Editing 2MASS (section)

== Catalog ==

The final data release for 2MASS occurred in 2003,<ref name="2MASS_FAQ">{{cite web |title=2MASS All-Sky Data Release FAQ Page |url=https://old.ipac.caltech.edu/2mass/releases/allsky/faq.html |website=old.ipac.caltech.edu |publisher=Caltech |access-date=14 December 2018}}</ref> and is served by the [[Infrared Science Archive]]. The goals of this survey included:
* Detection of galaxies in the "[[Zone of Avoidance]]", a strip of sky obscured in visible light by our own galaxy, the [[Milky Way]].
* Detection of brown dwarfs. 2MASS discovered a total of 173, including [[2MASS 0939-2448]], [[2MASS 0415-0935]], [[2M1207]], and [[2MASS J04414489+2301513]].<ref name=Kirkpatrick2003/>
* An extensive survey of low mass stars, the most common type of star both in our own galaxy and others.
* Cataloging of all detected stars and galaxies.
* Infrared measurements from the 2MASS survey have been particularly effective at unveiling previously undiscovered star clusters.<ref name=fr2007>Froebrich, D.; Scholz, A.; Raftery, C. L. (2007). [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007MNRAS.374..399F ''A systematic survey for infrared star clusters with |b| <20° using 2MASS''], MNRAS, 347, 2</ref><ref name=ma2013>Majaess, D. (2013). [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013Ap%26SS.344..175M ''Discovering protostars and their host clusters via WISE''], ApSS, 344, 1</ref>

Numerical descriptions of point sources ([[star]]s, [[planet]]s, [[asteroid]]s) and extended sources (galaxies, nebulae) were cataloged by automated computer programs to an average limiting [[apparent magnitude|magnitude]] of about 14. More than 300 million [[point source]]s and 1 million extended sources were cataloged. In November 2003, a team of scientists announced the discovery of the [[Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy]], at that time the closest known satellite galaxy to the Milky Way, based on analysis of 2MASS stellar data.

The resulting data and images from the survey are currently in the [[public domain]], and may be accessed online for free by anyone.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/2mass/overview/access.html |title=2MASS Data Access |date=December 20, 2006 |publisher=The Two Micron All Sky Survey at IPAC |access-date=September 2, 2012}}</ref> There is also a list of 2MASS science publications with links to free pre-publication copies of the papers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/2mass/publications/index.html |title=2MASS Science Publications |date= February 1, 2006 |publisher=The Two Micron All Sky Survey at IPAC |access-date=September 2, 2012}}</ref>

2MASS is sponsored by the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]], the [[Infrared Processing and Analysis Center]] (IPAC, run by [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] (JPL) and [[Caltech]]), [[NASA]], and the [[National Science Foundation]] (NSF).