Completeness of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) -- Local Volume Sample

Abstract

We introduce the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) Local Volume Sample (NED-LVS), a subset of $\sim$1.9 million objects with distances out to 1000~Mpc. We use UV and IR fluxes available in NED from all-sky surveys to derive physical properties, and estimate the completeness relative to the expected local luminosity density. The completeness relative to NIR luminosities (which traces a galaxy's stellar mass) is roughly 100% at $D<$30~Mpc and remains moderate (70%) out to 300~Mpc. For brighter galaxies ($\gtrsim L^{*}$), NED-LVS is $\sim$100% complete out to $\sim$400~Mpc. When compared to other local Universe samples (GLADE and HECATE), all three are $\sim$100% complete below 30~Mpc. At distances beyond $\sim$80~Mpc, NED-LVS is more complete than both GLADE and HECATE by $\sim$10-20%. NED-LVS is the underlying sample for the NED gravitational wave follow-up (NED-GWF) service, which provides prioritized lists of host candidates for GW events within minutes of alerts issued by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration. We test the prioritization of galaxies in the volume of GW170817 by 3 physical properties, where we find that both stellar mass and inverse specific star formation rate place the correct host galaxy in the top ten. In addition, NED-LVS can be used for a wide variety of other astrophysical studies: galaxy evolution, star formation, large-scale structure, galaxy environments, and more. The data in NED are updated regularly, and NED-LVS will be updated concurrently. Consequently, NED-LVS will continue to provide an increasingly complete sample of galaxies for a multitude of astrophysical research areas for years to come.