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Spatial correlations in the Gaia astrometric solution

Authors :
David Hobbs
Berry Holl
Lennart Lindegren
Source :
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. 5:320-324
Publication Year :
2009
Publisher :
Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2009.

Abstract

Accurate characterization of the astrometric errors in the forthcoming Gaia catalogue is essential for making optimal use of the data. Using small-scale numerical simulations of the astrometric solution, we investigate the expected spatial correlation between the astrometric errors of stars as function of their angular separation. Extrapolating to the full-scale solution for the final Gaia catalogue, we find that the expected correlations are generally very small, but could reach some fraction of a percent for angular separations smaller than about one degree. The spatial correlation length is related to the size of the field of view of Gaia, while the maximum correlation coefficient is related to the mean number of stars present in the field at any time. Our scalable simulation tool (AGISLab) makes it possible to characterize the astrometric errors and correlations, e.g., as functions of position and magnitude.

Details

ISSN :
17439221 and 17439213
Volume :
5
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........c8312b688ed5d1508d8890c85ea10a4d
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1017/s1743921309990573