Gaia Data Release 1 (DR1) contains astrometric results for more than 1 billion stars brighter than magnitude 20.7 based on observations collected by the Gaia satellite during the first 14 months of its operational phase. For stars in common with the Hipparcos and Tycho-2 catalogues, complete astrometric single-star solutions are obtained by incorporating positional information from the earlier catalogues. For other stars only their positions are obtained, essentially by neglecting their proper motions and parallaxes. The results are validated by an analysis of the residuals, through special validation runs, and by comparison with external data. For about two million of the brighter stars (down to magnitude ~11.5) we obtain positions, parallaxes, and proper motions to Hipparcos- type precision or better. For these stars, systematic errors depending for example on position and colour are at a level of +/-0.3 milliarcsecond (mas). For the remaining stars we obtain positions at epoch J2015.0 accurate to ~10 mas. Positions and proper motions are given in a reference frame that is aligned with the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF) to better than 0.1mas at epoch J2015.0, and non-rotating with respect to ICRF to within 0.03mas/yr. The Hipparcos reference frame is found to rotate with respect to the Gaia DR1 frame at a rate of 0.24mas/yr.
We present the stellar population, using Gaia DR2 parallax, kinematics, and photometry, of the young (~100Myr), nearby (~230pc) open cluster, Blanco 1. A total of 644 member candidates are identified via the unsupervised machine learning method StarGO to find the clustering in the 5-dimensional position and proper motion parameter (X, Y, Z, {mu}{alpha}*cos{delta}, {mu}{delta}) space. Within the tidal radius of 10.0+/-0.3pc, there are 488 member candidates, 3 times more than those outside. A leading tail and a trailing tail, each of 50-60pc in the Galactic plane, are found for the first time for this cluster, with stars further from the cluster center streaming away faster, manifest stellar stripping. Blanco 1 has a total detected mass of 285+/-32M_{sun}_ with a mass function consistent with a slope of alpha=1.35+/-0.2 in the sense of dN/dm{prop.to}m^-alpha^, in the mass range of 0.25-2.51M_{sun}_, where N is the number of members and $m$ is stellar mass. A Minimum Spanning Tree ({LAMBDA}_MSR_) analysis shows the cluster to be moderately mass segregated among the most massive members (>~1.4M_{sun}_), suggesting an early stage of dynamical disintegration.
The Sagittarius (Sgr) stream is one of the best tools that we currently have to estimate the mass and shape of our Galaxy. However, assigning membership and obtaining the phase-space distribution of the stars that form the tails is quite challenging. Our goal is to produce a catalogue of RR Lyrae stars of Sgr and obtain an empiric measurement of the trends along the stream in sky position, distance and tangential velocities. We generate two initial samples from the Gaia DR2 RR Lyrae catalogue: one, selecting only the stars within +/-20{deg} of the orbital plane of Sagittarius (Strip) and the other, the result of applying the Pole Count Map (nGC3) algorithm. We then use the model-independent, deterministic method developed in this work to remove most of the contamination by detecting and isolating the stream in distance and proper motions. The output is two empiric catalogues: the Strip sample (higher-completeness, lower-purity) which contains 11677 stars, and the nGC3 sample (higher-purity, lower-completeness) with 6608 stars. We characterise the changes along the stream in all the available dimensions, the 5 astrometric ones plus the metallicity, covering more than 2{pi}rad in the sky and obtain new estimates for the apocentres and the mean [Fe/H] of the RR Lyrae population. Also, we show the first map of the two components of the tangential velocity, thanks to the combination of distances and proper motions. Finally, we detect the bifurcation in the leading arm and report no significant difference between the two branches, either in metallicity, kinematics or distance. We provide the largest sample of RR Lyrae candidates of Sgr, which can be used as an input for a spectroscopic follow-up or as a reference for the new generation of models of the stream through the interpolators in distance and velocity that we have constructed.
We report the discovery of 34 new open clusters and candidates as a result of a systematic search carried out in 200 adjacent fields of 1x1 square degrees area projected towards the Galactic bulge, using Gaia DR2 data. The objects were identified and characterized by a joint analysis of their photometric, kinematic and spatial distribution, which has been consistently used and proved to be effective in our previous works. The discoveries were validated by cross-referencing the objects position and astrometric parameters with the available literature. Besides their coordinates and astrometric parameters, we also provide sizes, ages, distances and reddening for the discovered objects. In particular, 32 clusters are closer than 2kpc from the Sun, which represents an increment of nearly 39% of objects with astrophysical parameters determined in the nearby inner disk. Although these objects fill an important gap in the open clusters distribution along the Sagittarius arm, this arm, traced by known clusters, appears to be interrupted, which may be an artifact due to the incompleteness of the cluster census.
The Gaia astrometric sample allows us to study the outermost Galactic disc, the halo, and their interface. It is precisely at the very edge of the disc where the effects of external perturbations are expected to be the most noticeable. Our goal is to detect the kinematic substructure present in the halo and at the edge of the Milky Way (MW) disc and provide observational constraints on their phase-space distribution. We download, one HP at a time, the proper motion histogram of distant stars, to which we apply a wavelet transformation to reveal the significant overdensities. We then analyse the large coherent structures that appear in the sky. We reveal a sharp yet complex anticentre dominated by Monoceros (MNC) and the Anticentre Stream (ACS) in the north - which we find have intensities comparable to the Magellanic Clouds and the Sagittarius stream - and by MNC South and TriAnd at negative latitudes. Our method allows us to perform a morpho-logical analysis of MNC and the ACS, both of which span more than 100{deg} in longitude, and to provide a high purity sample of giants with which we track MNC down to latitudes as low as ~5{deg}. Their colour-magnitude diagram is consistent with extended structures at a distance of ~10-11kpc that originated in the disc, with a very low ratio of RR-Lyrae over M giants, and with kinematics compatible with the rotation curve at those distances or slightly slower. We present a precise characterisation of MNC and the ACS, two previously known structures that our method reveals naturally, allowing us to detect them without limiting ourselves to a particular stellar type and, for the first time, using only kinematics. Our results will allow future studies to model their chemo-dynamics and evolution, thus constraining some of the most influential processes that shaped the MW.
Gaia DR2 PMs of stars in ultra-faint MW satellites
Short Name:
J/ApJ/863/89
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
The second data release from the Gaia mission (DR2) provides a comprehensive and unprecedented picture of the motions of astronomical sources in the plane of the sky, extending from the solar neighborhood to the outer reaches of the Milky Way. I present proper-motion measurements based on Gaia DR2 for 17 ultra-faint dwarf galaxies within 100kpc of the Milky Way. I compile the spectroscopically confirmed member stars in each dwarf bright enough for Gaia astrometry from the literature, producing member samples ranging from two stars in Triangulum II to 68 stars in Bootes I. From the spectroscopic member catalogs, I estimate the proper motion of each system. I find good agreement with the proper motions derived by the Gaia collaboration for Bootes I and Leo I. The tangential velocities for 14 of the 17 dwarfs are determined to better than 50km/s, more than doubling the sample of such measurements for Milky Way satellite galaxies. The orbital pericenters are well constrained, with a mean value of 38kpc. Only one satellite, Tucana III, is on an orbit passing within 15kpc of the Galactic center, suggesting that the remaining ultra-faint dwarfs are unlikely to have experienced severe tidal stripping. As a group, the ultra-faint dwarfs are on high-velocity, eccentric, retrograde trajectories, with nearly all of them having space motions exceeding 370km/s. A large majority of the objects are currently close to the pericenters of their orbits. In a low-mass (M_vir_=0.9x10^12^M_{sun}_) Milky Way potential, eight out of the 17 galaxies lack well-defined apocenters and appear likely to be on their first infall, indicating that the Milky Way mass may be larger than previously estimated or that many of the ultra-faint dwarfs are associated with the Magellanic Clouds. The median eccentricity of the ultra-faint dwarf orbits is 0.79, similar to the values seen in numerical simulations but distinct from the rounder orbits of the more luminous dwarf spheroidals.
723 Gaia DR2 White dwarfs cand. in Local Galactic Halo
Short Name:
J/ApJ/899/83
Date:
14 Mar 2022 08:58:44
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We present a catalog of 531 white dwarf candidates that have large apparent transverse motions relative to the Sun (v_T_>200km/s), thus making them likely members of the local Galactic halo population. The candidates were selected from the Gaia Data Release 2 and are located in a great circle with 20{deg} width running across both Galactic poles and the Galactic center and anticenter, a zone that spans 17.3% of the sky. The selection used a combination of kinematic and photometric properties, derived primarily from Gaia proper motions, G magnitudes, and G_BP_-G_RP_ color, and including parallax whenever available. Additional validation of the white dwarf candidates is made using PanSTARRS photometric (gri) data. Our final catalog includes not only stars having full kinematic and luminosity estimates from reliable Gaia parallax, but also stars with presently unreliable or no available Gaia parallax measurements. We argue that our method of selecting local halo objects with and without reliable parallax data leads us to round up all possible halo white dwarfs in the Gaia catalog (in that particular section of the sky) with recorded proper motions >40mas/yr and that pass our v_T_>200km/s threshold requirement. We expect this catalog will be useful for the study of the white dwarf population of the local Galactic halo.
Gaia DR3 data (both Gaia EDR3 and the full Gaia DR3) are based on data collected between 25 July 2014 (10:30 UTC) and 28 May 2017 (08:44 UTC), spanning a period of 34 months. As a comparison, Gaia DR2 was based on 22 months of data and Gaia DR1 was based on observations collected during the first 14 months of Gaia's routine operational phase. Survey completeness: The Gaia EDR3 catalogue is essentially complete between G=12 and G=17. The source list for the release is incomplete at the bright end and has an ill-defined faint magnitude limit, which depends on celestial position. The combination of the Gaia scan law coverage and the filtering on data quality which will be done prior to the publication of Gaia EDR3, does lead to some regions of the sky displaying source density fluctuations that reflect the scan law pattern. In addition, small gaps exist in the source distribution, for instance close to bright stars. Astrometry: The parallax improvement is typically 20% with respect to Gaia DR2. The proper motions are typically a factor two better than in Gaia DR2. An overall reduction of systematics has been achieved. E.g., the parallax zero point deduced from the extragalactic sources is about -20{mu}as. A tentative correction formula for the parallax zero point will be provided. Closer to the release date of Gaia Early Data Release 3, an update will be given on the astrometry. Photometry: The G-band photometric uncertainties are ~0.25mmag for G<13, 1mmag at G=17, and 5mmag at G=20mag. The GBP-band photometric uncertainties are ~1mmag for G<13, 10mmag at G=17, and 100mmag at G=20mag. The GRP-band photometric uncertainties are ~1mmag for G<13, 5mmag at G=17, and 50mmag at G=20mag. Closer to the release date of Gaia Early Data Release 3, an update will be given on the photometry. Gaia EDR3 does not contain new radial velocities. The radial velocities of Gaia Data Release 2 have been added to Gaia EDR3 in order to ease the combination of spectrosopic and astrometric data. Radial velocities: Gaia EDR3 hence contains Gaia DR2 median radial velocities for about 7.21 million stars with a mean G magnitude between ~4 and ~13 and an effective temperature (Teff) in the range ~3550 to 6900K. The overall precision of the radial velocities at the bright end is of the order of ~200-300m/s while at the faint end, the overall precision is ~1.2km/s for a Teff of 4750K and ~3.5km/s for a Teff of 6500K. Before publication in Gaia EDR3, an additional filtering has been performed onto the Gaia DR2 radial velocities to remove some 4000 sources that had wrong radial velocities. Please be aware that the Gaia DR2 values are assigned to the Gaia EDR3 sources through an internal cross-match operation. In total, ~10000 Gaia DR2 radial velocities could not be associated to a Gaia EDR3 source. Astrophysical parameters: Gaia EDR3 does not contain new astrophysical parameters. Astrophysical parameters have been published in Gaia DR2 and a new set is expected to be released with the full Gaia DR3 release. Variable stars: Gaia EDR3 does not contain newly classified variable stars. For the overview of the currently available variable stars from Gaia DR2, have a look here. Classifications for a larger set of variable stars are expected with the full Gaia DR3 release. Solar system objects: A large set of solar system objects with orbits will become available with the full Gaia DR3 release. Information on the currently available asteroids in Gaia DR2 can be found here. Documentation: Data release documentation is provided along with each data release in the form of a downloadable PDF and a webpage. The various chapters of the documentation have been indexed at ADS allowing them to be cited. Please visit the Gaia Archive (https://gea.esac.esa.int/archive) to access this documentation, and make sure to check out all relevant information given through the documentation overview page (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia-users/archive).
We present a sub-arcsecond cross-match of Gaia DR2 (Cat. I/345) against the INT Photometric H-alpha Survey of the Northern Galactic Plane Data Release 2 (IPHAS DR2, Cat. II/321) and the Kepler-INT Survey (KIS, Cat. J/AJ/144/24). The resulting value-added catalogues (VACs) provide additional precise photometry to the Gaia photometry (r, i and H-alpha for IPHAS, with additional U and g for KIS). In building the catalogue, proper motions given in Gaia DR2 are wound back to match the epochs of IPHAS DR2, thus ensuring high proper motion objects are appropriately cross-matched. The catalogues contain 7927224 and 791071 sources for IPHAS and KIS, respectively. The requirement of >5 sigma parallax detection for every included source means that distances out to 1-1.5kpc are well covered. We define two additional parameters for each catalogued object: (i) fc, a magnitude-dependent tracer of the quality of the Gaia astrometric fit; (ii) fFP, the false-positive rate for parallax measurements determined from astrometric fits of a given quality at a given magnitude. Selection cuts based on these parameters can be used to clean colour-magnitude and colour-colour diagrams in a controlled and justified manner. We provide both full and light versions of the VAC, with VAC-light containing only objects that represent our recommended trade-off between purity and completeness. Uses of the catalogues include the identification of new variable stars in the matched data sets, and more complete identification of H-alpha-excess emission objects thanks to separation of high-luminosity stars from the main sequence.
We present mean absolute proper motion measurements for seven ultra- faint dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way, namely Bootes III, Carina II, Grus II, Reticulum II, Sagittarius II, Segue 2 and Tucana IV. For four of these dwarfs our proper motion estimate is the first ever provided. The adopted astrometric data come from the second data release of the Gaia mission. We determine the mean proper motion for each galaxy starting from an initial guess of likely members, based either on radial velocity measurements or using stars on the Horizontal Branch identified in the Gaia (G_BP_-G_RP_, G) colour-magnitude diagram in the field of view towards the UFD. We then refine their membership iteratively using both astrometry and photometry. We take into account the full covariance matrix among the astrometric parameters when deriving the mean proper motions for these systems. Our procedure provides mean proper motions with typical uncertainties of ~0.1mas/yr, even for galaxies without prior spectroscopic information. In the case of Segue 2 we find that using radial velocity members only leads to biased results, presumably because of the small number of stars with measured radial velocities. Conclusions: our procedure allows to maximize the number of member stars per galaxy regardless of the existence of prior spectroscopic information, and can therefore be applied on any faint or distant stellar system within reach of Gaia.
