Pan-STARRS Photometric and Astrometric Calibration

Magnier, Eugene. A.; Schlafly, Edward. F.; Finkbeiner, Douglas P.; Tonry, J.L.; Goldman, B.; Röser, S.; Schilbach, E.; Casertano, S.; Chambers, K.C.; Flewelling, H.A.; Huber, M.E.; Price, P.A.; Sweeney, W.E.; Waters, C.Z.; Denneau, L.; Draper, P.W.; Hodapp, K.W.; Jedicke, R.; Kaiser, N.; Kudritzki, R.-P.; Metcalfe, N.; Stubbs, C.W.; Wainscoat, R.J.

Abstract

We present the details of the photometric and astrometric calibration of the Pan-STARRS1 3π Survey. The photometric goals were to reduce the systematic effects introduced by the camera and detectors, and to place all of the observations onto a photometric system with consistent zero-points over the entire area surveyed, the ≈30,000 deg2 north of δ = −30°. Using external comparisons, we demonstrate that the resulting photometric system is consistent across the sky to between 7 and 12.4 mmag depending on the filter. For bright stars, the systematic error floor for individual measurements is (σ g , σ r , σ i , σ z , σ y ) = (14, 14, 15, 15, 18) mmag. The astrometric calibration compensates for similar systematic effects so that positions, proper motions, and parallaxes are reliable as well. The bright-star systematic error floor for individual astrometric measurements is 16 mas. The Pan-STARRS Data Release 2 (DR2) astrometric system is tied to the Gaia DR1 coordinate frame with a systematic uncertainty of ~5 mas.

Citation

Magnier, E. A., Schlafly, E. F., Finkbeiner, D. P., Tonry, J., Goldman, B., Röser, S., …Wainscoat, R. (2020). Pan-STARRS Photometric and Astrometric Calibration. Astrophysical Journal Supplement, 251(1), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/abb82a

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 10, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 30, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-11
• Deposit Date: Nov 27, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 27, 2020
• Journal: Astrophysical Journal Supplement
• Print ISSN: 0067-0049
• Electronic ISSN: 1538-4365
• Publisher: American Astronomical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 251
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 6
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/abb82a