A maximum likelihood method to improve faint-source flux and color estimates

David W. Hogg; Edwin L. Turner

doi:10.1086/316173

A maximum likelihood method to improve faint-source flux and color estimates

David W. Hogg, Edwin L. Turner

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Flux estimates for faint sources or transients are systematically biased high because there are far more truly faint sources than bright. Corrections that account for this effect are presented as a function of signal-to-noise ratio and the (true) slope of the faint-source number-flux relation. The corrections depend on the source being originally identified in the image in which it is being photometered. If a source has been identified in other data, the corrections are different; a prescription for calculating the corrections is presented. Implications of these corrections for analyses of surveys are discussed; the most important is that sources identified at signal-to-noise ratios of 4 or less are practically useless.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	727-731
Number of pages	5
Journal	Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Volume	110
Issue number	748
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/316173
State	Published - Jun 1998

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.1086/316173

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title = "A maximum likelihood method to improve faint-source flux and color estimates",

abstract = "Flux estimates for faint sources or transients are systematically biased high because there are far more truly faint sources than bright. Corrections that account for this effect are presented as a function of signal-to-noise ratio and the (true) slope of the faint-source number-flux relation. The corrections depend on the source being originally identified in the image in which it is being photometered. If a source has been identified in other data, the corrections are different; a prescription for calculating the corrections is presented. Implications of these corrections for analyses of surveys are discussed; the most important is that sources identified at signal-to-noise ratios of 4 or less are practically useless.",

author = "Hogg, {David W.} and Turner, {Edwin L.}",

year = "1998",

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doi = "10.1086/316173",

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T1 - A maximum likelihood method to improve faint-source flux and color estimates

AU - Hogg, David W.

AU - Turner, Edwin L.

PY - 1998/6

Y1 - 1998/6

N2 - Flux estimates for faint sources or transients are systematically biased high because there are far more truly faint sources than bright. Corrections that account for this effect are presented as a function of signal-to-noise ratio and the (true) slope of the faint-source number-flux relation. The corrections depend on the source being originally identified in the image in which it is being photometered. If a source has been identified in other data, the corrections are different; a prescription for calculating the corrections is presented. Implications of these corrections for analyses of surveys are discussed; the most important is that sources identified at signal-to-noise ratios of 4 or less are practically useless.

AB - Flux estimates for faint sources or transients are systematically biased high because there are far more truly faint sources than bright. Corrections that account for this effect are presented as a function of signal-to-noise ratio and the (true) slope of the faint-source number-flux relation. The corrections depend on the source being originally identified in the image in which it is being photometered. If a source has been identified in other data, the corrections are different; a prescription for calculating the corrections is presented. Implications of these corrections for analyses of surveys are discussed; the most important is that sources identified at signal-to-noise ratios of 4 or less are practically useless.

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A maximum likelihood method to improve faint-source flux and color estimates

Abstract

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