OMCat: Catalog of Serendipitous Sources Detected with theXMM-NewtonOptical Monitor

• Published in: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Vol. 120; no. 869; pp. 740 - 758
• Main Authors: Kuntz, K. D., Harrus, Ilana, McGlynn, Thomas A., Mushotzky, Richard F., Snowden, Steven L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Chicago Press 24-06-2008
• Subjects: Color color diagram; Colors; Coordinate systems; Galaxies; Histograms; Image filters; Mosaic; Pixels; Stars; X ray sources
• ISSN: 0004-6280; 1538-3873
• DOI: 10.1086/590162

The Optical Monitor Catalog of serendipitous sources (OMCat) contains entries for every source detected in the publicly availableXMM-NewtonOptical Monitor (OM) images taken in either the imaging or “fast” modes. Since the OM is coaligned and records data simultaneously with the X-ray telescopes onXMM-Newton, it typically produces images in one or more near-UV or optical bands for every pointing of the observatory. As of the beginning of 2006, the public archive had covered roughly 0.5% of the sky in 2950 fields. The OMCat is not dominated by sources previously undetected at other wavelengths; the bulk of the objects have optical counterparts. However, the OMCat can be used to extend optical or X-ray spectral energy distributions for known objects into the ultraviolet, to study at higher angular resolution objects detected withGALEX, or to find high-Galactic-latitude objects of interest for UV spectroscopy.