Gaia G-band Research Articles

Three-dimensional maps of interstellar dust in the Local Arm: using Gaia, 2MASS, and APOGEE-DR14

Context. Gaia data and stellar surveys open the way to the construction of detailed 3D maps of the Galactic interstellar (IS) dust based on the synthesis of star distances and extinctions. Dust maps are tools of broad use, also for Gaia-related Milky Way studies. Aims. Reliable extinction measurements require very accurate photometric calibrations. We show the first step of an iterative process linking 3D dust maps and photometric calibrations, and improving them simultaneously. Methods. Our previous 3D map of nearby IS dust was used to select low-reddening SDSS/APOGEE-DR14 red giants, and this database served for an empirical effective temperature- and metallicity-dependent photometric calibration in the Gaia G and 2MASS Ks bands. This calibration has been combined with Gaia G-band empirical extinction coefficients recently published, G, J, and Ks photometry and APOGEE atmospheric parameters to derive the extinction of a large fraction of the survey targets. Distances were estimated independently using isochrones and the magnitude-independent extinction KJ−Ks. This new dataset has been merged with the one used for the earlier version of dust map. A new Bayesian inversion of distance-extinction pairs has been performed to produce an updated 3D map. Results. We present several properties of the new map. A comparison with 2D dust emission reveals that all large dust shells seen in emission at middle and high latitudes are closer than 300 pc. The updated distribution constrains the well-debated, X-ray bright North Polar Spur to originate beyond 800 pc. We use the Orion region to illustrate additional details and distant clouds. On the large scale the map reveals a complex structure of the Local Arm. Chains of clouds of 2–3 kpc in length appear in planes tilted by ≃15° with respect to the Galactic plane. A series of cavities oriented along a l ≃ 60–240° axis crosses the Arm. Conclusions. The results illustrate the ongoing synergy between 3D mapping of IS dust and stellar calibrations in the context of Gaia. Dust maps provide prior foregrounds for future calibrations appropriate to different target characteristics or ranges of extinction, allowing us in turn to increase extinction data and produce more detailed and extended maps.

The empirical Gaia G-band extinction coefficient

Context. The first Gaia data release unlocked the access to photometric information for 1.1 billion sources in the G-band. Yet, given the high level of degeneracy between extinction and spectral energy distribution for large passbands such as the Gaia G-band, a correction for the interstellar reddening is needed in order to exploit Gaia data. Aims. The purpose of this manuscript is to provide the empirical estimation of the Gaia G-band extinction coefficient kG for both the red giants and main sequence stars in order to be able to exploit the first data release DR1. Methods. We selected two samples of single stars: one for the red giants and one for the main sequence. Both samples are the result of a cross-match between Gaia DR1 and 2MASS catalogues; they consist of high-quality photometry in the G-, J- and KS-bands. These samples were complemented by temperature and metallicity information retrieved from APOGEE DR13 and LAMOST DR2 surveys, respectively. We implemented a Markov chain Monte Carlo method where we used (G – KS)0 versus Teff and (J – KS)0 versus (G – KS)0, calibration relations to estimate the extinction coefficient kG and we quantify its corresponding confidence interval via bootstrap resampling. We tested our method on samples of red giants and main sequence stars, finding consistent solutions. Results. We present here the determination of the Gaia extinction coefficient through a completely empirical method. Furthermore we provide the scientific community with a formula for measuring the extinction coefficient as a function of stellar effective temperature, the intrinsic colour (G – KS)0, and absorption.

G-Band Period-Luminosity Relation For Galactic Cepheids Based on Gaia DR1 Measurements

AbstractClassical Cepheids (hereafter Cepheids) are important standard candle as they obey the famous period-luminosity (PL) relation. Parallax measurements from Gaia offer a unique opportunity to derive or calibrate the PL relations for Galactic Cepheids, as traditionally their distances were measured via different methods. In this work, we attempted to derive the Gaia G-band PL relation based on the Gaia Data Release 1 (DR1) measurements. We adopted the inferred distances provided by Astraatmadja & Bailer-Jones (2016), calculated using two priors in a Bayesian analysis, and cross-matched to known Galactic Cepheids. The resulting G-band PL relation, however, exhibits a much larger scatter than expected. Hence the inferred distances based on the Gaia DR1 parallaxes are not suitable for calibrating the Galactic PL relation, and future Data Releases with improved parallax measurements are desirable.

GaiaData Release 1

We present an overview of the Specific Objects Study (SOS) pipeline developed within the Coordination Unit 7 (CU7) of the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC), the coordination unit charged with the processing and analysis of variable sources observed by Gaia, to validate and fully characterise Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars observed by the spacecraft. We describe how the SOS for Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars (SOS Cep&RRL) was specifically tailored to analyse Gaia's G-band photometric time-series with a South Ecliptic Pole (SEP) footprint, which covers an external region of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). G-band time-series photometry and characterization by the SOS Cep&RRL pipeline (mean magnitude and pulsation characteristics) are published in Gaia Data Release 1 (Gaia DR1) for a total sample of 3,194 variable stars, 599 Cepheids and 2,595 RR Lyrae stars, of which 386 (43 Cepheids and 343 RR Lyrae stars) are new discoveries by Gaia. All 3,194 stars are distributed over an area extending 38 degrees on either side from a point offset from the centre of the LMC by about 3 degrees to the north and 4 degrees to the east. The vast majority, but not all, are located within the LMC. The published sample also includes a few bright RR Lyrae stars that trace the outer halo of the Milky Way in front of the LMC.

Improving LSST Photometric Calibration with Gaia Data

We consider the possibility that the Gaia mission can supply data which will improve the photometric calibration of LSST. After outlining the LSST calibration process and the information that will be available from Gaia, we explore two options for using Gaia data. The first is to use Gaia G-band photometry of selected stars, in conjunction with knowledge of the stellar parameters Teff, log g, and AV, and in some cases Z, to create photometric standards in the LSST u, g, r, i, z, and y bands. We consider both main sequence (MS) stars and DA white dwarfs (WD). The accuracies of the resulting standard magnitudes from MS stars are found to be insufficient to satisfy LSST requirements using Gaia data alone, but with the potential to do so when supplemented with ground-based spectroscopy. The accuracies of the WD derived standards are generally adequate, but also require ground-based spectroscopy. The second option is combine the LSST bandpasses into a synthetic Gaia G band, which is a close approximation to the real Gaia G band. This allows synthetic Gaia G photometry to be directly compared with actual Gaia G photometry at a level of accuracy which is useful for both verifying and improving LSST photometric calibration.