Gaia Data Release 3

Exploring and mapping the diffuse interstellar band at 862 nm

¹ Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Bd de l’Observatoire, CS 34229, 06304 Nice Cedex 4, France
² Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, Jadranska ulica 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
³ IRAP, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CNES, 9 Av. Colonel Roche, BP 44346, 31028 Toulouse Cedex 4, France
⁴ INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, via Osservatorio 20, 10025 Pino Torinese (TO), Italy
⁵ Royal Observatory of Belgium, Ringlaan 3, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
⁶ Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Knigstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
⁷ INAF – Osservatorio astronomico di Padova, Vicolo Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
⁸ Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Niels Bohrweg 2, 2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands
⁹ European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Keplerlaan 1, 2201AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
¹⁰ GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, 5 Place Jules Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France
¹¹ Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France
¹² Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum fr Astronomie der Universitt Heidelberg, Mnchhofstr. 12-14, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
¹³ Laboratoire d’astrophysique de Bordeaux, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, B18N, allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 33615 Pessac, France
¹⁴ Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
¹⁵ Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva, Chemin Pegasi 51, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
¹⁶ European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
¹⁷ Aurora Technology for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
¹⁸ Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
¹⁹ Lohrmann Observatory, Technische Universitt Dresden, Mommsenstraße 13, 01062 Dresden, Germany
²⁰ Lund Observatory, Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Physics, Lund University, Box 43 22100 Lund, Sweden
²¹ CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
²² Institut d’Astronomie et d’Astrophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles CP 226, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
²³ F.R.S.-FNRS, Rue d’Egmont 5, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
²⁴ INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo Enrico Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy
²⁵ European Space Agency (ESA), Noordwijk, The Netherlands
²⁶ University of Turin, Department of Physics, Via Pietro Giuria 1, 10125 Torino, Italy
²⁷ INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, via Piero Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy
²⁸ DAPCOM for Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
²⁹ Observational Astrophysics, Division of Astronomy and Space Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
³⁰ ALTEC S.p.a, Corso Marche, 79, 10146 Torino, Italy
³¹ Sednai Sàrl, Geneva, Switzerland
³² Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva, Chemin d’Ecogia 16, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
³³ Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
³⁴ Gaia DPAC Project Office, ESAC, Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
³⁵ Telespazio UK S.L. for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
³⁶ SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, LNE, 61 avenue de l’Observatoire, 75014 Paris, France
³⁷ National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxa and Vas. Pavlou, Palaia Penteli, 15236 Athens, Greece
³⁸ IMCCE, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Univ. Lille, 77 av. Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France
³⁹ Serco Gestión de Negocios for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
⁴⁰ Institut d’Astrophysique et de Géophysique, Université de Liège, 19c, Allée du 6 Août, 4000 Liège, Belgium
⁴¹ CRAAG – Centre de Recherche en Astronomie, Astrophysique et Géophysique, Route de l’Observatoire Bp 63 Bouzareah, 16340 Alger, Algeria
⁴² Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
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 ATG Europe for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
⁴⁵ CIGUS CITIC – Department of Computer Science and Information Technologies, University of A Coruña, Campus de Elviña s/n, A Coruña 15071, Spain
⁴⁶ Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg, UMR 7550, 11 rue de l’Université, 67000 Strasbourg, France
⁴⁷ Kavli Institute for Cosmology Cambridge, Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
⁴⁸ Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany
⁴⁹ CENTRA, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Edif. C8, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
⁵⁰ Department of Informatics, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine, 5226 Donald Bren Hall, 92697-3440 CA, Irvine, USA
⁵¹ INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, via S. Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, Italy
⁵² Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Ettore Majorana”, Università di Catania, Via S. Sofia 64, 95123 Catania, Italy
⁵³ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via Frascati 33, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone (Roma), Italy
⁵⁴ Space Science Data Center – ASI, Via del Politecnico SNC, 00133 Roma, Italy
⁵⁵ Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, PO Box 64 00014 Helsinki, Finland
⁵⁶ Finnish Geospatial Research Institute FGI, Geodeetinrinne 2, 02430 Masala, Finland
⁵⁷ Institut UTINAM CNRS UMR6213, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, OSU THETA Franche-Comté Bourgogne, Observatoire de Besançon, BP1615, 25010 Besançon Cedex, France
⁵⁸ HE Space Operations BV for European Space Agency (ESA), Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
⁵⁹ Dpto. de Inteligencia Artificial, UNED, c/ Juan del Rosal 16, 28040 Madrid, Spain
⁶⁰ Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Etvs Loránd Research Network (ELKH), MTA Centre of Excellence, Konkoly Thege Miklós út 15-17, 1121 Budapest, Hungary
⁶¹ ELTE Etvs Loránd University, Institute of Physics, 1117, Pázmány Péter sétány 1A, Budapest, Hungary
⁶² Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
⁶³ Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University, PO Box 9010 6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands
⁶⁴ University of Vienna, Department of Astrophysics, Türkenschanzstraße 17, A1180 Vienna, Austria
⁶⁵ Institute of Physics, Laboratory of Astrophysics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Observatoire de Sauverny, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
⁶⁶ Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, Landleven 12, 9747 AD Groningen, The Netherlands
⁶⁷ School of Physics and Astronomy/Space Park Leicester, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
⁶⁸ Thales Services for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
⁶⁹ Depto. Estadística e Investigación Operativa. Universidad de Cádiz, Avda. República Saharaui s/n, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain
⁷⁰ Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD, USA
⁷¹ GSFC – Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 698, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, 20771 MD, Greenbelt, USA
⁷² EURIX S.r.l., Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 61, 10128 Torino, Italy
⁷³ Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
⁷⁴ Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., MS 15, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
⁷⁵ HE Space Operations BV for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
⁷⁶ Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade do Porto, CAUP, Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto, Portugal
⁷⁷ LFCA/DAS, Universidad de Chile, CNRS, Casilla 36-D, Santiago, Chile
⁷⁸ SISSA – Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
⁷⁹ Telespazio for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
⁸⁰ University of Turin, Department of Computer Sciences, Corso Svizzera 185, 10149 Torino, Italy
⁸¹ 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
⁸² Centro de Astronomía – CITEVA, Universidad de Antofagasta, Avenida Angamos 601, Antofagasta 1270300, Chile
⁸³ DLR Gesellschaft fr Raumfahrtanwendungen (GfR) mbH, Mnchener Straße 20, 82234 Weßling, Germany
⁸⁴ Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, AL10 9AB Hatfield, UK
⁸⁵ University of Turin, Mathematical Department “G.Peano”, Via Carlo Alberto 10, 10123 Torino, Italy
⁸⁶ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico d’Abruzzo, Via Mentore Maggini, 64100 Teramo, Italy
⁸⁷ Instituto de Astronomia, Geofìsica e Ciências Atmosféricas, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, 1226, Cidade Universitaria, 05508-900 São Paulo, SP, Brazil
⁸⁸ APAVE SUDEUROPE SAS for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
⁸⁹ Mésocentre de calcul de Franche-Comté, Université de Franche-Comté, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besançon Cedex, France
⁹⁰ ATOS for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
⁹¹ School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
⁹² Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
⁹³ Centre de Données Astronomique de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
⁹⁴ Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
⁹⁵ European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, 85748 Garching, Germany
⁹⁶ Max-Planck-Institut fr Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
⁹⁷ Data Science and Big Data Lab, Pablo de Olavide University, 41013 Seville, Spain
⁹⁸ Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Plaça Eusebi Gell 1-3, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
⁹⁹ ETSE Telecomunicación, Universidade de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Galicia, Spain
¹⁰⁰ Asteroid Engineering Laboratory, Space Systems, Luleå University of Technology, Box 848 981 28 Kiruna, Sweden
¹⁰¹ Vera C Rubin Observatory, 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
¹⁰² Department of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Mechanics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografos, 15783 Athens, Greece
¹⁰³ TRUMPF Photonic Components GmbH, Lise-Meitner-Straße 13, 89081 Ulm, Germany
¹⁰⁴ IAC – Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Via Láctea s/n, 38200 La Laguna S.C., Tenerife, Spain
¹⁰⁵ Department of Astrophysics, University of La Laguna, Via Láctea s/n, 38200 La Laguna S.C., Tenerife, Spain
¹⁰⁶ Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Kluyverweg 1, 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands
¹⁰⁷ Radagast Solutions, Simon Vestdijkpad 24, 2321WD Leiden, The Netherlands
¹⁰⁸ Place Eugène Bataillon, CC72, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France
¹⁰⁹ Université de Caen Normandie, Côte de Nacre Boulevard Maréchal Juin, 14032 Caen, France
¹¹⁰ LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, 5 Place Jules Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France
¹¹¹ SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Niels Bohrweg 4, 2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands
¹¹² Astronomical Observatory, University of Warsaw, Al. Ujazdowskie 4, 00-478 Warszawa, Poland
¹¹³ Scalian for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
¹¹⁴ Université Rennes, CNRS, IPR (Institut de Physique de Rennes) - UMR 6251, 35000 Rennes, France
¹¹⁵ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Via Moiariello 16, 80131 Napoli, Italy
¹¹⁶ Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, PR China
¹¹⁷ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.19(A) Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049, PR China
¹¹⁸ Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
¹¹⁹ DXC Technology, Retortvej 8, 2500 Valby, Denmark
¹²⁰ Las Cumbres Observatory, 6740 Cortona Drive Suite 102, Goleta, CA 93117, USA
¹²¹ CIGUS CITIC, Department of Nautical Sciences and Marine Engineering, University of A Coruña, Paseo de Ronda 51, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
¹²² Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK
¹²³ IPAC, Mail Code 100-22, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
¹²⁴ MTA CSFK Lendlet 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 Cañada, 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, PO 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, D.C. 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

Received: 8 February 2022
Accepted: 19 April 2022

Abstract

Context. Diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) are common interstellar absorption features in spectroscopic observations but their origins remain unclear. DIBs play an important role in the life cycle of the interstellar medium (ISM) and can also be used to trace Galactic structure.

Aims. Here, we demonstrate the capacity of the Gaia-Radial Velocity Spectrometer (RVS) in Gaia DR3 to reveal the spatial distribution of the unknown molecular species responsible for the most prominent DIB at 862 nm in the RVS passband, exploring the Galactic ISM within a few kiloparsecs from the Sun.

Methods. The DIBs are measured within the GSP-Spec module using a Gaussian profile fit for cool stars and a Gaussian process for hot stars. In addition to the equivalent widths and their uncertainties, Gaia DR3 provides their characteristic central wavelength, width, and quality flags.

Results. We present an extensive sample of 476 117 individual DIB measurements obtained in a homogeneous way covering the entire sky. We compare spatial distributions of the DIB carrier with interstellar reddening and find evidence that DIB carriers are present in a local bubble around the Sun which contains nearly no dust. We characterised the DIB equivalent width with a local density of 0.19 ± 0.04 Å kpc⁻¹ and a scale height of 98.60_−8.46^+11.10 pc. The latter is smaller than the dust scale height, indicating that DIBs are more concentrated towards the Galactic plane. We determine the rest-frame wavelength with unprecedented precision (λ₀ = 8620.86  ± 0.019 Å in air) and reveal a remarkable correspondence between the DIB velocities and the CO gas velocities, suggesting that the 862 nm DIB carrier is related to macro-molecules.

Conclusions. We demonstrate the unique capacity of Gaia to trace the spatial structure of the Galactic ISM using the 862 nm DIB.