The catalog is stored in a FITS file which is linked in the Data.DataStorage metadata. The catalog is extracted from NIR Calibrated Frame and, therefore, its file structure reflects the origin FITS file.
It is then composed by a PRIMARY layer, with the main infomation on pointings, and other 16 layers, 1 layer for each detector, named DETxy.SCI` as in the NIR Calibrated Frame FITS file. These layers store a table with the extracted catalog for eahc detector.
The NIR_Catalog_Extraction task detects sources with a dedicated algorithm and, then, extracts source photometry (using SExtractor software) with 3 different methods:
* MagAper: photometry with 6 pixels size aperture
* MagAuto: as defined by SExtractor
* MagPSF: a PSF fitting extraction performed by SExtractor
From the corresponding calibrated frame are inherited the pointing coordinates and all the keywords needed to univocal identify the observation (i.e. Observation Id, Dither and Exposure number).