The 2 Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) will observe over one-million galaxies
and extended Galactic sources covering the entire sky at wavelengths between 1
and 2 microns. The survey catalog will have both high completeness and
reliability down to J = 15.0 and Ks = 13.5 mag, equivalent to 1.6 mJy and 2.9
mJy, respectively. This paper describes the basic algorithms used to detect and
characterize extended sources in the 2MASS database and catalog. Critical
procedures include tracking the point spread function, image background
removal, artifact removal, photometry and basic parameterization, star-galaxy
discrimination and object classification using a decision tree technique.
Examples of extended sources encountered in 2MASS are given.Comment: Astronomical Journal, in press. See
http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/jarrett/papers/2mass/paperI.htm
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