Speaker
Description
Accurate u-band photometry in the Galactic plane is challenging because crowding, spatially variable extinction, and filter-system differences can strongly distort the observed stellar locus and complicate direct calibration. In this work, I develop an empirical framework for calibrating and interpreting CFHT u-band observations in heavily reddened fields by linking them to external optical and astrometric constraints. Matched CFHT, Pan-STARRS, and Gaia samples are used to place the data in a common comparison space, while Gaia geometric distances and 3D dust information help trace how extinction reshapes stellar colors along the line of sight. A low-extinction reference field is used to characterize the intrinsic behavior of well-measured stars, and that reference is then transferred to a high-extinction target field to study the resulting color-color distribution in a more controlled way. The approach emphasizes careful stellar selection and robust fitting so that calibration trends can be separated from astrophysical scatter. Beyond the immediate CFHT application, this framework is intended to be flexible and may also serve as a useful starting point for thinking about crowded Milky Way optical datasets in future survey contexts, including Rubin/LSST, where related calibration and interpretation challenges are likely to arise.
| Participate the oral/poster presentation award competition | Yes |
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