aitoff projection)
• Extended Source Catalog Integrated Flux (equatorial aitoff projection)

[Last Updated: 2003 March 6; by R. Cutri]