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Missions with Data Served by IRSA

Spitzer Space Telescope

The Spitzer Space Telescope - was launched on August 25, 2003. During its 2.5-year mission, Spitzer will make spectral and photometric observations between wavelengths of 3 and 180 microns. IRSA serves the Spitzer First Look Survey (FLS) data on behalf of the Spitzer Science Center (SSC).
Pictured: The Spitzer Space Telescope in an infrared Milky Way, from the Spitzer Cool Cosmos Image Gallery

2MASS

The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) scanned the entire sky in three near-infrared bands, J (1.25 µm), H (1.65 µm) and Ks (2.17 µm), to produce a deep survey of uniform calibration quality.
Pictured: The Milky Way as compiled from a quarter billion stars in the 2MASS catalog, from the 2MASS Showcase.

IRAS

The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) performed an unbiased, sensitive, nearly full-sky survey at 12, 25, 60 and 100 µm.
Pictured: A view of the Vela/Puppis region in our Milky Way galaxy, from the IPAC Infrared Gallery.

MSX

The MSX mission completed the census of the mid-infrared sky. It covered the regions either missed by IRAS and COBE/DIRBE, or where the sensitiviy of IRAS was degraded by confusion noise arising in regions of high source densities or structured extended emission.
Pictured: A false-color composite of the Eagle Nebula, from the IPAC Infrared Gallery

SWAS

SWAS is an active observatory mission that was launched into low Earth orbit on December 05, 1998. The primary objective of SWAS is to survey water, molecular oxygen, carbon, and isotopic carbon monoxide emission in a variety of galactic star forming regions.

ISO

IRSA provides an interface to the archive for the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), housed near Madrid, Spain. ISO collected data between November 1995 and April 1998. Aboard ISO were four science instruments: an infrared camera (CAM), a long-wavelength spectrometer (LWS), a photo-polarimeter (PHT), and a short-wavelength spectrometer (SWS).
Pictured: ISOCAM map of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) at a wavelength of 15 microns, from the IPAC Infrared Gallery

IRTS

The Infrared Telescope in Space (IRTS) is a cryogenically cooled, small infrared telescope that flew from March - April in 1995. It surveyed approximately 10% of the sky with a relatively wide beam during its 20 day mission. Four focal-plane instruments, the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS), the Mid-Infrared Spectrometer (MIRS), the Far-Infrared Line Mapper (FILM), and the Far-Infrared Photometer (FIRP) made simultaneous observations of the sky at wavelengths ranging from 1 to 1000 µm.

COSMOS

The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) project is an astronomical survey designed to probe the formation and evolution of galaxies as a function of cosmic time (redshift) and large scale structure environment. The survey covers a 2 square degree equatorial field with imaging by most of the major space-based telescopes (Hubble, Spitzer, GALEX, XMM, Chandra) and a number of large ground based telescopes (Subaru, VLA, ESO-VLT, UKIRT, NOAO, CFHT, and others). Over 2 million galaxies are detected, spanning 75% of the age of the universe. The COSMOS survey involves almost 100 scientists in a dozen countries.

NASA Exoplanet Science Institute

The NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI) is a science operations and analysis service organization for selected NASA Origins Theme projects and the scientists and engineers that use them.

SDSS

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) will map in detail one quarter of the entire sky, determining the positions and absolute brightnesses of more than 100 million celestial objects. It will also measure the distances to more than a million galaxies and quasars. The Data Release 3 (DR3) imaging data cover 5282 square degrees, and include information on roughly 141 million objects. SDSS serves, among other projucts, FITS image files in five bands (u, g, r, i, z).

DENIS

The Deep Near-Infrared Survey of the Southern Sky (DENIS) performed a 16,700 sq. deg. survey using three simultaneously acquired bands: one optical band (Gunn-i at 0.82um) and two near-infrared bands (J at 1.25um and Ks at 2.15um), with limiting magnitudes of 18.5 mag, 16.5 mag, and 14.0 mag, respectively. DENIS was conducted by a European consortium using the 1m telescope at the European Southern Observatory in La Silla, Chile. DENIS observations began at the end of 1995 and were completed on 09 September 2001.

BOLOCAM

BOLOCAM is the millimeter-wavelength bolometer array camera designed for mapping large fields at fast scan rates, for observations at 1.1 and 2.1 mm, at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). The camera has 115 working pixels with 8 arcmin Field of View (FOV) which is approximately circular. The beam Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) is 30 arcsec at 1.1 mm and 60 arcsec at 2.1 mm. At all wavelengths, the pixel spacing (nearest neighbors of hexagonal close-packed array) is 38 arcsec.

Future Missions

Herschel

The Herschel Space Observatory is the European Space Agency's fourth "Cornerstone Mission" and deploys a passively cooled 3.5 meter telescope to observe the Far-infrared and Submillimeter Universe. Herschel is planned as a three year observatory mission, with a launch date planned for 2008. In keeping with its role as NASA's infrared and submillimeter data archive, IRSA will facilitate access to the Herschel archive for US-based investigators.

Planck

Planck is a European Space Agency mission to measure the intensity and polarization of the sky over a range of frequencies from 30 to 857 GHz (wavelengths 1 cm to 350 microns), primarily to study the cosmic microwave background. Planck launches in 2008 aboard the same rocket carrying Herschel into space, and it is expected to have a 15-month mission. IRSA will archive Planck data products for use by the U.S. astronomical community.

WISE

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is a NASA Medium Explorer mission scheduled to launch in November 2009. It is an all-sky survey over four broad-wavelength bands centered near 3.3, 4.7, 12, and 23 microns. In the two shortest wavelength bands, WISE will reach sensitivities half a million times deeper than the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment onboard the Cosmic Background Explorer. In the two longest wavelength bands, WISE will reach sensitivities 500 times better than the Infrared Astronomical Satellite. IRSA will serve as the archival center for all WISE data.

SOFIA

SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, is a Boeing 747SP aircraft modified to accommodate a 2.5 meter reflecting telescope. Its nine first-light instruments will provide researchers with access to a continuous wavelength coverage from the optical to the submillimeter (0.35 - 655 microns). SOFIA will be the largest airborne observatory in the world when it begins routine operations, expected in 2010. IRSA will serve SOFIA's public data products once they become available.