Gaia DR2 documentation

Author(s)

F. van Leeuwen, J. H. J. de Bruijne, F. Arenou, J. Bakker, R. Blomme, G. Busso, C. Cacciari, J. Castañeda, A. Cellino, M. Clotet, G. Comoretto, L. Eyer, J. González-Núñez, L. Guy, N. Hambly, D. Hobbs, M. van Leeuwen, X. Luri, M. Manteiga, D. Pourbaix, T. Roegiers, J. Salgado, P. Sartoretti, P. Tanga, A. Ulla, E. Utrilla Molina, A. Abreu, M. Altmann, R. Andrae, T. Antoja, M. Audard, C. Babusiaux, C. A. L. Bailer-Jones, C. Barache, U. Bastian, M. Beck, J. Berthier, L. Bianchi, M. Biermann, A. Bombrun, D. Bossini, M. Breddels, A. G. A. Brown, D. Busonero, A. Butkevich, T. Cantat-Gaudin, J. M. Carrasco, N. Cheek, G. Clementini, O. Creevey, C. Crowley, M. David, M. Davidson, F. De Angeli, J. De Ridder, M. Delbò, A. Dell'Oro, S. Diakité, E. Distefano, R. Drimmel, J. Durán, D. W. Evans, C. Fabricius, M. Fabrizio, J. Fernández-Hernández, K. Findeisen, J. Fleitas, M. Fouesneau, L. Galluccio, G. Gracia-Abril, R. Guerra, R. Gutiérrez-Sánchez, A. Helmi, J. Hernandez, B. Holl, A. Hutton, A. Jean-Antoine-Piccolo, G. Jevardat de Fombelle, E. Joliet, C. Jordi, Á. Juhász, S. Klioner, W. Löffler, U. Lammers, A. Lanzafame, T. Lebzelter, N. Leclerc, I. Lecoeur-Taïbi, L. Lindegren, S. Marinoni, P. M. Marrese, N. Mary, D. Massari, R. Messineo, D. Michalik, F. Mignard, R. Molinaro, L. Molnár, P. Montegriffo, A. Mora, N. Mowlavi, K. Muinonen, T. Muraveva, K. Nienartowicz, C. Ordenovic, E. Pancino, C. Panem, T. Pauwels, J. Petit, E. Plachy, J. Portell, E. Racero, S. Regibo, C. Reylé, L. Rimoldini, V. Ripepi, A. Riva, N. Robichon, A. Robin, M. Roelens, M. Romero-Gómez, L. Sarro, G. Seabroke, J. C. Segovia, H. Siddiqui, R. Smart, K. Smith, R. Sordo, S. Soria, F. Spoto, C. Stephenson, C. Turon, A. Vallenari, J. Veljanoski, S. Voutsinas

Abstract

The second Gaia data release, Gaia DR2, encompasses astrometry, photometry, radial velocities, astrophysical parameters (stellar effective temperature, extinction, reddening, radius, and luminosity), and variability information plus astrometry and photometry for a sample of pre-selected bodies in the solar system. The data collected duringthe first 22 months of the nominal, five-year mission have been processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC), resulting into this second data release. A summary of the releaseproperties is provided in Gaia Collaboration et al. (2018b). The overall scientific validation of the data is described in Arenou et al. (2018). Background information on the mission and the spacecraft can be found inGaia Collaboration et al. (2016), with a more detailed presentation ofthe Radial Velocity Spectrometer (RVS) in Cropper et al. (2018). Inaddition, Gaia DR2 is accompanied by various, dedicated papers thatdescribe the processing and validation of the various data products.Four more Gaia Collaboration papers present a glimpse of the scientificrichness of the data. In addition to this set of refereed publications,this documentation provides a detailed, complete overview of theprocessing and validation of the Gaia DR2 data. Gaia data, from bothGaia DR1 and Gaia DR2, can be retrieved from the Gaia archive, which isaccessible from archives.esac.esa.int/gaia. The archive alsoprovides various tutorials on data access and data queries plus anintegrated data model (i.e., description of the various fields in thedata tables). In addition, Luri et al. (2018) provide concrete advice onhow to deal with Gaia astrometry, with recommendations on how best toestimate distances from parallaxes. The Gaia archive features anenhanced visualisation service which can be used for quick initial explorations of the entire Gaia DR2 data set. Pre-computed cross matchesbetween Gaia DR2 and a selected set of large surveys are provided. GaiaDR2 represents a major advance with respect to Gaia DR1 in terms ofsurvey completeness, precision and accuracy, and the richness of the published data. Nevertheless, Gaia DR2 is still an early release basedon a limited amount of input data, simplifications in the dataprocessing, and imperfect calibrations. Many limitations hence exist which the user of Gaia DR2 should be aware of; they are described in Gaia Collaboration et al. (2018b).

Organisation(s)

Department of Astrophysics

Publication date

07-2018

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103003 Astronomy, 103004 Astrophysics

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/7ff93ff4-7987-4dbd-908b-29caf568f0e0