PyMGal: A Python Package for Generating Optical Mock Observations from Hydrodynamical Simulations

TL;DR

PyMGal is a versatile Python tool that creates realistic optical mock observations from hydrodynamical galaxy simulations, enabling direct comparison with real data to enhance understanding of galaxy evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a flexible, customizable Python package capable of generating detailed optical mock observations from hydrodynamical simulations with various models and observational parameters.

Findings

Supports multiple filters and units for realistic brightness calculations.

Allows projection of 3D data into 2D observational images.

Includes features like dust attenuation and spectral data cubes.

Abstract

We introduce PyMGal, a Python package for generating optical mock observations of galaxies from hydrodynamical simulations. PyMGal reads the properties of stellar particles from these simulations and generates spectral energy distributions (SEDs) based on a variety of stellar population models that can be customised to fit the user's choice of applications. Given these SEDs, the program can calculate the brightness of particles in different output units for hundreds of unique filters. These quantities can then be projected to a 2D plane mimicking a telescope observation. The software is compatible with different snapshot formats and allows a flexible selection of models, filters, output units, axes of projection, angular resolutions, fields of view, and more. It also supports additional features including dust attenuation, particle smoothing, and the option to output spectral data cubes and maps of mass, age, and metallicity. These synthetic observations can be used to directly compare the simulated objects to reality in order to model galaxy evolution, study different theoretical models, and investigate different observational effects. This package allows the user to perform fast and consistent comparisons between simulation and observation, leading to a better and more precise understanding of what we see in our Universe.