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Accepted manuscript

Hector Galaxy Survey: Data Processing, Quality Control and Early Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2025

S. Oh Open the ORCID record for S. Oh [Opens in a new window] ,
M. L. P. Gunawardhana Open the ORCID record for M. L. P. Gunawardhana [Opens in a new window] ,
S. M. Croom Open the ORCID record for S. M. Croom [Opens in a new window] ,
G. Quattropani Open the ORCID record for G. Quattropani [Opens in a new window] ,
S. Tuntipong Open the ORCID record for S. Tuntipong [Opens in a new window] ,
J. J. Bryant ,
P. Corcho Caballero Open the ORCID record for P. Corcho Caballero [Opens in a new window] ,
P. K. Das Open the ORCID record for P. K. Das [Opens in a new window] ,
O. Çakır Open the ORCID record for O. Çakır [Opens in a new window]  and
J. H. Lee Open the ORCID record for J. H. Lee [Opens in a new window]
...Show all authors
S. Oh*
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy and Yonsei University Observatory, Yonsei University, Seoul, 03722, Republic of Korea
M. L. P. Gunawardhana*
Affiliation:
Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia
S. M. Croom
Affiliation:
Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia
G. Quattropani
Affiliation:
ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia Astrophysics and Space Technologies Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
S. Tuntipong
Affiliation:
Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia
J. J. Bryant
Affiliation:
Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia Astralis-USyd, Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
P. Corcho Caballero
Affiliation:
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, PO Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
P. K. Das
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
O. Çakır
Affiliation:
ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia Astrophysics and Space Technologies Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
J. H. Lee
Affiliation:
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), 776 Daedeok-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34055, Republic of Korea
A. Ristea
Affiliation:
ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia
S. Barsanti
Affiliation:
Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia
M. Pak
Affiliation:
ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), 776 Daedeok-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34055, Republic of Korea
S. M. Sweet
Affiliation:
ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
T. J. Woodrow
Affiliation:
Siding Spring Observatory, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia
T. Rutherford
Affiliation:
Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, Garching, 85748, Germany
Y. Mai
Affiliation:
Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia Australian Astronomical Optics, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
M. S. Owers
Affiliation:
ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia Astrophysics and Space Technologies Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
M. Colless
Affiliation:
Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia
L. S. J. Stuart
Affiliation:
Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
H. R. M. Zovaro
Affiliation:
Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia
S. P. Vaughan
Affiliation:
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia Astronomy, Astrophysics and Astrophotonics Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, School of Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
J. van de Sande
Affiliation:
Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
T. Farrell
Affiliation:
Astralis-AAO, Australian Astronomical Optics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
M. Beom
Affiliation:
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), 776 Daedeok-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34055, Republic of Korea
J. Bland-Hawthorn
Affiliation:
Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia
J. Chung
Affiliation:
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), 776 Daedeok-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34055, Republic of Korea Institute for Data Innovation in Science & Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
C. Foster
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
K. Grasha
Affiliation:
Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia
H. Jeong
Affiliation:
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), 776 Daedeok-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34055, Republic of Korea
J. C. Lee
Affiliation:
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), 776 Daedeok-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34055, Republic of Korea
A. Mailvaganam
Affiliation:
ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Australia School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia Astrophysics and Space Technologies Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
K. Oh
Affiliation:
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), 776 Daedeok-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34055, Republic of Korea
S. O’Toole
Affiliation:
Astrophysics and Space Technologies Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia Australian Astronomical Optics, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
E. N. Taylor
Affiliation:
Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, School of Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
T. Zafar
Affiliation:
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia Astrophysics and Space Technologies Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
G. S. Bhatia
Affiliation:
Astralis-USyd, Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
D. Brodrick
Affiliation:
Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia
R. Brown
Affiliation:
Astralis-USyd, Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
E. Cheng
Affiliation:
Astralis-USyd, Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
R. Content
Affiliation:
Astralis-AAO, Australian Astronomical Optics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
F. Crous
Affiliation:
Astralis-USyd, Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
P. Gillingham
Affiliation:
Astralis-AAO, Australian Astronomical Optics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
E. Houston
Affiliation:
Astralis-AAO, Australian Astronomical Optics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
J. Lawrence
Affiliation:
Astralis-AAO, Australian Astronomical Optics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
H. McGregor
Affiliation:
Astralis-AAO, Australian Astronomical Optics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
M. Mohanan
Affiliation:
Astralis-AAO, Australian Astronomical Optics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
S. Min
Affiliation:
Astralis-USyd, Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
B. Norris
Affiliation:
Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia Astralis-USyd, Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
N. Pai
Affiliation:
Astralis-AAO, Australian Astronomical Optics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
A. Sadman
Affiliation:
Astralis-USyd, Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
W. Saunders
Affiliation:
Astralis-AAO, Australian Astronomical Optics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
A. H. Wang
Affiliation:
Astralis-USyd, Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
R. Zhelem
Affiliation:
Astralis-AAO, Australian Astronomical Optics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
J. Zheng
Affiliation:
Astralis-AAO, Australian Astronomical Optics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: S. Oh, M. L. P. Gunawardhana (dual first authors), Email: sreemario@gmail.com, madusha.gunawardhana@sydney.edu.au.
Author for correspondence: S. Oh, M. L. P. Gunawardhana (dual first authors), Email: sreemario@gmail.com, madusha.gunawardhana@sydney.edu.au.
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Abstract

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The Hector Galaxy Survey is a new optical integral field spectroscopy (IFS) survey currently using the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) to observe up to 15,000 galaxies at low redshift (z < 0.1). The Hector instrument employs 21 optical fibre bundles feeding into two double-beam spectrographs, AAOmega and the new Spector spectrograph, to enable wide-field multi-object IFS observations of galaxies. To efficiently process the survey data, we adopt the data reduction pipeline developed for the SAMI Galaxy Survey, with significant updates to accommodate Hector’s dual-spectrograph system. These enhancements address key differences in spectral resolution and other instrumental characteristics relative to SAMI, and are specifically optimised for Hector’s unique configuration. We introduce a two-dimensional arc fitting approach that reduces the root-mean-square (RMS) velocity scatter by a factor of 1.2–3.4 compared to fitting arc lines independently for each fibre. The pipeline also incorporates detailed modelling of chromatic optical distortion in the wide-field corrector, to account for wavelength-dependent spatial shifts across the focal plane. We assess data quality through a series of validation tests, including wavelength solution accuracy (1.2–2.7 km s–1 RMS), spectral resolution (FWHM of 1.2–1.4 Å for Spector), throughput characterisation, astrometric precision (≲ 0.03 arcsec median offset), sky subtraction residuals (1–1.6% median continuum residual), and flux calibration stability (4% systematic offset when compared to Legacy Survey fluxes). We demonstrate that Hector delivers high-fidelity, science-ready datasets, supporting robust measurements of galaxy kinematics, stellar populations, and emission-line properties, and provide examples. Additionally, we address systematic uncertainties identified during the data processing and propose future improvements to enhance the precision and reliability of upcoming data releases. This work establishes a robust data reduction framework for Hector, delivering high-quality data products that support a broad range of extragalactic studies.

Keywords

galaxies: generalastronomical data bases: surveysinstrumentation: spectrographstechniques: imaging spectroscopymethods: data analysis

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia , Accepted manuscript , pp. 1 - 26
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Astronomical Society of Australia