A Gaia DR2 Mock Stellar Catalog
Jan Rybizki, Markus Demleitner, Morgan Fouesneau, Coryn Bailer-Jones,, Hans-Walter Rix, Rene Andrae

TL;DR
This paper introduces a realistic mock catalog of Milky Way stars modeled after Gaia DR2, enabling testing, calibration, and comparison of galactic data analysis methods.
Contribution
The authors created a comprehensive, Gaia DR2-matching stellar catalog using Galaxia and dust maps, including detailed stellar parameters and uncertainties.
Findings
Catalog mimics Gaia DR2 data structure and content
Enables realistic testing and comparison of galactic models
Accessible via virtual observatory with query capabilities
Abstract
We present a mock catalog of Milky Way stars, matching in volume and depth the content of the Gaia data release 2 (GDR2). We generated our catalog using Galaxia, a tool to sample stars from a Besancon Galactic model, together with a realistic 3D dust extinction map. The catalog mimicks the complete GDR2 data model and contains most of the entries in the Gaia source catalog: 5-parameter astrometry, 3-band photometry, radial velocities, stellar parameters, and associated scaled nominal uncertainty estimates. In addition, we supplemented the catalog with extinctions and photometry for non-Gaia bands. This catalog can be used to prepare GDR2 queries in a realistic runtime environment, and it can serve as a Galactic model against which to compare the actual GDR2 data in the space of observables. The catalog is hosted through the virtual observatory GAVO's Heidelberg data center service and…
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