The AKARI Far-Infrared All-Sky Survey Maps

We present a far-infrared all-sky atlas from a sensitive all-sky survey using the Japanese AKARI satellite. The survey covers > 99% of the sky in four photometric bands centred at 65 μm, 90 μm, 140 μm, and 160 μm with spatial resolutions ranging from 1 to 1.5 arcmin. These data provide crucial information for the investigation and characterisation of the properties of dusty material in the Interstellar Medium (ISM), since significant portion of its energy is emitted between sim50 and 200 μm. The large-scale distribution of interstellar clouds, their thermal dust temperatures and column densities, can be investigated with the improved spatial resolution compared to earlier all-sky survey observations. In addition to the point source distribution, the large-scale distribution of ISM cirrus emission, and its filamentary structure, are well traced. We have made the first public release of the full-sky data to provide a legacy data set for use by the astronomical community.