Spitzer MIPS 24 and 70 micron Imaging near the South Ecliptic Pole: Maps and Source Catalogs

TL;DR

This paper presents detailed 24 and 70 micron infrared maps and source catalogs of an 11.5 sq. deg. region near the South Ecliptic Pole, including data reduction, source extraction, and catalog completeness analysis.

Contribution

It provides the first extensive infrared maps and catalogs for this region, with thorough data processing and validation procedures.

Findings

Identified over 93,000 sources at 24 microns and nearly 900 at 70 microns.

Achieved 80% completeness at 230 microJy (24 micron) and 11 mJy (70 micron).

False detection rates are below 2% for both catalogs.

Abstract

We have imaged an 11.5 sq. deg. region of sky towards the South Ecliptic Pole (RA = 04h43m, Dec = -53d40m, J2000) at 24 and 70 microns with MIPS, the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer. This region is coincident with a field mapped at longer wavelengths by AKARI and the Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope. We discuss our data reduction and source extraction procedures. The median depths of the maps are 47 microJy/beam at 24 micron and 4.3 mJy/beam at 70 micron. At 24 micron, we identify 93098 point sources with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) >5, and an additional 63 resolved galaxies; at 70 micron, we identify 891 point sources with SNR >6. From simulations, we determine a false detection rate of 1.8% (1.1%) for the 24 micron (70 micron) catalog. The 24 and 70 micron point-source catalogs are 80% complete at 230 microJy and 11 mJy, respectively. These mosaic images and source catalogs will be available to the public through the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive.