MODERN DATA ANALYSIS METHODS SUCH AS PHOTOMETRIC UBERCALIBRATION AND OPTIMIZED MOSAICING WITH BACKGROUND MATCHING HAVE ENHANCED THE PUBLIC PRODUCTS OF MANY LARGE ASTRONOMICAL SURVEYS BUT UNFORTUNATELY NOT YET FOR THE GALEX MISSION. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE GALEX PROVIDED OUR ONLY VIEW OF THE ENTIRE ULTRAVIOLET (UV) SKY -- A CIRCUMSTANCE UNLIKELY TO CHANGE FOR MANY YEARS. WE HAVE RECENTLY ACHIEVED BOTH THESE CALIBRATION GOALS FOR A SUBSET OF THE GALEX OBSERVATIONS TOWARD THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASING THE QUALITY AND INTERNAL CONSISTENCY OF THE SOURCE CATALOGS AND FIDELITY OF THE DIFFUSE EMISSION MORPHOLOGY IN THIS LIMITED REGION. WE PROPOSE TO APPLY THE SAME METHODS TO THE ENTIRE PUBLIC GALEX DATABASE IN ORDER TO ELIMINATE REMAINING DISCONTINUITIES IN THE CURRENT PHOTOMETRY AND STEP-LIKE BACKGROUND ARTIFACTS IN SKY MAPS. THIS WORK WILL HAVE TWO PRINCIPAL PRODUCTS: (1) THE UPDATED PHOTOMETRIC CATALOG FOR ALL GALEX SOURCES AND (2) A LEGACY ALL-SKY COADD FOR BOTH THE FUV AND NUV BANDS. TRADITIONAL GALEX PIPELINE ANALYSIS ONLY STACKED EXPOSURES THAT WERE OBTAINED AS PART OF THE SAME PLANNED SURVEY TILE. HOWEVER A SUBSTANTIAL DEGREE OF OVERLAP BETWEEN INDEPENDENT GALEX OBSERVATIONS DOES EXIST AND CAN USED TO PRODUCE A DEEPER COADD OVER MUCH OF THE SKY. REDUNDANT COVERAGE ALSO ALLOWS ARTIFACTS SUCH AS INTERNAL REFLECTIONS TO BE MASKED WHEN STACKING. OUR ADAP EFFORT WILL IDEALLY COMPLEMENT THE ALL-SKY UNWISE REPROCESSING PROJECT IN INFRARED BANDS. WE WILL PUBLICLY RELEASE ALL PRODUCTS AS THEY ARE PRODUCED. THIS PROJECT WILL POSITIVELY IMPACT BOTH EXTRAGALACTIC AND MILKY WAY RELATED SCIENCE AND IS THEREFORE RELEVANT TO A WIDE RANGE OF NASA PRIORITIES.
$145,397FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
The Johns Hopkins University