Simulating Roman+Gaia Combined Astrometry, Parallaxes, and Proper Motions

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: McKinnon, Kevin A., van der Marel, Roeland P.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866917365393915904
author McKinnon, Kevin A.
van der Marel, Roeland P.
author_facet McKinnon, Kevin A.
van der Marel, Roeland P.
contents The next generation of high-precision astrometry is rapidly approaching thanks to ongoing and upcoming missions like Euclid, LSST, and RST. We present a new tool (available at https://github.com/KevinMcK95/gaia_roman_astrometry) to simulate the astrometric precision that will be achieved when combining Gaia data with Roman images. The statistics that underpin this method generalize to combinations of astrometric datasets from any telescope. We construct realistic Roman position uncertainties as a function of filter, magnitude, and exposure time, which are combined with Gaia precisions and user-defined Roman observing strategies to predict the expected uncertainty in position, parallax, and proper motion (PM). We also simulate the core Roman surveys to assess their end-of-mission astrometric capabilities, finding that the High Latitude and Galactic Bulge Time Domain Surveys will deliver Gaia-DR3-quality PMs down to G=26.5 mag and G=29.0 mag, respectively. Due to its modest number of repeat observations, we find that the astrometry of the High Latitude Wide Area Survey (HLWAS) is very sensitive to particular choices in observing strategies. We compare possible HLWAS strategies to highlight the impact of parallax effects and conclude that a multi-year Roman-only baseline is required for useful PM uncertainties (<100 mas/yr). This simulation tool is actively being used for ongoing Roman proposal writing to ensure astrometric requirements for science goals will be met. Subsequent work will expand this tool to include simulated observations from other telescopes to plan for a future where all surveys and datasets are harnessed together.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_00310
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Simulating Roman+Gaia Combined Astrometry, Parallaxes, and Proper Motions
McKinnon, Kevin A.
van der Marel, Roeland P.
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Applications
The next generation of high-precision astrometry is rapidly approaching thanks to ongoing and upcoming missions like Euclid, LSST, and RST. We present a new tool (available at https://github.com/KevinMcK95/gaia_roman_astrometry) to simulate the astrometric precision that will be achieved when combining Gaia data with Roman images. The statistics that underpin this method generalize to combinations of astrometric datasets from any telescope. We construct realistic Roman position uncertainties as a function of filter, magnitude, and exposure time, which are combined with Gaia precisions and user-defined Roman observing strategies to predict the expected uncertainty in position, parallax, and proper motion (PM). We also simulate the core Roman surveys to assess their end-of-mission astrometric capabilities, finding that the High Latitude and Galactic Bulge Time Domain Surveys will deliver Gaia-DR3-quality PMs down to G=26.5 mag and G=29.0 mag, respectively. Due to its modest number of repeat observations, we find that the astrometry of the High Latitude Wide Area Survey (HLWAS) is very sensitive to particular choices in observing strategies. We compare possible HLWAS strategies to highlight the impact of parallax effects and conclude that a multi-year Roman-only baseline is required for useful PM uncertainties (<100 mas/yr). This simulation tool is actively being used for ongoing Roman proposal writing to ensure astrometric requirements for science goals will be met. Subsequent work will expand this tool to include simulated observations from other telescopes to plan for a future where all surveys and datasets are harnessed together.
title Simulating Roman+Gaia Combined Astrometry, Parallaxes, and Proper Motions
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Applications
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.00310