PhoSim Tutorial 11: How to Create Custom Galaxies

There are many ways to simulate galaxies in PhoSim. One way is to use postage stamp "truth" images. This is covered in other tutorials. In this tutorial, we look at parameterized galaxy models in PhoSim.

One simple form is to use the two-dimensional Sersic model. A galaxy can be created with the following catalog:

rightascension 0.0

declination 0.0

object 0 0.0 0.0 16.0 ../sky/sed_flat.txt 0 0 0 0 0 0 sersic2D 5.0 4.0 30.0 1.5 none none

Here the galaxy has a size of 5 arcseconds in one direction and 4 arcseconds in another direction. It has a position angle of 30 degrees and a Sersic index of 1.5. The corresponding image is: