The selection function of the RAVE survey

Jennifer Wojno, Georges Kordopatis, Tilmann Piffl, James Binney, Matthias Steinmetz, Gal Matijevič, Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Sanjib Sharma, Paul McMillan, Fred Watson, Warren Reid, Andrea Kunder, Harry Enke, Eva K. Grebel, George Seabroke, Rosemary F. G. Wyse, Tomaž Zwitter, Olivier Bienaymé, Kenneth C. Freeman, Brad K. Gibson, Gerry Gilmore, Amina Helmi, Ulisse Munari, Julio F. Navarro, Quentin A. Parker, Arnaud Siebert

Published 2016-11-02Version 1

The selection function of a sample of observed objects quantifies the probability that a given target would have been observed and included in the final catalogue. Knowledge of this function is indispensable for any statistical analysis of such a sample. In this article we describe how the selection function of the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) survey can be evaluated to sufficient detail. RAVE is a medium- resolution large-scale spectroscopic survey which has measured radial velocities and stellar parameters for approximately half a million Milky Way stars in the Southern hemisphere with 9 < I < 12. We furthermore discuss the distribution of uncertainties in the RAVE data. Finally, we demonstrate the effect of the selection function on the velocity and metallicity distributions of a mock-RAVE catalogue using the stellar population synthesis code Galaxia. We find that for I < 12, RAVE is both kinematically and chemically unbiased, and therefore offers a suitable sample of stars for chemodynamical studies of the Milky Way.