RT journal article
T1 Kalkayotl: A cluster distance inference code
A1 Olivares, J.
A1 Sarro, L. M.
A1 Bouy, H.
A1 Miret-Roig, N.
A1 Casamiquela, L.
A1 Galli, P. A. B.
A1 Berihuete Macías, Ángel
A1 Tarricq, Y.
A2 Estadística e Investigación Operativa
K1 methods: statistical
K1 parallaxes
K1 open clusters and associations
K1 open clusters and associations: general
K1 stars: distances
K1 virtual observatory tools
AB Context. The high-precision parallax data of the Gaia mission allows for significant improvements in the distance determination to stellar clusters and their stars. In order to obtain accurate and precise distance determinations, systematics such as parallax spatial correlations need to be accounted for, especially with regard to stars in small sky regions.Aims. Our aim is to provide the astrophysical community with a free and open code designed to simultaneously infer cluster parameters (i.e., distance and size) and distances to the cluster stars using Gaia parallax measurements. The code includes cluster-oriented prior families and it is specifically designed to deal with the Gaia parallax spatial correlations.Methods. A Bayesian hierarchical model is created to allow for the inference of both the cluster parameters and distances to its stars.Results. Using synthetic data that mimics Gaia parallax uncertainties and spatial correlations, we observe that our cluster-oriented prior families result in distance estimates with smaller errors than those obtained with an exponentially decreasing space density prior. In addition, the treatment of the parallax spatial correlations minimizes errors in the estimated cluster size and stellar distances, and avoids the underestimation of uncertainties. Although neglecting the parallax spatial correlations has no impact on the accuracy of cluster distance determinations, it underestimates the uncertainties and may result in measurements that are incompatible with the true value (i.e., falling beyond the 2 sigma uncertainties).Conclusions. The combination of prior knowledge with the treatment of Gaia parallax spatial correlations produces accurate (error < 10%) and trustworthy estimates (i.e., true values contained within the 2 sigma uncertainties) of cluster distances for clusters up to similar to 5 kpc, along with cluster sizes for clusters up to similar to 1 kpc.
PB EDP SCIENCES S A,
SN 0004-6361
YR 2020
FD 2020-11
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/24272
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/24272
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 11-nov-2026