Grand, RJJ, Helly, J, Fattahi, A, Cautun, M, Cole, S, Cooper, AP, Deason, AJ, Frenk, C, Gómez, FA, Hunt, JAS, Marinacci, F, Pakmor, R, Simpson, CM, Springel, V and Xu, D (2018) Aurigaia: Mock Gaia DR2 stellar catalogues from the AURIGA cosmological simulations. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 481 (2). pp. 1726-1743. ISSN 0035-8711

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Abstract

We present and analyse mock stellar catalogues that match the selection criteria and observables (including uncertainties) of the Gaia satellite data release 2 (DR2). The source are six cosmological high-resolution magneto-hydrodynamic ΛCDM zoom simulations of the formation of Milky Way analogues from the AURIGA project. Mock data are provided for stars with V < 16 mag and V < 20 mag at |b| > 20 deg. The mock catalogues are made using two different methods: the public SNAPDRAGONS code, and a method based on that of Lowing et al. (2015) that preserves the phase-space distribution of the model stars. These publicly available catalogues contain five-parameter astrometry, radial velocities, multiband photometry, stellar parameters, dust extinction values, and uncertainties in all these quantities. In addition, we provide the gravitational potential and information on the origin of each star. By way of demonstration, we apply the mock catalogues to analyses of the young stellar disc and the stellar halo. We show that (i) the young outer stellar disc exhibits a flared distribution that is detectable in the height and vertical velocity distribution of A-and B-dwarf stars up to radii of ~15 kpc, and (ii) the spin of the stellar halo out to 100 kpc can be accurately measured with Gaia DR2 RR Lyrae stars. These catalogues are well suited for comparisons with observations and should help to (i) develop and test analysis methods for the Gaia DR2 data, (ii) gauge the limitations and biases of the data, and (iii) interpret the data in the light of theoretical predictions from realistic ab initio simulations of galaxy formation in the ΛCDM cosmological model.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2018 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences; Astronomy & Astrophysics
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy Q Science > QC Physics
Divisions:	Astrophysics Research Institute
Publisher:	Oxford University Press (OUP)
SWORD Depositor:	A Symplectic
Date Deposited:	19 Apr 2023 11:33
Last Modified:	19 Apr 2023 11:33
DOI or ID number:	10.1093/MNRAS/STY2403
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/19332

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