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A Bayesian approach to quantify the uncertainties in the determination of galaxy properties derived from spectral fits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2012

Gladis Magris C.
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomía (CIDA)Apdo. Postal 264, Mérida 5101, Venezuela email: magris@cida.ve, cmateu@cida.ve
Cecilia Mateu
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomía (CIDA)Apdo. Postal 264, Mérida 5101, Venezuela email: magris@cida.ve, cmateu@cida.ve
Gustavo Bruzual A.
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomía (CIDA)Apdo. Postal 264, Mérida 5101, Venezuela email: magris@cida.ve, cmateu@cida.ve Centro de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica, UNAM, Campus MoreliaApartado Postal 372, 58090, Morelia, Michoacán, México email: g.bruzual@crya.unam.mx
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Abstract

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We use a bayesian formalism to quantify the uncertainties in the determination of the luminous mass and age of the dominant stellar population in a galaxy obtained from simple spectral fits. The analysis is performed over a sample of synthetic spectra covering a wide range of star formation histories and seen at different ages and redshifts. Using the bayesian approach we can establish quantitatively the uncertainties in the parameters derived from these fits in a straightforward manner, which is not possible using some simple algorithms, e.g. GASPEX, a non-negative least-square fitting algorithm.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2012

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