Atlas and catalog of dark clouds based on 2MASS

Color excess maps of E(J-H) and E(H-K_S_) as well as extinction maps of A_J_, A_H_, and A_K_S_ covering all of the sky have been produced at the 1' grid with a changing angular resolution (~1'-12'), depending on the regions in the sky. Maps drawn at the lower 15' grid with a fixed 1{deg} resolution were also derived for various sets of threshold magnitudes in the J, H, and K_S_ bands to estimate the background star colors and star densities needed to derive the color excess and extinction maps.

The maps obtained in this work are presented on various scales in a series of figures that can be used as an atlas of dark clouds for general research purposes. On the basis of the E(J-H) and A_J_ maps drawn at the 1' grid, we have carried out a systematic survey for dark clouds all over the sky. In total, we identified 7614 dark clouds, and measured the coordinates, extents, and A_V_ values for each of them.