The SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline. I. Description and Initial Validation Tests

Abstract

We describe the development and implementation of the SEGUE (Sloan Extension for Galactic Exploration and Understanding) Stellar Parameter Pipeline (SSPP). The SSPP derives, using multiple techniques, radial velocities and the fundamental stellar atmospheric parameters (effective temperature, surface gravity, and metallicity) for AFGK-type stars, based on medium-resolution spectroscopy and $ugriz$ photometry obtained during the course of the original Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-I) and its Galactic extension (SDSS-II/SEGUE). The SSPP also provides spectral classification for a much wider range of stars, including stars with temperatures outside of the window where atmospheric parameters can be estimated with the current approaches. This is Paper I in a series of papers on the SSPP; it provides an overview of the SSPP, and initial tests of its performance using multiple data sets. Random and systematic errors are critically examined for the current version of the SSPP, which has been used for the sixth public data release of the SDSS (DR-6).

64 pages, 8 tables, 12 figures, submitted to the Astronomical Journal

References in corpus (5)

• The Milky Way Tomography with SDSS: II. Stellar Metallicity
• Stellar SEDs from 0.3-2.5 Microns: Tracing the Stellar Locus and Searching for Color Outliers in SDSS and 2MASS
• The SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline. II. Validation with Galactic Globular and Open Clusters
• The SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline. III. Comparison with High-Resolution Spectroscopy of SDSS/SEGUE Field Stars
• Estimation of stellar atmospheric parameters from SDSS/SEGUE spectra

Cited by in corpus (6)

• The Milky Way's Circular Velocity Curve to 60 kpc and an Estimate of the Dark Matter Halo Mass from Kinematics of ~2400 SDSS Blue Horizontal Branch Stars
• Two Stellar Components in the Halo of the Milky Way
• The SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline. II. Validation with Galactic Globular and Open Clusters
• The SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline. III. Comparison with High-Resolution Spectroscopy of SDSS/SEGUE Field Stars
• Tracing Sagittarius Structure with SDSS and SEGUE Imaging and Spectroscopy
• An Orbit Fit for the Grillmair Dionatos Cold Stellar Stream