Institut für Astronomie und AstrophysikAbteilung AstronomieWaldhäuser Str. 64, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany |
A_b
Compute B band interstellar extinction according to the RC2.
The predicted B band extinction is computed as a function of Galactic position using the 21 parameter function given by deVaucouleurs in the 2nd Reference Catalog of Galaxies (RC2). Note that this formula was not used for the RC3 and that reddenings were instead obtained from the Burstein-Heiles 21 cm maps.
result = A_b( l2, b2)
l2 = Galactic longitude (degrees), scalar or vector b2 = Galactic latitude (degrees), scalar or vector
RESULT - Interstellar extinction Ab in magnitudes, same number of elements as input l2 and b2 parameters
The controversial aspect of the deVaucouleurs reddening curve is that it predicts an extinction of about 0.2 at the poles The parameters used here differ from the ones printed in the RC2 but are the ones actually used for entries in the catalog (see Rowan-Robinson 1985) This procedure is mainly of historical interest only, and reddening is now better determined using dust maps, such as those available at http://astro.berkeley.edu/davis/dust/index.html
Written by R. Cornett and W. Landsman, STX October 1987 Vectorized code W. Landsman STX December 1992 Converted to IDL V5.0 W. Landsman September 1997
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