What's New with NED

Welcome to the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED)

Highlights of New Content and User Interface Upgrades in the June 2009 (N19.6) Release of NED

User Interface

• A new capability is provided to Query Redshift-Independent Distances by Object Name. This service utilizes a new database extension to NED that currently contains 18,150 redshift-independent distances for 5,049 galaxies gathered from the literature by the NED-D project.
• Summary statistics for Redshift-Independent Distances are now included in query reports for objects with the available data. A link is also provided to retrieve the details of the individual distance measurement(s). See for example this By Name query for M 81.
• Query reports for individual objects with available redshifts now include an embedded form to query a volume of space around the object. This new feature leverages NED's computation of the Hubble distance and scale derived from the redshift to search for physical companions. For example, you can search for objects within +/- 750 kpc and +/- 500 km/s around NGC 2798. The search constraints in kpc (arcminutes) and km/s (redshift) can be changed from the default values.
• Object search query reports have been improved to provide:
  • Different types of information organized into cleanly separated tables
  • An Index into the various sections of the query results to make it easier to locate different types of information: ESSENTIAL NOTE, CROSS-IDENTIFICATIONS, COORDINATES, REDSHIFT-INDEPENDENT DISTANCES, FOREGROUND GALACTIC EXTINCTION, BASIC DATA, QUANTITIES DERIVED FROM REDSHIFT, and EXTERNAL ARCHIVES AND SERVICES. Each data section includes a link to jump back to the Index.
  • A preview plot showing the Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) of the source when sufficient photometric data are available
  • Better organization of links to drill down for detailed information: Images, Photometry/SED, Spectra, Redshift-Independent Distances, References, Positions, Redshifts, and Object Notes.
  See for example this By Name query report for NGC 1365.

Database Contents

• 56,623 North ecliptic pole objects from 2007ApJS..172..583H
• 53,949 SDSS DR6 galaxies with redshifts
• 10,831 MUSYC sources from 2007AJ....134.1103Q
• 9,329 GEMS objects from 2007ApJS..172..615H
• More than 5,000 COSMOS objects from a special issue of ApJS
• 1,358 GMRT radio sources in the XMM-LSS field from 2007A&A...471.1105T
• Supernovae reported in CBETs up to Jan. 1, 2009
• 450,000 positional Associations between objects in SDSS (DR6) and objects in other surveys
• More than 100,000 identifiers for (mostly) SDSS Galactic stars including HD, BD, HIP, and Bayer/Flamsteed names

Latest review papers in LEVEL 5 Knowledgebase for Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology

• A REVIEW OF BONDI-HOYLE-LYTTLETON ACCRETION - R. Edgar (2004)
• DYNAMICAL EVOLUTION OF DISK GALAXIES - J.A. Sellwood (2008)
• FUEL FOR GALAXY DISKS - M.E. Putman et al (2008)
• NONTHERMAL RADIATION MECHANISMS - Vahé Petrosian et al. (2008)
• METAL ENRICHMENT PROCESSES - S. Schindler & A. Diaferio (2008)
• VIOLENCE IN THE HEARTS OF GALAXIES - ABERRATION OR ADOLESCENCE? - C.G. Mundell (2002)
• THERMAL RADIATION PROCESSES - J.S. Kaastra et al. (2008)
• DISTANT RADIO GALAXIES AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTS - G.K. Miley & C. De Breuck (2008)
• CHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF THE MILKY WAY AND ITS SATELLITES - F. Matteucci (2008)

Highlights of Recent Additions to Photometry

• Optical: 56,623 objects in the CFHT ugriz bands from 2007ApJS..172..583H
• Radio: 3,902 sources at 1.4 GHz (VLA) from 2007ApJS..172...46S
• Sub-MM: 231 objects at 850 microns (SCUBA) from 2007MNRAS.380..199I
• X-Ray: 245 objects in the 2-10 keV band (BeppoSAX) from 2007A&A...472..705V

Latest Images in NED

• Spitzer IRAC images from A Spitzer IRAC Census ... I. WLM D.C. Jackson et al (2007).
• Spitzer IRAC images from A Spitzer IRAC Census ... II. IC 1613 D.C. Jackson et al (2007).
• VLA 6 and 2 cm maps from Subarcsecond-Resolution Radio Maps of Nearby Spiral Galaxies C.-W. Tsai et al (2006).
• HST ACS images from The Physical Nature of Rest-UV Galaxy Morphology ... D.R. Law et al (2007).
• VLA intensity and polarization maps from A Study of FRII Radio Galaxies ... A.R.S. Black et al (1992).
• VLA intensity and polarization maps from The Jets in 3C 66B M.J. Hardcastle et al (1996).
• VLA intensity and polarization maps from The Jets in 3C 296 M.J. Hardcastle et al (1997).
• VLA intensity and polarization maps from High-Resolution Observations at 3.6 cm of Seventeen FRII Radio Galaxies with 0.15 < z < 0.30 M.J. Hardcastle et al (1997).
• VLA intensity and polarization maps from A Study of FRII Radio Galaxies ... J.P. Leahy et al (1997).
• VLA intensity and polarization maps from Jets, Plumes, and Hotspots in ... 3C 130 M.J. Hardcastle (1998).

Latest Spectra in NED

• 848 HI spectra from The Homogenized HI data G. Paturel et al (2003).
• 758 HI spectra from Kinematics of the local universe XII. 21-cm line measurements of 586 galaxies ... G. Theureau et al (2005).
• 550 HI spectra from Kinematics of the local universe XIII. 21-cm line measurements of 452 galaxies ... G. Theureau et al (2007).

NOTE: If you would like to have your FITS image or spectral data become available for use by other researchers via NED, please leave a comment with your name and email address so that we may contact you.

The Introduction to NED has more details about all of NED's services, and NED's Features gives a brief overview of NED.

The NED History page has previous NED news.