HELP: the Herschel Extragalactic Legacy Project
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 507, pp. 129–155
Abstract
ABSTRACT We present the Herschel Extragalactic Legacy Project (HELP). This project collates, curates, homogenizes, and creates derived data products for most of the premium multiwavelength extragalactic data sets. The sky boundaries for the first data release cover 1270 deg2 defined by the Herschel SPIRE extragalactic survey fields; notably the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) and the Herschel Atlas survey (H-ATLAS). Here, we describe the motivation and principal elements in the design of the project. Guiding principles are transparent or ‘open’ methodologies with care for reproducibility and identification of provenance. A key element of the design focuses around the homogenization of calibration, meta data, and the provision of information required to define the selection of the data for statistical analysis. We apply probabilistic methods that extract information directly from the images at long wavelengths, exploiting the prior information available at shorter wavelengths and providing full posterior distributions rather than maximum-likelihood estimates and associated uncertainties as in traditional catalogues. With this project definition paper, we provide full access to the first data release of HELP; Data Release 1 (DR1), including a monolithic map of the largest SPIRE extragalactic field at 385 deg2 and 18 million measurements of PACS and SPIRE fluxes. We also provide tools to access and analyse the full HELP data base. This new data set includes far-infrared photometry, photometric redshifts, and derived physical properties estimated from modelling the spectral energy distributions over the full HELP sky. All the software and data presented is publicly available.
Authors 32
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University of Sussex · University of Cambridge · University of Southampton
Affiliation as printed
Astronomy Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Astronomy Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
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Leiden University · Royal Observatory · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
Sterrewacht Leiden, Universiteit Leiden, NL-2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
Astronomy Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
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Affiliation as printed
Astronomy Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Aix-Marseille Université · National Centre for Nuclear Research
Affiliation as printed
Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM, F-13004 Marseille, France
National Centre for Nuclear Research, ul. Pasteura 7, PL-02-093 Warszawa, Poland
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · University of Sussex · Aix-Marseille Université
Affiliation as printed
Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM, F-13004 Marseille, France
Astronomy Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
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Affiliation as printed
School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Queens Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives · Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation
Affiliation as printed
Laboratoire AIM-Paris-Saclay, CEA/DSM/Irfu - CNRS - Université Paris, CE-Saclay, F-91190 Saint-Aubin, France
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National Astronomical Observatory of Japan · Nagoya University · Cardiff University
Affiliation as printed
Division of Particle and Astrophysical Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Queens Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut Universitaire de France · Aix-Marseille Université
Affiliation as printed
Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM, F-13004 Marseille, France
Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), F-75231 Paris, France
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Aix-Marseille Université
Affiliation as printed
Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM, F-13004 Marseille, France
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Affiliation as printed
School of Sciences, European University Cyprus, Engomi, 1516 Nicosia, Cyprus
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Affiliation as printed
Astronomy Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
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Affiliation as printed
School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Queens Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
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Affiliation as printed
School of Sciences, European University Cyprus, Engomi, 1516 Nicosia, Cyprus
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Affiliation as printed
Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
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Affiliation as printed
School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Queens Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
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University of Oxford · University of the Western Cape
Affiliation as printed
Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, 7535 Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Aix-Marseille Université
Affiliation as printed
Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM, F-13004 Marseille, France
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University of Cape Town · Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna · University of the Western Cape
Affiliation as printed
Department of Astronomy, University of Cape Town, 7701 Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, 7535 Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa
INAF – Istituto di Radioastronomia, via Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
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Affiliation as printed
Astronomy Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
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Affiliation as printed
School of Sciences, European University Cyprus, Engomi, 1516 Nicosia, Cyprus
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives · Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation
Affiliation as printed
Laboratoire AIM-Paris-Saclay, CEA/DSM/Irfu - CNRS - Université Paris, CE-Saclay, F-91190 Saint-Aubin, France
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Aix-Marseille Université · University of Cambridge
Affiliation as printed
Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM, F-13004 Marseille, France
Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
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Inter-university Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy · University of the Western Cape
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, 7535 Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa
Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, 7535 Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Sterrewacht Leiden, Universiteit Leiden, NL-2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Sterrewacht Leiden, Universiteit Leiden, NL-2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory · University College London
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Sterrewacht Leiden, Universiteit Leiden, NL-2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands
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University of Sussex · Oberlin College
Affiliation as printed
Astronomy Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH 44074, US
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Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna · Inter-university Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy · University of the Western Cape
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, 7535 Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa
INAF – Istituto di Radioastronomia, via Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, 7535 Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa
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University of Groningen · Space Research Organisation Netherlands
Affiliation as printed
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, Postbus 800, NL-9700 AV Groningen, the Netherlands
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Landleven 12, NL-9747 AD Groningen, the Netherlands
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Seb Oliver corresponding
Affiliation as printed
Astronomy Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
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