Astronomers from the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) Collaboration have released a database of spectra and associated fundamental stellar parameters for 451,783 unique Milky Way stars.
RAVE observed a total of 451,783 Milky Way stars. The Sun is located at the center of the coordinate system. The colors represent radial velocities: red are receding stars and stars depicted in blue are approaching. Image credit: Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam / K. Riebe / RAVE Collaboration / R. Hurt, SSC / NASA / JPL-Caltech.
RAVE is a magnitude-limited spectroscopic survey of Milky Way stars randomly selected in Earth’s southern hemisphere.
The observations were performed at the 1.23-m UK Schmidt telescope (UKST) at the Anglo-Australian Observatory using a multi-object spectrograph.
RAVE used a dedicated fiber-optical setup to simultaneously take spectra of up to 150 stars in a single observation.
“By means of spectroscopy, the light of a star is decomposed into its rainbow colors,” said Dr. Matthias Steinmetz, leader of the RAVE Collaboration and an astronomer at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, and his colleagues.
“By analyzing the spectra, the radial velocity of a star — its movement in the direction of the observer’s view, can be determined.”
“Furthermore, stellar spectra also enable us to determine stellar parameters like temperatures, surface gravities, and composition.”
In order to trace the structure and shape of our Milky Way Galaxy, the astronomers successfully obtained 518,387 spectra for 451,783 stars.
The stars were also matched with stars from the second data release of ESA’s Gaia mission.
“The RAVE data releases provided new insights into the motion of stars and chemical structure of our Milky Way,” Dr. Steinmetz said.
“The final data release concludes one of the first systematic spectroscopic Galactic Archaeology surveys.”
“It’s really exciting to think about finishing this 15-year project.”
“Thanks to RAVE, we gained new insights into the structure and composition of our Milky Way.”
Alongside its database, the RAVE team also published two scientific papers in the Astronomical Journal.
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Matthias Steinmetz et al. 2020. The Sixth Data Release of the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE). I. Survey Description, Spectra, and Radial Velocities. AJ 160, 82; doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/ab9ab9
Matthias Steinmetz et al. 2020. The Sixth Data Release of the Radial Velocity Experiment (Rave). II. Stellar Atmospheric Parameters, Chemical Abundances, and Distances. AJ 160, 83; doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/ab9ab8
