EDP Sciences Journals List
Advanced Search
Subscriber Authentication Point
Home All issues Volume 424/1 Article
Free access article

Issue A&A
Volume 424, Number 1, September II 2004
Page(s) 73 - 78
Section Extragalactic astronomy
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20040567



A&A 424, 73-78 (2004)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20040567

Influence of a generalized Eddington bias on galaxy counts

P. Teerikorpi

Tuorla Observatory, University of Turku, 21500 Piikkiö, Finland
    e-mail: pekkatee@utu.fi

(Received 31 March 2004 / Accepted 11 May 2004)

Abstract
We study the influence of the Eddington bias on measured distributions, in particular counts of galaxies when the accuracy of magnitude measurements is variable, e.g. when it changes towards fainter objects. Numerical experiments using different error laws illustrate the effect on the measured slope, helping one to decide if the variable Eddington bias is important, when the simple analytic correction is no longer valid. Common views on the origin and appearance of the Eddington bias are clarified and its relation to the classical Malmquist bias is briefly discussed. We illustrate the "Eddington shift" approach with the counts of bright galaxies in the LEDA database.


Key words: galaxies: statistics




© ESO 2004


What is OpenURL?

The OpenURL standard is a protocol for transmission of metadata describing the resource that you wish to access. An OpenURL link contains article metadata and directs it to the OpenURL server of your choice. The OpenURL server can provide access to the resource and also offer complementary services (specific search engine, export of references...). The OpenURL link can be generated by different means.
  • If your librarian has set up your subscription with an OpenURL resolver, OpenURL links appear automatically on the abstract pages.
  • You can define your own OpenURL resolver with your EDPS Account. In this case your choice will be given priority over that of your library.
  • You can use an add-on for your browser (Firefox or I.E.) to display OpenURL links on a page (see http://www.openly.com/openurlref/). You should disable this module if you wish to use the OpenURL server that you or your library have defined.