Searching for Stellar Associations in Gaia DR2
Date
2021
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Department of Physics, University of Tampa; CIERA/Northwestern University; Columbia University; Pontificia Universidad Católica Católica de Chile
Abstract
We present preliminary results of a search for previously unidentified stellar associations in the second data release (DR2) from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite. Gaia DR2 contains precise astrometric data on more than 1.2 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. We have modified a Python code originally intended to identify wide stellar binaries through a Bayesian formulation, which includes correlated uncertainties in the proper motions and parallaxes, to expand it to larger stellar groups of 10 or more stars. The search volume includes the whole sky within 500 parsecs of the sun, where stellar parallaxes are more discernible. The code has been optimized to filter out background stars by testing over several well known stellar associations, including the Pleiades open cluster and the Scorpius-Centaurus Association. We have been able to successfully identify the Pleiades, Upper Scorpius Centaurus, and Messier 39 stellar associations with our code and are now searching the sky for previously unidentified associations. Identifying new stellar associations will help constrain models of the dynamical evolution of the Galaxy.
Description
Recommended Citation: Jennings, Brolan, Jeff Andrews, Marcel Agüeros, and Julio Chanamé. “Searching for Stellar Associations in Gaia DR2.” Acta Spartae, 2021. https://doi.org/10.48497/VDAR-NN31.
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Keywords
Gaia DR2, European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite
Citation
Jennings, Brolan, Jeff Andrews, Marcel Agüeros, and Julio Chanamé. “Searching for Stellar Associations in Gaia DR2.” Acta Spartae, 2021. https://doi.org/10.48497/VDAR-NN31.