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Foundational Value-Added Data Products for the Roman Galactic Plane Survey
Program ID 19012
Science Category Interstellar Medium
Program Type Analysis
Category Large
Principal Investigator Catherine Zucker
PI Institution Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Co-Investigators
  • Andrew Saydjari (New Mexico State University)
  • Edward Schlafly (Space Telescope Science Institute / STScI)
  • Adam Smercina (Space Telescope Science Institute / STScI)
  • Joshua Speagle (University of Toronto)
  • Matthew O'Callaghan (University of Cambridge)
  • Cameren Swiggum (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory)
  • Philipp Frank (Stanford University)
  • Adam Ginsburg (University of Florida)
  • Christina Lindberg (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory)
Abstract The Roman Galactic Plane Survey (RGPS) will image ~700 sq. deg. of the inner Galactic plane in four near-infrared filters, detecting ~20 billion sources at unprecedented angular resolution and depth. We propose to generate three hierarchically coupled value-added data products (VADPs) from the RGPS that will transform these pixel-level images into physical knowledge of the Galaxy's stellar and interstellar content. VADP-1 is a crowded-field photometry catalog providing multi-band PSF-fitted photometry for ~20 billion sources and proper motions for the brightest stars across the full RGPS footprint. VADP-2 is a stellar properties catalog delivering per-star, probabilistic estimates of distance, extinction, and stellar type for every RGPS source with at least four photometric detections. VADP-3 is a 3D dust map providing volumetric extinction corrections for any source in the RGPS footprint. Together, these products will constitute the most complete stellar census of the inner Galactic plane and the deepest 3D map of its interstellar medium to date, serving as a foundational resource for virtually every downstream RGPS science case---from Galactic dynamics and stellar populations to variable stars and the structure of the interstellar medium. All products will be publicly released as high-level science products via MAST with permanent DOIs.