18 February 2020Big Data, The Cannon & The Bulge

I will present The Cannon, a method that uses a model built directly from the spectra of only 550 stars, to determine stellar parameters (of Teff, log g, [Fe/H] and [alpha/Fe]) for 150,000 stars in the APOGEE survey.  I will demonstrate how two different stellar surveys, which operate at different resolutions and wavelengths, have been placed directly on the same stellar parameter scale using The Cannon and its data-driven model. Given standard calibration stars observed between stellar surveys, it is possible, via The Cannon, to place every stellar survey of the Milky Way on the same parameter scale and homogeneously map the stellar population of the Milky Way. This approach enables the optimal utilisation of data from the multitude of spectroscopic programs currently underway. Using the results from The Cannon, I will show some new science results for the Galactic Bulge of the Milky Way, from the APOGEE survey.