Galactic structure from the Calar Alto Deep Imaging Survey (CADIS)

¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
² Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK e-mail: sp@roe.ac.uk
³ Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Mönchhofstr. 12–14, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany

Received: 2 June 2004
Accepted: 13 August 2005

Abstract

We used 1627 faint () stars in five fields of the Calar Alto Deep Imaging Survey (CADIS) to estimate the structure parameters of the Galaxy. The results were derived by applying two complementary methods: first by fitting the density distribution function to the measured density of stars perpendicular to the Galactic plane, and second by modelling the observed colors and apparent magnitudes of the stars in the field, using Monte Carlo simulations. The best-fitting model of the Galaxy is then determined by minimising the C-statistic, a modified . Our model includes a double exponential for the stellar disk with scaleheights h₁ and h₂ and a power law halo with exponent α. different parameter combinations have been simulated. Both methods yield consistent results: the best fitting parameter combination is (or , if we allow for a flattening of the halo with an axial ratio of ),  pc,  pc, and the contribution of thick disk stars to the disk stars in the solar neighbourhood is found to be between 4 and 10%.