Issue |
A&A
Volume 667, November 2022
Gaia Early Data Release 3
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A148 | |
Number of page(s) | 31 | |
Section | Celestial mechanics and astrometry | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202243483 | |
Published online | 23 November 2022 |
Gaia Early Data Release 3
The celestial reference frame (Gaia-CRF3)
1
Lohrmann Observatory, Technische Universität Dresden,
Mommsenstraße 13,
01062
Dresden, Germany
e-mail: sergei.klioner@tu-dresden.de
2
Lund Observatory, Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Physics, Lund University,
Box 43,
22100
Lund, Sweden
3
Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Bd de l’Observatoire,
CS 34229,
06304
Nice Cedex 4, France
4
European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Camino bajo del Castillo,
s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Canada,
28692
Madrid, Spain
5
Telespazio UK S.L. for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo,
s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Canada,
28692
Madrid, Spain
6
Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg,
Mönchhofstr. 12-14,
69120
Heidelberg, Germany
7
HE Space Operations BV for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo,
s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Canada,
28692
Madrid, Spain
8
INAF – Osservatorio Astrofísico di Torino,
via Osservatorio 20,
10025
Pino Torinese (TO), Italy
9
Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB),
Marti i Franquès 1,
08028
Barcelona, Spain
10
DAPCOM for Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB),
Martí i Franquès 1,
08028
Barcelona, Spain
11
Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory,
Blackford Hill,
Edinburgh
EH9 3HJ, UK
12
ATG Europe for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo,
s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Canada,
28692
Madrid, Spain
13
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University,
Niels Bohrweg 2,
2333 CA
Leiden, The Netherlands
14
INAF – Osservatorio astronomico di Padova,
Vicolo Osservatorio 5,
35122
Padova, Italy
15
European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC),
Keplerlaan 1,
2201AZ,
Noordwijk, The Netherlands
16
GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS,
5 Place Jules Janssen,
92190
Meudon, France
17
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG,
38000
Grenoble, France
18
Laboratoire d’astrophysique de Bordeaux, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS,
B18N, allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire,
33615
Pessac, France
19
Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge,
Madingley Road,
Cambridge
CB3 0HA, UK
20
Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva,
Chemin Pegasi 51,
1290
Versoix, Switzerland
21
Aurora Technology for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo,
s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Canada,
28692
Madrid, Spain
22
CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse,
18 avenue Edouard Belin,
31401
Toulouse Cedex 9, France
23
Institut d’Astronomie et d’Astrophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles
CP 226,
Boulevard du Triomphe,
1050
Brussels, Belgium
24
F.R.S.-FNRS,
Rue d’Egmont 5,
1000
Brussels, Belgium
25
INAF – Osservatorio Astrofísico di Arcetri,
Largo Enrico Fermi 5,
50125
Firenze, Italy
26
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy,
Königstuhl 17,
69117
Heidelberg, Germany
27
European Space Agency,
Keplerlaan 1,
2201AZ,
Noordwijk, The Netherlands (retired)
28
University of Turin, Department of Physics,
Via Pietro Giuria 1,
10125
Torino, Italy
29
INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofísica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna,
via Piero Gobetti 93/3,
40129
Bologna, Italy
30
Royal Observatory of Belgium,
Ringlaan 3,
1180
Brussels, Belgium
31
Observational Astrophysics, Division of Astronomy and Space Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University,
Box 516,
751 20
Uppsala, Sweden
32
ALTEC S.p.a,
Corso Marche, 79,
10146
Torino, Italy
33
Sednai Sàrl,
Geneva, Switzerland
34
Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva,
Chemin d’Ecogia 16,
1290
Versoix, Switzerland
35
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London,
Holmbury St Mary, Dorking,
Surrey
RH5 6NT, UK
36
Gaia DPAC Project Office, ESAC, Camino bajo del Castillo,
s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Canada,
28692
Madrid, Spain
37
SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, LNE,
61 avenue de l’Observatoire
75014
Paris, France
38
National Observatory of Athens,
I. Metaxa and Vas. Pavlou, Palaia Penteli,
15236
Athens, Greece
39
IMCCE, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS,
Sorbonne Université, Univ. Lille, 77 av. Denfert-Rochereau,
75014
Paris, France
40
Serco Gestión de Negocios for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo,
s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Canada,
28692
Madrid, Spain
41
Institut d’Astrophysique et de Géophysique, Université de Liège,
19c, Allée du 6 Août,
4000
Liège, Belgium
42
CRAAG – Centre de Recherche en Astronomie, Astrophysique et Géophysique,
Route de l’Observatoire Bp 63 Bouzareah
16340
Algiers, Algeria
43
RHEA for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo,
s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada,
28692
Madrid, Spain
44
CIGUS CITIC – Department of Computer Science and Information Technologies, University of A Coruña,
Campus de Elviña s/n,
A Coruña
15071, Spain
45
Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg, UMR 7550,
11 rue de l’Université,
67000
Strasbourg, France
46
Kavli Institute for Cosmology Cambridge, Institute of Astronomy,
Madingley Road,
Cambridge,
CB3 0HA, UK
47
Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP),
An der Sternwarte 16,
14482
Potsdam, Germany
48
CENTRA, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa,
Edif. C8, Campo Grande,
1749-016
Lisboa, Portugal
49
Department of Informatics, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California,
Irvine, 5226 Donald Bren Hall,
92697-3440
CA Irvine, USA
50
INAF – Osservatorio Astrofísico di Catania,
via S. Sofia 78,
95123
Catania, Italy
51
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Ettore Majorana”, Università di Catania,
Via S. Sofia 64,
95123
Catania, Italy
52
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma,
Via Frascati 33,
00078
Monte Porzio Catone (Roma), Italy
53
Space Science Data Center – ASI,
Via del Politecnico SNC,
00133
Roma, Italy
54
Department of Physics, University of Helsinki,
PO Box 64,
00014
Helsinki, Finland
55
Finnish Geospatial Research Institute FGI,
Geodeetinrinne 2,
02430
Masala, Finland
56
Institut UTINAM CNRS UMR6213, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, OSU THETA Franche-Comté Bourgogne,
Observatoire de Besançon,
BP1615,
25010
Besançon Cedex, France
57
HE Space Operations BV for European Space Agency (ESA),
Keplerlaan 1,
2201AZ,
Noordwijk, The Netherlands
58
Dpto. de Inteligencia Artificial, UNED,
c/ Juan del Rosal 16,
28040
Madrid, Spain
59
Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Eötvös Loránd Research Network (ELKH), MTA Centre of Excellence,
Konkoly Thege Miklós út 15-17,
1121
Budapest, Hungary
60
ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Physics,
1117, Pázmány Péter sétány 1A,
Budapest, Hungary
61
Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, KU Leuven,
Celestijnenlaan 200D,
3001
Leuven, Belgium
62
Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University,
PO Box 9010,
6500 GL
Nijmegen, The Netherlands
63
University of Vienna, Department of Astrophysics,
Türkenschanzstraße 17,
A1180
Vienna, Austria
64
Institute of Physics, Laboratory of Astrophysics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL),
Observatoire de Sauverny,
1290
Versoix, Switzerland
65
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen,
Landleven 12,
9747 AD
Groningen, The Netherlands
66
School of Physics and Astronomy / Space Park Leicester, University of Leicester,
University Road,
Leicester
LE1 7RH, UK
67
Thales Services for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse,
18 avenue Edouard Belin,
31401
Toulouse Cedex 9, France
68
Depto. Estadística e Investigación Operativa. Universidad de Cádiz,
Avda. República Saharaui s/n,
11510
Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain
69
Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County,
1000 Hilltop Circle,
Baltimore MD, USA
70
GSFC – Goddard Space Flight Center,
Code 698, 8800 Greenbelt Rd,
20771 MD
Greenbelt, USA
71
EURIX S.r.l.,
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 61,
10128
Torino, Italy
72
Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Tel Aviv University,
Tel Aviv
6997801, Israel
73
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics,
60 Garden St., MS 15,
Cambridge, MA
02138, USA
74
Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade do Porto, CAUP,
Rua das Estrelas,
PT4150-762
Porto, Portugal
75
LFCA/DAS, Universidad de Chile, CNRS,
Casilla 36-D,
Santiago, Chile
76
SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati,
via Bonomea 265,
34136
Trieste, Italy
77
Telespazio for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse,
18 avenue Edouard Belin,
31401
Toulouse Cedex 9, France
78
University of Turin, Department of Computer Sciences,
Corso Svizzera 185,
10149
Torino, Italy
79
Dpto. de Matemática Aplicada y Ciencias de la Computación, Univ. de Cantabria, ETS Ingenieros de Caminos,
Canales y Puertos, Avda. de los Castros s/n,
39005
Santander, Spain
80
Centro de Astronomía - CITEVA, Universidad de Antofagasta,
Avenida Angamos 601,
Antofagasta
1270300, Chile
81
DLR Gesellschaft für Raumfahrtanwendungen (GfR)
mbH Münchener Straße 20,
82234
Weßling, Germany
82
Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire,
College Lane,
AL10 9AB,
Hatfield, UK
83
University of Turin, Mathematical Department “G.Peano”,
Via Carlo Alberto 10,
10123
Torino, Italy
84
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico d’Abruzzo,
Via Mentore Maggini,
64100
Teramo, Italy
85
Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas, Universidade de São Paulo,
Rua do Matão, 1226, Cidade Universitaria,
05508-900
São Paulo, SP, Brazil
86
APAVE SUDEUROPE SAS for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse,
18 avenue Edouard Belin,
31401
Toulouse Cedex 9, France
87
Mésocentre de calcul de Franche-Comté, Université de Franche-Comté,
16 route de Gray,
25030
Besançon Cedex, France
88
ATOS for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse,
18 avenue Edouard Belin,
31401
Toulouse Cedex 9, France
89
School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University,
Tel Aviv
6997801, Israel
90
Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast,
Belfast
BT7 1NN, UK
91
Centre de Données Astronomique de Strasbourg,
Strasbourg, France
92
Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS,
Laboratoire Géoazur, Bd de l’Observatoire,
CS 34229,
06304
Nice Cedex 4, France
93
Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University,
Durham
DH1 3LE, UK
94
European Southern Observatory,
Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2,
85748
Garching, Germany
95
Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik,
Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 1,
85748
Garching, Germany
96
Data Science and Big Data Lab, Pablo de Olavide University,
41013,
Seville, Spain
97
Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC),
Plaça Eusebi Güell 1-3,
08034-
Barcelona, Spain
98
ETSE Telecomunicación, Universidade de Vigo,
Campus Lagoas-Marcosende,
36310
Vigo, Galicia, Spain
99
Asteroid Engineering Laboratory, Space Systems, Luleå University of Technology,
Box 848,
981 28
Kiruna, Sweden
100
Vera C Rubin Observatory,
950 N. Cherry Avenue,
Tucson, AZ
85719, USA
101
Department of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Mechanics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens,
Panepistimiopolis, Zografos,
15783
Athens, Greece
102
TRUMPF Photonic Components GmbH,
Lise-Meitner-Straße 13,
89081
Ulm, Germany
103
IAC – Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias,
Via Láctea s/n,
38200
La Laguna S.C., Tenerife, Spain
104
Department of Astrophysics, University of La Laguna,
Via Láctea s/n,
38200
La Laguna S.C., Tenerife, Spain
105
Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology,
Kluyverweg 1,
2629 HS
Delft, The Netherlands
106
Radagast Solutions,
Simon Vestdijkpad 24,
2321WD
Leiden, The Netherlands
107
Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier, CNRS Université Montpellier,
Place Eugène Bataillon, CC72,
34095
Montpellier Cedex 05, France
108
Université de Caen Normandie,
Côte de Nacre Boulevard Maréchal Juin,
14032
Caen, France
109
LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris,
5 Place Jules Janssen,
92190
Meudon, France
110
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research,
Niels Bohrweg 4,
2333 CA
Leiden, The Netherlands
111
Astronomical Observatory, University of Warsaw,
Al. Ujazdowskie 4,
00-478
Warszawa, Poland
112
Scalian for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse,
18 avenue Edouard Belin,
31401
Toulouse Cedex 9, France
113
Université Rennes, CNRS, IPR (Institut de Physique de Rennes) – UMR 6251,
35000
Rennes, France
114
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte,
Via Moiariello 16,
80131
Napoli, Italy
115
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
80 Nandan Road,
Shanghai
200030, PR China
116
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,
No.19(A) Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District,
Beijing
100049, PR China
117
Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen,
Juliane Maries Vej 30,
2100
Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
118
DXC Technology,
Retortvej 8,
2500
Valby, Denmark
119
Las Cumbres Observatory,
6740 Cortona Drive Suite 102,
Goleta, CA
93117, USA
120
CIGUS CITIC, Department of Nautical Sciences and Marine Engineering, University of A Coruña,
Paseo de Ronda 51,
15071,
A Coruna, Spain
121
Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University,
146 Brownlow Hill,
Liverpool
L3 5RF, UK
122
IPAC,
Mail Code 100-22,
California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd.,
Pasadena, CA
91125, USA
123
IRAP, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CNES,
9 Av. colonel Roche,
BP 44346,
31028
Toulouse Cedex 4, France
124
MTA CSFK Lendület Near-Field Cosmology Research Group, Konkoly Observatory, MTA Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences,
Konkoly Thege Miklós út 15-17,
1121
Budapest, Hungary
125
Departmento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid,
28040
Madrid, Spain
126
Ruđer Bošković Institute,
Bijenička cesta 54,
10000
Zagreb, Croatia
127
Villanova University, Department of Astrophysics and Planetary Science,
800 E Lancaster Avenue,
Villanova PA
19085, USA
128
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera,
via E. Bianchi, 46,
23807
Merate (LC), Italy
129
STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory,
Harwell, Didcot,
OX11 0QX, UK
130
Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Astronomical Institute of Charles University,
V Holesovickach 2,
18000
Prague, Czech Republic
131
Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science,
Rehovot
7610001, Israel
132
Department of Astrophysical Sciences,
4 Ivy Lane, Princeton University,
Princeton NJ
08544, USA
133
Departamento de Astrofísica, Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA),
ESA-ESAC. Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n.
28692
Villanueva de la Canada, Madrid, Spain
134
naXys, University of Namur, Rempart de la Vierge,
5000
Namur, Belgium
135
CGI Deutschland B.V. & Co. KG,
Mornewegstr. 30,
64293
Darmstadt, Germany
136
Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva,
Geneva Switzerland
137
Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University,
Poznań, Poland
138
H H Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol,
Tyndall Avenue,
Bristol
BS8 1TL, UK
139
Department of Physics and Astronomy G. Galilei, University of Padova,
Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 3,
35122
Padova, Italy
140
CERN,
Esplanade des Particules 1,
P.O. Box 1211,
Geneva, Switzerland
141
Applied Physics Department, Universidade de Vigo,
36310
Vigo, Spain
142
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy,
1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW,
Washington, DC
20004, USA
143
European Southern Observatory,
Alonso de Córdova 3107, Casilla 19,
Santiago, Chile
144
Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR7095, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris,
98bis bd. Arago,
75014
Paris, France
145
Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana,
Jadranska ulica 19,
1000
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Received:
4
March
2022
Accepted:
15
April
2022
Context. Gaia-CRF3 is the celestial reference frame for positions and proper motions in the third release of data from the Gaia mission, Gaia DR3 (and for the early third release, Gaia EDR3, which contains identical astrometric results). The reference frame is defined by the positions and proper motions at epoch 2016.0 for a specific set of extragalactic sources in the (E)DR3 catalogue.
Aims. We describe the construction of Gaia-CRF3 and its properties in terms of the distributions in magnitude, colour, and astrometric quality.
Methods. Compact extragalactic sources in Gaia DR3 were identified by positional cross-matching with 17 external catalogues of quasi-stellar objects (QSO) and active galactic nuclei (AGN), followed by astrometric filtering designed to remove stellar contaminants. Selecting a clean sample was favoured over including a higher number of extragalactic sources. For the final sample, the random and systematic errors in the proper motions are analysed, as well as the radio-optical offsets in position for sources in the third realisation of the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF3).
Results. Gaia-CRF3 comprises about 1.6 million QSO-like sources, of which 1.2 million have five-parameter astrometric solutions in Gaia DR3 and 0.4 million have six-parameter solutions. The sources span the magnitude range G = 13–21 with a peak density at 20.6 mag, at which the typical positional uncertainty is about 1 mas. The proper motions show systematic errors on the level of 12 µas yr–1 on angular scales greater than 15 deg. For the 3142 optical counterparts of ICRF3 sources in the S/X frequency bands, the median offset from the radio positions is about 0.5 mas, but it exceeds 4 mas in either coordinate for 127 sources. We outline the future of Gaia-CRF in the next Gaia data releases. Appendices give further details on the external catalogues used, how to extract information about the Gaia-CRF3 sources, potential (Galactic) confusion sources, and the estimation of the spin and orientation of an astrometric solution.
Key words: astrometry / reference systems / proper motions / catalogs / quasars: general
© Gaia Collaboration (Klioner, S. A., et al.) 2022
Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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