Related papers: seestar: Selection functions for spectroscopic sur…
Context. Large spectroscopic surveys open the way to explore our Galaxy. In order to use the data from these surveys to understand the Galactic stellar population, we need to be sure that stars contained in a survey are a representative…
We introduce a method to infer the vertical distribution of stars in the Milky Way using a Poisson likelihood function, with a view to applying our method to the Gaia catalogue. We show how to account for the sample selection function and…
Sample selection is a necessary preparation for weak lensing measurement. It is well-known that selection itself may introduce bias in the measured shear signal. Using image simulation and the Fourier_Quad shear measurement pipeline, we…
We have developed a new Bayesian method to correct the flux densities of astronomical sources. The hybrid method combines a simulated likelihood to model survey selection together with an analytic source-count-based prior. The simulated…
Statistical studies of astronomical data sets, in particular of cataloged properties for discrete objects, are central to astrophysics. One cannot model those objects' population properties or incidences without a quantitative understanding…
We describe a Bayesian approach to estimating luminosity functions. We derive the likelihood function and posterior probability distribution for the luminosity function, given the observed data, and we compare the Bayesian approach with…
Large catalogues are ubiquitous throughout astronomy, but most scientific analyses are carried out on smaller samples selected from these catalogues by chosen cuts on catalogued quantities. The selection function of that scientific sample -…
The typical methodology for comparing simulated galaxies with observational surveys is usually to apply a spatial selection to the simulation to mimic the region of interest covered by a comparable observational survey sample. In this work…
The Gaia-ESO Survey was designed to target all major Galactic components (i.e., bulge, thin and thick discs, halo and clusters), with the goal of constraining the chemical and dynamical evolution of the Milky Way. This paper presents the…
We present a general probabilistic formalism for cross-identifying astronomical point sources in multiple observations. Our Bayesian approach, symmetric in all observations, is the foundation of a unified framework for object matching,…
We present and implement a probabilistic (Bayesian) method for producing catalogs from images of stellar fields. The method is capable of inferring the number of sources N in the image and can also handle the challenges introduced by noise,…
We present a modular, extensible likelihood framework for spectroscopic inference based on synthetic model spectra. The subtraction of an imperfect model from a continuously sampled spectrum introduces covariance between adjacent datapoints…
We report the results of a systematic search for ultra-faint Milky Way satellite galaxies using data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and Pan-STARRS1 (PS1). Together, DES and PS1 provide multi-band photometry in optical/near-infrared…
The principles of measuring the shapes of galaxies by a model-fitting approach are discussed in the context of shape-measurement for surveys of weak gravitational lensing. It is argued that such an approach should be optimal, allowing…
The forthcoming generation of galaxy redshift surveys will sample the large-scale structure of the Universe over unprecedented volumes with high-density tracers. This advancement will make robust measurements of three-point clustering…
Bayesian methods are developed for the multivariate nonparametric regression problem where the domain is taken to be a compact Riemannian manifold. In terms of the latter, the underlying geometry of the manifold induces certain symmetries…
Challenging research in various fields has driven a wide range of methodological advances in variable selection for regression models with high-dimensional predictors. In comparison, selection of nonlinear functions in models with additive…
This perspective chapter briefly surveys: (1) past growth in the use of Bayesian methods in astrophysics; (2) current misconceptions about both frequentist and Bayesian statistical inference that hinder wider adoption of Bayesian methods by…
Star-galaxy classification is one of the most fundamental data-processing tasks in survey astronomy, and a critical starting point for the scientific exploitation of survey data. For bright sources this classification can be done with…
{We study biasing as a physical phenomenon by analysing geometrical and clustering properties of density fields of matter and galaxies.} {Our goal is to determine the bias function using a combination of geometrical and power spectrum…