A catalogue of dust clouds in the Galaxy^*

¹ Instituto Astronômico e Geofísico da USP, CP  3386, São Paulo 01060-970, SP, Brazil
² Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, IF, CP 15051, Porto Alegre 91501–970, RS, Brazil

Corresponding author: C. M. Dutra, dutra@andromeda.iagusp.usp.br

Received: 25 July 2001
Accepted: 6 December 2001

Abstract

In this study 21 catalogues of dust clouds in the Galaxy were cross-identified by taking into account available properties such as position, angular dimensions, opacity class and velocity. An initial list of ≈6500 entries was condensed into a cross-identified all-sky catalogue containing 5004 dust clouds. In particular, the transition zone between high and low Galactic latitude studies was also cross-identified. The unified catalogue contains 525 high-latitude clouds. The catalogue deals primarily with optical dark nebulae and globules, but it includes as well substantial information from their molecular counterparts. Some previously uncatalogued clouds were detected on optical images and FIR maps. Finally, we address recent results and prospective work based on NIR imaging, especially for clouds detected in the 2MASS K_s Atlas.