Gaiaxpy python tool for Gaia spectral data

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Hamish Barker
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Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2019 12:11 am

Gaiaxpy python tool for Gaia spectral data

Post by Hamish Barker »

From the Gaia website, might be interesting as an extra tool for those chasing spectra of Gaia generated transient alerts.:

https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/iow_20220519

GAIAXPY 1.0.0 RELEASED, A TOOL FOR GAIA'S BP/RP SPECTRA USERS

"The Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3) will offer access for the first time to mean low-resolution spectra obtained from a combination of a number of epoch Blue and Red Photometer (BP and RP) observations covering the optical to near-infrared wavelength range [330, 1050] nm. These will be available for about 220 million sources, mostly brighter than G=17.65.
Their signal-to-noise ratio varies significantly over the wavelength range covered and with magnitude and colour of the observed objects (see the image of the week on Signal-to-Noise Ratio for Gaia DR3 BP/RP mean spectra), with sources around G=15 having S/N above 100 in some wavelength ranges.


Detailed information about the BP/RP spectral data in DR3 will be available in a number of papers: De Angeli et al. 2022 will describe the processing that converts the raw data into mean spectra in an internal reference system that is homogeneous across all instruments (defined by different CCDs and instrumental configurations and by their variations in time). Montegriffo et al 2022 will detail the algorithms defining the calibration that links the internal system to the absolute flux and wavelength system. Both these papers will show several results of the validation done by the same team that processed the data. Finally, Babusiaux et al. 2022 will include a section on the independent validation of the BP/RP data in Gaia DR3. In addition to these, one of the performance verification papers (Gaia Collaboration, Montegriffo et al. 2022) will focus on synthetic photometry generated from the BP/RP mean spectra, exploring some potential scientific application and showing the performances that can be achieved in different photometric systems."
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