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UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA

Tesi di Laurea in Fisica

GAIA GALAXY SURVEY

OSSERVAZIONE SIMULATA DI GALASSIE
CON IL SATELLITE GAIA DELL'ESA

di

Mattia Vaccari

Relatore	Correlatore	Correlatore
Prof. A. Saggion	Prof. E. Høg	Prof. P.L. Bernacca
Dipartimento di Fisica	Osservatorio Astronomico	Dipartimento di Astronomia
Università di Padova	Università di Copenaghen	Università di Padova

ANNO ACCADEMICO 1999-2000

Contents
Introduction
1. The Historical Context of the GAIA Mission
- 1.1 The Advantages of Space Astronomy
- 1.2 The Hipparcos Mission
- 1.3 The Birth and Development of the GAIA Concept
- 1.4 GAIA and the Near Future of Space Astrometry
2. The GAIA Mission Design
- 2.1 The Measurement Principle and the Scanning Law
- 2.2 The Spacecraft
- 2.3 The Service Module
- 2.4 The Payload Module
  - 2.4.1 The Astrometric Instruments
  - 2.4.2 The Spectrometric Instrument
- 2.5 The Satellite Launch, Orbit and Operations
- 2.6 Data Handling
- 2.7 Expected Measurement Capabilities
- 2.8 Overall Scientific Objectives
3. Scientific Case for Galaxy Observations with GAIA
- 3.1 Galactic and Extragalactic Astronomy
- 3.2 Galaxy Surface Photometry
- 3.3 The GAIA Galaxy Survey
  - 3.3.1 Spatial Distribution of Galaxies with GAIA
  - 3.3.2 Galaxy Surface Photometry with GAIA
4. Statistical Model of Galaxies
- 4.1 Morphological Classification
- 4.2 Number Counts
- 4.3 Angular Size
- 4.4 Surface Brightness Distribution
  - 4.4.1 Elliptical Galaxies
  - 4.4.2 Disk Galaxies
- 4.5 Model's Validity and Verifications
5. Detection and Observation of Galaxies with GAIA
- 5.1 Detection and Observation
- 5.2 Detection and Observation of Galaxies
- 5.3 Statistical Formulae
- 5.4 Sensitivity of the Astros
- 5.5 Sky Background and Readnoise
- 5.6 Expected Number of Detected Galaxies
- 5.7 Expected Accuracy in Surface Photometry
- 5.8 Expected Telemetry Rate
6. Simulation and Stacking of GAIA Observations
- 6.1 HST WFPC2 images
- 6.2 GAIA BBP vs HST WFPC2
- 6.3 Simulation of GAIA BBP Observations
- 6.4 Stacking of GAIA BBP Observations
7. A Case Study: The M100 Spiral Galaxy
- 7.1 HST WFPC2 Image
- 7.2 GAIA BBP Flux Maps
- 7.3 Angular Resolution of GAIA BBP Flux Maps
- 7.4 Angular Resolution and Number of Scans
- 7.5 Angular Resolution and Non-Random Scan Directions
- 7.6 Accuracy in Surface Photometry
- 7.7 Accuracy in Aperture Photometry
Conclusions
A. Units of Measure, Conversion Factors and Formulae
- A.1 Angular Quantities
- A.2 Photometric Quantities
B. The Historical Development of Astrometry
C. ESA and Space Science
D. Galaxy Surface Brightness Radial Profiles
- D.1 Sersic Law
- D.2 Bulge Profile
- D.3 Disk Profile
- D.4 Bulge+Disk Profile
E. HST Images and GAIA Simulated Flux Maps
- E.1 M100
- E.2 NGC3177
- E.3 NGC3597
- E.4 NGC6239
F. Drizzling
G. Software
- G.1 SIM_STACK.PRO
- G.2 STACK_BIS.PRO
- G.3 STACK_TRIS.PRO
Bibliography
Acknowledgements/Ringraziamenti
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Mattia Vaccari 2000-12-05