VERSION 1 of the HUBBLE SOURCE CATALOG

Bradley C. Whitmore, Sahar S. Allam, Tamás Budavári, Stefano Casertano, Ronald A. Downes, Thomas Donaldson, S. Michael Fall, Stephen H. Lubow, Lee Quick, Louis Gregory Strolger, Geoff Wallace, Richard L. White

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The Hubble Source Catalog is designed to help optimize science from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) by combining the tens of thousands of visit-based source lists in the Hubble Legacy Archive (HLA) into a single master catalog. Version 1 of the Hubble Source Catalog includes WFPC2, ACS/WFC, WFC3/UVIS, and WFC3/IR photometric data generated using SExtractor software to produce the individual source lists. The catalog includes roughly 80 million detections of 30 million objects involving 112 different detector/filter combinations, and about 160,000 HST exposures. Source lists from Data Release 8 of the HLA are matched using an algorithm developed by Budavári & Lubow. The mean photometric accuracy for the catalog as a whole is better than 0.10 mag, with relative accuracy as good as 0.02 mag in certain circumstances (e.g., bright isolated stars). The relative astrometric residuals are typically within 10 mas, with a value for the mode (i.e., most common value) of 2.3 mas. The absolute astrometric accuracy is better than for most sources, but can be much larger for a fraction of fields that could not be matched to the PanSTARRS, SDSS, or 2MASS reference systems. In this paper we describe the database design with emphasis on those aspects that enable the users to fully exploit the catalog while avoiding common misunderstandings and potential pitfalls. We provide usage examples to illustrate some of the science capabilities and data quality characteristics, and briefly discuss plans for future improvements to the Hubble Source Catalog.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number134
JournalAstronomical Journal
Volume151
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • astrometry
  • catalogs
  • techniques: photometric
  • virtual observatory tools

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'VERSION 1 of the HUBBLE SOURCE CATALOG'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this