Gaia DR3 Source Catalog Definitions

Overview

The Gaia DR3 Source Catalogue contains positions and brightnesses for 1.812 billion stars, including distances and proper motions for more than 1.4 billion stars. For more details, see the Gaia documentation, particularly the Source Catalogue columns description.

If you use the Gaia Catalogue, please cite Gaia Collaboration (2016) and Gaia Collaboration (2022j), along with the acknowledgement and any other appropriate citations listed here.

Name	Intype	Units	Description
solution_id	long	null	Solution Identifier
designation	string	null	Unique source designation (unique across all Data Releases)
source_id	long	null	Unique source identifier (unique within a particular Data Release)
random_index	long	null	Random index used to select subsets
ref_epoch	double	yr	Reference epoch
ra	double	deg	Right ascension
ra_error	double	mas	Standard error of right ascension
dec	double	deg	Declination
dec_error	double	mas	Standard error of declination
parallax	double	mas	Parallax
parallax_error	double	mas	Standard error of parallax
parallax_over_error	float	null	Parallax divided by its error
pm	float	mas/yr	Total proper motion
pmra	double	mas/yr	Proper motion in right ascension direction
pmra_error	double	mas/yr	Standard error of proper motion in right ascension direction
pmdec	double	mas/yr	Proper motion in declination direction
pmdec_error	double	mas/yr	Standard error of proper motion in declination direction
ra_dec_corr	float	null	Correlation between right ascension and declination
ra_parallax_corr	float	null	Correlation between right ascension and parallax
ra_pmra_corr	float	null	Correlation between right ascension and proper motion in right ascension
ra_pmdec_corr	float	null	Correlation between right ascension and proper motion in declination
dec_parallax_corr	float	null	Correlation between declination and parallax
dec_pmra_corr	float	null	Correlation between declination and proper motion in right ascension
dec_pmdec_corr	float	null	Correlation between declination and proper motion in declination
parallax_pmra_corr	float	null	Correlation between parallax and proper motion in right ascension
parallax_pmdec_corr	float	null	Correlation between parallax and proper motion in declination
pmra_pmdec_corr	float	null	Correlation between proper motion in RA and proper motion in Dec
astrometric_n_obs_al	int	null	Total number of observations AL
astrometric_n_obs_ac	int	null	Total number of observations AC
astrometric_n_good_obs_al	int	null	Number of good observations AL
astrometric_n_bad_obs_al	int	null	Number of bad observations AL
astrometric_gof_al	float	null	Goodness of fit statistic of model wrt along-scan observations
astrometric_chi2_al	float	null	AL chi-square value
astrometric_excess_noise	double	mas	Excess noise of the source
astrometric_excess_noise_sig	double	null	Significance of excess noise
astrometric_params_solved	int	null	Which parameters have been solved for?? 3 = two parameter (ra, dec) 31 = five parameter (position, parallax, and proper motion) 95 = six parameter (position, parallax, proper motion and astrometrically estimated effective wavenumber)
astrometric_primary_flag	boolean	null	Primary or secondary
nu_eff_used_in_astrometry	float	um**-1	Effective wavenumber of the source used in the astrometric solution
pseudocolour	double	um**-1	Astrometrically estimated pseudocolour of the source
pseudocolour_error	double	um**-1	Standard error of the pseudocolour of the source
ra_pseudocolour_corr	double	null	Correlation between right ascension and pseudocolour
dec_pseudocolour_corr	double	null	Correlation between declination and pseudocolour
parallax_pseudocolour_corr	double	null	Correlation between parallax and pseudocolour
pmra_pseudocolour_corr	double	null	Correlation between proper motion in right ascension and pseudocolour
pmdec_pseudocolour_corr	double	null	Correlation between proper motion in declination and pseudocolour
astrometric_matched_transits	short	null	Matched FOV transits used in the AGIS solution
visibility_periods_used	short	null	Number of visibility periods used in Astrometric solution
astrometric_sigma5d_max	float	mas	The longest semi-major axis of the 5-d error ellipsoid
matched_transits	short	null	The number of transits matched to this source
new_matched_transits	short	null	The number of transits newly incorporated into an existing source in the current cycle
matched_transits_removed	short	null	The number of transits removed from an existing source in the current cycle
ipd_gof_harmonic_amplitude	float	null	Amplitude of the IPD GoF versus position angle of scan
ipd_gof_harmonic_phase	float	deg	Phase of the IPD GoF versus position angle of scan
ipd_frac_multi_peak	byte	null	Percent of successful-IPD windows with more than one peak
ipd_frac_odd_win	byte	null	Percent of transits with truncated windows or multiple gate
ruwe	float	null	Renormalised unit weight error
scan_direction_strength_k1	float	null	Degree of concentration of scan directions across the source
scan_direction_strength_k2	float	null	Degree of concentration of scan directions across the source
scan_direction_strength_k3	float	null	Degree of concentration of scan directions across the source
scan_direction_strength_k4	float	null	Degree of concentration of scan directions across the source
scan_direction_mean_k1	float	deg	Mean position angle of scan directions across the source
scan_direction_mean_k2	float	deg	Mean position angle of scan directions across the source
scan_direction_mean_k3	float	deg	Mean position angle of scan directions across the source
scan_direction_mean_k4	float	deg	Mean position angle of scan directions across the source
duplicated_source	boolean	null	Source with duplicate sources
phot_g_n_obs	int	null	Number of observations contributing to G photometry
phot_g_mean_flux	double	'electron'/s	G-band mean flux
phot_g_mean_flux_error	double	'electron'/s	Error on G-band mean flux
phot_g_mean_flux_over_error	float	null	G-band mean flux divided by its error
phot_g_mean_mag	float	mag	G-band mean magnitude
phot_bp_n_obs	int	null	Number of observations contributing to BP photometry
phot_bp_mean_flux	double	'electron'/s	Integrated BP mean flux
phot_bp_mean_flux_error	double	'electron'/s	Error on the integrated BP mean flux
phot_bp_mean_flux_over_error	float	null	Integrated BP mean flux divided by its error
phot_bp_mean_mag	float	mag	Integrated BP mean magnitude
phot_rp_n_obs	int	null	Number of observations contributing to RP photometry
phot_rp_mean_flux	double	'electron'/s	Integrated RP mean flux
phot_rp_mean_flux_error	double	'electron'/s	Error on the integrated RP mean flux
phot_rp_mean_flux_over_error	float	null	Integrated RP mean flux divided by its error
phot_rp_mean_mag	float	mag	Integrated RP mean magnitude
phot_bp_rp_excess_factor	float	null	BP/RP excess factor
phot_bp_n_contaminated_transits	short	null	Number of BP contaminated transits
phot_bp_n_blended_transits	short	null	Number of BP blended transits
phot_rp_n_contaminated_transits	short	null	Number of RP contaminated transits
phot_rp_n_blended_transits	short	null	Number of RP blended transits
phot_proc_mode	int	null	Photometry processing mode
bp_rp	float	mag	BP - RP colour
bp_g	float	mag	BP - G colour
g_rp	float	mag	G - RP colour
radial_velocity	double	km/s	Spectroscopic radial velocity in the Solar system barycentric reference frame.
radial_velocity_error	double	km/s	Radial velocity error
rv_method_used	int	null	Method used to obtain the radial velocity
rv_nb_transits	int	null	Number of transits used to compute radial velocity
rv_nb_deblended_transits	int	null	Number of valid transits that have undergone deblending
rv_visibility_periods_used	int	null	Number of visibility periods used to estimate the radial velocity
rv_expected_sig_to_noise	float	null	Expected signal to noise ratio in the comb. of spectra used to obtain radial velocity
rv_renormalised_gof	float	null	Radial velocity renormalised goodness of fit
rv_chisq_pvalue	float	null	P-value for constancy based on a chi-squared criterion
rv_time_duration	float	d	Time coverage of the radial velocity time series
rv_amplitude_robust	float	km/s	Total amplitude in the radial velocity time series after outlier removal
rv_template_teff	float	K	Teff of the template used to compute radial velocity
rv_template_logg	float	log(cm.s**-2)	logg of the template used to compute radial velocity
rv_template_fe_h	float	'dex'	Fe/H of the template used to compute radial velocity
rv_atm_param_origin	int	null	Origin of the atmospheric parameters associated to the template
vbroad	float	km/s	Spectral line broadening parameter
vbroad_error	float	km/s	Uncertainty on the spectral line broadening
vbroad_nb_transits	int	null	Number of transits used to compute vbroad
grvs_mag	float	mag	Integrated Grvs magnitude
grvs_mag_error	float	mag	Grvs magnitude uncertainty
grvs_mag_nb_transits	int	null	Number of transits used to compute Grvs
rvs_spec_sig_to_noise	float	null	Signal to noise ratio in the mean RVS spectrum
phot_variable_flag	string	null	Photometric variability flag
l	double	deg	Galactic longitude
b	double	deg	Galactic latitude
ecl_lon	double	deg	Ecliptic longitude
ecl_lat	double	deg	Ecliptic latitude
in_qso_candidates	int	null	Flag indicating the availability of additional information in the QSO candidates table
in_galaxy_candidates	int	null	Flag: availability of additional information in the galaxy candidates table
non_single_star	int	null	Flag indicating availability of addl information in the various Non-Single Star tables
has_xp_continuous	int	null	Flag: availability of mean BP/RP spectrum in continuous representation for this source
has_xp_sampled	int	null	Flag indicating the availability of mean BP/RP spectrum in sampled form for this source
has_rvs	int	null	Flag indicating the availability of mean RVS spectrum for this source
has_epoch_photometry	int	null	Flag indicating the availability of epoch photometry for this source
has_epoch_rv	int	null	Flag indicating the availability of epoch radial velocity for this source
has_mcmc_gspphot	int	null	Flag indicating the availability of GSP-Phot MCMC samples for this source
has_mcmc_msc	int	null	Flag indicating the availability of MSC MCMC samples for this source
in_andromeda_survey	int	null	Flag: source is present in Gaia Andromeda Photometric Survey (GAPS)
classprob_dsc_combmod_quasar	float	null	Probability from DSC-Combmod of being a quasar
classprob_dsc_combmod_galaxy	float	null	Probability from DSC-Combmod of being a galaxy
classprob_dsc_combmod_star	float	null	Probability from DSC-Combmod of being a single star (but not a white dwarf)
teff_gspphot	float	K	Effective temperature from GSP-Phot Aeneas best library using BP/RP spectra
teff_gspphot_lower	float	K	Lower confidence level of teff_gspphot
teff_gspphot_upper	float	K	Upper confidence level of teff_gspphot
logg_gspphot	float	log(cm.s**-2)	Surface gravity from GSP-Phot Aeneas best library using BP/RP spectra
logg_gspphot_lower	float	log(cm.s**-2)	Lower confidence level of logg_gspphot
logg_gspphot_upper	float	log(cm.s**-2)	Upper confidence level of logg_gspphot
mh_gspphot	float	'dex'	Iron abundance from GSP-Phot Aeneas best library using BP/RP spectra
mh_gspphot_lower	float	'dex'	Lower confidence level of mh_gspphot
mh_gspphot_upper	float	'dex'	Upper confidence level of mh_gspphot
distance_gspphot	float	pc	Distance from GSP-Phot Aeneas best library using BP/RP spectra
distance_gspphot_lower	float	pc	Lower confidence level of distance_gspphot
distance_gspphot_upper	float	pc	Upper confidence level of distance_gspphot
azero_gspphot	float	mag	Monochromatic extinction at 541.4nm from GSP-Phot Aeneas best lib using BP/RP spectra
azero_gspphot_lower	float	mag	Lower confidence level of azero_gspphot
azero_gspphot_upper	float	mag	Upper confidence level of azero_gspphot
ag_gspphot	float	mag	Extinction in G band from GSP-Phot Aeneas best library using BP/RP spectra
ag_gspphot_lower	float	mag	Lower confidence level of ag_gspphot
ag_gspphot_upper	float	mag	Upper confidence level of ag_gspphot
ebpminrp_gspphot	float	mag	Reddening from GSP-Phot Aeneas best library using BP/RP spectra
ebpminrp_gspphot_lower	float	mag	Lower confidence level of ebminrp_gspphot
ebpminrp_gspphot_upper	float	mag	Upper confidence level of ebminrp_gspphot
libname_gspphot	string	null	Name of library that achieves the highest mean log-posterior in MCMC samples