AllWISE

AllWISE
Name	AllWISE
Mission type	Astronomical survey
Operator	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA
Manufacturer	Ball Aerospace
Launch date	2009
Wavelength	Infrared (3.4–22 μm)

AllWISE is a NASA-funded infrared sky survey project combining data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and its post-cryogenic reactivation, the NEOWISE mission, to produce enhanced catalogs and image products. It provides uniform mid-infrared measurements useful for studies in observational astronomy, astrophysics, and planetary science, and supports cross-mission analyses involving facilities such as the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope. The project ties into archival efforts at centers including the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center and the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive.

Overview

AllWISE originated as a consolidation and reprocessing effort undertaken by teams at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer Science Data Center to merge cryogenic and post-cryogenic datasets produced by the WISE spacecraft. The initiative built on heritage from missions including the Infrared Astronomical Satellite and the AKARI satellite, leveraging pipelines and calibration strategies refined through collaborations with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the California Institute of Technology. AllWISE aimed to improve photometric sensitivity, astrometric accuracy, and artifact mitigation relative to earlier releases such as the WISE All-Sky Data Release.

Data Processing and Products

AllWISE processing employed image calibration, background subtraction, source detection, and profile-fitting photometry using software frameworks developed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center and Harvard & Smithsonian-linked teams. The pipeline integrated single-exposure frames, coadds, and artifact-flagging algorithms refined with inputs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and cross-match routines referencing the Two Micron All Sky Survey. Output products include source catalogs, multi-band coadded images, and uncertainty maps compatible with services at the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive and tools used by researchers at institutions like the European Space Agency and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.

Survey Coverage and Sensitivity

AllWISE provides full-sky coverage in four mid-infrared bands centered near 3.4 μm, 4.6 μm, 12 μm, and 22 μm, building on observing campaigns spanning the initial WISE cryogenic mission and the NEOWISE post-cryogenic phase. Typical 5-sigma sensitivities improved relative to earlier releases, enabling detection of faint sources comparable to follow-up capabilities of the Spitzer Space Telescope and complementary to surveys such as Pan-STARRS and the Gaia mission in astrometry. The survey captured regions of interest including the Galactic Center, the Magellanic Clouds, and extragalactic deep fields used by teams at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Max Planck Society.

Source Catalogs and Parameters

AllWISE catalogs provide positions, multi-band photometry, profile-fit magnitudes, and quality flags for hundreds of millions of objects, incorporating astrometric solutions tied to reference frames used by the International Celestial Reference Frame and cross-identifications with catalogs like the Two Micron All Sky Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Each catalog entry includes parameters such as signal-to-noise ratios, confusion flags, motion estimates leveraged by collaborations with NEOWISE-R teams, and variability indicators useful for follow-up by programs at institutions like the European Southern Observatory and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

Scientific Applications

AllWISE underpins investigations across stellar, galactic, and extragalactic astronomy performed by researchers at organizations such as the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, and the Space Telescope Science Institute. Applications include identification of brown dwarfs and cool stars in conjunction with surveys like UKIDSS and follow-up spectroscopy with observatories such as the Keck Observatory and the Very Large Telescope, studies of active galactic nuclei when combined with data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and Solar System science tracing minor planets linked to programs at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Minor Planet Center.

Data Access and Tools

AllWISE data are distributed through archival services including the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, the Infrared Science Archive, and mirrors used by the Space Telescope Science Institute, with access facilitated by query tools compatible with the Virtual Observatory protocols and analysis environments such as Astropy and software developed by the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Researchers utilize cross-match utilities with catalogs like the Gaia archive and visualization tools employed by teams at the European Southern Observatory and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory.

Limitations and Systematic Errors

AllWISE products include systematic limitations inherited from the WISE instrument and from sky-background conditions noted in comparisons with missions like the Spitzer Space Telescope and AKARI. Confusion in dense regions such as the Galactic Center and the Orion Nebula can affect completeness, and artifacts including diffraction spikes, latent images, and scattered light require careful flag interpretation influenced by calibration work at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center. Astrometric and photometric uncertainties must be considered in studies that combine AllWISE data with high-precision catalogs like Gaia or deep surveys from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Category:Astronomical surveys