The 2MASS point source processing pipeline: design and prototype results

The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) will begin operations in the spring of 1997 (Skrutskie et al., this volume). The Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) is tasked with processing ~30 GB of data that will be obtained each night by the northern and southern telescopes during the survey. The goal of this processing is to produce three primary data products: 1) the 2MASS Image Atlas that will contain ~ 10⁶ 512 x 1024 (1″/pix) images in J,H and K_s, 2) the 2MASS Point Source Catalog containing accurate astrometry and photometry for ~ 10⁸ point sources, and 3) the 2MASS Extended Source Catalog that will contain accurate positions, photometry and morphological information for ~ 10⁶ small extended sources.