Probabilistic Cross-Identification

[Tamas Budavari]

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

  Five years ago SkyQuery almost got it right.
  It has been brewing for some time.
  But it was definitely worth it.
  This is IT!

  	http://www.arxiv.org/abs/0707.1611

  P.S. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about 
       any serious side effects.

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)


arXiv:0707.1611 

    Title: Probabilistic Cross-Identification of Astronomical Sources
    Authors: Tamas Budavari, Alexander S. Szalay
    Comments: 9 pages, 1 figure, AASTeX preprint, submitted to ApJ
    Subjects: Astrophysics (astro-ph)

We present the 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, where not only spatial information, but
also physical properties, such as colors, redshift and luminosity, can be
considered in a natural way. We provide a practical recipe to
implement an efficient recursive algorithm to evaluate the Bayes factor
over a set of catalogs with known circular errors in positions. This new
methodology is crucial for studies leveraging the synergy of today's
multi-wavelength observations and to enter the time-domain science of the
upcoming survey telescopes.


This is a shameless advertisement of our recent paper. I am sending this
email hoping that many of you will find it relevant and interesting.
Enjoy! Comments, as always, are very welcome.

Cheers, T.

--
Tamas Budavari

Dept. of Physics and Astronomy       
The Johns Hopkins University         
3400 N. Charles Street 
Baltimore, MD 21218                    
Phone: +1 (410) 516-0643
Fax: +1 (410) 516-5096
http://www.sdss.jhu.edu/~budavari