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FERMI3FGL - Fermi LAT 4-Year Point Source Catalog

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Overview

The Fermi LAT 4-Year Point Source Catalog (3FGL) is a catalog of high-energy gamma-ray sources detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) mission during the first 48 months of the science phase of the mission, which began on 2008 August 4.

Compared to the 2FGL catalog, the 3FGL catalog incorporates twice as much data as well as a number of analysis improvements, including improved calibrations at the event reconstruction level, an updated model for Galactic diffuse gamma-ray emission, a refined procedure for source detection, and improved methods for associating LAT sources with potential counterparts at other wavelengths.

Sources were detected and characterized in the 100 MeV to 300 GeV range. Source detection was based on a threshold likelihood Test Statistic of 25, corresponding to a significance of just over 4 sigma.

This catalog includes source location regions, defined in terms of elliptical fits to the 95% confidence regions and spectral fits with three different spectral forms; power-law for most sources, log-parabola for significantly curved sources, and power-law with exponential cutoff for known gamma-ray pulsars. It also includes flux measurements in 5 bands for each source. The Fermi LAT Team has evaluated the populations of gamma-ray sources that are represented in the catalog using a protocol defined before launch. Individual LAT-detected sources have been provided identifications or plausible associations with sources in other astronomical catalogs. Care was taken to characterize the sensitivity of the results to the model of interstellar diffuse gamma-ray emission used to model the bright foreground, and a number of sources at low Galactic latitudes and toward bright local interstellar clouds are flagged as having positions that are strongly dependent on the model or as potentially entirely due to incorrectly modeled structure in the Galactic diffuse emission.

This catalog has been superseded by the Fermi LAT 8-Year Point Source Catalog, also known as 4FGL. Please refer to that if you want the latest version.

Catalog Bibcode

2015ApJS..218...23A

Caveats

We emphasize several important points and caveats regarding use of the 3FGL catalog:

  • This work is a summary of the LAT results covering the time period August 4, 2008, to July 31, 2012.
  • The analysis is based on data in the 100 MeV to 300 GeV energy range.
  • Source detection is based on the integrated data set, i.e., sources are detected according to their average fluxes.
  • The catalog adopted multiple spectral shapes, depending on the observed source properties. Pulsars are modeled by an exponentially cutoff Power Law. Others are modeled as a LogParabola if statistically significant curvature (according to Signif_Curve) is detected, or as a simple Power Law otherwise.
  • After computing the maximum likelihood, the threshold for inclusion is likelihood Test Statistic TS > 25, corresponding to somewhat more than 4 sigma significance. The catalog has 3033 sources.
  • The corresponding flux limit varies widely according to the hardness of the source spectrum and the brightness of the background Galactic diffuse emission.
  • The 3FGL information in five energy bands is not appropriate for detailed spectral modeling. Each entry represents the bast fit flux value, with corresponding positive (upper) and negative (lower) 1-σ errors. In cases where the lower limit would go below zero, that value is NULL in the file. Note that some sources have only upper limits in each of the 5 bands; these sources have been detected based on their integrated fluxes.
  • The variability index indicates that the source is variable on a time scale of months. It does not address shorter or longer time variations. An index > 72.44 indicates a >99% confidence probability that the source is variable.
  • The diffuse model used in the analysis is still subject to improvements. Matching the model to the large-scale emission is an iterative process. The diffuse model is particularly important for sources from low to mid Galactic latitudes.
  • Catalog entries include two important quality flags that indicate potential issues: a "c" following the 3FGL name indicates that the source is found in a region with bright and/or possibly incorrectly modeled diffuse emission; any non-zero entry in the "Flags" column indicates that some inconsistency was seen during the analysis (see the table in the preprint for details). Sources with either of these indicators should be used with great care. They correspond to significant excesses of photons, but such excesses can result from residual extended emission or confused source pile-up.
  • The catalog analysis assumed point source emission for all but twenty-five extended sources, which were modeled using spatial templates and are indicated by an "e" following the name. Results for extended sources such as the LMC and Cen A are likely to not be representative of the total emission, and additional catalog point sources may appear near such objects.
  • The Crab pulsar and PWN are represented by a total of three entries, two of which (designated "i" for inverse compton and "s" for synchrotron) represent spectral components of the PWN. We consider these three entries to represent two sources.
  • Associations listed in the catalog are not in general to be taken as firm identifications. Associations are positional coincidences that are statistically unlikely to be due to chance alignment between known or candidate gamma-ray producing objects with 3FGL sources. Except for those cases with correlated variability or spatial extent, a physical relationship is not established. The designators for some associated sources may be updated in a future release to use more common or more complete names.

References

A full description of the LAT 4-Year Point Source Catalog is given in the "Fermi Large Area Telescope Third Source Catalog" by the Fermi LAT team. Additional information for which is available at http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/data/access/lat/4yr_catalog/.

Provenance

This database table was originally ingested by the HEASARC in May, 2015, as FERMILPSC. With the release of the 4FGL catalog in March, 2019, this catalog was renamed FERMI3FGL. The electronic data for this catalog was obtained from the Fermi Science Support Center (FSSC) at http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/data/access/lat/4yr_catalog/.

Data Products

OGIP-compliant FITS format lightcurve files and quicklook plots are available for each source. These were created by the HEASARC from the flux histories tabulated in the FITS version of the catalog. The tabulated flux histories are the integrated fluxes (in photons/cm2/s) along with the associated errors in the 100 MeV to 300 GeV energy band.

Parameters

Name
The source designation, 3FGL JHHMM.m+DDMM[c], constructed according to the IAU Specifications for Nomenclature, in which the Right Ascension and Declination have been truncated to 0.1 decimal minutes and 1', respectively. The '3' refers to the four-year catalog (the first-year catalog was '1'; the second-year catalog was '2') and 'FGL' represents Fermi Gamma-ray LAT. The optional 'c' suffix indicates that, based on the region of the sky, the source is considered to be potentially confused with Galactic diffuse emission. An optional "e" suffix indicates that the source was fitted using a predefined extended template. The "i" and "s" suffixes are used to indicate the inverse Compton and synchrotron components of the Crab PWN, respectively.

RA
The Right Ascension of the gamma-ray source in the selected equinox. This was given in J2000 decimal degree coordinates in the original table.

Dec
The Declination of the gamma-ray source in the selected equinox. This was given in J2000 decimal degree coordinates in the original table.

LII
The Galactic Longitude of the gamma-ray source, as derived from the J2000 position in the original table.

BII
The Galactic Latitude of the gamma-ray source, as derived from the J2000 position in the original table.

Semi_Major_Axis_68
The semi-major axis of the error ellipse at 68% confidence, in degrees.

Semi_Minor_Axis_68
The semi-minor axis of the error ellipse at 68% confidence, in degrees.

Position_Angle_68
The position angle of the 68%-confidence semi-major axis, from celestial North, positive toward increasing R.A. (eastward), in degrees.

Semi_Major_Axis_95
The semi-major axis of the error ellipse at 95% confidence, in degrees.

Semi_Minor_Axis_95
The semi-minor axis of the error ellipse at 95% confidence, in degrees.

Position_Angle_95
The position angle of the 95%-confidence semi-major axis, from celestial North, positive toward increasing R.A. (eastward), in degrees.

Detection_Significance
The source detection significance, in Gaussian sigma units, over the 100 MeV to 300 GeV band, as derived from the likelihood analysis Test Statistic.

Pivot_Energy
The energy, in MeV, at which the error in the differential photon flux is minimal (i.e., the decorrelation energy for the power-law fit). This is derived from the likelihood analysis for 100 MeV - 100 GeV.

Flux_Density
The differential photon flux at the pivot energy, in photons/cm2/MeV/s. This is derived from the likelihood analysis for 100 MeV - 100 GeV.

Flux_Density_Error
The 1-sigma uncertainty in the differential flux at the pivot energy.

Spectral_Index
The best fit for the photon number power-law index, as derived from the likelihood analysis for 100 MeV - 100 GeV. For LogParabola spectra (see Spectrum_Type), it is the index at Pivot_Energy. For PLExpCutoff spectra, it is the low-energy index.

Spectral_Index_Error
The 1-sigma uncertainty in the photon spectral index.

Flux_1_100_GeV
The photon flux for the 1 GeV - 100 GeV range, in photons/cm2/s, as obtained by summing the photon flux values from the likelihood analysis in the three bands from 1 GeV to 100 GeV. If delta(flux)/flux exceeds 0.5, then flux + 2*delta(flux) is given instead as an approximate 2-sigma upper limit.

Flux_1_100_GeV_Error
The 1-sigma uncertainty for the integral flux in the 1 to 100 GeV range, as obtained by summing in quadrature the errors from the three energy bands from 1 GeV to 100 GeV. If delta(flux)/flux exceeds 0.5, then this is set to 0.

Energy_Flux
The energy flux, in erg/cm2/s, in the 100 MeV to 100 GeV range obtained by spectral fitting from 100 MeV to 100 GeV. If delta(flux)/flux exceeds 0.5, then flux + 2*delta(flux) is given instead as an approximate 2-sigma upper limit.

Energy_Flux_Error
1-sigma error on energy flux from 100 MeV to 100 GeV. If delta(flux)/flux exceeds 0.5, then this is set to 0.

Curve_Significance
Significance (in sigma units) of the fit improvement between power-law and either LogParabola (for ordinary sources) or PLExpCutoff (for pulsars) spectrum type. A value greater than 16 triggers switching to the curved spectrum.

Spectrum_Type
The type of spectrum, either PowerLaw, LogParabola, or PLExpCutoff.

Beta
The curvature parameter (beta) for LogParabola spectrum types. It is blank for other spectrum types.

Beta_Error
The 1-sigma error on beta for LogParabola spectrum types. It is blank for other spectrum types.

Cutoff
Cutoff energy as exp(-E/Cutoff) for PLExpCutoff spectrum types. It is blank for other spectrum types.

Cutoff_Error
1-sigma error on cutoff energy for PLExpCutoff spectrum types. It is blank for other spectrum types.

Exp_Index
Second index b as in exp(-(E/Cutoff)b) for PLSuperExpCutoff spectrum types. It is blank for other spectrum types.

Exp_Index_Error
The 1-sigma error on exp_index for PLSuperExpCutoff spectrum types. It is blank for other spectrum types.

Powerlaw_Index
The best-fit power-law index. This is equal to the Spectral_Index if Spectrum_Type is PowerLaw.

Flux_30_100_MeV
The integral photon flux in the 30 to 100 MeV range, in photon/cm2/s. This column is intentionally set to null in the initial versions of this catalog.

Flux_30_100_MeV_Pos_Err
The upper 1-sigma uncertainty in the integral photon flux in the 30 to 100 MeV range, in photon/cm2/s. This column is intentionally set to null in the initial versions of this catalog.

Flux_30_100_MeV_Neg_Err
The lower 1-sigma uncertainty in the integral photon flux in the 30 to 100 MeV range, in photon/cm2/s. This column is intentionally set to null in the initial versions of this catalog.

nuFnu_30_100_MeV
The spectral energy distribution averaged between 30 and 100 MeV, erg/cm2/s. This column is intentionally set to null in the initial versions of this catalog.

Sqrt_TS_30_100_MeV
The square root of the likelihood Test Statistic for the 30 to 100 MeV range. This column is intentionally set to null in the initial versions of this catalog.

Flux_100_300_MeV
The integral photon flux for the 100 to 300 MeV range, in photon/cm2/s, as derived from the likelihood analysis in that band with a fixed photon power-law index from the 100 MeV-100 GeV fit. This is the best-fit value regardless of detection significance in the band.

Flux_100_300_MeV_Pos_Err
The upper (positive) 1-sigma uncertainty in the integral photon flux for the 100 to 300 MeV range.

Flux_100_300_MeV_Neg_Err
The lower (negative) 1-sigma uncertainty in the integral photon flux for the 100 to 300 MeV range. This value is NULL if the source is not significant in this band.

nuFnu_100_300_MeV
The spectral energy distribution averaged between 100 and 300 MeV, erg/cm2/s.

Sqrt_TS_100_300_MeV
The square root of the likelihood Test Statistic for the 100 to 300 MeV range.

Flux_0p3_1_GeV
The integral photon flux for the 0.3 to 1 GeV range, in photon/cm2/s, as derived from the likelihood analysis in that band with a fixed photon power-law index from the 100 MeV-100 GeV fit. This is the best-fit value regardless of detection significance in the band.

Flux_0p3_1_GeV_Pos_Err
The upper (positive) 1-sigma uncertainty in the integral photon flux for the 0.3 to 1 GeV range.

Flux_0p3_1_GeV_Neg_Err
The lower (negative) 1-sigma uncertainty in the integral photon flux for the 0.3 to 1 GeV range. This value is NULL if the source is not significant in this band.

nuFnu_0p3_1_GeV
The spectral energy distribution averaged between 0.3 and 1 GeV, erg/cm2/s.

Sqrt_TS_0p3_1_GeV
The square root of the likelihood Test Statistic for the 0.3 to 1 GeV range.

Flux_1_3_GeV
The integral photon flux for the 1 to 3 GeV range, in photon/cm2/s, as derived from the likelihood analysis in that band with a fixed photon power-law index from the 100 MeV-100 GeV fit. This is the best-fit value regardless of detection significance in the band.

Flux_1_3_GeV_Pos_Err
The upper (positive) 1-sigma uncertainty in the integral photon flux for the 1 to 3 GeV range.

Flux_1_3_GeV_Neg_Err
The lower (negative) 1-sigma uncertainty in the integral photon flux for the 1 to 3 GeV range. This value is NULL if the source is not significant in this band.

nuFnu_1_3_GeV
The spectral energy distribution averaged between 1 and 3 GeV, erg/cm2/s.

Sqrt_TS_1_3_GeV
The square root of the likelihood Test Statistic for the 1 to 3 GeV range.

Flux_3_10_GeV
The integral photon flux for the 3 to 10 GeV range, in photon/cm2/s, as derived from the likelihood analysis in that band with a fixed photon power-law index from the 100 MeV-100 GeV fit. This is the best-fit value regardless of detection significance in the band.

Flux_3_10_GeV_Pos_Err
The upper (positive) 1-sigma uncertainty in the integral photon flux for the 3 to 10 GeV range.

Flux_3_10_GeV_Neg_Err
The lower (negative) 1-sigma uncertainty in the integral photon flux for the 3 to 10 GeV range. This value is NULL if the source is not significant in this band.

nuFnu_3_10_GeV
The spectral energy distribution averaged between 3 and 10 GeV, erg/cm2/s.

Sqrt_TS_3_10_GeV
The square root of the likelihood Test Statistic for the 3 to 10 GeV range.

Flux_10_100_GeV
The integral photon flux for the 10 to 100 GeV range, in photon/cm2/s, as derived from the likelihood analysis in that band with a fixed photon power-law index from the 100 MeV-100 GeV fit. This is the best-fit value regardless of detection significance in the band.

Flux_10_100_GeV_Pos_Err
The upper (positive) 1-sigma uncertainty in the integral photon flux for the 10 to 100 GeV range.

Flux_10_100_GeV_Neg_Err
The lower (negative) 1-sigma uncertainty in the integral photon flux for the 10 to 100 GeV range. This value is NULL if the source is not significant in this band.

nuFnu_10_100_GeV
The spectral energy distribution averaged between 10 and 100 GeV, erg/cm2/s.

Sqrt_TS_10_100_GeV
The square root of the likelihood Test Statistic for the 10 to 100 GeV range.

Variability_Index
The sum of 2*Log(Likelihood) comparison between the flux fitted in 48 time segments and a flat lightcurve over the full 2-year catalog interval. A value greater than 72.44 indicates there is a less than 1% chance of being a steady source. See the accompanying paper for details.

Significance_Peak
The source significance for the time interval with the maximum monthly value of the photon flux, as derived from the likelihood analysis for 100 MeV - 100 GeV. If the probability of steady emission is > 1%, this is null.

Flux_Peak
The maximum monthly value of the integral photon flux, in photon/cm2/s, as derived from the likelihood analysis for 100 MeV - 100 GeV. If the probability of steady emission is > 1%, this is null.

Flux_Peak_Error
The 1-sigma uncertainty in the peak flux.

Time_Peak
The time at the center of the interval with the maximum photon flux. If the probability of steady emission is > 1%, this is null.

Time_Peak_Interval
The length of the interval, in seconds, in which the peak integral photon flux was measured.

Alt_GammaRay_Name_1
The designation of a corresponding (0FGL) source in the Fermi Bright Source List, if any.

Alt_GammaRay_Name_2
The designation of the likely corresponding source from the 1AGL catalog, if any.

Alt_GammaRay_Name_3
The designation of the likely corresponding source from the 3EG catalog, if any.

Alt_GammaRay_Name_4
The designation of the likely corresponding source from the EGR catalog, if any.

Alt_GammaRay_Name_5
The designation of the likely corresponding source from the 1FGL catalog, if any.

Alt_GammaRay_Name_6
The designation of the likely corresponding source from the 2FGL catalog, if any.

Alt_GammaRay_Name_7
The designation of the likely corresponding source from the 1FHL catalog, if any.

Source_Type
The primary class designation of the identification or likely associated source. Refer to the accompanying paper for details of class designations and the association method. Note that designations shown in capital letters are firm identifications; lower case letters indicate associations. The following abbreviations are used: 

            agn   = other non-blazar active galaxy
            bcu   = active galaxy of uncertain type
            bin   = binary
            bll   = BL Lac type of blazar
            css   = compact steep spectrum quasar
            fsrq  = FSRQ type of blazar
            gal   = normal galaxy (or part)
            glc   = globular cluster
            hmb   = high-mass binary
            nlsy1 = narrow line Seyfert 1
            nov   = nova
            PSR   = pulsar, identified by pulsations
            psr   = pulsar, no pulsations seen in LAT yet
            pwn   = pulsar wind nebula
            rdg   = radio galaxy
            sbg   = starburst galaxy
            sey   = Seyfert galaxy
            sfr   = star-forming region
            snr   = supernova remnant
            spp   = special case - potential association with SNR or PWN
            ssrq  = soft spectrum radio quasar
Table 7 in the LAT 4-year catalog paper lists possible associations for sources near supernova remnants, designated spp.

Assoc_Name_1
The designation of the identified or likely associated source.

Assoc_Name_2
An alternate designation of the identified or likely associated source.

Assoc_Name_3
An alternate designation to an extended source name, if any.

Analysis_Flags
These analysis flags indicate possible issues noted in the detection or characterization of the source. A value of 0 indicates no known problem. Each condition present raises a unique bit flag. The flag values are bit-encoded into a single integer, with flag N contributing 2N-1 to the value, where N is given as: 

      N=1: Source with TS > 35 which went to TS < 25 when changing the diffuse
           model. Note that sources with TS < 35 are not flagged with this bit
           because normal statistical fluctuations can push them to TS < 25.

      N=2: Not used.

      N=3: Flux (> 1 GeV) or energy flux (> 100 MeV) changed by more than 3
           sigma when changing the diffuse model. Requires also that the flux
           change by more than 35% (to not flag strong sources).

      N=4: Source-to-background ratio less than 10% in highest band in which TS
           > 25. Background is integrated over the 68%-confidence area
           (pi*r_682) or 1 square degree, whichever is smaller.

      N=5: Closer than theta_ref from a brighter neighbor, where theta_ref is
           defined in the highest band in which source TS > 25, or the band
           with highest TS if all are < 25. theta_ref is
           set to 2.17 degrees (FWHM) below 300 MeV, 1.38 degrees between 300
           MeV and 1 GeV, 0.87 degrees between 1 GeV and 3 GeV, 0.67 degrees
           between 3 and 10 GeV and 0.45 degrees about 10 GeV (2*r_68).

      N=6: On top of an interstellar gas clump or small-scale defect in the
           model of diffuse emission. This flag is equivalent to the "c"
           suffix in the source name.

      N=7: Unstable position determination; result from gtfindsrc outside the 95%
           ellipse from pointlike.

      N=8: Not used.

      N=9: Localization Quality > 8 in pointlike (see Section 3.1 in catalog
           paper) or long axis of 95% ellipse > 0.25.

      N=10: Spectral Fit Quality > 16.3 (see Equation 3 in 2FGL catalog paper).

      N=11: Possibly due to the Sun (see Section 3.6 in catalog paper).

      N=12: Highly curved spectrum; LogParabola beta fixed to 1 or PLExpCutoff
            Spectral Index fixed to 0 (see Section 3.3 in catalog paper).

TeVCat_Flag
This flag parameter indicates a possible association with the TeVCat. The flag values have the following meanings: 

             N = No TeV association
             P = Small TeV source
             E = Extended TeV source (diameter > 40 arcminutes)

TeVCat_Assoc
The designation of the likely corresponding source from the TeVCat catalog, if any.

Contact Person

Questions regarding the FERMI3FGL database table can be addressed to the HEASARC Help Desk.
Page Author: Browse Software Development Team
Last Modified: Monday, 16-Sep-2024 17:27:22 EDT