The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey: Technical Summary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frieman, Joshua A.; /Fermilab /KICP, Chicago /Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr.; Bassett, Bruce; /Cape Town U. /South African Astron. Observ.; Becker, Andrew; /Washington; Choi, Changsu; /Seoul Natl. U.; Cinabro, David; /Wayne State U.; DeJongh, Don Frederic; /Fermilab; Depoy, Darren L.; /Ohio State U.; Doi, Mamoru; /Tokyo U.; Garnavich, Peter M.; /Notre Dame U.; Hogan, Craig J.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Holtzman, Jon; /New Mexico State U.; Im, Myungshin; /Seoul Natl. U.; Jha, Saurabh; /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Konishi, Kohki; /Tokyo U.; Lampeitl, Hubert; /Baltimore, Space Telescope Sci.; Marriner, John; /Fermilab; Marshall, Jennifer L.; /Ohio State U.; McGinnis,; /Fermilab; Miknaitis, Gajus; /Fermilab; Nichol, Robert C.; /Portsmouth U.; Prieto, Jose Luis; /Ohio State U. /Rochester Inst. Tech. /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /Pennsylvania U.

2007-09-14

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II (SDSS-II) has embarked on a multi-year project to identify and measure light curves for intermediate-redshift (0.05 < z < 0.35) Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) using repeated five-band (ugriz) imaging over an area of 300 sq. deg. The survey region is a stripe 2.5 degrees wide centered on the celestial equator in the Southern Galactic Cap that has been imaged numerous times in earlier years, enabling construction of a deep reference image for discovery of new objects. Supernova imaging observations are being acquired between 1 September and 30 November of 2005-7. During the first two seasons, each region was imaged on average every five nights. Spectroscopic follow-up observations to determine supernova type and redshift are carried out on a large number of telescopes. In its first two three-month seasons, the survey has discovered and measured light curves for 327 spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia, 30 probable SNe Ia, 14 confirmed SNe Ib/c, 32 confirmed SNe II, plus a large number of photometrically identified SNe Ia, 94 of which have host-galaxy spectra taken so far. This paper provides an overview of the project and briefly describes the observations completed during the first two seasons of operation.

A Type II Supernova Hubble diagram from the CSP-I, SDSS-II, and SNLS surveys

OpenAIRE

de Jaeger, T.; González-Gaitán, S.; Hamuy, M.; Galbany, L.; Anderson, J. P.; Phillips, M. M.; Stritzinger, M. D.; Carlberg, R. G.; Sullivan, M.; Gutiérrez, C. P.; Hook, I. M.; Howell, D. Andrew; Hsiao, E. Y.; Kuncarayakti, H.; Ruhlmann-Kleider, V.

2016-01-01

The coming era of large photometric wide-field surveys will increase the detection rate of supernovae by orders of magnitude. Such numbers will restrict spectroscopic follow-up in the vast majority of cases, and hence new methods based solely on photometric data must be developed. Here, we construct a complete Hubble diagram of Type II supernovae (SNe II) combining data from three different samples: the Carnegie Supernova Project-I, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II SN, and th...

A MEASUREMENT OF THE RATE OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE IN GALAXY CLUSTERS FROM THE SDSS-II SUPERNOVA SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dilday, Benjamin; Jha, Saurabh W.; Bassett, Bruce; Becker, Andrew; Bender, Ralf; Hopp, Ulrich; Castander, Francisco; Cinabro, David; Frieman, Joshua A.; Galbany, LluIs; Miquel, Ramon; Garnavich, Peter; Goobar, Ariel; Ihara, Yutaka; Kessler, Richard; Lampeitl, Hubert; Nichol, Robert C.; Marriner, John; Molla, Mercedes

2010-01-01

We present measurements of the Type Ia supernova (SN) rate in galaxy clusters based on data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II (SDSS-II) Supernova Survey. The cluster SN Ia rate is determined from 9 SN events in a set of 71 C4 clusters at z ≤ 0.17 and 27 SN events in 492 maxBCG clusters at 0.1 ≤ z ≤ 0.3. We find values for the cluster SN Ia rate of (0.37 +0.17+0.01 -0.12-0.01 ) SNur h 2 and (0.55 +0.13+0.02 -0.11-0.01 ) SNur h 2 (SNux = 10 -12 L -1 xsun yr -1 ) in C4 and maxBCG clusters, respectively, where the quoted errors are statistical and systematic, respectively. The SN rate for early-type galaxies is found to be (0.31 +0.18+0.01 -0.12-0.01 ) SNur h 2 and (0.49 +0.15+0.02 -0.11-0.01 ) SNur h 2 in C4 and maxBCG clusters, respectively. The SN rate for the brightest cluster galaxies (BCG) is found to be (2.04 +1.99+0.07 -1.11-0.04 ) SNur h 2 and (0.36 +0.84+0.01 -0.30-0.01 ) SNur h 2 in C4 and maxBCG clusters, respectively. The ratio of the SN Ia rate in cluster early-type galaxies to that of the SN Ia rate in field early-type galaxies is 1.94 +1.31+0.043 -0.91-0.015 and 3.02 +1.31+0.062 -1.03-0.048 , for C4 and maxBCG clusters, respectively. The SN rate in galaxy clusters as a function of redshift, which probes the late time SN Ia delay distribution, shows only weak dependence on redshift. Combining our current measurements with previous measurements, we fit the cluster SN Ia rate data to a linear function of redshift, and find r L = [(0.49 +0.15 -0.14 )+(0.91 +0.85 -0.81 ) x z] SNuB h 2 . A comparison of the radial distribution of SNe in cluster to field early-type galaxies shows possible evidence for an enhancement of the SN rate in the cores of cluster early-type galaxies. With an observation of at most three hostless, intra-cluster SNe Ia, we estimate the fraction of cluster SNe that are hostless to be (9.4 +8.3 -5.1 )%.

A Measurement of the Rate of Type Ia Supernovae in Galaxy Clusters from the SDSS-II Supernova Survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dilday, Benjamin; /Rutgers U., Piscataway /Chicago U. /KICP, Chicago; Bassett, Bruce; /Cape Town U., Dept. Math. /South African Astron. Observ.; Becker, Andrew; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Bender, Ralf; /Munich, Tech. U. /Munich U. Observ.; Castander, Francisco; /Barcelona, IEEC; Cinabro, David; /Wayne State U.; Frieman, Joshua A.; /Chicago U. /Fermilab; Galbany, Lluis; /Barcelona, IFAE; Garnavich, Peter; /Notre Dame U.; Goobar, Ariel; /Stockholm U., OKC /Stockholm U.; Hopp, Ulrich; /Munich, Tech. U. /Munich U. Observ. /Tokyo U.

2010-03-01

We present measurements of the Type Ia supernova (SN) rate in galaxy clusters based on data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II (SDSS-II) Supernova Survey. The cluster SN Ia rate is determined from 9 SN events in a set of 71 C4 clusters at z {le} 0.17 and 27 SN events in 492 maxBCG clusters at 0.1 {le} z {le} 0.3. We find values for the cluster SN Ia rate of (0.37{sub -0.12-0.01}{sup +0.17+0.01}) SNur h{sup 2} and (0.55{sub -0.11-0.01}{sup +0.13+0.02}) SNur h{sup 2} (SNux = 10{sup -12}L{sub x{circle_dot}}{sup -1} yr{sup -1}) in C4 and maxBCG clusters, respectively, where the quoted errors are statistical and systematic, respectively. The SN rate for early-type galaxies is found to be (0.31{sub -0.12-0.01}{sup +0.18+0.01}) SNur h{sup 2} and (0.49{sub -0.11-0.01}{sup +0.15+0.02}) SNur h{sup 2} in C4 and maxBCG clusters, respectively. The SN rate for the brightest cluster galaxies (BCG) is found to be (2.04{sub -1.11-0.04}{sup +1.99+0.07}) SNur h{sup 2} and (0.36{sub -0.30-0.01}{sup +0.84+0.01}) SNur h{sup 2} in C4 and maxBCG clusters, respectively. The ratio of the SN Ia rate in cluster early-type galaxies to that of the SN Ia rate in field early-type galaxies is 1.94{sub -0.91-0.015}{sup +1.31+0.043} and 3.02{sub -1.03-0.048}{sup +1.31+0.062}, for C4 and maxBCG clusters, respectively. The SN rate in galaxy clusters as a function of redshift, which probes the late time SN Ia delay distribution, shows only weak dependence on redshift. Combining our current measurements with previous measurements, we fit the cluster SN Ia rate data to a linear function of redshift, and find r{sub L} = [(0.49{sub -0.14}{sup +0.15}) + (0.91{sub -0.81}{sup +0.85}) x z] SNuB h{sup 2}. A comparison of the radial distribution of SNe in cluster to field early-type galaxies shows possible evidence for an enhancement of the SN rate in the cores of cluster early-type galaxies. With an observation of at most 3 hostless, intra-cluster SNe Ia, we estimate the fraction of cluster SNe that are

The sloan digital sky Survey-II supernova survey: search algorithm and follow-up observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sako, Masao [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Bassett, Bruce [Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701 (South Africa); Becker, Andrew; Hogan, Craig J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Cinabro, David [Department of Physics, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202 (United States); DeJongh, Fritz; Frieman, Joshua A.; Marriner, John; Miknaitis, Gajus [Center for Particle Astrophysics, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Depoy, D. L.; Prieto, Jose Luis [Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1173 (United States); Dilday, Ben; Kessler, Richard [Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, The University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Doi, Mamoru [Institute of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo 2-21-1, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0015 (Japan); Garnavich, Peter M. [University of Notre Dame, 225 Nieuwland Science, Notre Dame, IN 46556-5670 (United States); Holtzman, Jon [Department of Astronomy, MSC 4500, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001, Las Cruces, NM 88003 (United States); Jha, Saurabh [Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, P.O. Box 20450, MS29, Stanford, CA 94309 (United States); Konishi, Kohki [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, 5-1-5, Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8582 (Japan); Lampeitl, Hubert [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Nichol, Robert C. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Mercantile House, Hampshire Terrace, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 2EG (United Kingdom); and others

2008-01-01

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey has identified a large number of new transient sources in a 300 deg{sup 2} region along the celestial equator during its first two seasons of a three-season campaign. Multi-band (ugriz) light curves were measured for most of the sources, which include solar system objects, galactic variable stars, active galactic nuclei, supernovae (SNe), and other astronomical transients. The imaging survey is augmented by an extensive spectroscopic follow-up program to identify SNe, measure their redshifts, and study the physical conditions of the explosions and their environment through spectroscopic diagnostics. During the survey, light curves are rapidly evaluated to provide an initial photometric type of the SNe, and a selected sample of sources are targeted for spectroscopic observations. In the first two seasons, 476 sources were selected for spectroscopic observations, of which 403 were identified as SNe. For the type Ia SNe, the main driver for the survey, our photometric typing and targeting efficiency is 90%. Only 6% of the photometric SN Ia candidates were spectroscopically classified as non-SN Ia instead, and the remaining 4% resulted in low signal-to-noise, unclassified spectra. This paper describes the search algorithm and the software, and the real-time processing of the SDSS imaging data. We also present the details of the supernova candidate selection procedures and strategies for follow-up spectroscopic and imaging observations of the discovered sources.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey:Search Algorithm and Follow-up Observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sako, Masao; /Pennsylvania U. /KIPAC, Menlo Park; Bassett, Bruce; /Cape Town U. /South African Astron. Observ.; Becker, Andrew; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Cinabro, David; /Wayne State U.; DeJongh, Don Frederic; /Fermilab; Depoy, D.L.; /Ohio State U.; Doi, Mamoru; /Tokyo U.; Garnavich, Peter M.; /Notre Dame U.; Craig, Hogan, J.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Holtzman, Jon; /New Mexico State U.; Jha, Saurabh; /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Konishi, Kohki; /Tokyo U.; Lampeitl, Hubert; /Baltimore, Space; Marriner, John; /Fermilab; Miknaitis, Gajus; /Fermilab; Nichol, Robert C.; /Portsmouth U.; Prieto, Jose Luis; /Ohio State U.; Richmond, Michael W.; /Rochester Inst.; Schneider, Donald P.; /Penn State U., Astron. Astrophys.; Smith, Mathew; /Portsmouth U.; SubbaRao, Mark; /Chicago U. /Tokyo U. /Tokyo U. /South African Astron. Observ. /Tokyo

2007-09-14

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey has identified a large number of new transient sources in a 300 deg2 region along the celestial equator during its first two seasons of a three-season campaign. Multi-band (ugriz) light curves were measured for most of the sources, which include solar system objects, Galactic variable stars, active galactic nuclei, supernovae (SNe), and other astronomical transients. The imaging survey is augmented by an extensive spectroscopic follow-up program to identify SNe, measure their redshifts, and study the physical conditions of the explosions and their environment through spectroscopic diagnostics. During the survey, light curves are rapidly evaluated to provide an initial photometric type of the SNe, and a selected sample of sources are targeted for spectroscopic observations. In the first two seasons, 476 sources were selected for spectroscopic observations, of which 403 were identified as SNe. For the Type Ia SNe, the main driver for the Survey, our photometric typing and targeting efficiency is 90%. Only 6% of the photometric SN Ia candidates were spectroscopically classified as non-SN Ia instead, and the remaining 4% resulted in low signal-to-noise, unclassified spectra. This paper describes the search algorithm and the software, and the real-time processing of the SDSS imaging data. We also present the details of the supernova candidate selection procedures and strategies for follow-up spectroscopic and imaging observations of the discovered sources.

The effect of weak lensing on distance estimates from supernovae

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, Mathew; Maartens, Roy [Department of Physics, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7535 (South Africa); Bacon, David J.; Nichol, Robert C.; Campbell, Heather; D' Andrea, Chris B. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Clarkson, Chris [Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravity Centre (ACGC), Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701 (South Africa); Bassett, Bruce A. [South African Astronomical Observatory, P.O. Box 9, Observatory 7935 (South Africa); Cinabro, David [Wayne State University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Detroit, MI 48202 (United States); Finley, David A.; Frieman, Joshua A. [Center for Particle Astrophysics, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Galbany, Lluis [CENTRA Centro Multidisciplinar de Astrofísica, Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisbon (Portugal); Garnavich, Peter M. [Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States); Olmstead, Matthew D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Schneider, Donald P. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Shapiro, Charles [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, La Canada Flintridge, CA 91109 (United States); Sollerman, Jesper, E-mail: matsmith2@gmail.com [The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden)

2014-01-01

Using a sample of 608 Type Ia supernovae from the SDSS-II and BOSS surveys, combined with a sample of foreground galaxies from SDSS-II, we estimate the weak lensing convergence for each supernova line of sight. We find that the correlation between this measurement and the Hubble residuals is consistent with the prediction from lensing (at a significance of 1.7σ). Strong correlations are also found between the residuals and supernova nuisance parameters after a linear correction is applied. When these other correlations are taken into account, the lensing signal is detected at 1.4σ. We show, for the first time, that distance estimates from supernovae can be improved when lensing is incorporated, by including a new parameter in the SALT2 methodology for determining distance moduli. The recovered value of the new parameter is consistent with the lensing prediction. Using cosmic microwave background data from WMAP7, H {sub 0} data from Hubble Space Telescope and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Baryon acoustic oscillations measurements, we find the best-fit value of the new lensing parameter and show that the central values and uncertainties on Ω {sub m} and w are unaffected. The lensing of supernovae, while only seen at marginal significance in this low-redshift sample, will be of vital importance for the next generation of surveys, such as DES and LSST, which will be systematics-dominated.

A Type II Supernova Hubble Diagram from the CSP-I, SDSS-II, and SNLS Surveys

Science.gov (United States)

de Jaeger, T.; González-Gaitán, S.; Hamuy, M.; Galbany, L.; Anderson, J. P.; Phillips, M. M.; Stritzinger, M. D.; Carlberg, R. G.; Sullivan, M.; Gutiérrez, C. P.; Hook, I. M.; Howell, D. Andrew; Hsiao, E. Y.; Kuncarayakti, H.; Ruhlmann-Kleider, V.; Folatelli, G.; Pritchet, C.; Basa, S.

2017-02-01

The coming era of large photometric wide-field surveys will increase the detection rate of supernovae by orders of magnitude. Such numbers will restrict spectroscopic follow-up in the vast majority of cases, and hence new methods based solely on photometric data must be developed. Here, we construct a complete Hubble diagram of Type II supernovae (SNe II) combining data from three different samples: the Carnegie Supernova Project-I, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II SN, and the Supernova Legacy Survey. Applying the Photometric Color Method (PCM) to 73 SNe II with a redshift range of 0.01-0.5 and with no spectral information, we derive an intrinsic dispersion of 0.35 mag. A comparison with the Standard Candle Method (SCM) using 61 SNe II is also performed and an intrinsic dispersion in the Hubble diagram of 0.27 mag, I.e., 13% in distance uncertainties, is derived. Due to the lack of good statistics at higher redshifts for both methods, only weak constraints on the cosmological parameters are obtained. However, assuming a flat universe and using the PCM, we derive the universe’s matter density: {{{Ω }}}m={0.32}-0.21+0.30 providing a new independent evidence for dark energy at the level of two sigma. This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes, with the du Pont and Swope telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile; and the Gemini Observatory, Cerro Pachon, Chile (Gemini Program N-2005A-Q-11, GN-2005B-Q-7, GN-2006A-Q-7, GS-2005A-Q-11, GS-2005B-Q-6, and GS-2008B-Q-56). Based on observations collected at the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, Chile (ESO Programmes 076.A-0156,078.D-0048, 080.A-0516, and 082.A-0526).

Spectroscopic Determination of the Low Redshift Type Ia Supernova Rate from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krughoff, K.Simon; Connolly, Andrew J.; Frieman, Joshua; SubbaRao, Mark; Kilper, Gary; Schneider, Donald P.

2011-04-10

Supernova rates are directly coupled to high mass stellar birth and evolution. As such, they are one of the few direct measures of the history of cosmic stellar evolution. In this paper we describe an probabilistic technique for identifying supernovae within spectroscopic samples of galaxies. We present a study of 52 type Ia supernovae ranging in age from -14 days to +40 days extracted from a parent sample of \\simeq 50,000 spectra from the SDSS DR5. We find a Supernova Rate (SNR) of 0.472^{+0.048}_{-0.039}(Systematic)^{+0.081}_{-0.071}(Statistical)SNu at a redshift of = 0.1. This value is higher than other values at low redshift at the 1{\\sigma}, but is consistent at the 3{\\sigma} level. The 52 supernova candidates used in this study comprise the third largest sample of supernovae used in a type Ia rate determination to date. In this paper we demonstrate the potential for the described approach for detecting supernovae in future spectroscopic surveys.

Exploring the Outer Solar System with the ESSENCE Supernova Survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Becker, A.C.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Arraki, K.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Kaib, N.A.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Wood-Vasey, W.M.; /Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys.; Aguilera, C.; /Cerro-Tololo InterAmerican Obs.; Blackman, J.W.; /Australian Natl. U., Canberra; Blondin, S.; /Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys.; Challis, P.; /Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys.; Clocchiatti, A.; /Rio de Janeiro, Pont. U. Catol.; Covarrubias, R.; /Kyushu Sangyo U.; Damke, G.; /Cerro-Tololo InterAmerican Obs.; Davis, T.M.; /Bohr Inst. /Queensland U.; Filippenko, A.V.; /UC, Berkeley; Foley, R.J.; /UC, Berkeley; Garg, A.; /Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys. /Harvard U.; Garnavich, P.M.; /Notre Dame U.; Hicken, M.; /Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys. /Harvard U.; Jha, S.; /Harvard U. /SLAC; Kirshner, R.P.; /Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys.; Krisciunas, K.; /Notre Dame U. /Texas A-M; Leibundgut, B.; /Munich, Tech. U. /UC, Berkeley /NOAO, Tucson /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept. /Fermilab /Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys. /Harvard U. /Chile U., Santiago /Ohio State U. /Cerro-Tololo InterAmerican Obs. /Harvard U. /Baltimore, Space Telescope Sci. /Johns Hopkins U. /Australian Natl. U., Canberra /Australian Natl. U., Canberra /Cerro-Tololo InterAmerican Obs. /Munich, Tech. U. /Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys. /Harvard U. /Cerro-Tololo InterAmerican Obs. /Texas A-M /Cerro-Tololo InterAmerican Obs.

2011-11-10

We report the discovery and orbital determination of 14 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) from the ESSENCE Supernova Survey difference imaging data set. Two additional objects discovered in a similar search of the SDSS-II Supernova Survey database were recovered in this effort. ESSENCE repeatedly observed fields far from the solar system ecliptic (-21{sup o} < {beta} < -5{sup o}), reaching limiting magnitudes per observation of I {approx} 23.1 and R {approx} 23.7. We examine several of the newly detected objects in detail, including 2003 UC{sub 414}, which orbits entirely between Uranus and Neptune and lies very close to a dynamical region that would make it stable for the lifetime of the solar system. 2003 SS{sub 422} and 2007 TA{sub 418} have high eccentricities and large perihelia, making them candidate members of an outer class of TNOs. We also report a new member of the 'extended' or 'detached' scattered disk, 2004 VN{sub 112}, and verify the stability of its orbit using numerical simulations. This object would have been visible to ESSENCE for only {approx}2% of its orbit, suggesting a vast number of similar objects across the sky. We emphasize that off-ecliptic surveys are optimal for uncovering the diversity of such objects, which in turn will constrain the history of gravitational influences that shaped our early solar system.

HOST GALAXIES OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE FROM THE NEARBY SUPERNOVA FACTORY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Childress, M.; Aldering, G.; Aragon, C.; Bailey, S.; Fakhouri, H. K.; Hsiao, E. Y.; Kim, A. G.; Loken, S.; Antilogus, P.; Bongard, S.; Canto, A.; Cellier-Holzem, F.; Guy, J.; Baltay, C.; Buton, C.; Kerschhaggl, M.; Kowalski, M.; Chotard, N.; Copin, Y.; Gangler, E.

2013-01-01

We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of galaxies hosting Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) observed by the Nearby Supernova Factory. Combining Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) UV data with optical and near-infrared photometry, we employ stellar population synthesis techniques to measure SN Ia host galaxy stellar masses, star formation rates (SFRs), and reddening due to dust. We reinforce the key role of GALEX UV data in deriving accurate estimates of galaxy SFRs and dust extinction. Optical spectra of SN Ia host galaxies are fitted simultaneously for their stellar continua and emission lines fluxes, from which we derive high-precision redshifts, gas-phase metallicities, and Hα-based SFRs. With these data we show that SN Ia host galaxies present tight agreement with the fiducial galaxy mass-metallicity relation from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) for stellar masses log(M * /M ☉ ) > 8.5 where the relation is well defined. The star formation activity of SN Ia host galaxies is consistent with a sample of comparable SDSS field galaxies, though this comparison is limited by systematic uncertainties in SFR measurements. Our analysis indicates that SN Ia host galaxies are, on average, typical representatives of normal field galaxies.

Type Ia Supernova Properties as a Function of the Distance to the Host Galaxy in the SDSS-II SN Survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Galbany, Lluis [Institut de Fisica d' Altes Energies (IFAE), Barcelona (Spain); et al.

2012-08-20

We use type-Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) discovered by the SDSS-II SN Survey to search for dependencies between SN Ia properties and the projected distance to the host galaxy center, using the distance as a proxy for local galaxy properties (local star-formation rate, local metallicity, etc.). The sample consists of almost 200 spectroscopically or photometrically confirmed SNe Ia at redshifts below 0.25. The sample is split into two groups depending on the morphology of the host galaxy. We fit light-curves using both MLCS2k2 and SALT2, and determine color (AV, c) and light-curve shape (delta, x1) parameters for each SN Ia, as well as its residual in the Hubble diagram. We then correlate these parameters with both the physical and the normalized distances to the center of the host galaxy and look for trends in the mean values and scatters of these parameters with increasing distance. The most significant (at the 4-sigma level) finding is that the average fitted AV from MLCS2k2 and c from SALT2 decrease with the projected distance for SNe Ia in spiral galaxies. We also find indications that SNe in elliptical galaxies tend to have narrower light-curves if they explode at larger distances, although this may be due to selection effects in our sample. We do not find strong correlations between the residuals of the distance moduli with respect to the Hubble flow and the galactocentric distances, which indicates a limited correlation between SN magnitudes after standardization and local host metallicity.

A plausible (overlooked) super-luminous supernova in the Sloan digital sky survey stripe 82 data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostrzewa-Rutkowska, Zuzanna; Kozłowski, Szymon; Wyrzykowski, Łukasz; Djorgovski, S. George; Mahabal, Ashish A.; Glikman, Eilat; Koposov, Sergey

2013-01-01

We present the discovery of a plausible super-luminous supernova (SLSN), found in the archival data of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82, called PSN 000123+000504. The supernova (SN) peaked at m g < 19.4 mag in the second half of 2005 September, but was missed by the real-time SN hunt. The observed part of the light curve (17 epochs) showed that the rise to the maximum took over 30 days, while the decline time lasted at least 70 days (observed frame), closely resembling other SLSNe of SN 2007bi type. The spectrum of the host galaxy reveals a redshift of z = 0.281 and the distance modulus of μ = 40.77 mag. Combining this information with the SDSS photometry, we found the host galaxy to be an LMC-like irregular dwarf galaxy with an absolute magnitude of M B = –18.2 ± 0.2 mag and an oxygen abundance of 12+log [O/H]=8.3±0.2; hence, the SN peaked at M g < –21.3 mag. Our SLSN follows the relation for the most energetic/super-luminous SNe exploding in low-metallicity environments, but we found no clear evidence for SLSNe to explode in low-luminosity (dwarf) galaxies only. The available information on the PSN 000123+000504 light curve suggests the magnetar-powered model as a likely scenario of this event. This SLSN is a new addition to a quickly growing family of super-luminous SNe.

The effect of peculiar velocities on supernova cosmology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davis, Tamara Maree; Hui, Lam; Frieman, Joshua A.

2011-01-01

We analyze the effect that peculiar velocities have on the cosmological inferences we make using luminosity distance indicators, such as Type Ia supernovae. In particular we study the corrections required to account for (1) our own motion, (2) correlations in galaxy motions, and (3) a possible lo...... when future surveys aim for percent-level accuracy and we recommend our statistical approach to down-weighting peculiar velocities as a more robust option than a sharp low-redshift cut....... local under- or overdensity. For all of these effects we present a case study showing the impact on the cosmology derived by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey (SDSS-II SN Survey). Correcting supernova (SN) redshifts for the cosmic microwave background (CMB) dipole slightly overcorrects...... nearby SNe that share some of our local motion. We show that while neglecting the CMB dipole would cause a shift in the derived equation of state of ¿w ~ 0.04 (at fixed O m ), the additional local-motion correction is currently negligible (¿w

SDSS-III: MASSIVE SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEYS OF THE DISTANT UNIVERSE, THE MILKY WAY, AND EXTRA-SOLAR PLANETARY SYSTEMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Weinberg, David H.; Agol, Eric; Anderson, Scott F.; Aihara, Hiroaki; Allende Prieto, Carlos; Arns, James A.; Aubourg, Eric; Bailey, Stephen; Balbinot, Eduardo; Barkhouser, Robert; Beers, Timothy C.; Berlind, Andreas A.; Bickerton, Steven J.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Blanton, Michael R.; Bochanski, John J.; Bolton, Adam S.

2011-01-01

Building on the legacy of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-I and II), SDSS-III is a program of four spectroscopic surveys on three scientific themes: dark energy and cosmological parameters, the history and structure of the Milky Way, and the population of giant planets around other stars. In keeping with SDSS tradition, SDSS-III will provide regular public releases of all its data, beginning with SDSS Data Release 8 (DR8), which was made public in 2011 January and includes SDSS-I and SDSS-II images and spectra reprocessed with the latest pipelines and calibrations produced for the SDSS-III investigations. This paper presents an overview of the four surveys that comprise SDSS-III. The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey will measure redshifts of 1.5 million massive galaxies and Lyα forest spectra of 150,000 quasars, using the baryon acoustic oscillation feature of large-scale structure to obtain percent-level determinations of the distance scale and Hubble expansion rate at z 5 evolved, late-type stars, measuring separate abundances for ∼15 elements per star and creating the first high-precision spectroscopic survey of all Galactic stellar populations (bulge, bar, disks, halo) with a uniform set of stellar tracers and spectral diagnostics. The Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS) will monitor radial velocities of more than 8000 FGK stars with the sensitivity and cadence (10-40 m s -1 , ∼24 visits per star) needed to detect giant planets with periods up to two years, providing an unprecedented data set for understanding the formation and dynamical evolution of giant planet systems. As of 2011 January, SDSS-III has obtained spectra of more than 240,000 galaxies, 29,000 z ≥ 2.2 quasars, and 140,000 stars, including 74,000 velocity measurements of 2580 stars for MARVELS.

The SDSS view of the Palomar-Green bright quasar survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jester, Sebastian; Schneider, Donald P.; Richards, Gordon T.; Green, Richard F.; Schmidt, Maarten; Hall, Patrick B.; Strauss, Michael A.; Vanden Berk, Daniel E.; Stoughton, Chris; Gunn, James E.; Brinkmann, Jon; Kent, Stephen M.; Smith, J.Allyn; Tucker, Douglas, L.; Yanny, Brian; /Fermilab /Penn State U., Astron. Astrophys. /Princeton U.

2005-02-01

The author investigates the extent to which the Palomar-Green (PG) Bright Quasar Survey (BQS) is complete and representative of the general quasar population by comparing with imaging and spectroscopy from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. A comparison of SDSS and PG photometry of both stars and quasars reveals the need to apply a color and magnitude recalibration to the PG data. Using the SDSS photometric catalog, they define the PG's parent sample of objects that are not main-sequence stars and simulate the selection of objects from this parent sample using the PG photometric criteria and errors. This simulation shows that the effective U-B cut in the PG survey is U-B < -0.71, implying a color-related incompleteness. As the color distribution of bright quasars peaks near U-B = -0.7 and the 2-{sigma} error in U-B is comparable to the full width of the color distribution of quasars, the color incompleteness of the BQS is approximately 50% and essentially random with respect to U-B color for z < 0.5. There is however, a bias against bright quasars at 0.5 < z < 1, which is induced by the color-redshift relation of quasars (although quasars at z > 0.5 are inherently rare in bright surveys in any case). They find no evidence for any other systematic incompleteness when comparing the distributions in color, redshift, and FIRST radio properties of the BQS and a BQS-like subsample of the SDSS quasar sample. However, the application of a bright magnitude limit biases the BQS toward the inclusion of objects which are blue in g-i, in particular compared to the full range of g-i colors found among the i-band limited SDSS quasars, and even at i-band magnitudes comparable to those of the BQS objects.

Supernova Cosmology in the Big Data Era

Science.gov (United States)

Kessler, Richard

Here we describe large "Big Data" Supernova (SN) Ia surveys, past and present, used to make precision measurements of cosmological parameters that describe the expansion history of the universe. In particular, we focus on surveys designed to measure the dark energy equation of state parameter w and its dependence on cosmic time. These large surveys have at least four photometric bands, and they use a rolling search strategy in which the same instrument is used for both discovery and photometric follow-up observations. These surveys include the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS), Sloan Digital Sky Survey II (SDSS-II), Pan-STARRS 1 (PS1), Dark Energy Survey (DES), and Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). We discuss the development of how systematic uncertainties are evaluated, and how methods to reduce them play a major role is designing new surveys. The key systematic effects that we discuss are (1) calibration, measuring the telescope efficiency in each filter band, (2) biases from a magnitude-limited survey and from the analysis, and (3) photometric SN classification for current surveys that don't have enough resources to spectroscopically confirm each SN candidate.

THE SDSS-IV EXTENDED BARYON OSCILLATION SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY: LUMINOUS RED GALAXY TARGET SELECTION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prakash, Abhishek; Licquia, Timothy C.; Newman, Jeffrey A.; Rao, Sandhya M. [PITT PACC, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Ross, Ashley J. [Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Myers, Adam D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 (United States); Dawson, Kyle S.; Bautista, Julian E.; Brownstein, Joel R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Kneib, Jean-Paul [Laboratoire d’Astrophysique, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Observatoire de Sauverny, 1290 Versoix (Switzerland); Percival, Will J. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Dennis Sciama Building, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Comparat, Johan [Instituto de Física Teórica, (UAM/CSIC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid (Spain); Tinker, Jeremy L. [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 (United States); Schlegel, David J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Tojeiro, Rita [School of Physics and Astronomy, St Andrews, KY16 9SS (United Kingdom); Ho, Shirley; Lang, Dustin [Bruce and Astrid McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States); McBride, Cameron K. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Harvard University, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Zhu, Guangtun Ben, E-mail: abp15@pitt.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); and others

2016-06-01

We describe the algorithm used to select the luminous red galaxy (LRG) sample for the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV) using photometric data from both the SDSS and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer . LRG targets are required to meet a set of color selection criteria and have z -band and i -band MODEL magnitudes z < 19.95 and 19.9 < i < 21.8, respectively. Our algorithm selects roughly 50 LRG targets per square degree, the great majority of which lie in the redshift range 0.6 < z < 1.0 (median redshift 0.71). We demonstrate that our methods are highly effective at eliminating stellar contamination and lower-redshift galaxies. We perform a number of tests using spectroscopic data from SDSS-III/BOSS ancillary programs to determine the redshift reliability of our target selection and its ability to meet the science requirements of eBOSS. The SDSS spectra are of high enough signal-to-noise ratio that at least ∼89% of the target sample yields secure redshift measurements. We also present tests of the uniformity and homogeneity of the sample, demonstrating that it should be clean enough for studies of the large-scale structure of the universe at higher redshifts than SDSS-III/BOSS LRGs reached.

Target Selection for the SDSS-IV APOGEE-2 Survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zasowski, G.; Cohen, R. E.; Carlberg, J. K.; Fleming, Scott W.; Chojnowski, S. D.; Holtzman, J.; Santana, F.; Oelkers, R. J.; Bird, J. C.; Andrews, B.; Beaton, R. L.; Bender, C.; Cunha, K.; Bovy, J.; Covey, K.; Dell’Agli, F.; García-Hernández, D. A.; Frinchaboy, P. M.; Harding, P.; Johnson, J. A.

2017-01-01

APOGEE-2 is a high-resolution, near-infrared spectroscopic survey observing ∼3 × 10 5 stars across the entire sky. It is the successor to APOGEE and is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV). APOGEE-2 is expanding on APOGEE’s goals of addressing critical questions of stellar astrophysics, stellar populations, and Galactic chemodynamical evolution using (1) an enhanced set of target types and (2) a second spectrograph at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. APOGEE-2 is targeting red giant branch and red clump stars, RR Lyrae, low-mass dwarf stars, young stellar objects, and numerous other Milky Way and Local Group sources across the entire sky from both hemispheres. In this paper, we describe the APOGEE-2 observational design, target selection catalogs and algorithms, and the targeting-related documentation included in the SDSS data releases.

The optical, infrared and radio properties of extragalactic sources observed by SDSS, 2mass and first surveys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Z. Ivezic et al.

2002-01-01

We positionally match sources observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), and the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm (FIRST) survey. Practically all 2MASS sources are matched to an SDSS source within 2 arcsec; ∼ 11% of them are optically resolved galaxies and the rest are dominated by stars. About 1/3 of FIRST sources are matched to an SDSS source within 2 arcsec; ∼ 80% of these are galaxies and the rest are dominated by quasars. Based on these results, we project that by the completion of these surveys the matched samples will include about 10 7 and 10 6 galaxies observed by both SDSS and 2MASS, and about 250,000 galaxies and 50,000 quasars observed by both SDSS and FIRST. Here we present a preliminary analysis of the optical, infrared and radio properties for the extragalactic sources from the matched samples. In particular, we find that the fraction of quasars with stellar colors missed by the SDSS spectroscopic survey is probably not larger than ∼ 10%, and that the optical colors of radio-loud quasars are ∼ 0.05 mag. redder (with 4σ significance) than the colors of radio-quiet quasars

SDSS-III: Massive Spectroscopic Surveys of the Distant Universe, the Milky Way, and Extra-Solar Planetary Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Weinberg, David H.; Agol, Eric; Aihara, Hiroaki; Allende Prieto, Carlos; Anderson, Scott F.; Arns, James A.; Aubourg, Éric; Bailey, Stephen; Balbinot, Eduardo; Barkhouser, Robert; Beers, Timothy C.; Berlind, Andreas A.; Bickerton, Steven J.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Blanton, Michael R.; Bochanski, John J.; Bolton, Adam S.; Bosman, Casey T.; Bovy, Jo; Brandt, W. N.; Breslauer, Ben; Brewington, Howard J.; Brinkmann, J.; Brown, Peter J.; Brownstein, Joel R.; Burger, Dan; Busca, Nicolas G.; Campbell, Heather; Cargile, Phillip A.; Carithers, William C.; Carlberg, Joleen K.; Carr, Michael A.; Chang, Liang; Chen, Yanmei; Chiappini, Cristina; Comparat, Johan; Connolly, Natalia; Cortes, Marina; Croft, Rupert A. C.; Cunha, Katia; da Costa, Luiz N.; Davenport, James R. A.; Dawson, Kyle; De Lee, Nathan; Porto de Mello, Gustavo F.; de Simoni, Fernando; Dean, Janice; Dhital, Saurav; Ealet, Anne; Ebelke, Garrett L.; Edmondson, Edward M.; Eiting, Jacob M.; Escoffier, Stephanie; Esposito, Massimiliano; Evans, Michael L.; Fan, Xiaohui; Femenía Castellá, Bruno; Dutra Ferreira, Leticia; Fitzgerald, Greg; Fleming, Scott W.; Font-Ribera, Andreu; Ford, Eric B.; Frinchaboy, Peter M.; García Pérez, Ana Elia; Gaudi, B. Scott; Ge, Jian; Ghezzi, Luan; Gillespie, Bruce A.; Gilmore, G.; Girardi, Léo; Gott, J. Richard; Gould, Andrew; Grebel, Eva K.; Gunn, James E.; Hamilton, Jean-Christophe; Harding, Paul; Harris, David W.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Hearty, Frederick R.; Hennawi, Joseph F.; González Hernández, Jonay I.; Ho, Shirley; Hogg, David W.; Holtzman, Jon A.; Honscheid, Klaus; Inada, Naohisa; Ivans, Inese I.; Jiang, Linhua; Jiang, Peng; Johnson, Jennifer A.; Jordan, Cathy; Jordan, Wendell P.; Kauffmann, Guinevere; Kazin, Eyal; Kirkby, David; Klaene, Mark A.; Knapp, G. R.; Kneib, Jean-Paul; Kochanek, C. S.; Koesterke, Lars; Kollmeier, Juna A.; Kron, Richard G.; Lampeitl, Hubert; Lang, Dustin; Lawler, James E.; Le Goff, Jean-Marc; Lee, Brian L.; Lee, Young Sun; Leisenring, Jarron M.; Lin, Yen-Ting; Liu, Jian; Long, Daniel C.; Loomis, Craig P.; Lucatello, Sara; Lundgren, Britt; Lupton, Robert H.; Ma, Bo; Ma, Zhibo; MacDonald, Nicholas; Mack, Claude; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Maia, Marcio A. G.; Majewski, Steven R.; Makler, Martin; Malanushenko, Elena; Malanushenko, Viktor; Mandelbaum, Rachel; Maraston, Claudia; Margala, Daniel; Maseman, Paul; Masters, Karen L.; McBride, Cameron K.; McDonald, Patrick; McGreer, Ian D.; McMahon, Richard G.; Mena Requejo, Olga; Ménard, Brice; Miralda-Escudé, Jordi; Morrison, Heather L.; Mullally, Fergal; Muna, Demitri; Murayama, Hitoshi; Myers, Adam D.; Naugle, Tracy; Neto, Angelo Fausti; Nguyen, Duy Cuong; Nichol, Robert C.; Nidever, David L.; O'Connell, Robert W.; Ogando, Ricardo L. C.; Olmstead, Matthew D.; Oravetz, Daniel J.; Padmanabhan, Nikhil; Paegert, Martin; Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Pan, Kaike; Pandey, Parul; Parejko, John K.; Pâris, Isabelle; Pellegrini, Paulo; Pepper, Joshua; Percival, Will J.; Petitjean, Patrick; Pfaffenberger, Robert; Pforr, Janine; Phleps, Stefanie; Pichon, Christophe; Pieri, Matthew M.; Prada, Francisco; Price-Whelan, Adrian M.; Raddick, M. Jordan; Ramos, Beatriz H. F.; Reid, I. Neill; Reyle, Celine; Rich, James; Richards, Gordon T.; Rieke, George H.; Rieke, Marcia J.; Rix, Hans-Walter; Robin, Annie C.; Rocha-Pinto, Helio J.; Rockosi, Constance M.; Roe, Natalie A.; Rollinde, Emmanuel; Ross, Ashley J.; Ross, Nicholas P.; Rossetto, Bruno; Sánchez, Ariel G.; Santiago, Basilio; Sayres, Conor; Schiavon, Ricardo; Schlegel, David J.; Schlesinger, Katharine J.; Schmidt, Sarah J.; Schneider, Donald P.; Sellgren, Kris; Shelden, Alaina; Sheldon, Erin; Shetrone, Matthew; Shu, Yiping; Silverman, John D.; Simmerer, Jennifer; Simmons, Audrey E.; Sivarani, Thirupathi; Skrutskie, M. F.; Slosar, Anže; Smee, Stephen; Smith, Verne V.; Snedden, Stephanie A.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Steele, Oliver; Steinmetz, Matthias; Stockett, Mark H.; Stollberg, Todd; Strauss, Michael A.; Szalay, Alexander S.; Tanaka, Masayuki; Thakar, Aniruddha R.; Thomas, Daniel; Tinker, Jeremy L.; Tofflemire, Benjamin M.; Tojeiro, Rita; Tremonti, Christy A.; Vargas Magaña, Mariana; Verde, Licia; Vogt, Nicole P.; Wake, David A.; Wan, Xiaoke; Wang, Ji; Weaver, Benjamin A.; White, Martin; White, Simon D. M.; Wilson, John C.; Wisniewski, John P.; Wood-Vasey, W. Michael; Yanny, Brian; Yasuda, Naoki; Yèche, Christophe; York, Donald G.; Young, Erick; Zasowski, Gail; Zehavi, Idit; Zhao, Bo

2011-09-01

Building on the legacy of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-I and II), SDSS-III is a program of four spectroscopic surveys on three scientific themes: dark energy and cosmological parameters, the history and structure of the Milky Way, and the population of giant planets around other stars. In keeping with SDSS tradition, SDSS-III will provide regular public releases of all its data, beginning with SDSS Data Release 8 (DR8), which was made public in 2011 January and includes SDSS-I and SDSS-II images and spectra reprocessed with the latest pipelines and calibrations produced for the SDSS-III investigations. This paper presents an overview of the four surveys that comprise SDSS-III. The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey will measure redshifts of 1.5 million massive galaxies and Lyα forest spectra of 150,000 quasars, using the baryon acoustic oscillation feature of large-scale structure to obtain percent-level determinations of the distance scale and Hubble expansion rate at z R = λ/Δλ ≈ 1800) optical spectra of 118,000 stars in a variety of target categories, probing chemical evolution, stellar kinematics and substructure, and the mass profile of the dark matter halo from the solar neighborhood to distances of 100 kpc. APOGEE, the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment, will obtain high-resolution (R ≈ 30,000), high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N >= 100 per resolution element), H-band (1.51 μm data set for understanding the formation and dynamical evolution of giant planet systems. As of 2011 January, SDSS-III has obtained spectra of more than 240,000 galaxies, 29,000 z >= 2.2 quasars, and 140,000 stars, including 74,000 velocity measurements of 2580 stars for MARVELS.

Target Selection for the SDSS-IV APOGEE-2 Survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zasowski, G. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Cohen, R. E.; Carlberg, J. K.; Fleming, Scott W. [Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Chojnowski, S. D.; Holtzman, J. [Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88001 (United States); Santana, F. [Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Chile, Santiago (Chile); Oelkers, R. J.; Bird, J. C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235 (United States); Andrews, B. [PITT PACC, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Beaton, R. L. [The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Bender, C.; Cunha, K. [Steward Observatory, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States); Bovy, J. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 (Canada); Covey, K. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225 (United States); Dell’Agli, F.; García-Hernández, D. A. [Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, and Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Frinchaboy, P. M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX 76129 (United States); Harding, P. [Department of Astronomy, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106 (United States); Johnson, J. A., E-mail: gail.zasowski@gmail.com [Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); and others

2017-11-01

APOGEE-2 is a high-resolution, near-infrared spectroscopic survey observing ∼3 × 10{sup 5} stars across the entire sky. It is the successor to APOGEE and is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV). APOGEE-2 is expanding on APOGEE’s goals of addressing critical questions of stellar astrophysics, stellar populations, and Galactic chemodynamical evolution using (1) an enhanced set of target types and (2) a second spectrograph at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. APOGEE-2 is targeting red giant branch and red clump stars, RR Lyrae, low-mass dwarf stars, young stellar objects, and numerous other Milky Way and Local Group sources across the entire sky from both hemispheres. In this paper, we describe the APOGEE-2 observational design, target selection catalogs and algorithms, and the targeting-related documentation included in the SDSS data releases.

Exploring the Milky Way halo with SDSS-II SN survey RR Lyrae stars

Science.gov (United States)

De Lee, Nathan

This thesis details the creation of a large catalog of RR Lyrae stars, their lightcurves, and their associated photometric and kinematic parameters. This catalog contains 421 RR Lyrae stars with 305 RRab and 116 RRc. Of these, 241 stars have stellar spectra taken with either the Blanco 4m RC spectrograph or the SDSS/SEGUE survey, and in some cases taken by both. From these spectra and photometric methods derived from them, an analysis is conducted of the RR lyrae's distribution, metallicity, kinematics, and photometric properties within the halo. All of these RR Lyrae originate from the SDSS-II Supernova Survey. The SDSS-II SN Survey covers a 2.5 degree equatorial stripe ranging from -60 to +60 degrees in RA. This corresponds to relatively high southern galactic latitudes in the anti-center direction. The full catalog ranges from g 0 magnitude 13 to 20 which covers a distance of 3 to 95 kpc from the sun. Using this sample, we explore the Oosterhoff dichotomy through the D log P method as a function of | Z | distance from the plane. This results in a clear division of the RRab stars into OoI and OoII groups at lower | Z |, but the population becomes dominated by OoI stars at higher | Z |. The idea of a dual halo is explored primarily in the context of radial velocity distributions as a function of | Z |. In particular, V gsr , the radial velocity in the galactic standard of rest, is used as a proxy for V [straight phi] , the cylindrical rotational velocity. This is then compared against a single halo model galaxy, which results in very similar V gsr histograms for both at low to medium | Z |. However, at high | Z | there is a clear separation into two distinct velocity groups for the data without a corresponding separation in the model, suggesting that at least a two-component model for the halo is necessary. The final part of the analysis involves [Fe/H] measurements from both spectra and photometric relations cut in both | Z | and radial velocity. In this case

Synoptic sky surveys and the diffuse supernova neutrino background: Removing astrophysical uncertainties and revealing invisible supernovae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lien, Amy; Fields, Brian D.; Beacom, John F.

2010-01-01

The cumulative (anti)neutrino production from all core-collapse supernovae within our cosmic horizon gives rise to the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB), which is on the verge of detectability. The observed flux depends on supernova physics, but also on the cosmic history of supernova explosions; currently, the cosmic supernova rate introduces a substantial (±40%) uncertainty, largely through its absolute normalization. However, a new class of wide-field, repeated-scan (synoptic) optical sky surveys is coming online, and will map the sky in the time domain with unprecedented depth, completeness, and dynamic range. We show that these surveys will obtain the cosmic supernova rate by direct counting, in an unbiased way and with high statistics, and thus will allow for precise predictions of the DSNB. Upcoming sky surveys will substantially reduce the uncertainties in the DSNB source history to an anticipated ±5% that is dominated by systematics, so that the observed high-energy flux thus will test supernova neutrino physics. The portion of the universe (z < or approx. 1) accessible to upcoming sky surveys includes the progenitors of a large fraction (≅87%) of the expected 10-26 MeV DSNB event rate. We show that precision determination of the (optically detected) cosmic supernova history will also make the DSNB into a strong probe of an extra flux of neutrinos from optically invisible supernovae, which may be unseen either due to unexpected large dust obscuration in host galaxies, or because some core-collapse events proceed directly to black hole formation and fail to give an optical outburst.

SUPERNOVA SIMULATIONS AND STRATEGIES FOR THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bernstein, J. P.; Kuhlmann, S.; Biswas, R.; Kovacs, E.; Crane, I.; Hufford, T. [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Kessler, R.; Frieman, J. A. [Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Aldering, G.; Kim, A. G.; Nugent, P. [E. O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); D' Andrea, C. B.; Nichol, R. C. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Dennis Sciama Building, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Finley, D. A.; Marriner, J.; Reis, R. R. R. [Center for Particle Astrophysics, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Jarvis, M. J. [Centre for Astrophysics, Science and Technology Research Institute, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Herts AL10 9AB (United Kingdom); Mukherjee, P.; Parkinson, D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Pevensey 2 Building, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QH (United Kingdom); Sako, M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 203 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); and others

2012-07-10

We present an analysis of supernova light curves simulated for the upcoming Dark Energy Survey (DES) supernova search. The simulations employ a code suite that generates and fits realistic light curves in order to obtain distance modulus/redshift pairs that are passed to a cosmology fitter. We investigated several different survey strategies including field selection, supernova selection biases, and photometric redshift measurements. Using the results of this study, we chose a 30 deg{sup 2} search area in the griz filter set. We forecast (1) that this survey will provide a homogeneous sample of up to 4000 Type Ia supernovae in the redshift range 0.05 supernova with an identified host galaxy will be obtained from spectroscopic observations of the host. A supernova spectrum will be obtained for a subset of the sample, which will be utilized for control studies. In addition, we have investigated the use of combined photometric redshifts taking into account data from both the host and supernova. We have investigated and estimated the likely contamination from core-collapse supernovae based on photometric identification, and have found that a Type Ia supernova sample purity of up to 98% is obtainable given specific assumptions. Furthermore, we present systematic uncertainties due to sample purity, photometric calibration, dust extinction priors, filter-centroid shifts, and inter-calibration. We conclude by estimating the uncertainty on the cosmological parameters that will be measured from the DES supernova data.

SUPERNOVA SIMULATIONS AND STRATEGIES FOR THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernstein, J. P.; Kuhlmann, S.; Biswas, R.; Kovacs, E.; Crane, I.; Hufford, T.; Kessler, R.; Frieman, J. A.; Aldering, G.; Kim, A. G.; Nugent, P.; D'Andrea, C. B.; Nichol, R. C.; Finley, D. A.; Marriner, J.; Reis, R. R. R.; Jarvis, M. J.; Mukherjee, P.; Parkinson, D.; Sako, M.

2012-01-01

We present an analysis of supernova light curves simulated for the upcoming Dark Energy Survey (DES) supernova search. The simulations employ a code suite that generates and fits realistic light curves in order to obtain distance modulus/redshift pairs that are passed to a cosmology fitter. We investigated several different survey strategies including field selection, supernova selection biases, and photometric redshift measurements. Using the results of this study, we chose a 30 deg 2 search area in the griz filter set. We forecast (1) that this survey will provide a homogeneous sample of up to 4000 Type Ia supernovae in the redshift range 0.05 < z < 1.2 and (2) that the increased red efficiency of the DES camera will significantly improve high-redshift color measurements. The redshift of each supernova with an identified host galaxy will be obtained from spectroscopic observations of the host. A supernova spectrum will be obtained for a subset of the sample, which will be utilized for control studies. In addition, we have investigated the use of combined photometric redshifts taking into account data from both the host and supernova. We have investigated and estimated the likely contamination from core-collapse supernovae based on photometric identification, and have found that a Type Ia supernova sample purity of up to 98% is obtainable given specific assumptions. Furthermore, we present systematic uncertainties due to sample purity, photometric calibration, dust extinction priors, filter-centroid shifts, and inter-calibration. We conclude by estimating the uncertainty on the cosmological parameters that will be measured from the DES supernova data.

THE SWIFT AGN AND CLUSTER SURVEY. II. CLUSTER CONFIRMATION WITH SDSS DATA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griffin, Rhiannon D.; Dai, Xinyu; Kochanek, Christopher S.; Bregman, Joel N.

2016-01-01

We study 203 (of 442) Swift AGN and Cluster Survey extended X-ray sources located in the SDSS DR8 footprint to search for galaxy over-densities in three-dimensional space using SDSS galaxy photometric redshifts and positions near the Swift cluster candidates. We find 104 Swift clusters with a >3σ galaxy over-density. The remaining targets are potentially located at higher redshifts and require deeper optical follow-up observations for confirmation as galaxy clusters. We present a series of cluster properties including the redshift, brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) magnitude, BCG-to-X-ray center offset, optical richness, and X-ray luminosity. We also detect red sequences in ∼85% of the 104 confirmed clusters. The X-ray luminosity and optical richness for the SDSS confirmed Swift clusters are correlated and follow previously established relations. The distribution of the separations between the X-ray centroids and the most likely BCG is also consistent with expectation. We compare the observed redshift distribution of the sample with a theoretical model, and find that our sample is complete for z ≲ 0.3 and is still 80% complete up to z ≃ 0.4, consistent with the SDSS survey depth. These analysis results suggest that our Swift cluster selection algorithm has yielded a statistically well-defined cluster sample for further study of cluster evolution and cosmology. We also match our SDSS confirmed Swift clusters to existing cluster catalogs, and find 42, 23, and 1 matches in optical, X-ray, and Sunyaev–Zel’dovich catalogs, respectively, and so the majority of these clusters are new detections

Detecting active comets with SDSS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Solontoi, Michael; Ivezic, Zeljko; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; West, Andrew A.; /MIT, MKI; Claire, Mark; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Juric, Mario; /Princeton U. Observ.; Becker, Andrew; Jones, Lynne; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Hall, Patrick B.; /York U., Canada; Kent, Steve; /Fermilab; Lupton, Robert H.; /Princeton U. Observ.; Quinn, Tom; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept. /Princeton U. Observ.

2010-12-01

Using a sample of serendipitously discovered active comets in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we develop well-controlled selection criteria for greatly increasing the efficiency of comet identification in the SDSS catalogs. After follow-up visual inspection of images to reject remaining false positives, the total sample of SDSS comets presented here contains 19 objects, roughly one comet per 10 million other SDSS objects. The good understanding of selection effects allows a study of the population statistics, and we estimate the apparent magnitude distribution to r {approx} 18, the ecliptic latitude distribution, and the comet distribution in SDSS color space. The most surprising results are the extremely narrow range of colors for comets in our sample (e.g. root-mean-square scatter of only {approx}0.06 mag for the g-r color), and the similarity of comet colors to those of jovian Trojans. We discuss the relevance of our results for upcoming deep multi-epoch optical surveys such as the Dark Energy Survey, Pan-STARRS, and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), and estimate that LSST may produce a sample of about 10,000 comets over its 10-year lifetime.

The Extremely Luminous Quasar Survey (ELQS) in SDSS and the high-z bright-end Quasar Luminosity Function

Science.gov (United States)

Schindler, Jan-Torge; Fan, Xiaohui; McGreer, Ian

2018-01-01

Studies of the most luminous quasars at high redshift directly probe the evolution of the most massive black holes in the early Universe and their connection to massive galaxy formation. Unfortunately, extremely luminous quasars at high redshift are very rare objects. Only wide area surveys have a chance to constrain their population. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) nd the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) have so far provided the most widely adopted measurements of the type I quasar luminosity function (QLF) at z>3. However, a careful re-examination of the SDSS quasar sample revealed that the SDSS quasar selection is in fact missing a significant fraction of $z~3$ quasars at the brightest end.We have identified the purely optical color selection of SDSS, where quasars at these redshifts are strongly contaminated by late-type dwarfs, and the spectroscopic incompleteness of the SDSS footprint as the main reasons. Therefore we have designed the Extremely Luminous Quasar Survey (ELQS), based on a novel near-infrared JKW2 color cut using WISE AllWISE and 2MASS all-sky photometry, to yield high completeness for very bright (i < 18.0) quasars in the redshift range of 2.8<= z<=5.0. It effectively uses Random Forest machine-learning algorithms on SDSS and WISE photometry for quasar-star classification and photometric redshift estimation.The ELQS is spectroscopically following up ~230 new quasar candidates in an area of ~12000 deg2 in the SDSS footprint, to obtain a well-defined and complete quasar sample for an accurate measurement of the bright-end quasar luminosity function (QLF) at 2.8<= z<=5.0. So far the ELQS has identified 75 bright new quasars in this redshift range and observations of the fall sky will continue until the end of the year. At the AAS winter meeting we will present the full spectroscopic results of the survey, including a re-estimation and extension of the high-z QLF toward higher luminosities.

THE TIME-DOMAIN SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY: UNDERSTANDING THE OPTICALLY VARIABLE SKY WITH SEQUELS IN SDSS-III

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruan, John J.; Anderson, Scott F.; Davenport, James R. A.; Green, Paul J.; Morganson, Eric; Eracleous, Michael; Brandt, William N.; Myers, Adam D.; Badenes, Carles; Bershady, Matthew A.; Chambers, Kenneth C.; Flewelling, Heather; Kaiser, Nick; Dawson, Kyle S.; Heckman, Timothy M.; Isler, Jedidah C.; Kneib, Jean-Paul; MacLeod, Chelsea L.; Ross, Nicholas P.; Paris, Isabelle

2016-01-01

The Time-Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS) is an SDSS-IV eBOSS subproject primarily aimed at obtaining identification spectra of ∼220,000 optically variable objects systematically selected from SDSS/Pan-STARRS1 multi-epoch imaging. We present a preview of the science enabled by TDSS, based on TDSS spectra taken over ∼320 deg 2 of sky as part of the SEQUELS survey in SDSS-III, which is in part a pilot survey for eBOSS in SDSS-IV. Using the 15,746 TDSS-selected single-epoch spectra of photometrically variable objects in SEQUELS, we determine the demographics of our variability-selected sample and investigate the unique spectral characteristics inherent in samples selected by variability. We show that variability-based selection of quasars complements color-based selection by selecting additional redder quasars and mitigates redshift biases to produce a smooth quasar redshift distribution over a wide range of redshifts. The resulting quasar sample contains systematically higher fractions of blazars and broad absorption line quasars than from color-selected samples. Similarly, we show that M dwarfs in the TDSS-selected stellar sample have systematically higher chromospheric active fractions than the underlying M-dwarf population based on their H α emission. TDSS also contains a large number of RR Lyrae and eclipsing binary stars with main-sequence colors, including a few composite-spectrum binaries. Finally, our visual inspection of TDSS spectra uncovers a significant number of peculiar spectra, and we highlight a few cases of these interesting objects. With a factor of ∼15 more spectra, the main TDSS survey in SDSS-IV will leverage the lessons learned from these early results for a variety of time-domain science applications.

The Eighth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Data from SDSS-III

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aihara, Hiroaki; /Tokyo U.; Prieto, Carlos Allende; /Laguna U., Tenerife; An, Deokkeun; /Ewha Women' s U., Seoul; Anderson, Scott F.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Aubourg, Eric; /APC, Paris /DAPNIA, Saclay; Balbinot, Eduardo; /Rio Grande do Sul U. /Rio de Janeiro Observ.; Beers, Timothy C.; /Michigan State U.; Berlind, Andreas A.; /Vanderbilt U.; Bickerton, Steven J.; /Princeton U.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; /Apache Point Observ.; Blanton, Michael R.; /New York U., CCPP /Penn State U.

2011-01-01

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) started a new phase in August 2008, with new instrumentation and new surveys focused on Galactic structure and chemical evolution, measurements of the baryon oscillation feature in the clustering of galaxies and the quasar Ly{alpha} forest, and a radial velocity search for planets around {approx}8000 stars. This paper describes the first data release of SDSS-III (and the eighth counting from the beginning of the SDSS). The release includes 5-band imaging of roughly 5200 deg{sup 2} in the Southern Galactic Cap, bringing the total footprint of the SDSS imaging to 14,555 deg{sup 2}, or over a third of the Celestial Sphere. All the imaging data have been reprocessed with an improved sky-subtraction algorithm and a final, self-consistent recalibration and flat-field determination. This release also includes all data from the second phase of the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Evolution (SEGUE-2), consisting of spectroscopy of approximately 118,000 stars at both high and low Galactic latitudes. All the more than half a million stellar spectra obtained with the SDSS spectrograph have been reprocessed through an improved stellar parameters pipeline, which has better determination of metallicity for high metallicity stars.

SDSS-III: Massive Spectroscopic Surveys of the Distant Universe, the Milky Way Galaxy, and Extra-Solar Planetary Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Weinberg, David H.; Agol, Eric; Aihara, Hiroaki; Prieto, Carlos Allende; Anderson, Scott F.; Arns, James A.; Aubourg, Eric; Bailey, Stephen; Balbinot, Eduardo; Barkhouser, Robert

2011-01-01

Building on the legacy of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-I and II), SDSS-III is a program of four spectroscopic surveys on three scientific themes: dark energy and cosmological parameters, the history and structure of the Milky Way, and the population of giant planets around other stars. The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) will measure redshifts of 1.5 million massive galaxies and Lyα forest spectra of 150,000 quasars, using the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) feature of large scale structure to obtain percent-level determinations of the distance scale and Hubble expansion rate at z 5 evolved, late-type stars, measuring separate abundances for ∼ 15 elements per star and creating the first high-precision spectroscopic survey of all Galactic stellar populations (bulge, bar, disks, halo) with a uniform set of stellar tracers and spectral diagnostics. The Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Large-area Survey (MARVELS) will monitor radial velocities of more than 8000 FGK stars with the sensitivity and cadence (10-40 m s -1 , ∼ 24 visits per star) needed to detect giant planets with periods up to two years, providing an unprecedented data set for understanding the formation and dynamical evolution of giant planet systems. As of January 2011, SDSS-III has obtained spectra of more than 240,000 galaxies, 29,000 z (ge) 2.2 quasars, and 140,000 stars, including 74,000 velocity measurements of 2580 stars for MARVELS. In keeping with SDSS tradition, SDSS-III will provide regular public releases of all its data, beginning with SDSS Data Release 8 (DR8) in January 2011.

THE TIME-DOMAIN SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY: UNDERSTANDING THE OPTICALLY VARIABLE SKY WITH SEQUELS IN SDSS-III

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruan, John J.; Anderson, Scott F.; Davenport, James R. A. [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Green, Paul J.; Morganson, Eric [Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Eracleous, Michael; Brandt, William N. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 Davey Lab, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Myers, Adam D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy 3905, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University, Laramie, WY 82071 (United States); Badenes, Carles [Department of Physics and Astronomy and Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Center (PITT-PACC), University of Pittsburgh (United States); Bershady, Matthew A. [Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 475 N. Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Chambers, Kenneth C.; Flewelling, Heather; Kaiser, Nick [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States); Dawson, Kyle S. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Heckman, Timothy M. [Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Isler, Jedidah C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235 (United States); Kneib, Jean-Paul [Laboratoire d’astrophysique, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Observatoire de Sauverny, 1290 Versoix (Switzerland); MacLeod, Chelsea L.; Ross, Nicholas P. [Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom); Paris, Isabelle, E-mail: jruan@astro.washington.edu [INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Via G. B. Tiepolo 11, I-34131 Trieste (Italy); and others

2016-07-10

The Time-Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS) is an SDSS-IV eBOSS subproject primarily aimed at obtaining identification spectra of ∼220,000 optically variable objects systematically selected from SDSS/Pan-STARRS1 multi-epoch imaging. We present a preview of the science enabled by TDSS, based on TDSS spectra taken over ∼320 deg{sup 2} of sky as part of the SEQUELS survey in SDSS-III, which is in part a pilot survey for eBOSS in SDSS-IV. Using the 15,746 TDSS-selected single-epoch spectra of photometrically variable objects in SEQUELS, we determine the demographics of our variability-selected sample and investigate the unique spectral characteristics inherent in samples selected by variability. We show that variability-based selection of quasars complements color-based selection by selecting additional redder quasars and mitigates redshift biases to produce a smooth quasar redshift distribution over a wide range of redshifts. The resulting quasar sample contains systematically higher fractions of blazars and broad absorption line quasars than from color-selected samples. Similarly, we show that M dwarfs in the TDSS-selected stellar sample have systematically higher chromospheric active fractions than the underlying M-dwarf population based on their H α emission. TDSS also contains a large number of RR Lyrae and eclipsing binary stars with main-sequence colors, including a few composite-spectrum binaries. Finally, our visual inspection of TDSS spectra uncovers a significant number of peculiar spectra, and we highlight a few cases of these interesting objects. With a factor of ∼15 more spectra, the main TDSS survey in SDSS-IV will leverage the lessons learned from these early results for a variety of time-domain science applications.

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahn, Christopher P.; Alexandroff, Rachael; Allende Prieto, Carlos; Anderson, Scott F.; Anderton, Timothy; Andrews, Brett H.; Aubourg, Éric; Bailey, Stephen; Balbinot, Eduardo; Barnes, Rory; Bautista, Julian; Beers, Timothy C.; Beifiori, Alessandra; Berlind, Andreas A.; Bhardwaj, Vaishali; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Blake, Cullen H.; Blanton, Michael R.; Blomqvist, Michael; Bochanski, John J.; Bolton, Adam S.; Borde, Arnaud; Bovy, Jo; Brandt, W. N.; Brinkmann, J.; Brown, Peter J.; Brownstein, Joel R.; Bundy, Kevin; Busca, N. G.; Carithers, William; Carnero, Aurelio R.; Carr, Michael A.; Casetti-Dinescu, Dana I.; Chen, Yanmei; Chiappini, Cristina; Comparat, Johan; Connolly, Natalia; Crepp, Justin R.; Cristiani, Stefano; Croft, Rupert A. C.; Cuesta, Antonio J.; da Costa, Luiz N.; Davenport, James R. A.; Dawson, Kyle S.; de Putter, Roland; De Lee, Nathan; Delubac, Timothée; Dhital, Saurav; Ealet, Anne; Ebelke, Garrett L.; Edmondson, Edward M.; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Escoffier, S.; Esposito, Massimiliano; Evans, Michael L.; Fan, Xiaohui; Femenía Castellá, Bruno; Fernández Alvar, Emma; Ferreira, Leticia D.; Filiz Ak, N.; Finley, Hayley; Fleming, Scott W.; Font-Ribera, Andreu; Frinchaboy, Peter M.; García-Hernández, D. A.; Pérez, A. E. García; Ge, Jian; Génova-Santos, R.; Gillespie, Bruce A.; Girardi, Léo; González Hernández, Jonay I.; Grebel, Eva K.; Gunn, James E.; Guo, Hong; Haggard, Daryl; Hamilton, Jean-Christophe; Harris, David W.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Hearty, Frederick R.; Ho, Shirley; Hogg, David W.; Holtzman, Jon A.; Honscheid, Klaus; Huehnerhoff, J.; Ivans, Inese I.; Ivezić, Željko; Jacobson, Heather R.; Jiang, Linhua; Johansson, Jonas; Johnson, Jennifer A.; Kauffmann, Guinevere; Kirkby, David; Kirkpatrick, Jessica A.; Klaene, Mark A.; Knapp, Gillian R.; Kneib, Jean-Paul; Le Goff, Jean-Marc; Leauthaud, Alexie; Lee, Khee-Gan; Lee, Young Sun; Long, Daniel C.; Loomis, Craig P.; Lucatello, Sara; Lundgren, Britt; Lupton, Robert H.; Ma, Bo; Ma, Zhibo; MacDonald, Nicholas; Mack, Claude E.; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Maia, Marcio A. G.; Majewski, Steven R.; Makler, Martin; Malanushenko, Elena; Malanushenko, Viktor; Manchado, A.; Mandelbaum, Rachel; Manera, Marc; Maraston, Claudia; Margala, Daniel; Martell, Sarah L.; McBride, Cameron K.; McGreer, Ian D.; McMahon, Richard G.; Ménard, Brice; Meszaros, Sz.; Miralda-Escudé, Jordi; Montero-Dorta, Antonio D.; Montesano, Francesco; Morrison, Heather L.; Muna, Demitri; Munn, Jeffrey A.; Murayama, Hitoshi; Myers, Adam D.; Neto, A. F.; Nguyen, Duy Cuong; Nichol, Robert C.; Nidever, David L.; Noterdaeme, Pasquier; Nuza, Sebastián E.; Ogando, Ricardo L. C.; Olmstead, Matthew D.; Oravetz, Daniel J.; Owen, Russell; Padmanabhan, Nikhil; Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Pan, Kaike; Parejko, John K.; Parihar, Prachi; Pâris, Isabelle; Pattarakijwanich, Petchara; Pepper, Joshua; Percival, Will J.; Pérez-Fournon, Ismael; Pérez-Ràfols, Ignasi; Petitjean, Patrick; Pforr, Janine; Pieri, Matthew M.; Pinsonneault, Marc H.; Porto de Mello, G. F.; Prada, Francisco; Price-Whelan, Adrian M.; Raddick, M. Jordan; Rebolo, Rafael; Rich, James; Richards, Gordon T.; Robin, Annie C.; Rocha-Pinto, Helio J.; Rockosi, Constance M.; Roe, Natalie A.; Ross, Ashley J.; Ross, Nicholas P.; Rossi, Graziano; Rubiño-Martin, J. A.; Samushia, Lado; Sanchez Almeida, J.; Sánchez, Ariel G.; Santiago, Basílio; Sayres, Conor; Schlegel, David J.; Schlesinger, Katharine J.; Schmidt, Sarah J.; Schneider, Donald P.; Schultheis, Mathias; Schwope, Axel D.; Scóccola, C. G.; Seljak, Uros; Sheldon, Erin; Shen, Yue; Shu, Yiping; Simmerer, Jennifer; Simmons, Audrey E.; Skibba, Ramin A.; Skrutskie, M. F.; Slosar, A.; Sobreira, Flavia; Sobeck, Jennifer S.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Steele, Oliver; Steinmetz, Matthias; Strauss, Michael A.; Streblyanska, Alina; Suzuki, Nao; Swanson, Molly E. C.; Tal, Tomer; Thakar, Aniruddha R.; Thomas, Daniel; Thompson, Benjamin A.; Tinker, Jeremy L.; Tojeiro, Rita; Tremonti, Christy A.; Vargas Magaña, M.; Verde, Licia; Viel, Matteo; Vikas, Shailendra K.; Vogt, Nicole P.; Wake, David A.; Wang, Ji; Weaver, Benjamin A.; Weinberg, David H.; Weiner, Benjamin J.; West, Andrew A.; White, Martin; Wilson, John C.; Wisniewski, John P.; Wood-Vasey, W. M.; Yanny, Brian; Yèche, Christophe; York, Donald G.; Zamora, O.; Zasowski, Gail; Zehavi, Idit; Zhao, Gong-Bo; Zheng, Zheng; Zhu, Guangtun; Zinn, Joel C.

2012-11-19

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.

THE ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH DATA RELEASES OF THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY: FINAL DATA FROM SDSS-III

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alam, Shadab; Albareti, Franco D.; Prieto, Carlos Allende; Anders, F.; Anderson, Scott F.; Anderton, Timothy; Andrews, Brett H.; Armengaud, Eric; Aubourg, Éric; Bautista, Julian E.; Bailey, Stephen; Basu, Sarbani; Beaton, Rachael L.; Beers, Timothy C.

2015-01-01

The third generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III) took data from 2008 to 2014 using the original SDSS wide-field imager, the original and an upgraded multi-object fiber-fed optical spectrograph, a new near-infrared high-resolution spectrograph, and a novel optical interferometer. All of the data from SDSS-III are now made public. In particular, this paper describes Data Release 11 (DR11) including all data acquired through 2013 July, and Data Release 12 (DR12) adding data acquired through 2014 July (including all data included in previous data releases), marking the end of SDSS-III observing. Relative to our previous public release (DR10), DR12 adds one million new spectra of galaxies and quasars from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) over an additional 3000 deg 2 of sky, more than triples the number of H-band spectra of stars as part of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), and includes repeated accurate radial velocity measurements of 5500 stars from the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS). The APOGEE outputs now include the measured abundances of 15 different elements for each star. In total, SDSS-III added 5200 deg 2 of ugriz imaging; 155,520 spectra of 138,099 stars as part of the Sloan Exploration of Galactic Understanding and Evolution 2 (SEGUE-2) survey; 2,497,484 BOSS spectra of 1,372,737 galaxies, 294,512 quasars, and 247,216 stars over 9376 deg 2 ; 618,080 APOGEE spectra of 156,593 stars; and 197,040 MARVELS spectra of 5513 stars. Since its first light in 1998, SDSS has imaged over 1/3 of the Celestial sphere in five bands and obtained over five million astronomical spectra

The Eleventh and Twelfth Data Releases of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Final Data from SDSS-III

Science.gov (United States)

Alam, Shadab; Albareti, Franco D.; Allende Prieto, Carlos; Anders, F.; Anderson, Scott F.; Anderton, Timothy; Andrews, Brett H.; Armengaud, Eric; Aubourg, Éric; Bailey, Stephen; Basu, Sarbani; Bautista, Julian E.; Beaton, Rachael L.; Beers, Timothy C.; Bender, Chad F.; Berlind, Andreas A.; Beutler, Florian; Bhardwaj, Vaishali; Bird, Jonathan C.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Blake, Cullen H.; Blanton, Michael R.; Blomqvist, Michael; Bochanski, John J.; Bolton, Adam S.; Bovy, Jo; Shelden Bradley, A.; Brandt, W. N.; Brauer, D. E.; Brinkmann, J.; Brown, Peter J.; Brownstein, Joel R.; Burden, Angela; Burtin, Etienne; Busca, Nicolás G.; Cai, Zheng; Capozzi, Diego; Carnero Rosell, Aurelio; Carr, Michael A.; Carrera, Ricardo; Chambers, K. C.; Chaplin, William James; Chen, Yen-Chi; Chiappini, Cristina; Chojnowski, S. Drew; Chuang, Chia-Hsun; Clerc, Nicolas; Comparat, Johan; Covey, Kevin; Croft, Rupert A. C.; Cuesta, Antonio J.; Cunha, Katia; da Costa, Luiz N.; Da Rio, Nicola; Davenport, James R. A.; Dawson, Kyle S.; De Lee, Nathan; Delubac, Timothée; Deshpande, Rohit; Dhital, Saurav; Dutra-Ferreira, Letícia; Dwelly, Tom; Ealet, Anne; Ebelke, Garrett L.; Edmondson, Edward M.; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Ellsworth, Tristan; Elsworth, Yvonne; Epstein, Courtney R.; Eracleous, Michael; Escoffier, Stephanie; Esposito, Massimiliano; Evans, Michael L.; Fan, Xiaohui; Fernández-Alvar, Emma; Feuillet, Diane; Filiz Ak, Nurten; Finley, Hayley; Finoguenov, Alexis; Flaherty, Kevin; Fleming, Scott W.; Font-Ribera, Andreu; Foster, Jonathan; Frinchaboy, Peter M.; Galbraith-Frew, J. G.; García, Rafael A.; García-Hernández, D. A.; García Pérez, Ana E.; Gaulme, Patrick; Ge, Jian; Génova-Santos, R.; Georgakakis, A.; Ghezzi, Luan; Gillespie, Bruce A.; Girardi, Léo; Goddard, Daniel; Gontcho, Satya Gontcho A.; González Hernández, Jonay I.; Grebel, Eva K.; Green, Paul J.; Grieb, Jan Niklas; Grieves, Nolan; Gunn, James E.; Guo, Hong; Harding, Paul; Hasselquist, Sten; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Hayden, Michael; Hearty, Fred R.; Hekker, Saskia; Ho, Shirley; Hogg, David W.; Holley-Bockelmann, Kelly; Holtzman, Jon A.; Honscheid, Klaus; Huber, Daniel; Huehnerhoff, Joseph; Ivans, Inese I.; Jiang, Linhua; Johnson, Jennifer A.; Kinemuchi, Karen; Kirkby, David; Kitaura, Francisco; Klaene, Mark A.; Knapp, Gillian R.; Kneib, Jean-Paul; Koenig, Xavier P.; Lam, Charles R.; Lan, Ting-Wen; Lang, Dustin; Laurent, Pierre; Le Goff, Jean-Marc; Leauthaud, Alexie; Lee, Khee-Gan; Lee, Young Sun; Licquia, Timothy C.; Liu, Jian; Long, Daniel C.; López-Corredoira, Martín; Lorenzo-Oliveira, Diego; Lucatello, Sara; Lundgren, Britt; Lupton, Robert H.; Mack, Claude E., III; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Maia, Marcio A. G.; Majewski, Steven R.; Malanushenko, Elena; Malanushenko, Viktor; Manchado, A.; Manera, Marc; Mao, Qingqing; Maraston, Claudia; Marchwinski, Robert C.; Margala, Daniel; Martell, Sarah L.; Martig, Marie; Masters, Karen L.; Mathur, Savita; McBride, Cameron K.; McGehee, Peregrine M.; McGreer, Ian D.; McMahon, Richard G.; Ménard, Brice; Menzel, Marie-Luise; Merloni, Andrea; Mészáros, Szabolcs; Miller, Adam A.; Miralda-Escudé, Jordi; Miyatake, Hironao; Montero-Dorta, Antonio D.; More, Surhud; Morganson, Eric; Morice-Atkinson, Xan; Morrison, Heather L.; Mosser, Benôit; Muna, Demitri; Myers, Adam D.; Nandra, Kirpal; Newman, Jeffrey A.; Neyrinck, Mark; Nguyen, Duy Cuong; Nichol, Robert C.; Nidever, David L.; Noterdaeme, Pasquier; Nuza, Sebastián E.; O'Connell, Julia E.; O'Connell, Robert W.; O'Connell, Ross; Ogando, Ricardo L. C.; Olmstead, Matthew D.; Oravetz, Audrey E.; Oravetz, Daniel J.; Osumi, Keisuke; Owen, Russell; Padgett, Deborah L.; Padmanabhan, Nikhil; Paegert, Martin; Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Pan, Kaike; Parejko, John K.; Pâris, Isabelle; Park, Changbom; Pattarakijwanich, Petchara; Pellejero-Ibanez, M.; Pepper, Joshua; Percival, Will J.; Pérez-Fournon, Ismael; P´rez-Ra`fols, Ignasi; Petitjean, Patrick; Pieri, Matthew M.; Pinsonneault, Marc H.; Porto de Mello, Gustavo F.; Prada, Francisco; Prakash, Abhishek; Price-Whelan, Adrian M.; Protopapas, Pavlos; Raddick, M. Jordan; Rahman, Mubdi; Reid, Beth A.; Rich, James; Rix, Hans-Walter; Robin, Annie C.; Rockosi, Constance M.; Rodrigues, Thaíse S.; Rodríguez-Torres, Sergio; Roe, Natalie A.; Ross, Ashley J.; Ross, Nicholas P.; Rossi, Graziano; Ruan, John J.; Rubiño-Martín, J. A.; Rykoff, Eli S.; Salazar-Albornoz, Salvador; Salvato, Mara; Samushia, Lado; Sánchez, Ariel G.; Santiago, Basílio; Sayres, Conor; Schiavon, Ricardo P.; Schlegel, David J.; Schmidt, Sarah J.; Schneider, Donald P.; Schultheis, Mathias; Schwope, Axel D.; Scóccola, C. G.; Scott, Caroline; Sellgren, Kris; Seo, Hee-Jong; Serenelli, Aldo; Shane, Neville; Shen, Yue; Shetrone, Matthew; Shu, Yiping; Silva Aguirre, V.; Sivarani, Thirupathi; Skrutskie, M. F.; Slosar, Anže; Smith, Verne V.; Sobreira, Flávia; Souto, Diogo; Stassun, Keivan G.; Steinmetz, Matthias; Stello, Dennis; Strauss, Michael A.; Streblyanska, Alina; Suzuki, Nao; Swanson, Molly E. C.; Tan, Jonathan C.; Tayar, Jamie; Terrien, Ryan C.; Thakar, Aniruddha R.; Thomas, Daniel; Thomas, Neil; Thompson, Benjamin A.; Tinker, Jeremy L.; Tojeiro, Rita; Troup, Nicholas W.; Vargas-Magaña, Mariana; Vazquez, Jose A.; Verde, Licia; Viel, Matteo; Vogt, Nicole P.; Wake, David A.; Wang, Ji; Weaver, Benjamin A.; Weinberg, David H.; Weiner, Benjamin J.; White, Martin; Wilson, John C.; Wisniewski, John P.; Wood-Vasey, W. M.; Ye`che, Christophe; York, Donald G.; Zakamska, Nadia L.; Zamora, O.; Zasowski, Gail; Zehavi, Idit; Zhao, Gong-Bo; Zheng, Zheng; Zhou, Xu; Zhou, Zhimin; Zou, Hu; Zhu, Guangtun

2015-07-01

The third generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III) took data from 2008 to 2014 using the original SDSS wide-field imager, the original and an upgraded multi-object fiber-fed optical spectrograph, a new near-infrared high-resolution spectrograph, and a novel optical interferometer. All of the data from SDSS-III are now made public. In particular, this paper describes Data Release 11 (DR11) including all data acquired through 2013 July, and Data Release 12 (DR12) adding data acquired through 2014 July (including all data included in previous data releases), marking the end of SDSS-III observing. Relative to our previous public release (DR10), DR12 adds one million new spectra of galaxies and quasars from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) over an additional 3000 deg2 of sky, more than triples the number of H-band spectra of stars as part of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), and includes repeated accurate radial velocity measurements of 5500 stars from the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS). The APOGEE outputs now include the measured abundances of 15 different elements for each star. In total, SDSS-III added 5200 deg2 of ugriz imaging; 155,520 spectra of 138,099 stars as part of the Sloan Exploration of Galactic Understanding and Evolution 2 (SEGUE-2) survey; 2,497,484 BOSS spectra of 1,372,737 galaxies, 294,512 quasars, and 247,216 stars over 9376 deg2; 618,080 APOGEE spectra of 156,593 stars; and 197,040 MARVELS spectra of 5513 stars. Since its first light in 1998, SDSS has imaged over 1/3 of the Celestial sphere in five bands and obtained over five million astronomical spectra.

The eleventh and twelfth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Final data from SDSS-III

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alam, Shadab; Albareti, Franco D.; Prieto, Carlos Allende; Anders, F.; Anderson, Scott F.; Anderton, Timothy; Andrews, Brett H.; Armengaud, Eric; Aubourg, Éric; Bailey, Stephen; Basu, Sarbani; Bautista, Julian E.; Beaton, Rachael L.; Beers, Timothy C.; Bender, Chad F.; Berlind, Andreas A.; Beutler, Florian; Bhardwaj, Vaishali; Bird, Jonathan C.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Blake, Cullen H.; Blanton, Michael R.; Blomqvist, Michael; Bochanski, John J.; Bolton, Adam S.; Bovy, Jo; Bradley, A. Shelden; Brandt, W. N.; Brauer, D. E.; Brinkmann, J.; Brown, Peter J.; Brownstein, Joel R.; Burden, Angela; Burtin, Etienne; Busca, Nicolás G.; Cai, Zheng; Capozzi, Diego; Rosell, Aurelio Carnero; Carr, Michael A.; Carrera, Ricardo; Chambers, K. C.; Chaplin, William James; Chen, Yen-Chi; Chiappini, Cristina; Chojnowski, S. Drew; Chuang, Chia-Hsun; Clerc, Nicolas; Comparat, Johan; Covey, Kevin; Croft, Rupert A. C.; Cuesta, Antonio J.; Cunha, Katia; Costa, Luiz N. da; Rio, Nicola Da; Davenport, James R. A.; Dawson, Kyle S.; Lee, Nathan De; Delubac, Timothée; Deshpande, Rohit; Dhital, Saurav; Dutra-Ferreira, Letícia; Dwelly, Tom; Ealet, Anne; Ebelke, Garrett L.; Edmondson, Edward M.; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Ellsworth, Tristan; Elsworth, Yvonne; Epstein, Courtney R.; Eracleous, Michael; Escoffier, Stephanie; Esposito, Massimiliano; Evans, Michael L.; Fan, Xiaohui; Fernández-Alvar, Emma; Feuillet, Diane; Ak, Nurten Filiz; Finley, Hayley; Finoguenov, Alexis; Flaherty, Kevin; Fleming, Scott W.; Font-Ribera, Andreu; Foster, Jonathan; Frinchaboy, Peter M.; Galbraith-Frew, J. G.; García, Rafael A.; García-Hernández, D. A.; Pérez, Ana E. García; Gaulme, Patrick; Ge, Jian; Génova-Santos, R.; Georgakakis, A.; Ghezzi, Luan; Gillespie, Bruce A.; Girardi, Léo; Goddard, Daniel; Gontcho, Satya Gontcho A.; Hernández, Jonay I. González; Grebel, Eva K.; Green, Paul J.; Grieb, Jan Niklas; Grieves, Nolan; Gunn, James E.; Guo, Hong; Harding, Paul; Hasselquist, Sten; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Hayden, Michael; Hearty, Fred R.; Hekker, Saskia; Ho, Shirley; Hogg, David W.; Holley-Bockelmann, Kelly; Holtzman, Jon A.; Honscheid, Klaus; Huber, Daniel; Huehnerhoff, Joseph; Ivans, Inese I.; Jiang, Linhua; Johnson, Jennifer A.; Kinemuchi, Karen; Kirkby, David; Kitaura, Francisco; Klaene, Mark A.; Knapp, Gillian R.; Kneib, Jean-Paul; Koenig, Xavier P.; Lam, Charles R.; Lan, Ting-Wen; Lang, Dustin; Laurent, Pierre; Goff, Jean-Marc Le; Leauthaud, Alexie; Lee, Khee-Gan; Lee, Young Sun; Licquia, Timothy C.; Liu, Jian; Long, Daniel C.; López-Corredoira, Martín; Lorenzo-Oliveira, Diego; Lucatello, Sara; Lundgren, Britt; Lupton, Robert H.; III, Claude E. Mack; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Maia, Marcio A. G.; Majewski, Steven R.; Malanushenko, Elena; Malanushenko, Viktor; Manchado, A.; Manera, Marc; Mao, Qingqing; Maraston, Claudia; Marchwinski, Robert C.; Margala, Daniel; Martell, Sarah L.; Martig, Marie; Masters, Karen L.; Mathur, Savita; McBride, Cameron K.; McGehee, Peregrine M.; McGreer, Ian D.; McMahon, Richard G.; Ménard, Brice; Menzel, Marie-Luise; Merloni, Andrea; Mészáros, Szabolcs; Miller, Adam A.; Miralda-Escudé, Jordi; Miyatake, Hironao; Montero-Dorta, Antonio D.; More, Surhud; Morganson, Eric; Morice-Atkinson, Xan; Morrison, Heather L.; Mosser, Benôit; Muna, Demitri; Myers, Adam D.; Nandra, Kirpal; Newman, Jeffrey A.; Neyrinck, Mark; Nguyen, Duy Cuong; Nichol, Robert C.; Nidever, David L.; Noterdaeme, Pasquier; Nuza, Sebastián E.; O’Connell, Julia E.; O’Connell, Robert W.; O’Connell, Ross; Ogando, Ricardo L. C.; Olmstead, Matthew D.; Oravetz, Audrey E.; Oravetz, Daniel J.; Osumi, Keisuke; Owen, Russell; Padgett, Deborah L.; Padmanabhan, Nikhil; Paegert, Martin; Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Pan, Kaike; Parejko, John K.; Pâris, Isabelle; Park, Changbom; Pattarakijwanich, Petchara; Pellejero-Ibanez, M.; Pepper, Joshua; Percival, Will J.; Pérez-Fournon, Ismael; Pe´rez-Ra`fols, Ignasi; Petitjean, Patrick; Pieri, Matthew M.; Pinsonneault, Marc H.; Mello, Gustavo F. Porto de; Prada, Francisco; Prakash, Abhishek; Price-Whelan, Adrian M.; Protopapas, Pavlos; Raddick, M. Jordan; Rahman, Mubdi; Reid, Beth A.; Rich, James; Rix, Hans-Walter; Robin, Annie C.; Rockosi, Constance M.; Rodrigues, Thaíse S.; Rodríguez-Torres, Sergio; Roe, Natalie A.; Ross, Ashley J.; Ross, Nicholas P.; Rossi, Graziano; Ruan, John J.; Rubiño-Martín, J. A.; Rykoff, Eli S.; Salazar-Albornoz, Salvador; Salvato, Mara; Samushia, Lado; Sánchez, Ariel G.; Santiago, Basílio; Sayres, Conor; Schiavon, Ricardo P.; Schlegel, David J.; Schmidt, Sarah J.; Schneider, Donald P.; Schultheis, Mathias; Schwope, Axel D.; Scóccola, C. G.; Scott, Caroline; Sellgren, Kris; Seo, Hee-Jong; Serenelli, Aldo; Shane, Neville; Shen, Yue; Shetrone, Matthew; Shu, Yiping; Aguirre, V. Silva; Sivarani, Thirupathi; Skrutskie, M. F.; Slosar, Anže; Smith, Verne V.; Sobreira, Flávia; Souto, Diogo; Stassun, Keivan G.; Steinmetz, Matthias; Stello, Dennis; Strauss, Michael A.; Streblyanska, Alina; Suzuki, Nao; Swanson, Molly E. C.; Tan, Jonathan C.; Tayar, Jamie; Terrien, Ryan C.; Thakar, Aniruddha R.; Thomas, Daniel; Thomas, Neil; Thompson, Benjamin A.; Tinker, Jeremy L.; Tojeiro, Rita; Troup, Nicholas W.; Vargas-Magaña, Mariana; Vazquez, Jose A.; Verde, Licia; Viel, Matteo; Vogt, Nicole P.; Wake, David A.; Wang, Ji; Weaver, Benjamin A.; Weinberg, David H.; Weiner, Benjamin J.; White, Martin; Wilson, John C.; Wisniewski, John P.; Wood-Vasey, W. M.; Ye`che, Christophe; York, Donald G.; Zakamska, Nadia L.; Zamora, O.; Zasowski, Gail; Zehavi, Idit; Zhao, Gong-Bo; Zheng, Zheng; Zhou (周旭), Xu; Zhou (周志民), Zhimin; Zou (邹虎), Hu; Zhu, Guangtun

2015-07-20

The third generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III) took data from 2008 to 2014 using the original SDSS wide-field imager, the original and an upgraded multi-object fiber-fed optical spectrograph, a new near-infrared high-resolution spectrograph, and a novel optical interferometer. All of the data from SDSS-III are now made public. In particular, this paper describes Data Release 11 (DR11) including all data acquired through 2013 July, and Data Release 12 (DR12) adding data acquired through 2014 July (including all data included in previous data releases), marking the end of SDSS-III observing. Relative to our previous public release (DR10), DR12 adds one million new spectra of galaxies and quasars from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) over an additional 3000 deg² of sky, more than triples the number of H-band spectra of stars as part of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), and includes repeated accurate radial velocity measurements of 5500 stars from the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS). The APOGEE outputs now include the measured abundances of 15 different elements for each star. In total, SDSS-III added 5200 deg² of ugriz imaging; 155,520 spectra of 138,099 stars as part of the Sloan Exploration of Galactic Understanding and Evolution 2 (SEGUE-2) survey; 2,497,484 BOSS spectra of 1,372,737 galaxies, 294,512 quasars, and 247,216 stars over 9376 deg²; 618,080 APOGEE spectra of 156,593 stars; and 197,040 MARVELS spectra of 5513 stars. Since its first light in 1998, SDSS has imaged over 1/3 of the Celestial sphere in five bands and obtained over five million astronomical spectra.

The 13th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-IV Survey Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Albareti, Franco D.; Allende Prieto, Carlos; Almeida, Andres; Anders, Friedrich; Anderson, Scott; Andrews, Brett H.; Aragón-Salamanca, Alfonso; Argudo-Fernández, Maria; Armengaud, Eric; Aubourg, Eric; Avila-Reese, Vladimir; Badenes, Carles; Bailey, Stephen; Barbuy, Beatriz; Barger, Kat; Barrera-Ballesteros, Jorge; Bartosz, Curtis; Basu, Sarbani; Bates, Dominic; Battaglia, Giuseppina; Baumgarten, Falk; Baur, Julien; Bautista, Julian; Beers, Timothy C.; Belfiore, Francesco; Bershady, Matthew; Bertran de Lis, Sara; Bird, Jonathan C.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Blanc, Guillermo A.; Blanton, Michael; Blomqvist, Michael; Bolton, Adam S.; Borissova, J.; Bovy, Jo; Nielsen Brandt, William; Brinkmann, Jonathan; Brownstein, Joel R.; Bundy, Kevin; Burtin, Etienne; Busca, Nicolás G.; Orlando Camacho Chavez, Hugo; Cano Díaz, M.; Cappellari, Michele; Carrera, Ricardo; Chen, Yanping; Cherinka, Brian; Cheung, Edmond; Chiappini, Cristina; Chojnowski, Drew; Chuang, Chia-Hsun; Chung, Haeun; Cirolini, Rafael Fernando; Clerc, Nicolas; Cohen, Roger E.; Comerford, Julia M.; Comparat, Johan; Correa do Nascimento, Janaina; Cousinou, Marie-Claude; Covey, Kevin; Crane, Jeffrey D.; Croft, Rupert; Cunha, Katia; Darling, Jeremy; Davidson, James W., Jr.; Dawson, Kyle; Da Costa, Luiz; Da Silva Ilha, Gabriele; Deconto Machado, Alice; Delubac, Timothée; De Lee, Nathan; De la Macorra, Axel; De la Torre, Sylvain; Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M.; Donor, John; Downes, Juan Jose; Drory, Niv; Du, Cheng; Du Mas des Bourboux, Hélion; Dwelly, Tom; Ebelke, Garrett; Eigenbrot, Arthur; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Elsworth, Yvonne P.; Emsellem, Eric; Eracleous, Michael; Escoffier, Stephanie; Evans, Michael L.; Falcón-Barroso, Jesús; Fan, Xiaohui; Favole, Ginevra; Fernandez-Alvar, Emma; Fernandez-Trincado, J. G.; Feuillet, Diane; Fleming, Scott W.; Font-Ribera, Andreu; Freischlad, Gordon; Frinchaboy, Peter; Fu, Hai; Gao, Yang; Garcia, Rafael A.; Garcia-Dias, R.; Garcia-Hernández, D. A.; Garcia Pérez, Ana E.; Gaulme, Patrick; Ge, Junqiang; Geisler, Douglas; Gillespie, Bruce; Gil Marin, Hector; Girardi, Léo; Goddard, Daniel; Gomez Maqueo Chew, Yilen; Gonzalez-Perez, Violeta; Grabowski, Kathleen; Green, Paul; Grier, Catherine J.; Grier, Thomas; Guo, Hong; Guy, Julien; Hagen, Alex; Hall, Matt; Harding, Paul; Harley, R. E.; Hasselquist, Sten; Hawley, Suzanne; Hayes, Christian R.; Hearty, Fred; Hekker, Saskia; Hernandez Toledo, Hector; Ho, Shirley; Hogg, David W.; Holley-Bockelmann, Kelly; Holtzman, Jon A.; Holzer, Parker H.; Hu, Jian; Huber, Daniel; Hutchinson, Timothy Alan; Hwang, Ho Seong; Ibarra-Medel, Héctor J.; Ivans, Inese I.; Ivory, KeShawn; Jaehnig, Kurt; Jensen, Trey W.; Johnson, Jennifer A.; Jones, Amy; Jullo, Eric; Kallinger, T.; Kinemuchi, Karen; Kirkby, David; Klaene, Mark; Kneib, Jean-Paul; Kollmeier, Juna A.; Lacerna, Ivan; Lane, Richard R.; Lang, Dustin; Laurent, Pierre; Law, David R.; Leauthaud, Alexie; Le Goff, Jean-Marc; Li, Chen; Li, Cheng; Li, Niu; Li, Ran; Liang, Fu-Heng; Liang, Yu; Lima, Marcos; Lin, Lihwai; Lin, Lin; Lin, Yen-Ting; Liu, Chao; Long, Dan; Lucatello, Sara; MacDonald, Nicholas; MacLeod, Chelsea L.; Mackereth, J. Ted; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Geimba Maia, Marcio Antonio; Maiolino, Roberto; Majewski, Steven R.; Malanushenko, Olena; Malanushenko, Viktor; Dullius Mallmann, Nícolas; Manchado, Arturo; Maraston, Claudia; Marques-Chaves, Rui; Martinez Valpuesta, Inma; Masters, Karen L.; Mathur, Savita; McGreer, Ian D.; Merloni, Andrea; Merrifield, Michael R.; Meszáros, Szabolcs; Meza, Andres; Miglio, Andrea; Minchev, Ivan; Molaverdikhani, Karan; Montero-Dorta, Antonio D.; Mosser, Benoit; Muna, Demitri; Myers, Adam; Nair, Preethi; Nandra, Kirpal; Ness, Melissa; Newman, Jeffrey A.; Nichol, Robert C.; Nidever, David L.; Nitschelm, Christian; O’Connell, Julia; Oravetz, Audrey; Oravetz, Daniel J.; Pace, Zachary; Padilla, Nelson; Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Pan, Kaike; Parejko, John; Paris, Isabelle; Park, Changbom; Peacock, John A.; Peirani, Sebastien; Pellejero-Ibanez, Marcos; Penny, Samantha; Percival, Will J.; Percival, Jeffrey W.; Perez-Fournon, Ismael; Petitjean, Patrick; Pieri, Matthew; Pinsonneault, Marc H.; Pisani, Alice; Prada, Francisco; Prakash, Abhishek; Price-Jones, Natalie; Raddick, M. Jordan; Rahman, Mubdi; Raichoor, Anand; Barboza Rembold, Sandro; Reyna, A. M.; Rich, James; Richstein, Hannah; Ridl, Jethro; Riffel, Rogemar A.; Riffel, Rogério; Rix, Hans-Walter; Robin, Annie C.; Rockosi, Constance M.; Rodríguez-Torres, Sergio; Rodrigues, Thaíse S.; Roe, Natalie; Lopes, A. Roman; Román-Zúñiga, Carlos; Ross, Ashley J.; Rossi, Graziano; Ruan, John; Ruggeri, Rossana; Runnoe, Jessie C.; Salazar-Albornoz, Salvador; Salvato, Mara; Sanchez, Sebastian F.; Sanchez, Ariel G.; Sanchez-Gallego, José R.; Santiago, Basílio Xavier; Schiavon, Ricardo; Schimoia, Jaderson S.; Schlafly, Eddie; Schlegel, David J.; Schneider, Donald P.; Schönrich, Ralph; Schultheis, Mathias; Schwope, Axel; Seo, Hee-Jong; Serenelli, Aldo; Sesar, Branimir; Shao, Zhengyi; Shetrone, Matthew; Shull, Michael; Silva Aguirre, Victor; Skrutskie, M. F.; Slosar, Anže; Smith, Michael; Smith, Verne V.; Sobeck, Jennifer; Somers, Garrett; Souto, Diogo; Stark, David V.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Steinmetz, Matthias; Stello, Dennis; Storchi Bergmann, Thaisa; Strauss, Michael A.; Streblyanska, Alina; Stringfellow, Guy S.; Suarez, Genaro; Sun, Jing; Taghizadeh-Popp, Manuchehr; Tang, Baitian; Tao, Charling; Tayar, Jamie; Tembe, Mita; Thomas, Daniel; Tinker, Jeremy; Tojeiro, Rita; Tremonti, Christy; Troup, Nicholas; Trump, Jonathan R.; Unda-Sanzana, Eduardo; Valenzuela, O.; Van den Bosch, Remco; Vargas-Magaña, Mariana; Vazquez, Jose Alberto; Villanova, Sandro; Vivek, M.; Vogt, Nicole; Wake, David; Walterbos, Rene; Wang, Yuting; Wang, Enci; Weaver, Benjamin Alan; Weijmans, Anne-Marie; Weinberg, David H.; Westfall, Kyle B.; Whelan, David G.; Wilcots, Eric; Wild, Vivienne; Williams, Rob A.; Wilson, John; Wood-Vasey, W. M.; Wylezalek, Dominika; Xiao, Ting; Yan, Renbin; Yang, Meng; Ybarra, Jason E.; Yeche, Christophe; Yuan, Fang-Ting; Zakamska, Nadia; Zamora, Olga; Zasowski, Gail; Zhang, Kai; Zhao, Cheng; Zhao, Gong-Bo; Zheng, Zheng; Zheng, Zheng; Zhou, Zhi-Min; Zhu, Guangtun; Zinn, Joel C.; Zou, Hu

2017-12-01

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) began observations in 2014 July. It pursues three core programs: the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2), Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA), and the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS). As well as its core program, eBOSS contains two major subprograms: the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS) and the SPectroscopic IDentification of ERosita Sources (SPIDERS). This paper describes the first data release from SDSS-IV, Data Release 13 (DR13). DR13 makes publicly available the first 1390 spatially resolved integral field unit observations of nearby galaxies from MaNGA. It includes new observations from eBOSS, completing the Sloan Extended QUasar, Emission-line galaxy, Luminous red galaxy Survey (SEQUELS), which also targeted variability-selected objects and X-ray-selected objects. DR13 includes new reductions of the SDSS-III BOSS data, improving the spectrophotometric calibration and redshift classification, and new reductions of the SDSS-III APOGEE-1 data, improving stellar parameters for dwarf stars and cooler stars. DR13 provides more robust and precise photometric calibrations. Value-added target catalogs relevant for eBOSS, TDSS, and SPIDERS and an updated red-clump catalog for APOGEE are also available. This paper describes the location and format of the data and provides references to important technical papers. The SDSS web site, http://www.sdss.org, provides links to the data, tutorials, examples of data access, and extensive documentation of the reduction and analysis procedures. DR13 is the first of a scheduled set that will contain new data and analyses from the planned ∼6 yr operations of SDSS-IV.

The Carnegie Supernova Project: The Low-Redshift Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Hamuy, Mario; Folatelli, Gastón; Morrell, Nidia I.; Phillips, Mark M.; Suntzeff, Nicholas B.; Persson, S. E.; Roth, Miguel; Gonzalez, Sergio; Krzeminski, Wojtek; Contreras, Carlos; Freedman, Wendy L.; Murphy, D. C.; Madore, Barry F.; Wyatt, P.; Maza, José; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Li, Weidong; Pinto, P. A.

2006-01-01

Supernovae are essential to understanding the chemical evolution of the universe. Type Ia supernovae also provide the most powerful observational tool currently available for studying the expansion history of the universe and the nature of dark energy. Our basic knowledge of supernovae comes from the study of their photometric and spectroscopic properties. However, the presently available data sets of optical and near-infrared light curves of supernovae are rather small and/or heterogeneous, and employ photometric systems that are poorly characterized. Similarly, there are relatively few supernovae whose spectral evolution has been well sampled, both in wavelength and phase, with precise spectrophotometric observations. The low-redshift portion of the Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP) seeks to remedy this situation by providing photometry and spectrophotometry of a large sample of supernovae taken on telescope/filter/detector systems that are well understood and well characterized. During a 5 year program that began in 2004 September, we expect to obtain high-precision u'g'r'i'BVYJHKs light curves and optical spectrophotometry for about 250 supernovae of all types. In this paper we provide a detailed description of the CSP survey observing and data reduction methodology. In addition, we present preliminary photometry and spectra obtained for a few representative supernovae during the first observing campaign.

DISCOVERY OF DRAMATIC OPTICAL VARIABILITY IN SDSS J1100+4421: A PECULIAR RADIO-LOUD NARROW-LINE SEYFERT 1 GALAXY?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanaka, Masaomi [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Morokuma, Tomoki; Doi, Mamoru; Kikuchi, Yuki [Institute of Astronomy, School of Science, University of Tokyo, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0015 (Japan); Itoh, Ryosuke [Department of Physical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526 (Japan); Akitaya, Hiroshi; Tanaka, Yasuyuki T.; Kawabata, Koji S. [Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526 (Japan); Tominaga, Nozomu [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Konan University, Kobe, Hyogo 658-8501 (Japan); Saito, Yoshihiko; Kawai, Nobuyuki [Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551 (Japan); Stawarz, Łukasz [Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210 (Japan); Gandhi, Poshak [Department of Physics, Durham University, Durham DH1-3LE (United Kingdom); Ali, Gamal; Essam, Ahmad; Hamed, Gamal [National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, Helwan, Cairo (Egypt); Aoki, Tsutomu [Kiso Observatory, Institute of Astronomy, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Kiso, Nagano 397-0101 (Japan); Contreras, Carlos; Hsiao, Eric Y. [Carnegie Observatories, Las Campanas Observatory, Colina El Pino, Casilla 601 (Chile); Iwata, Ikuru, E-mail: masaomi.tanaka@nao.ac.jp [Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States); and others

2014-10-01

We present our discovery of dramatic variability in SDSS J1100+4421 by the high-cadence transient survey Kiso Supernova Survey. The source brightened in the optical by at least a factor of three within about half a day. Spectroscopic observations suggest that this object is likely a narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy (NLS1) at z = 0.840, however, with unusually strong narrow emission lines. The estimated black hole mass of ∼10{sup 7} M {sub ☉} implies bolometric nuclear luminosity close to the Eddington limit. SDSS J1100+4421 is also extremely radio-loud, with a radio loudness parameter of R ≅ 4 × 10{sup 2}-3 × 10{sup 3}, which implies the presence of relativistic jets. Rapid and large-amplitude optical variability of the target, reminiscent of that found in a few radio- and γ-ray-loud NLS1s, is therefore produced most likely in a blazar-like core. The 1.4 GHz radio image of the source shows an extended structure with a linear size of about 100 kpc. If SDSS J1100+4421 is a genuine NLS1, as suggested here, this radio structure would then be the largest ever discovered in this type of active galaxies.

The Formation of COINS: Equity and Inclusion in SDSS

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Sarah J.; Sanchez-Gallego, Jose Ramon; Chanover, Nancy J.; Holley-Bockelmann, Kelly; Lucatello, Sara; Aragon-Salamanca, Alfonso; Belfiore, Francesco; Cherinka, Brian; Feuillet, Diane; Jones, Amy; Masters, Karen; Simmons, Audrey; Ross, Ashley; Stassun, Keivan G.; Tayar, Jamie

2017-01-01

In the era of large surveys, collaborations like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) are becoming a new normal for many scientists, and collaboration policies and climate have a considerable affect on scientific careers. As such, it is essential that collaborations actively strive to include all scientists regardless of gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, career stage, geographic location, economic background, social and cultural backgrounds, and all possible intersections thereof. We report on the formation and progress of the Committee On INclusiveness in the SDSS (COINS). COINS was formed to assess the SDSS-IV project and collaboration's climate and demographics, to recommend new policies or practices with regard to increasing inclusiveness, and to assist in the implementation of these new activities where necessary. We report on our current activities, which include ongoing support for the SDSS Research Experience for Undergraduates program, support for the SDSS Faculty and Student Teams initiative, administering and analyzing the SDSS demographic surveys, working towards collaboration meeting inclusiveness and accessibility, and adopting strategies for integrating and mentoring new members. We welcome input from SDSS members and non-members about how to work towards a more equitable and inclusive collaboration.

On Inferring Extinction Laws in Z -approximately 6 Quasars as Signatures of Supernova Dust

Science.gov (United States)

Hjorth, Jens; Vreeswijk, Paul M.; Gall, Christa; Watson, Darach

2013-01-01

Unusual extinction curves of high-redshift QSOs have been taken as evidence that dust is primarily produced by supernovae at high redshift. In particular, the 3000 °A Todini-Ferrara-Maiolino kink in the extinction curve of the z = 6.20 SDSS J1048+4637 has been attributed to supernova dust. Here we discuss the challenges in inferring robust extinction curves of high-redshift QSOs and critically assess previous claims of detection of supernova dust. In particular, we address the sensitivity to the choice of intrinsic QSO spectrum, the need for a long wavelength baseline, and the drawbacks in fitting theoretical extinction curves. In a sample of 21 QSOs at z 6 we detect significant ultraviolet extinction using existing broad-band optical, near-infrared, and Spitzer photometry. The median extinction curve is consistent with a Small Magellanic Cloud curve with A1450 0.7 mag and does not exhibit any conspicuous (restframe) 2175 °A or 3000 °A features. For two QSOs, SDSS J1044-0125 at z = 5.78 and SDSS J1030+0524 at z = 6.31, we further present X-shooter spectra covering the wavelength range 0.9-2.5 µm. The resulting non-parametric extinction curves do not exhibit the 3000 °A kink. Finally, in a re-analysis of literature spectra of SDSS J1048+4637, we do not find evidence for a conspicuous kink. We conclude that the existing evidence for a 3000 °A feature is weak and that the overall dust properties at high and low redshift show no significant differences. This, however, does not preclude supernovae from dominating the dust budget at high redshift.

ON INFERRING EXTINCTION LAWS IN z ∼ 6 QUASARS AS SIGNATURES OF SUPERNOVA DUST

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hjorth, Jens; Vreeswijk, Paul M.; Gall, Christa; Watson, Darach

2013-01-01

Unusual extinction curves of high-redshift QSOs have been taken as evidence that dust is primarily produced by supernovae at high redshift. In particular, the 3000 Å Todini-Ferrara-Maiolino kink in the extinction curve of the z = 6.20 SDSS J1048+4637 has been attributed to supernova dust. Here we discuss the challenges in inferring robust extinction curves of high-redshift QSOs and critically assess previous claims of detection of supernova dust. In particular, we address the sensitivity to the choice of intrinsic QSO spectrum, the need for a long wavelength baseline, and the drawbacks in fitting theoretical extinction curves. In a sample of 21 QSOs at z ∼ 6 we detect significant ultraviolet extinction using existing broadband optical, near-infrared, and Spitzer photometry. The median extinction curve is consistent with a Small Magellanic Cloud curve with A 1450 ∼ 0.7 mag and does not exhibit any conspicuous (rest frame) 2175 Å or 3000 Å features. For two QSOs, SDSS J1044–0125 at z = 5.78 and SDSS J1030+0524 at z = 6.31, we further present X-shooter spectra covering the wavelength range 0.9-2.5 μm. The resulting non-parametric extinction curves do not exhibit the 3000 Å kink. Finally, in a re-analysis of literature spectra of SDSS J1048+4637, we do not find evidence for a conspicuous kink. We conclude that the existing evidence for a 3000 Å feature is weak and that the overall dust properties at high and low redshifts show no significant differences. This, however, does not preclude supernovae from dominating the dust budget at high redshift.

ON INFERRING EXTINCTION LAWS IN z {approx} 6 QUASARS AS SIGNATURES OF SUPERNOVA DUST

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hjorth, Jens; Vreeswijk, Paul M.; Gall, Christa; Watson, Darach, E-mail: jens@dark-cosmology.dk, E-mail: paul.vreeswijk@weizmann.ac.il, E-mail: christa.gall@nasa.gov, E-mail: darach@dark-cosmology.dk [Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen O (Denmark)

2013-05-10

Unusual extinction curves of high-redshift QSOs have been taken as evidence that dust is primarily produced by supernovae at high redshift. In particular, the 3000 A Todini-Ferrara-Maiolino kink in the extinction curve of the z = 6.20 SDSS J1048+4637 has been attributed to supernova dust. Here we discuss the challenges in inferring robust extinction curves of high-redshift QSOs and critically assess previous claims of detection of supernova dust. In particular, we address the sensitivity to the choice of intrinsic QSO spectrum, the need for a long wavelength baseline, and the drawbacks in fitting theoretical extinction curves. In a sample of 21 QSOs at z {approx} 6 we detect significant ultraviolet extinction using existing broadband optical, near-infrared, and Spitzer photometry. The median extinction curve is consistent with a Small Magellanic Cloud curve with A{sub 1450} {approx} 0.7 mag and does not exhibit any conspicuous (rest frame) 2175 A or 3000 A features. For two QSOs, SDSS J1044-0125 at z = 5.78 and SDSS J1030+0524 at z = 6.31, we further present X-shooter spectra covering the wavelength range 0.9-2.5 {mu}m. The resulting non-parametric extinction curves do not exhibit the 3000 A kink. Finally, in a re-analysis of literature spectra of SDSS J1048+4637, we do not find evidence for a conspicuous kink. We conclude that the existing evidence for a 3000 A feature is weak and that the overall dust properties at high and low redshifts show no significant differences. This, however, does not preclude supernovae from dominating the dust budget at high redshift.

A Study of Quasar Selection in the Supernova Fields of the Dark Energy Survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tie, S. S.; Martini, P.; Mudd, D.; Ostrovski, F.; Reed, S. L.

2017-01-01

In this paper, we present a study of quasar selection using the supernova fields of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We used a quasar catalog from an overlapping portion of the SDSS Stripe 82 region to quantify the completeness and efficiency of selection methods involving color, probabilistic modeling, variability, and combinations of color/probabilistic modeling with variability. In all cases, we considered only objects that appear as point sources in the DES images. We examine color selection methods based on the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mid-IR W1-W2 color, a mixture of WISE and DES colors (g - i and i-W1), and a mixture of Vista Hemisphere Survey and DES colors (g - i and i - K). For probabilistic quasar selection, we used XDQSO, an algorithm that employs an empirical multi-wavelength flux model of quasars to assign quasar probabilities. Our variability selection uses the multi-band χ"2-probability that sources are constant in the DES Year 1 griz-band light curves. The completeness and efficiency are calculated relative to an underlying sample of point sources that are detected in the required selection bands and pass our data quality and photometric error cuts. We conduct our analyses at two magnitude limits, i 85% for both i-band magnitude limits and efficiencies of >80% to the bright limit and >60% to the faint limit; however, the giW1 and giW1+variability methods give the highest quasar surface densities. The XDQSOz method and combinations of W1W2/giW1/XDQSOz with variability are among the better selection methods when both high completeness and high efficiency are desired. We also present the OzDES Quasar Catalog of 1263 spectroscopically confirmed quasars from three years of OzDES observation in the 30 deg"2 of the DES supernova fields. Finally, the catalog includes quasars with redshifts up to z ~ 4 and brighter than i = 22 mag, although the catalog is not complete up to this magnitude limit.

Overview of the SDSS-IV MaNGA Survey: Mapping nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bundy, Kevin; Bershady, Matthew A.; Law, David R.; Yan, Renbin; Drory, Niv; MacDonald, Nicholas; Wake, David A.; Cherinka, Brian; Sánchez-Gallego, José R.; Weijmans, Anne-Marie; Thomas, Daniel; Tremonti, Christy; Masters, Karen; Coccato, Lodovico; Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M.; Aragón-Salamanca, Alfonso; Avila-Reese, Vladimir; Badenes, Carles; Falcón-Barroso, Jésus; Belfiore, Francesco; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Blanc, Guillermo A.; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Blanton, Michael R.; Brownstein, Joel R.; Byler, Nell; Cappellari, Michele; Conroy, Charlie; Dutton, Aaron A.; Emsellem, Eric; Etherington, James; Frinchaboy, Peter M.; Fu, Hai; Gunn, James E.; Harding, Paul; Johnston, Evelyn J.; Kauffmann, Guinevere; Kinemuchi, Karen; Klaene, Mark A.; Knapen, Johan H.; Leauthaud, Alexie; Li, Cheng; Lin, Lihwai; Maiolino, Roberto; Malanushenko, Viktor; Malanushenko, Elena; Mao, Shude; Maraston, Claudia; McDermid, Richard M.; Merrifield, Michael R.; Nichol, Robert C.; Oravetz, Daniel; Pan, Kaike; Parejko, John K.; Sanchez, Sebastian F.; Schlegel, David; Simmons, Audrey; Steele, Oliver; Steinmetz, Matthias; Thanjavur, Karun; Thompson, Benjamin A.; Tinker, Jeremy L.; van den Bosch, Remco C. E.; Westfall, Kyle B.; Wilkinson, David; Wright, Shelley; Xiao, Ting; Zhang, Kai

We present an overview of a new integral field spectroscopic survey called MaNGA (Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory), one of three core programs in the fourth-generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) that began on 2014 July 1. MaNGA will investigate the internal kinematic

On inferring extinction laws in z ~ 6 quasars as signatures of supernova dust

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjorth, Jens; Vreeswijk, P.M.; Gall, C.

2013-01-01

Unusual extinction curves of high-redshift QSOs have been taken as evidence that dust is primarily produced by supernovae at high redshift. In particular, the 3000 Å Todini-Ferrara-Maiolino kink in the extinction curve of the z = 6.20 SDSS J1048+4637 has been attributed to supernova dust. Here we...... theoretical extinction curves. In a sample of 21 QSOs at z ~ 6 we detect significant ultraviolet extinction using existing broadband optical, near-infrared, and Spitzer photometry. The median extinction curve is consistent with a Small Magellanic Cloud curve with A ~ 0.7 mag and does not exhibit any...... conspicuous (rest frame) 2175 Å or 3000 Å features. For two QSOs, SDSS J1044-0125 at z = 5.78 and SDSS J1030+0524 at z = 6.31, we further present X-shooter spectra covering the wavelength range 0.9-2.5 µm. The resulting non-parametric extinction curves do not exhibit the 3000 Å kink. Finally, in a re...

A MISMATCH IN THE ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRA BETWEEN LOW-REDSHIFT AND INTERMEDIATE-REDSHIFT TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE AS A POSSIBLE SYSTEMATIC UNCERTAINTY FOR SUPERNOVA COSMOLOGY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Foley, Ryan J. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Filippenko, Alexei V. [Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States); Kessler, Richard; Frieman, Joshua A. [Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, The University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Bassett, Bruce; Smith, Mathew [Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701 (South Africa); Garnavich, Peter M. [Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, 225 Nieuwland Science, Notre Dame, IN 46556-5670 (United States); Jha, Saurabh W. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, 136 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (United States); Konishi, Kohki [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, 5-1-5, Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582 (Japan); Lampeitl, Hubert [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Mercantile House, Hampshire Terrace, Portsmouth PO1 2EG (United Kingdom); Riess, Adam G. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Sako, Masao [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Schneider, Donald P. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 Davey Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Sollerman, Jesper, E-mail: rfoley@cfa.harvard.edu [Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm (Sweden)

2012-05-15

We present Keck high-quality rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) through optical spectra of 21 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the redshift range 0.11 {<=} z {<=} 0.37 and a mean redshift of 0.22 that were discovered during the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II (SDSS-II) SN Survey. Using the broadband photometry of the SDSS survey, we are able to reconstruct the SN host-galaxy spectral energy distributions (SEDs), allowing for a correction for the host-galaxy contamination in the SN Ia spectra. Comparison of composite spectra constructed from a subsample of 17 high-quality spectra to those created from a low-redshift sample with otherwise similar properties shows that the Keck/SDSS SNe Ia have, on average, extremely similar rest-frame optical spectra but show a UV flux excess. This observation is confirmed by comparing synthesized broadband colors of the individual spectra, showing a difference in mean colors at the 2.4{sigma}-4.4{sigma} level for various UV colors. We further see a slight difference in the UV spectral shape between SNe with low-mass and high-mass host galaxies. Additionally, we detect a relationship between the flux ratio at 2770 and 2900 A and peak luminosity that differs from that observed at low redshift. We find that changing the UV SED of an SN Ia within the observed dispersion can change the inferred distance moduli by {approx}0.1 mag. This effect only occurs when the data probe the rest-frame UV. We suggest that this discrepancy could be due to differences in the host-galaxy population of the two SN samples or to small-sample statistics.

Target Selection for the SDSS-III MARVELS Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Paegert, Martin; Stassun, Keivan G.; De Lee, Nathan; Pepper, Joshua; Fleming, Scott W.; Sivarani, Thirupathi; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Mack, Claude E., III; Dhital, Saurav; Hebb, Leslie; Ge, Jian

2015-06-01

We present the target selection process for the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanets Large-area Survey (MARVELS), which is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) III. MARVELS is a medium-resolution (R ∼ 11,000) multi-fiber spectrograph capable of obtaining radial velocities for 60 objects at a time in order to find brown dwarfs and giant planets. The survey was configured to target dwarf stars with effective temperatures approximately between 4500 and 6250 K. For the first 2 years MARVELS relied on low-resolution spectroscopic pre-observations to estimate the effective temperature and log (g) for candidate stars and then selected suitable dwarf stars from this pool. Ultimately, the pre-observation spectra proved ineffective at filtering out giant stars; many giants were incorrectly classified as dwarfs, resulting in a giant contamination rate of ∼30% for the first phase of the MARVELS survey. Thereafter, the survey instead applied a reduced proper motion cut to eliminate giants and used the Infrared Flux Method to estimate effective temperatures, using only extant photmetric and proper-motion catalog information. The target selection method introduced here may be useful for other surveys that need to rely on extant catalog data for selection of specific stellar populations.

Dusty WDs in the WISE all sky survey ∩ SDSS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barber, Sara D.; Kilic, Mukremin; Gianninas, A. [Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, 440 W. Brooks St., Norman, OK 73019 (United States); Brown, Warren R., E-mail: barber@nhn.ou.edu [Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2014-05-10

A recent cross-correlation between the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 White Dwarf Catalog with the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) all-sky photometry at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm performed by Debes et al. resulted in the discovery of 52 candidate dusty white dwarfs (WDs). However, the 6'' WISE beam allows for the possibility that many of the excesses exhibited by these WDs may be due to contamination from a nearby source. We present MMT+SAO Wide-Field InfraRed Camera J- and H-band imaging observations (0.''5-1.''5 point spread function) of 16 of these candidate dusty WDs and confirm that four have spectral energy distributions (SEDs) consistent with a dusty disk and are not accompanied by a nearby source contaminant. The remaining 12 WDs have contaminated WISE photometry and SEDs inconsistent with a dusty disk when the contaminating sources are not included in the photometry measurements. We find the frequency of disks around single WDs in the WISE ∩ SDSS sample to be 2.6%-4.1%. One of the four new dusty WDs has a mass of 1.04 M {sub ☉} (progenitor mass 5.4 M {sub ☉}) and its discovery offers the first confirmation that massive WDs (and their massive progenitor stars) host planetary systems.

SDSS-III: Massive Spectroscopic Surveys of the Distant Universe, the Milky Way Galaxy, and Extra-Solar Planetary Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eisenstein, Daniel J.; /Arizona U., Astron. Dept. - Steward Observ. /Harvard U., Phys. Dept.; Weinberg, David H.; /Ohio State U.; Agol, Eric; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Aihara, Hiroaki; /Tokyo U.; Prieto, Carlos Allende; /Laguna U., Tenerife; Anderson, Scott F.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Arns, James A.; /Michigan U.; Aubourg, Eric; /APC, Paris /DAPNIA, Saclay; Bailey, Stephen; /LBL, Berkeley; Balbinot, Eduardo; /Rio Grande do Sul U. /Rio de Janeiro Observ.; Barkhouser, Robert; /Johns Hopkins U. /Michigan State U.

2011-01-01

Building on the legacy of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-I and II), SDSS-III is a program of four spectroscopic surveys on three scientific themes: dark energy and cosmological parameters, the history and structure of the Milky Way, and the population of giant planets around other stars. The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) will measure redshifts of 1.5 million massive galaxies and Ly{alpha} forest spectra of 150,000 quasars, using the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) feature of large scale structure to obtain percent-level determinations of the distance scale and Hubble expansion rate at z < 0.7 and at z {approx} 2.5. SEGUE-2, a now-completed continuation of the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration, measured medium-resolution (R = {lambda}/{Delta}{lambda} 1800) optical spectra of 118,000 stars in a variety of target categories, probing chemical evolution, stellar kinematics and substructure, and the mass profile of the dark matter halo from the solar neighborhood to distances of 100 kpc. APOGEE, the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment, will obtain high-resolution (R {approx} 30,000), high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N {ge} 100 per resolution element), H-band (1.51 {micro}m < {lambda} < 1.70 {micro}m) spectra of 10{sup 5} evolved, late-type stars, measuring separate abundances for {approx} 15 elements per star and creating the first high-precision spectroscopic survey of all Galactic stellar populations (bulge, bar, disks, halo) with a uniform set of stellar tracers and spectral diagnostics. The Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Large-area Survey (MARVELS) will monitor radial velocities of more than 8000 FGK stars with the sensitivity and cadence (10-40 m s{sup -1}, {approx} 24 visits per star) needed to detect giant planets with periods up to two years, providing an unprecedented data set for understanding the formation and dynamical evolution of giant planet systems. As of January 2011, SDSS-III has obtained

Spectroscopic standardisation of Ia type supernovae within the frame of the Supernovae Legacy Survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Du, Jeremy

2008-09-01

This research thesis first proposes an overview of cosmology science since antiquity until modern times, of its fast development during the 20. century (discovery of galaxies, introduction of general relativity), of the standard cosmological model (Friedman-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker metrics, equations of Friedman-Lemaitre, universe radius and curvature, universe evolution, energetic assessment), of the issue of black matter and black energy, and of cosmological probes (diffuse cosmological background, gravitational lenses). The second part presents supernovae: origin, explosion mechanisms, diversity, Ia supernovae). The third part presents the Supernovae Legacy Survey (SNLS): objectives and instruments of the SNLS program, detection strategy. The fourth part describes the spectroscopy of SNLS candidates to the VLT (Very Large Telescope): reduction of spectral data, subtraction of the host galaxy and identification of the supernova, assessment of method performance, flux and position errors, assessment of VLT observations. The fifth part discusses the variability of spectral characteristics of Ia supernovae: measurement of spectral indicators, study of SiII(4128A) line, study of the CaHandK region, equivalent depth as a new spectral indicator. The sixth part discusses cosmological implications of the SNLS, and the last part briefly reports and comments the measurement of spectroscopic indicators in the SNAP/JDEM experiment

The SDSS-IV in 2015: Report of the Committee on the Participation of Women in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M.; Lucatello, Sara; Aragon-Salamanca, Alfonso; Cherinka, Brian; Cunha, Katia M. L.; Gillespie, Bruce Andrew; Hagen, Alex; Jones, Amy; Kinemuchi, Karen; Lundgren, Britt; Myers, Adam D.; Roman, Alexandre; Zasowski, Gail; SDSS-IV Collaboration

2016-01-01

Given that many astronomers now participate in large international scientific collaborations, it is important to examine whether these structures foster a healthy scientific climate that is inclusive and diverse. The Committee on the Participation of Women in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (CPWS) was formed to evaluate the climate and demographics within the SDSS collaboration and to make recommendations for how best to establish the scientific and technical leadership team for SDSS-IV. Building on the work described in Lundgren et al. (2015), the CPWS conducted a demographic survey in Spring 2015 that included questions about career and leadership status, racial / ethnic identity, gender identity, identification with the LGBT community, disability, partnership status, and level of parental education. For example, 71% of survey respondents identify as male and 81% do not identify as a racial or ethnic minority at their current institution. This reflects the under-representation of women and men from minority groups (e.g., people of color in the United States) and women from majority groups (e.g., white women in the United States) in the field of astronomy. We have focused our analysis on the representation of scientists from these groups among the SDSS-IV leadership and the full collaboration. Our goal is to use these quantitative data to track the demographics of SDSS-IV membership and leadership over time as we work to assess and improve the climate of SDSS-IV.

Follow up observations of SDSS and CRTS candidate cataclysmic variables

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Szkody, Paula; Vasquez-Soltero, Stephanie [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, P.O. Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Everett, Mark E.; Silva, David R. [National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States); Howell, Steve B. [NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States); Landolt, Arlo U. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (United States); Bond, Howard E., E-mail: szkody@astro.washington.edu, E-mail: dsilva@noao.edu, E-mail: steve.b.howell@nasa.gov, E-mail: landolt@rouge.phys.lsu.edu, E-mail: heb11@psu.edu [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)

2014-10-01

We present photometry and spectroscopy of 11 and 35 potential cataclysmic variables, respectively, from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey, and vsnet alerts. The photometry results include quasi-periodic oscillations during the decline of V1363 Cyg, nightly accretion changes in the likely Polar (AM Herculis binary) SDSS J1344+20, eclipses in SDSS J2141+05 with an orbital period of 76 ± 2 minutes, and possible eclipses in SDSS J2158+09 at an orbital period near 100 minutes. Time-resolved spectra reveal short orbital periods near 80 minutes for SDSS J0206+20, 85 minutes for SDSS J1502+33, and near 100 minutes for CSS J0015+26, RXS J0150+37, SDSS J1132+62, SDSS J2154+15, and SDSS J2158+09. The prominent He II line and velocity amplitude of SDSS J2154+15 are consistent with a Polar nature for this object, while the absence of this line and a low velocity amplitude argue against this classification for RXS J0150+37. Single spectra of 10 objects were obtained near outburst and the rest near quiescence, confirming the dwarf novae nature of these objects.

Planck intermediate results XXXI. Microwave survey of Galactic supernova remnants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Atrio-Barandela, F.

2016-01-01

The all-sky Planck survey in 9 frequency bands was used to search for emission from all 274 known Galactic supernova remnants. Of these, 16 were detected in at least two Planck frequencies. The radio-through-microwave spectral energy distributions were compiled to determine the mechanism for micr......The all-sky Planck survey in 9 frequency bands was used to search for emission from all 274 known Galactic supernova remnants. Of these, 16 were detected in at least two Planck frequencies. The radio-through-microwave spectral energy distributions were compiled to determine the mechanism...... for microwave emission. In only one case, IC 443, is there high-frequency emission clearly from dust associated with the supernova remnant. In all cases, the low-frequency emission is from synchrotron radiation. As predicted for a population of relativistic particles with energy distribution that extends...

A Statistical Study of Brown Dwarf Companions from the SDSS-III MARVELS Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Grieves, Nolan; Ge, Jian; Thomas, Neil; Ma, Bo; De Lee, Nathan M.; Lee, Brian L.; Fleming, Scott W.; Sithajan, Sirinrat; Varosi, Frank; Liu, Jian; Zhao, Bo; Li, Rui; Agol, Eric; MARVELS Team

2016-01-01

We present 23 new Brown Dwarf (BD) candidates from the Multi-object APO Radial-Velocity Exoplanet Large-Area Survey (MARVELS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III). The BD candidates were selected from the processed MARVELS data using the latest University of Florida 2D pipeline, which shows significant improvement and reduction of systematic errors over the 1D pipeline results included in the SDSS Data Release 12. This sample is the largest BD yield from a single radial velocity survey. Of the 23 candidates, 18 are around main sequence stars and 5 are around giant stars. Given a giant contamination rate of ~24% for the MARVELS survey, we find a BD occurrence rate around main sequence stars of ~0.7%, which agrees with previous studies and confirms the BD desert, while the BD occurrence rate around the MARVELS giant stars is ~0.6%. Preliminary results show that our new candidates around solar type stars support a two population hypothesis, where BDs are divided at a mass of ~42.5 MJup. BDs less massive than 42.5 MJup have eccentricity distributions consistent with planet-planet scattering models, where BDs more massive than 42.5 MJup have both period and eccentricity distributions similar to that of stellar binaries. Special Brown Dwarf systems such as multiple BD systems and highly eccentric BDs will also be presented.

Measurement of the evolution of type Ia supernovae explosion rate as a function of redshift in the SuperNovae Legacy Survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ripoche, Pascal

2007-01-01

This research thesis reports works performed within the frame of the SuperNovae Legacy Survey (SNLS) which is one of the second-generation experiment exploiting Ia supernovae as cosmological source, and allows 8 billions or years of universe expansion to be observed by means of the Canada France Hawaii Telescope and a systematic detection of supernovae. The first part addresses cosmology and supernovae, and notably shows how Ia supernovae can used as cosmological probe to constraint cosmological parameters. Other methods of measurement of these parameters are briefly explained. The SNLS experiment is then presented: description of the experiment and of the supernovae detection chain, image processing. The author then presents a detailed simulation which has been developed to simulate Ia supernovae on the experiment images. He also presents associated tools and tests. This simulation is then used to study the efficiencies and weaknesses of supernovae detection by the SNLS. The measurement of the Ia supernovae explosion rate is then measured with respect to cosmic evolution [fr

The SDSS Coadd: A Galaxy Photometric Redshift Catalog

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reis, Ribamar R.R.; /Fermilab /Rio de Janeiro Federal U.; Soares-Santos, Marcelle; /Fermilab /Inst. Geo. Astron., Havana /Sao Paulo U.; Annis, James; /Fermilab; Dodelson, Scott; /Fermilab /Chicago U. /Chicago U., KICP; Hao, Jiangang; /Fermilab; Johnston, David; /Fermilab; Kubo, Jeffrey; /Fermilab; Lin, Huan; /Fermilab; Seo, Hee-Jong; /UC, Berkeley; Simet, Melanie; /Chicago U.

2011-11-01

We present and describe a catalog of galaxy photometric redshifts (photo-z's) for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Coadd Data. We use the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) technique to calculate photo-z's and the Nearest Neighbor Error (NNE) method to estimate photo-z errors for {approx} 13 million objects classified as galaxies in the coadd with r < 24.5. The photo-z and photo-z error estimators are trained and validated on a sample of {approx} 89, 000 galaxies that have SDSS photometry and spectroscopic redshifts measured by the SDSS Data Release 7 (DR7), the Canadian Network for Observational Cosmology Field Galaxy Survey (CNOC2), the Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe Data Release 3(DEEP2 DR3), the SDSS-III's Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), the Visible imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph - Very Large Telescope Deep Survey (VVDS) and the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey. For the best ANN methods we have tried, we find that 68% of the galaxies in the validation set have a photo-z error smaller than {sigma}{sub 68} = 0.036. After presenting our results and quality tests, we provide a short guide for users accessing the public data.

Offline analysis of the SuperNova Legacy Survey data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bazin, Gurvan

2008-01-01

This thesis aims at developing a photometry-based procedure for the selection of Type Ia Supernovae. More precisely, a first objective is to confirm possible biases in the spectroscopic selection of the SuperNova Legacy Survey (SNLS), and to determine their consequence on the distance module. A second one is to to study the feasibility of a purely photometric analysis within the perspective of future large projects in cosmology. After a presentation of supernovae, of their physical properties, and more particularly those which are used in cosmology, i.e. Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia), the author presents the cosmological framework, and the parameters of the standard cosmological model (Hubble constant, matter density, black energy density). The experimental context is then presented with measurements of the Canada France Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS), and a method used to search for SNe Ia. In the next part, the author describes the different steps of the differed procedure of data processing, from raw images directly extracted from the telescope to the characterisation of light curves of detected objects. Different tools are presented: the SALT2 model of light curves, the simulation of SNe Ia light curves, and an image simulation. The purely photometric selection of SNe Ia is then presented along with steps used to eliminate background noise. Obtained results are then discussed and compared with real time analysis [fr

TWO LENSED z ≅ 3 LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES DISCOVERED IN THE SDSS GIANT ARCS SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koester, Benjamin P.; Gladders, Michael D.; Sharon, Keren; Wuyts, Eva; Bayliss, Matthew B.; Hennawi, Joseph F.; Rigby, J. R.; Dahle, Hakon

2010-01-01

We report the discovery of two strongly lensed z ∼ 3 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) discovered as u-band dropouts as part of the SDSS Giant Arcs Survey (SGAS). The first, SGAS J122651.3+215220 at z = 2.9233, is lensed by one of several sub-clusters, SDSS J1226+2152, in a complex massive cluster at z = 0.43. Its (g, r, i) magnitudes are (21.14, 20.60, 20.51) which translate to surface brightnesses, μ g,r,i , of (23.78, 23.11, 22.81). The second, SGAS J152745.1+065219, is an LBG at z = 2.7593 lensed by the foreground SDSS J1527+0652 at z = 0.39, with (g, r, z) = (20.90, 20.52, 20.58) and μ g,r,z = (25.15, 24.52, 24.12). Moderate resolution spectroscopy confirms the redshifts suggested by photometric breaks and shows both absorption and emission features typical of LBGs. Lens mass models derived from combined imaging and spectroscopy reveal that SGAS J122651.3+215220 is a highly magnified source (M ≅ 40), while SGAS J152745.1+065219 is magnified by no more than M ≅ 15. Compared with LBG survey results, the luminosities and lensing-corrected magnitudes suggest that SGAS J122651.3+215220 is among the faintest ≅20% of LBGs in that sample. SGAS J152745.1+065219, on the other hand, has an unlensed r-band apparent magnitude similar to that of the 'Cosmic Eye', which places it near the mean of LBG survey results over similar redshifts.

Requirements on the Redshift Accuracy for future Supernova and Number Count Surveys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huterer, Dragan; Kim, Alex; Broderick, Tamara

2004-01-01

We investigate the required redshift accuracy of type Ia supernova and cluster number-count surveys in order for the redshift uncertainties not to contribute appreciably to the dark energy parameter error budget. For the SNAP supernova experiment, we find that, without the assistance of ground-based measurements, individual supernova redshifts would need to be determined to about 0.002 or better, which is a challenging but feasible requirement for a low-resolution spectrograph. However, we find that accurate redshifts for z < 0.1 supernovae, obtained with ground-based experiments, are sufficient to immunize the results against even relatively large redshift errors at high z. For the future cluster number-count surveys such as the South Pole Telescope, Planck or DUET, we find that the purely statistical error in photometric redshift is less important, and that the irreducible, systematic bias in redshift drives the requirements. The redshift bias will have to be kept below 0.001-0.005 per redshift bin (which is determined by the filter set), depending on the sky coverage and details of the definition of the minimal mass of the survey. Furthermore, we find that X-ray surveys have a more stringent required redshift accuracy than Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect surveys since they use a shorter lever arm in redshift; conversely, SZ surveys benefit from their high redshift reach only so long as some redshift information is available for distant (zgtrsim1) clusters

Supernova explosions

CERN Document Server

Branch, David

2017-01-01

Targeting advanced students of astronomy and physics, as well as astronomers and physicists contemplating research on supernovae or related fields, David Branch and J. Craig Wheeler offer a modern account of the nature, causes and consequences of supernovae, as well as of issues that remain to be resolved. Owing especially to (1) the appearance of supernova 1987A in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, (2) the spectacularly successful use of supernovae as distance indicators for cosmology, (3) the association of some supernovae with the enigmatic cosmic gamma-ray bursts, and (4) the discovery of a class of superluminous supernovae, the pace of supernova research has been increasing sharply. This monograph serves as a broad survey of modern supernova research and a guide to the current literature. The book’s emphasis is on the explosive phases of supernovae. Part 1 is devoted to a survey of the kinds of observations that inform us about supernovae, some basic interpreta tions of such data, and an overview of t...

The Foundation Supernova Survey: motivation, design, implementation, and first data release

Science.gov (United States)

Foley, Ryan J.; Scolnic, Daniel; Rest, Armin; Jha, S. W.; Pan, Y.-C.; Riess, A. G.; Challis, P.; Chambers, K. C.; Coulter, D. A.; Dettman, K. G.; Foley, M. M.; Fox, O. D.; Huber, M. E.; Jones, D. O.; Kilpatrick, C. D.; Kirshner, R. P.; Schultz, A. S. B.; Siebert, M. R.; Flewelling, H. A.; Gibson, B.; Magnier, E. A.; Miller, J. A.; Primak, N.; Smartt, S. J.; Smith, K. W.; Wainscoat, R. J.; Waters, C.; Willman, M.

2018-03-01

The Foundation Supernova Survey aims to provide a large, high-fidelity, homogeneous, and precisely calibrated low-redshift Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) sample for cosmology. The calibration of the current low-redshift SN sample is the largest component of systematic uncertainties for SN cosmology, and new data are necessary to make progress. We present the motivation, survey design, observation strategy, implementation, and first results for the Foundation Supernova Survey. We are using the Pan-STARRS telescope to obtain photometry for up to 800 SNe Ia at z ≲ 0.1. This strategy has several unique advantages: (1) the Pan-STARRS system is a superbly calibrated telescopic system, (2) Pan-STARRS has observed 3/4 of the sky in grizyP1 making future template observations unnecessary, (3) we have a well-tested data-reduction pipeline, and (4) we have observed ˜3000 high-redshift SNe Ia on this system. Here, we present our initial sample of 225 SN Ia grizP1 light curves, of which 180 pass all criteria for inclusion in a cosmological sample. The Foundation Supernova Survey already contains more cosmologically useful SNe Ia than all other published low-redshift SN Ia samples combined. We expect that the systematic uncertainties for the Foundation Supernova Sample will be two to three times smaller than other low-redshift samples. We find that our cosmologically useful sample has an intrinsic scatter of 0.111 mag, smaller than other low-redshift samples. We perform detailed simulations showing that simply replacing the current low-redshift SN Ia sample with an equally sized Foundation sample will improve the precision on the dark energy equation-of-state parameter by 35 per cent, and the dark energy figure of merit by 72 per cent.

The dark energy survey Y1 supernova search: Survey strategy compared to forecasts and the photometric type Is SN volumetric rate

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, John Arthur

For 70 years, the physics community operated under the assumption that the expansion of the Universe must be slowing due to gravitational attraction. Then, in 1998, two teams of scientists used Type Ia supernovae to discover that cosmic expansion was actually acceler- ating due to a mysterious "dark energy." As a result, Type Ia supernovae have become the most cosmologically important transient events in the last 20 years, with a large amount of effort going into their discovery as well as understanding their progenitor systems. One such probe for understanding Type Ia supernovae is to use rate measurements to de- termine the time delay between star formation and supernova explosion. For the last 30 years, the discovery of individual Type Ia supernova events has been accelerating. How- ever, those discoveries were happening in time-domain surveys that probed only a portion of the redshift range where expansion was impacted by dark energy. The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is the first project in the "next generation" of time-domain surveys that will discovery thousands of Type Ia supernovae out to a redshift of 1.2 (where dark energy be- comes subdominant) and DES will have better systematic uncertainties over that redshift range than any survey to date. In order to gauge the discovery effectiveness of this survey, we will use the first season's 469 photometrically typed supernovee and compare it with simulations in order to update the full survey Type Ia projections from 3500 to 2250. We will then use 165 of the 469 supernovae out to a redshift of 0.6 to measure the supernovae rate both as a function of comoving volume and of the star formation rate as it evolves with redshift. We find the most statistically significant prompt fraction of any survey to date (with a 3.9? prompt fraction detection). We will also reinforce the already existing tension in the measurement of the delayed fraction between high (z > 1.2) and low red- shift rate measurements, where we find no

Photometric classification of type Ia supernovae in the SuperNova Legacy Survey with supervised learning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Möller, A. [Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611 (Australia); Ruhlmann-Kleider, V.; Leloup, C.; Neveu, J.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Rich, J. [Irfu, SPP, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex (France); Carlberg, R. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Lidman, C. [Australian Astronomical Observatory, North Ryde, NSW 2113 (Australia); Pritchet, C., E-mail: anais.moller@anu.edu.au, E-mail: vanina.ruhlmann-kleider@cea.fr, E-mail: clement.leloup@cea.fr, E-mail: jneveu@lal.in2p3.fr, E-mail: nathalie.palanque-delabrouille@cea.fr, E-mail: james.rich@cea.fr, E-mail: raymond.carlberg@utoronto.ca, E-mail: chris.lidman@aao.gov.au, E-mail: pritchet@uvic.ca [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3055, Victoria, BC V8W 3P6 (Canada)

2016-12-01

In the era of large astronomical surveys, photometric classification of supernovae (SNe) has become an important research field due to limited spectroscopic resources for candidate follow-up and classification. In this work, we present a method to photometrically classify type Ia supernovae based on machine learning with redshifts that are derived from the SN light-curves. This method is implemented on real data from the SNLS deferred pipeline, a purely photometric pipeline that identifies SNe Ia at high-redshifts (0.2 < z < 1.1). Our method consists of two stages: feature extraction (obtaining the SN redshift from photometry and estimating light-curve shape parameters) and machine learning classification. We study the performance of different algorithms such as Random Forest and Boosted Decision Trees. We evaluate the performance using SN simulations and real data from the first 3 years of the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS), which contains large spectroscopically and photometrically classified type Ia samples. Using the Area Under the Curve (AUC) metric, where perfect classification is given by 1, we find that our best-performing classifier (Extreme Gradient Boosting Decision Tree) has an AUC of 0.98.We show that it is possible to obtain a large photometrically selected type Ia SN sample with an estimated contamination of less than 5%. When applied to data from the first three years of SNLS, we obtain 529 events. We investigate the differences between classifying simulated SNe, and real SN survey data. In particular, we find that applying a thorough set of selection cuts to the SN sample is essential for good classification. This work demonstrates for the first time the feasibility of machine learning classification in a high- z SN survey with application to real SN data.

Photometric classification of type Ia supernovae in the SuperNova Legacy Survey with supervised learning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Möller, A.; Ruhlmann-Kleider, V.; Leloup, C.; Neveu, J.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Rich, J.; Carlberg, R.; Lidman, C.; Pritchet, C.

2016-01-01

In the era of large astronomical surveys, photometric classification of supernovae (SNe) has become an important research field due to limited spectroscopic resources for candidate follow-up and classification. In this work, we present a method to photometrically classify type Ia supernovae based on machine learning with redshifts that are derived from the SN light-curves. This method is implemented on real data from the SNLS deferred pipeline, a purely photometric pipeline that identifies SNe Ia at high-redshifts (0.2 < z < 1.1). Our method consists of two stages: feature extraction (obtaining the SN redshift from photometry and estimating light-curve shape parameters) and machine learning classification. We study the performance of different algorithms such as Random Forest and Boosted Decision Trees. We evaluate the performance using SN simulations and real data from the first 3 years of the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS), which contains large spectroscopically and photometrically classified type Ia samples. Using the Area Under the Curve (AUC) metric, where perfect classification is given by 1, we find that our best-performing classifier (Extreme Gradient Boosting Decision Tree) has an AUC of 0.98.We show that it is possible to obtain a large photometrically selected type Ia SN sample with an estimated contamination of less than 5%. When applied to data from the first three years of SNLS, we obtain 529 events. We investigate the differences between classifying simulated SNe, and real SN survey data. In particular, we find that applying a thorough set of selection cuts to the SN sample is essential for good classification. This work demonstrates for the first time the feasibility of machine learning classification in a high- z SN survey with application to real SN data.

Mass Functions of the Active Black Holes in Distant Quasars from the Large Bright Quasar Survey, the Bright Quasar Survey, and the Color-Selected Sample of the SDSS Fall Equatorial Stripe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestergaard, Marianne; Osmer, Patrick S.

2009-01-01

We present mass functions of distant actively accreting supermassive black holes residing in luminous quasars discovered in the Large Bright Quasar Survey, the Bright Quasar Survey, and the Fall Equatorial Stripe of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The quasars cover a wide range of redshifts (0...... functions at similar redshifts based on the SDSS Data Release 3 quasar catalog presented by Vestergaard et al. We see clear evidence of cosmic downsizing in the comoving space density distribution of active black holes in the LBQS sample alone. In forthcoming papers, further analysis, comparison......, and discussion of these mass functions will be made with other existing black hole mass functions, notably that based on the SDSS DR3 quasar catalog. We present the relationships used to estimate the black hole mass based on the MgII emission line; the relations are calibrated to the Hbeta and CIV relations...

WISE PHOTOMETRY FOR 400 MILLION SDSS SOURCES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lang, Dustin; Hogg, David W.; Schlegel, David J.

2016-01-01

We present photometry of images from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) of over 400 million sources detected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We use a “forced photometry” technique, using measured SDSS source positions, star–galaxy classification, and galaxy profiles to define the sources whose fluxes are to be measured in the WISE images. We perform photometry with The Tractor image modeling code, working on our “unWISE” coaddds and taking account of the WISE point-spread function and a noise model. The result is a measurement of the flux of each SDSS source in each WISE band. Many sources have little flux in the WISE bands, so often the measurements we report are consistent with zero given our uncertainties. However, for many sources we get 3σ or 4σ measurements; these sources would not be reported by the “official” WISE pipeline and will not appear in the WISE catalog, yet they can be highly informative for some scientific questions. In addition, these small-signal measurements can be used in stacking analyses at the catalog level. The forced photometry approach has the advantage that we measure a consistent set of sources between SDSS and WISE, taking advantage of the resolution and depth of the SDSS images to interpret the WISE images; objects that are resolved in SDSS but blended together in WISE still have accurate measurements in our photometry. Our results, and the code used to produce them, are publicly available at http://unwise.me

RUNAWAY DWARF CARBON STARS AS CANDIDATE SUPERNOVA EJECTA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Plant, Kathryn A.; Margon, Bruce; Guhathakurta, Puragra; Cunningham, Emily C.; Toloba, Elisa [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and University of California Observatories, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Munn, Jeffrey A., E-mail: kaplant@ucsc.edu [US Naval Observatory, Flagstaff Station, 10391 West Naval Observatory Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86005-8521 (United States)

2016-12-20

The dwarf carbon (dC) star SDSS J112801.67+004034.6 has an unusually high radial velocity, 531 ± 4 km s{sup −1}. We present proper motion and new spectroscopic observations which imply a large Galactic rest frame velocity, 425 ± 9 km s{sup −1}. Several other SDSS dC stars are also inferred to have very high galactocentric velocities, again each based on both high heliocentric radial velocity and also confidently detected proper motions. Extreme velocities and the presence of C {sub 2} bands in the spectra of dwarf stars are both rare. Passage near the Galactic center can accelerate stars to such extreme velocities, but the large orbital angular momentum of SDSS J1128 precludes this explanation. Ejection from a supernova in a binary system or disruption of a binary by other stars are possibilities, particularly as dC stars are thought to obtain their photospheric C {sub 2} via mass transfer from an evolved companion.

THE EXTENDED HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SUPERNOVA SURVEY: THE RATE OF CORE COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE TO z {approx} 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dahlen, Tomas; Riess, Adam G. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Strolger, Louis-Gregory [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101 (United States); Mattila, Seppo; Kankare, Erkki [Tuorla Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku, Vaeisaelaentie 20, FI-21500 Piikkioe (Finland); Mobasher, Bahram, E-mail: dahlen@stsci.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521 (United States)

2012-09-20

We use a sample of 45 core collapse supernovae detected with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on board the Hubble Space Telescope to derive the core collapse supernova rate in the redshift range 0.1 < z < 1.3. In redshift bins centered on (z) = 0.39, (z) = 0.73, and (z) = 1.11, we find rates of 3.00{sup +1.28}{sub -0.94} {sup +1.04}{sub -0.57}, 7.39{sup +1.86}{sub -1.52} {sup +3.20}{sub -1.60}, and 9.57{sup +3.76}{sub -2.80} {sup +4.96}{sub -2.80}, respectively, given in units of yr{sup -1} Mpc{sup -3} 10{sup -4} h {sup 3}{sub 70}. The rates have been corrected for host galaxy extinction, including supernovae missed in highly dust-enshrouded environments in infrared bright galaxies. The first errors are statistical while the second ones are the estimated systematic errors. We perform a detailed discussion of possible sources of systematic errors and note that these start to dominate over statistical errors at z > 0.5, emphasizing the need to better control the systematic effects. For example, a better understanding of the amount of dust extinction in the host galaxies and knowledge of the supernova luminosity function, in particular the fraction of faint M {approx}> -15 supernovae, is needed to better constrain the rates. When comparing our results with the core collapse supernova rate based on the star formation rate, we find a good agreement, consistent with the supernova rate following the star formation rate, as expected.

Analysis of the 5-year final dataset of the Supernova Legacy Survey project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fourmanoit, N.

2010-01-01

The Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) is a program that aims at discovering and photometrically following hundreds of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). Its goal is to measure the expansion history of the Universe in order to constrain the nature of the dark energy, namely its equation of state w DE . The survey completed its data taking during summer 2008 after 5 years of program. This thesis work consists in the analysis of these 5 years of SNLS data and the photometry of the 419 Type Ia supernovae discovered and spectroscopically identified. For each supernova, the light-curves are produced in the g M r M i M z M bands, calibrated and fitted with a spectrophotometric model. A new photometric method which does not make use of any pixel re-sampling has also been implemented and tested. This method preserves the pixels statistical properties, and produces this way more accurate flux measurement statistical uncertainties, that can be propagated to cosmological measurements. Both photometry results were checked and compared using calibration stars and supernovae, proving that the accuracy of the new method flux measurement uncertainty is indeed better, and that the photometric accuracy and stability of both techniques are similar. A sample of supernovae with unprecedented statistics and quality is now available for cosmological analysis. With the complement of an external nearby supernovae sample, a measurement within 5% of the dark energy equation of state of dark energy is thus for the first time within reach. (author)

The WIRED Survey. 2; Infrared Excesses in the SDSS DR7 White Dwarf Catalog

Science.gov (United States)

Debes, John H.; Hoard, D. W.; Wachter, Stefanie; Leisawitz, David T.; Cohen, Martin

2011-01-01

With the launch of the Wide-field Infrar.ed Survey Explorer (WISE), a new era of detecting planetary debris and brown dwarfs (BDs) around white dwarfs (WDs) has begun with the WISE InfraRed Excesses around Degenerates (WIRED) Survey. The WIRED Survey is sensitive to substellar objects and dusty debris around WDs out to distances exceeding 100 pc, well beyond the completeness level of local WDs. In this paper, we present a cross-correlation of the preliminary Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 (DR7) WD catalog between the WISE, Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS), and SDSS DR7 photometric catalogs. From -18,000 input targets, there are WISE detections comprising 344 "naked" WDs (detection of the WD photosphere only), 1020 candidate WD+M dwarf binaries, 42 candidate WD+BD systems, 52 candidate WD+dust disk systems, and 69 targets with indeterminate infrared excess. We classified all of the detected targets through spectral energy distribution model fitting of the merged optical, near-IR, and WISE photometry. Some of these detections could be the result of contaminating sources within the large (approx. 6") WISE point-spread function; we make a preliminary estimate for the rates of contamination for our WD+BD and WD+disk candidates and provide notes for each target of interest. Each candidate presented here should be confirmed with higher angular resolution infrared imaging or infrared spectroscopy. We also present an overview of the observational characteristics of the detected WDs in the WISE photometric bands, including the relative frequencies of candidate WD+M, WD+BD, and WD+disk systems.

LUMINOSITY FUNCTIONS OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE AND THEIR HOST GALAXIES FROM THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yasuda, Naoki; Fukugita, Masataka

2010-01-01

The sample of 137 low-redshift type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) with 0.05 ≤ z ≤ 0.3 obtained from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)-II supernova survey for the southern equatorial stripe of 300 deg 2 is used to derive the luminosity functions (LFs) of SNe Ia and of their host galaxies in the g, r, i passbands. We show that the LF of SNe Ia host galaxies matches well with that of galaxies in the general field, suggesting that the occurrence of SNe Ia does not favor a particular type of galaxy but is predominantly proportional to the luminosity of galaxies. The evidence is weak that the SNe rate varies with the color of host galaxies. The only evidence that points to possible correlation between the SN rate and star formation activity is that the SN rate in late-type galaxies is higher than that in early-type galaxies by 31% ± 35%. In our low-redshift sample, the component of type Ia SN rate that is proportional to star formation activity is not evident in the integrated SN rate, while our observation is compatible with the current two-component models. The sample contains eight SNe Ia whose host galaxies were not identified, but it is shown that their occurrence is consistent with them occurring in low-luminous galaxies beyond the survey. The LF of SNe Ia is approximately Gaussian with the full width at half-maximum being a factor of σ = 0.24 mag or 1.67 in luminosity. The Gaussian distribution becomes tighter if the ratio of extinction to reddening, R V , is lower than the characteristic value for the Milky Way and if luminosity is corrected for the light-curve shape. The average color excess is ∼0.07 mag, which is significantly smaller than reddening expected for field galaxies. This color excess does not vary with the distance of the SNe from the center of the host galaxy to 15 kpc. This suggests that the major part of the color excess appears to be either intrinsic or reddening that arises in the immediate environment of SNe, rather than interstellar

Cosmological Constraints From SDSS MaxBCG Cluster Abundances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozo, Eduardo; Wechsler, Risa H.; KICP, Chicago; Koester, Benjamin P.; McKay, Timothy A.; Evrard, August E.; Johnston, David; Sheldon, Erin S.; Annis, James; Frieman, Joshua A.

2007-01-01

We perform a maximum likelihood analysis of the cluster abundance measured in the SDSS using the maxBCG cluster finding algorithm. Our analysis is aimed at constraining the power spectrum normalization σ 8 , and assumes flat cosmologies with a scale invariant spectrum, massless neutrinos, and CMB and supernova priors (Omega) m h 2 = 0.128 ± 0.01 and h = 0.72 ± 0.05 respectively. Following the method described in the companion paper Rozo et al. (2007), we derive σ 8 = 0.92 ± 0.10 (1σ) after marginalizing over all major systematic uncertainties. We place strong lower limits on the normalization, σ 8 > 0.76 (95% CL) (> 0.68 at 99% CL). We also find that our analysis favors relatively low values for the slope of the Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD), α = 0.83 ± 0.06. The uncertainties of these determinations will substantially improve upon completion of an ongoing campaign to estimate dynamical, weak lensing, and X-ray cluster masses in the SDSS maxBCG cluster sample

Selections from 2017: Mapping the Universe with SDSS-IV

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-12-01

Editors note:In these last two weeks of 2017, well be looking at a few selections that we havent yet discussed on AAS Nova from among the most-downloaded paperspublished in AAS journals this year. The usual posting schedule will resume in January.Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV: Mapping the Milky Way, Nearby Galaxies, and the Distant UniversePublished June2017Main takeaway:The incredibly prolific Sloan Digital Sky Survey has provided photometric observations of around 500 million objects and spectra for more than 3 million objects. The survey has now entered its fourth iteration, SDSS-IV, with the first public data release made in June 2016. A publication led by Michael Blanton (New York University) describes the facilities used for SDSS-IV, its science goals, and itsthree coreprograms.Why its interesting:Since data collection began in 2000, SDSS has been one of the premier surveysproviding imaging and spectroscopy for objects in both the near and distant universe.SDSS has measured spectra not only for the stars in our own Milky Way, but also for galaxies that lie more than 7 billion light-years distant making itan extremelyuseful and powerful tool for mapping our universe.What SDSS-IV is looking for:SDSS image of an example MaNGA target galaxy (left), with some of the many things we can learn about it shown in the right and bottom panels: stellar velocity dispersion, stellar mean velocity, stellar population age, metallicity, etc. [Blanton et al. 2017]SDSS-IV containsthree core programs:Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2)provides high-resolution near-infrared spectra of hundreds of thousands of Milky-Way stars with the goal ofimproving our understanding of the history of the Milky Way and of stellar astrophysics.Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA)obtains spatially resolved spectra for thousands of nearby galaxiesto better understand the evolutionary histories of galaxies and what regulates their star formation

REAL-TIME ANALYSIS AND SELECTION BIASES IN THE SUPERNOVA LEGACY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perrett, K.; Conley, A.; Carlberg, R.; Balam, D.; Hook, I. M.; Sullivan, M.; Pritchet, C.; Astier, P.; Balland, C.; Guy, J.; Hardin, D.; Pain, R.; Regnault, N.; Basa, S.; Fouchez, D.; Howell, D. A.

2010-01-01

The Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) has produced a high-quality, homogeneous sample of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) out to redshifts greater than z = 1. In its first four years of full operation (to 2007 June), the SNLS discovered more than 3000 transient candidates, 373 of which have been spectroscopically confirmed as SNe Ia. Use of these SNe Ia in precision cosmology critically depends on an analysis of the observational biases incurred in the SNLS survey due to the incomplete sampling of the underlying SN Ia population. This paper describes our real-time supernova detection and analysis procedures, and uses detailed Monte Carlo simulations to examine the effects of Malmquist bias and spectroscopic sampling. Such sampling effects are found to become apparent at z ∼ 0.6, with a significant shift in the average magnitude of the spectroscopically confirmed SN Ia sample toward brighter values for z ∼> 0.75. We describe our approach to correct for these selection biases in our three-year SNLS cosmological analysis (SNLS3) and present a breakdown of the systematic uncertainties involved.

THE SDSS-III BARYON OSCILLATION SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY: QUASAR TARGET SELECTION FOR DATA RELEASE NINE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ross, Nicholas P.; Kirkpatrick, Jessica A.; Carithers, William C.; Ho, Shirley [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Myers, Adam D. [Department of Astronomy, MC-221, University of Illinois, 1002 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States); Sheldon, Erin S. [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Blgd 510, Upton, NY 11375 (United States); Yeche, Christophe; Aubourg, Eric [CEA, Centre de Saclay, IRFU, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Strauss, Michael A.; Lee, Khee-Gan [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Bovy, Jo; Blanton, Michael R.; Hogg, David W. [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 (United States); Richards, Gordon T. [Department of Physics, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Brandt, W. N. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Croft, Rupert A. C. [Bruce and Astrid McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States); Da Silva, Robert [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Dawson, Kyle [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, UT (United States); Eisenstein, Daniel J. [Steward Observatory, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Hennawi, Joseph F., E-mail: npross@lbl.gov [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astronomie, Konigstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg (Germany); and others

2012-03-01

The SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), a five-year spectroscopic survey of 10,000 deg{sup 2}, achieved first light in late 2009. One of the key goals of BOSS is to measure the signature of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) in the distribution of Ly{alpha} absorption from the spectra of a sample of {approx}150,000 z > 2.2 quasars. Along with measuring the angular diameter distance at z Almost-Equal-To 2.5, BOSS will provide the first direct measurement of the expansion rate of the universe at z > 2. One of the biggest challenges in achieving this goal is an efficient target selection algorithm for quasars in the redshift range 2.2 < z < 3.5, where their colors tend to overlap those of the far more numerous stars. During the first year of the BOSS survey, quasar target selection (QTS) methods were developed and tested to meet the requirement of delivering at least 15 quasars deg{sup -2} in this redshift range, with a goal of 20 out of 40 targets deg{sup -2} allocated to the quasar survey. To achieve these surface densities, the magnitude limit of the quasar targets was set at g {<=} 22.0 or r {<=} 21.85. While detection of the BAO signature in the distribution of Ly{alpha} absorption in quasar spectra does not require a uniform target selection algorithm, many other astrophysical studies do. We have therefore defined a uniformly selected subsample of 20 targets deg{sup -2}, for which the selection efficiency is just over 50% ({approx}10 z > 2.20 quasars deg{sup -2}). This 'CORE' subsample will be fixed for Years Two through Five of the survey. For the remaining 20 targets deg{sup -2}, we will continue to develop improved selection techniques, including the use of additional data sets beyond the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging data. In this paper, we describe the evolution and implementation of the BOSS QTS algorithms during the first two years of BOSS operations (through 2011 July), in support of the science investigations

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Clusters of galaxies in SDSS-III (Wen+, 2012)

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Z. L.; Han, J. L.; Liu, F. S.

2012-06-01

Wen et al. (2009, Cat. J/ApJS/183/197) identified 39668 galaxy clusters from the SDSS DR6 by the discrimination of member galaxies of clusters using photometric redshifts of galaxies. Wen & Han (2011ApJ...734...68W) improved the method and successfully identified the high-redshift clusters from the deep fields of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) Wide survey, the CHFT Deep survey, the Cosmic Evolution Survey, and the Spitzer Wide-area InfraRed Extragalactic survey. Here, we follow and improve the algorithm to identify clusters from SDSS-III (SDSS Data Release 8; Aihara et al. 2011ApJS..193...29A, see Cat. II/306). (1 data file).

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Calibration of redMaGiC Redshift Distributions in DES and SDSS from Cross-Correlations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cawthon, R.; et al.

2017-12-19

We present calibrations of the redshift distributions of redMaGiC galaxies in the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 (DES Y1) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR8 data. These results determine the priors of the redshift distribution of redMaGiC galaxies, which were used for galaxy clustering measurements and as lenses for galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements in DES Y1 cosmological analyses. We empirically determine the bias in redMaGiC photometric redshift estimates using angular cross-correlations with Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) galaxies. For DES, we calibrate a single parameter redshift bias in three photometric redshift bins: $z \\in[0.15,0.3]$, [0.3,0.45], and [0.45,0.6]. Our best fit results in each bin give photometric redshift biases of $|\\Delta z|<0.01$. To further test the redMaGiC algorithm, we apply our calibration procedure to SDSS redMaGiC galaxies, where the statistical precision of the cross-correlation measurement is much higher due to a greater overlap with BOSS galaxies. For SDSS, we also find best fit results of $|\\Delta z|<0.01$. We compare our results to other analyses of redMaGiC photometric redshifts.

The Data Reduction Pipeline for the SDSS-IV MaNGA IFU Galaxy Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Law, David R.; Cherinka, Brian; Yan, Renbin; Andrews, Brett H.; Bershady, Matthew A.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Blanc, Guillermo A.; Blanton, Michael R.; Bolton, Adam S.; Brownstein, Joel R.; Bundy, Kevin; Chen, Yanmei; Drory, Niv; D'Souza, Richard; Fu, Hai; Jones, Amy; Kauffmann, Guinevere; MacDonald, Nicholas; Masters, Karen L.; Newman, Jeffrey A.; Parejko, John K.; Sánchez-Gallego, José R.; Sánchez, Sebastian F.; Schlegel, David J.; Thomas, Daniel; Wake, David A.; Weijmans, Anne-Marie; Westfall, Kyle B.; Zhang, Kai

2016-10-01

Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) is an optical fiber-bundle integral-field unit (IFU) spectroscopic survey that is one of three core programs in the fourth-generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV). With a spectral coverage of 3622-10354 Å and an average footprint of ˜500 arcsec2 per IFU the scientific data products derived from MaNGA will permit exploration of the internal structure of a statistically large sample of 10,000 low-redshift galaxies in unprecedented detail. Comprising 174 individually pluggable science and calibration IFUs with a near-constant data stream, MaNGA is expected to obtain ˜100 million raw-frame spectra and ˜10 million reduced galaxy spectra over the six-year lifetime of the survey. In this contribution, we describe the MaNGA Data Reduction Pipeline algorithms and centralized metadata framework that produce sky-subtracted spectrophotometrically calibrated spectra and rectified three-dimensional data cubes that combine individual dithered observations. For the 1390 galaxy data cubes released in Summer 2016 as part of SDSS-IV Data Release 13, we demonstrate that the MaNGA data have nearly Poisson-limited sky subtraction shortward of ˜8500 Å and reach a typical 10σ limiting continuum surface brightness μ = 23.5 AB arcsec-2 in a five-arcsecond-diameter aperture in the g-band. The wavelength calibration of the MaNGA data is accurate to 5 km s-1 rms, with a median spatial resolution of 2.54 arcsec FWHM (1.8 kpc at the median redshift of 0.037) and a median spectral resolution of σ = 72 km s-1.

THE DATA REDUCTION PIPELINE FOR THE SDSS-IV MaNGA IFU GALAXY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Law, David R.; Cherinka, Brian; Yan, Renbin; Andrews, Brett H.; Bershady, Matthew A.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Blanc, Guillermo A.; Blanton, Michael R.; Bolton, Adam S.; Brownstein, Joel R.; Bundy, Kevin; Chen, Yanmei; Drory, Niv; D’Souza, Richard; Jones, Amy; Kauffmann, Guinevere; Fu, Hai

2016-01-01

Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) is an optical fiber-bundle integral-field unit (IFU) spectroscopic survey that is one of three core programs in the fourth-generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV). With a spectral coverage of 3622–10354 Å and an average footprint of ∼500 arcsec 2 per IFU the scientific data products derived from MaNGA will permit exploration of the internal structure of a statistically large sample of 10,000 low-redshift galaxies in unprecedented detail. Comprising 174 individually pluggable science and calibration IFUs with a near-constant data stream, MaNGA is expected to obtain ∼100 million raw-frame spectra and ∼10 million reduced galaxy spectra over the six-year lifetime of the survey. In this contribution, we describe the MaNGA Data Reduction Pipeline algorithms and centralized metadata framework that produce sky-subtracted spectrophotometrically calibrated spectra and rectified three-dimensional data cubes that combine individual dithered observations. For the 1390 galaxy data cubes released in Summer 2016 as part of SDSS-IV Data Release 13, we demonstrate that the MaNGA data have nearly Poisson-limited sky subtraction shortward of ∼8500 Å and reach a typical 10 σ limiting continuum surface brightness μ  = 23.5 AB arcsec −2 in a five-arcsecond-diameter aperture in the g -band. The wavelength calibration of the MaNGA data is accurate to 5 km s −1 rms, with a median spatial resolution of 2.54 arcsec FWHM (1.8 kpc at the median redshift of 0.037) and a median spectral resolution of σ  = 72 km s −1 .

The distributed development environment for SDSS software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berman, E.; Gurbani, V.; Mackinnon, B.; Newberg, H. Nicinski, T.; Petravick, D.; Pordes, R.; Sergey, G.; Stoughton, C.; Lupton, R.

1994-04-01

The authors present an integrated science software development environment, code maintenance and support system for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) now being actively used throughout the collaboration

Cosmological parameters from SDSS and WMAP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tegmark, Max; Strauss, Michael A.; Bahcall, Neta A.; Schlegel, David; Finkbeiner, Douglas; Gunn, James E.; Ostriker, Jeremiah P.; Seljak, Uros; Ivezic, Zeljko; Knapp, Gillian R.; Lupton, Robert H.; Blanton, Michael R.; Scoccimarro, Roman; Hogg, David W.; Abazajian, Kevork; Xu Yongzhong; Dodelson, Scott; Sandvik, Havard; Wang Xiaomin; Jain, Bhuvnesh

2004-01-01

We measure cosmological parameters using the three-dimensional power spectrum P(k) from over 200 000 galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in combination with Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and other data. Our results are consistent with a 'vanilla' flat adiabatic cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant without tilt (n s =1), running tilt, tensor modes, or massive neutrinos. Adding SDSS information more than halves the WMAP-only error bars on some parameters, tightening 1σ constraints on the Hubble parameter from h≅0.74 -0.07 +0.18 to h≅0.70 -0.03 +0.04 , on the matter density from Ω m ≅0.25±0.10 to Ω m ≅0.30±0.04 (1σ) and on neutrino masses from 0 ≅16.3 -1.8 +2.3 Gyr to t 0 ≅14.1 -0.9 +1.0 Gyr by adding SDSS and SN Ia data. Including tensors, running tilt, neutrino mass and equation of state in the list of free parameters, many constraints are still quite weak, but future cosmological measurements from SDSS and other sources should allow these to be substantially tightened

A Web-based Tool for SDSS and 2MASS Database Searches

Science.gov (United States)

Hendrickson, M. A.; Uomoto, A.; Golimowski, D. A.

We have developed a web site using HTML, Php, Python, and MySQL that extracts, processes, and displays data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS). The goal is to locate brown dwarf candidates in the SDSS database by looking at color cuts; however, this site could also be useful for targeted searches of other databases as well. MySQL databases are created from broad searches of SDSS and 2MASS data. Broad queries on the SDSS and 2MASS database servers are run weekly so that observers have the most up-to-date information from which to select candidates for observation. Observers can look at detailed information about specific objects including finding charts, images, and available spectra. In addition, updates from previous observations can be added by any collaborators; this format makes observational collaboration simple. Observers can also restrict the database search, just before or during an observing run, to select objects of special interest.

Mock Quasar-Lyman-α forest data-sets for the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bautista, Julian E.; Busca, Nicolas G. [APC, Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA, Observatoire de Paris, 10, rue A. Domon and L. Duquet, Paris (France); Bailey, Stephen; Font-Ribera, Andreu; Schlegel, David [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA (United States); Pieri, Matthew M. [Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, LAM (Laboratoire d' Astrophysique de Marseille) UMR 7326, 38 rue Frédéric Joliot-Curie, 13388, Marseille (France); Miralda-Escudé, Jordi; Gontcho, Satya Gontcho A. [Institut de Ciències del Cosmos, Universitat de Barcelona/IEEC, 1 Martí i Franquès, Barcelona 08028, Catalonia (Spain); Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Rich, James; Goff, Jean Marc Le [CEA, Centre de Saclay, Irfu/SPP, D128, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Dawson, Kyle [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, 115 S 100 E, RM 201, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Feng, Yu; Ho, Shirley [McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213 (United States); Ge, Jian [Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, 211 Bryant Space Science Center, Gainesville, FL 32611-2055 (United States); Noterdaeme, Pasquier; Pâris, Isabelle [Université Paris 6 et CNRS, Institut d' Astrophysique de Paris, 98bis blvd. Arago, 75014 Paris (France); Rossi, Graziano, E-mail: bautista@astro.utah.edu [Department of Astronomy and Space Science, Sejong University, 209 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 143-747 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-01

We describe mock data-sets generated to simulate the high-redshift quasar sample in Data Release 11 (DR11) of the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). The mock spectra contain Lyα forest correlations useful for studying the 3D correlation function including Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO). They also include astrophysical effects such as quasar continuum diversity and high-density absorbers, instrumental effects such as noise and spectral resolution, as well as imperfections introduced by the SDSS pipeline treatment of the raw data. The Lyα forest BAO analysis of the BOSS collaboration, described in Delubac et al. 2014, has used these mock data-sets to develop and cross-check analysis procedures prior to performing the BAO analysis on real data, and for continued systematic cross checks. Tests presented here show that the simulations reproduce sufficiently well important characteristics of real spectra. These mock data-sets will be made available together with the data at the time of the Data Release 11.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Quasars narrow absorption lines from SDSS (Chen+, 2015)

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Z.-F.; Gu, Q.-S.; Chen, Y.-M.; Cao, Y.

2017-11-01

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS: Eisenstein et al. 2011AJ....142...72E; Paris et al. 2012, Cat. VII/269) is the main dark-time legacy survey of the third stage of the SDSS, which used the same 2.5-m telescope (Gunn et al. 2006AJ....131.2332G; Ross et al. 2012, J/ApJS/199/3) as the first and second stages of the SDSS (hereafter SDSS-I/II). SDSS-I/II spectra have a wavelength coverage from 3800-9200Å with a spectral resolution of 1800-2200 (e.g. York et al. 2000AJ....120.1579Y). BOSS spectra span a range from 3600-10500Å at a resolution of 1300-2500 (Paris et al. 2012, Cat. VII/269). During the first two years, BOSS detected 87822 quasars over an area of 3275 deg2, including 7932 quasars that were observed by SDSS-I/II as well. Quasars observed by both SDSS-I/II and BOSS provide a remarkable chance to study the variabilities of absorption lines in a large population. Throughout this work, we take the quasar emission redshifts provided by Hewett & Wild (2010, J/MNRAS/405/2302, http://das.sdss.org/va/HewettWilddr7qso_newz/) directly. (2 data files).

VizieR Online Data Catalog: The SDSS Photometric Catalogue, Release 12 (Alam+, 2015)

Science.gov (United States)

Alam, S.; et al.

2016-03-01

Data Release 12 (DR12) is the final data release of the SDSS-III, containing all SDSS observations through July 2014. It includes the complete dataset of the BOSS and APOGEE surveys, and also newly includes stellar radial velocity measurements from MARVELS. The principal changes from previous versions are summarized at http://www.sdss.org/dr12/whatsnew/ (1 data file).

THE DATA REDUCTION PIPELINE FOR THE SDSS-IV MaNGA IFU GALAXY SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Law, David R. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Cherinka, Brian [Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Yan, Renbin [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, 505 Rose Street, Lexington, KY 40506-0055 (United States); Andrews, Brett H. [Department of Physics and Astronomy and PITT PACC, University of Pittsburgh, 3941 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Bershady, Matthew A. [Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 475 N. Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Bizyaev, Dmitry [Apache Point Observatory, P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349 (United States); Blanc, Guillermo A. [Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Chile, Camino del Observatorio 1515, Las Condes, Santiago (Chile); Blanton, Michael R. [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 (United States); Bolton, Adam S.; Brownstein, Joel R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, 115 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Bundy, Kevin [Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the universe, Todai Institutes for Advanced Study, the University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, 277-8583 (Kavli IPMU, WPI) (Japan); Chen, Yanmei [School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China); Drory, Niv [McDonald Observatory, Department of Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, Austin, TX 78712-0259 (United States); D’Souza, Richard; Jones, Amy; Kauffmann, Guinevere [Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Fu, Hai, E-mail: dlaw@stsci.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 (United States); and others

2016-10-01

Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) is an optical fiber-bundle integral-field unit (IFU) spectroscopic survey that is one of three core programs in the fourth-generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV). With a spectral coverage of 3622–10354 Å and an average footprint of ∼500 arcsec{sup 2} per IFU the scientific data products derived from MaNGA will permit exploration of the internal structure of a statistically large sample of 10,000 low-redshift galaxies in unprecedented detail. Comprising 174 individually pluggable science and calibration IFUs with a near-constant data stream, MaNGA is expected to obtain ∼100 million raw-frame spectra and ∼10 million reduced galaxy spectra over the six-year lifetime of the survey. In this contribution, we describe the MaNGA Data Reduction Pipeline algorithms and centralized metadata framework that produce sky-subtracted spectrophotometrically calibrated spectra and rectified three-dimensional data cubes that combine individual dithered observations. For the 1390 galaxy data cubes released in Summer 2016 as part of SDSS-IV Data Release 13, we demonstrate that the MaNGA data have nearly Poisson-limited sky subtraction shortward of ∼8500 Å and reach a typical 10 σ limiting continuum surface brightness μ  = 23.5 AB arcsec{sup −2} in a five-arcsecond-diameter aperture in the g -band. The wavelength calibration of the MaNGA data is accurate to 5 km s{sup −1} rms, with a median spatial resolution of 2.54 arcsec FWHM (1.8 kpc at the median redshift of 0.037) and a median spectral resolution of σ  = 72 km s{sup −1}.

Observational Constraints on the Nature of the Dark Energy: First Cosmological Results From the ESSENCE Supernova Survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood-Vasey, W.Michael; Miknaitis, G.; Stubbs, C.W.; Jha, S.; Riess, A.G.; Garnavich, P.M.; Kirshner, R.P.; Aguilera, C.; Becker, A.C.; Blackman, J.W.; Blondin, S.; Challis, P.; Clocchiatti, A.; Conley, A.; Covarrubias, R.; Davis, T.M.; Filippenko, A.V.; Foley, R.J.; Garg, A.; Hicken, M.; Krisciunas, K.; /Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys.

2007-01-05

We present constraints on the dark energy equation-of-state parameter, w = P/({rho}c{sup 2}), using 60 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from the ESSENCE supernova survey. We derive a set of constraints on the nature of the dark energy assuming a flat Universe. By including constraints on ({Omega}{sub M}, w) from baryon acoustic oscillations, we obtain a value for a static equation-of-state parameter w = -1.05{sub -0.12}{sup +0.13} (stat 1{sigma}) {+-} 0.13 (sys) and {Omega}{sub M} = 0.274{sub -0.020}{sup +0.033} (stat 1{sigma}) with a best-fit {chi}{sup 2}/DoF of 0.96. These results are consistent with those reported by the Super-Nova Legacy Survey in a similar program measuring supernova distances and redshifts. We evaluate sources of systematic error that afflict supernova observations and present Monte Carlo simulations that explore these effects. Currently, the largest systematic currently with the potential to affect our measurements is the treatment of extinction due to dust in the supernova host galaxies. Combining our set of ESSENCE SNe Ia with the SuperNova Legacy Survey SNe Ia, we obtain a joint constraint of w = -1.07{sub -0.09}{sup +0.09} (stat 1{sigma}) {+-} 0.13 (sys), {Omega}{sub M} = 0.267{sub -0.018}{sup +0.028} (stat 1{sigma}) with a best-fit {chi}{sup 2}/DoF of 0.91. The current SNe Ia data are fully consistent with a cosmological constant.

ON THE RATES OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE IN DWARF AND GIANT HOSTS WITH ROTSE-IIIb

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quimby, Robert M.; Yuan Fang; Akerlof, Carl; Wheeler, J. Craig; Warren, Michael S.

2012-01-01

We present a sample of 23 spectroscopically confirmed Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) that were discovered in the background of galaxy clusters targeted by ROTSE-IIIb and use up to 18 of these to determine the local (z-bar 0.05) volumetric rate. Since our survey is flux limited and thus biased against fainter objects, the pseudo-absolute magnitude distribution (pAMD) of SNe Ia in a given volume is an important concern, especially the relative frequency of high- to low-luminosity SNe Ia. We find that the pAMD derived from the volume-limited Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) sample is incompatible with the distribution of SNe Ia in a volume-limited (z B > –16) galaxies, whereas only 1 out of 79 nearby SDSS-II SNe Ia have such faint hosts. It is possible that previous works have undercounted either low-luminosity SNe Ia, SNe Ia in low-luminosity hosts, or peculiar SNe Ia (sometimes explicitly), and the total SNe Ia rate may be higher than the canonical value.

NO CONFIRMED NEW ISOLATED NEUTRON STARS IN THE SDSS DATA RELEASE 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agueeros, Marcel A.; Newsom, Emily R.; Posselt, Bettina; Anderson, Scott F.; Rosenfield, Philip; Homer, Lee; Haberl, Frank; Voges, Wolfgang; Margon, Bruce

2011-01-01

We report on follow-up observations of candidate X-ray-bright, radio-quiet isolated neutron stars (INSs) identified from correlations of the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 4 in Agueeros et al. We obtained Chandra X-ray Observatory exposures for 13 candidates in order to pinpoint the source of X-ray emission in optically blank RASS error circles. These observations eliminated 12 targets as good INS candidates. We discuss subsequent observations of the remaining candidate with XMM-Newton, the Gemini North Observatory, and the Apache Point Observatory. We identify this object as a likely extragalactic source with an unusually high log (f X /f opt ) ∼ 2.4. We also use an updated version of the population synthesis models of Popov et al. to estimate the number of RASS-detected INSs in the SDSS Data Release 7 footprint. We find that these models predict ∼3-4 INSs in the 11,000 deg 2 imaged by SDSS, which is consistent with the number of known INSs that fall within the survey footprint. In addition, our analysis of the four new INS candidates identified in the SDSS footprint implies that they are unlikely to be confirmed as INSs; together, these results suggest that new INSs are not likely to be found from further correlations of the RASS and SDSS.

Matching Supernovae to Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Susanna

2016-12-01

One of the major challenges for modern supernova surveys is identifying the galaxy that hosted each explosion. Is there an accurate and efficient way to do this that avoids investing significant human resources?Why Identify Hosts?One problem in host galaxy identification. Here, the supernova lies between two galaxies but though the centroid of the galaxy on the right is closer in angular separation, this may be a distant background galaxy that is not actually near the supernova. [Gupta et al. 2016]Supernovae are a critical tool for making cosmological predictions that help us to understand our universe. But supernova cosmology relies on accurately identifying the properties of the supernovae including their redshifts. Since spectroscopic followup of supernova detections often isnt possible, we rely on observations of the supernova host galaxies to obtain redshifts.But how do we identify which galaxy hosted a supernova? This seems like a simple problem, but there are many complicating factors a seemingly nearby galaxy could be a distant background galaxy, for instance, or a supernovas host could be too faint to spot.The authors algorithm takes into account confusion, a measure of how likely the supernova is to be mismatched. In these illustrations of low (left) and high (right) confusion, the supernova is represented by a blue star, and the green circles represent possible host galaxies. [Gupta et al. 2016]Turning to AutomationBefore the era of large supernovae surveys, searching for host galaxies was done primarily by visual inspection. But current projects like the Dark Energy Surveys Supernova Program is finding supernovae by the thousands, and the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will likely discover hundreds of thousands. Visual inspection will not be possible in the face of this volume of data so an accurate and efficient automated method is clearly needed!To this end, a team of scientists led by Ravi Gupta (Argonne National Laboratory) has recently

THE LICK/SDSS LIBRARY. I. SYNTHETIC INDEX DEFINITION AND CALIBRATION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franchini, M.; Morossi, C.; Di Marcantonio, P.; Malagnini, M. L.; Chavez, M.

2010-01-01

A new synthetic library of spectral feature indices, Lick/Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), for stellar population studies is presented. Lick/SDSS is computed from synthetic spectra with resolving power R = 1800 to fully exploit the content of the spectroscopic SDSS-DR7 stellar database. The Lick/SDSS system is based on the Lick/IDS one complemented with a UV index in the wavelength region of Ca II H and K lines. The system is well suited to study α-element abundances in F, G, and K stars. The reliability of synthetic indices in reproducing the behaviors of observational ones with effective temperature, surface gravity, overall metallicity, and α-element abundances is tested by using empirical stellar libraries (ELODIE, INDO-U.S., and MILES) and the SDSS-DR7 spectroscopic database. The importance of using the same temperature scale in comparing theoretical and observational indices is discussed. The full consistency between Lick/SDSS and observational indices derived from the above mentioned stellar libraries is assessed. The comparison with indices computed from SDSS-DR7 spectra evidences good consistency for 'dwarf' stars and significant disagreement for 'giant' stars due to systematic overestimation of the stellar T eff by the SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline.

HOST GALAXY IDENTIFICATION FOR SUPERNOVA SURVEYS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gupta, Ravi R.; Kuhlmann, Steve; Kovacs, Eve; Spinka, Harold; Kessler, Richard; Goldstein, Daniel A.; Liotine, Camille; Pomian, Katarzyna; D’Andrea, Chris B.; Sullivan, Mark; Carretero, Jorge; Castander, Francisco J.; Nichol, Robert C.; Finley, David A.; Fischer, John A.; Foley, Ryan J.; Kim, Alex G.; Papadopoulos, Andreas; Sako, Masao; Scolnic, Daniel M.; Smith, Mathew; Tucker, Brad E.; Uddin, Syed; Wolf, Rachel C.; Yuan, Fang; Abbott, Tim M. C.; Abdalla, Filipe B.; Benoit-Lévy, Aurélien; Bertin, Emmanuel; Brooks, David; Rosell, Aurelio Carnero; Kind, Matias Carrasco; Cunha, Carlos E.; Costa, Luiz N. da; Desai, Shantanu; Doel, Peter; Eifler, Tim F.; Evrard, August E.; Flaugher, Brenna; Fosalba, Pablo; Gaztañaga, Enrique; Gruen, Daniel; Gruendl, Robert; James, David J.; Kuehn, Kyler; Kuropatkin, Nikolay; Maia, Marcio A. G.; Marshall, Jennifer L.; Miquel, Ramon; Plazas, Andrés A.; Romer, A. Kathy; Sánchez, Eusebio; Schubnell, Michael; Sevilla-Noarbe, Ignacio; Sobreira, Flávia; Suchyta, Eric; Swanson, Molly E. C.; Tarle, Gregory; Walker, Alistair R.; Wester, William

2016-11-08

Host galaxy identification is a crucial step for modern supernova (SN) surveys such as the Dark Energy Survey and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which will discover SNe by the thousands. Spectroscopic resources are limited, and so in the absence of real-time SN spectra these surveys must rely on host galaxy spectra to obtain accurate redshifts for the Hubble diagram and to improve photometric classification of SNe. In addition, SN luminosities are known to correlate with host-galaxy properties. Therefore, reliable identification of host galaxies is essential for cosmology and SN science. We simulate SN events and their locations within their host galaxies to develop and test methods for matching SNe to their hosts. We use both real and simulated galaxy catalog data from the Advanced Camera for Surveys General Catalog and MICECATv2.0, respectively. We also incorporate "hostless" SNe residing in undetected faint hosts into our analysis, with an assumed hostless rate of 5%. Our fully automated algorithm is run on catalog data and matches SNe to their hosts with 91% accuracy. We find that including a machine learning component, run after the initial matching algorithm, improves the accuracy (purity) of the matching to 97% with a 2% cost in efficiency (true positive rate). Although the exact results are dependent on the details of the survey and the galaxy catalogs used, the method of identifying host galaxies we outline here can be applied to any transient survey.

HOST GALAXY IDENTIFICATION FOR SUPERNOVA SURVEYS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gupta, Ravi R.; Kuhlmann, Steve; Kovacs, Eve; Spinka, Harold; Liotine, Camille; Pomian, Katarzyna [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Kessler, Richard; Scolnic, Daniel M. [Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Goldstein, Daniel A. [Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, 501 Campbell Hall #3411, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); D’Andrea, Chris B.; Nichol, Robert C.; Papadopoulos, Andreas [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Sullivan, Mark [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom); Carretero, Jorge; Castander, Francisco J. [Institut de Ciències de l’Espai, IEEC-CSIC, Campus UAB, Carrer de Can Magrans, s/n, E-08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona (Spain); Finley, David A. [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Fischer, John A.; Sako, Masao [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Foley, Ryan J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois, 1002 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States); Kim, Alex G., E-mail: raviryan@gmail.com [Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); and others

2016-12-01

Host galaxy identification is a crucial step for modern supernova (SN) surveys such as the Dark Energy Survey and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which will discover SNe by the thousands. Spectroscopic resources are limited, and so in the absence of real-time SN spectra these surveys must rely on host galaxy spectra to obtain accurate redshifts for the Hubble diagram and to improve photometric classification of SNe. In addition, SN luminosities are known to correlate with host-galaxy properties. Therefore, reliable identification of host galaxies is essential for cosmology and SN science. We simulate SN events and their locations within their host galaxies to develop and test methods for matching SNe to their hosts. We use both real and simulated galaxy catalog data from the Advanced Camera for Surveys General Catalog and MICECATv2.0, respectively. We also incorporate “hostless” SNe residing in undetected faint hosts into our analysis, with an assumed hostless rate of 5%. Our fully automated algorithm is run on catalog data and matches SNe to their hosts with 91% accuracy. We find that including a machine learning component, run after the initial matching algorithm, improves the accuracy (purity) of the matching to 97% with a 2% cost in efficiency (true positive rate). Although the exact results are dependent on the details of the survey and the galaxy catalogs used, the method of identifying host galaxies we outline here can be applied to any transient survey.

After SDSS-IV: Pioneering Panoptic Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Kollmeier, Juna; AS4 Collaboration

2018-01-01

I will describe the current plans for a next generation sky survey that will begin After SDSS-IV --- AS4. AS4 will be an unprecedented all-sky spectroscopic survey of over six million objects. It is designed to decode the history of the Milky Way galaxy, trace the emergence of the chemical elements, reveal the inner workings of stars, the growth of black holes, and investigate the origin of planets. It will provide the most comprehensive all-sky spectroscopy to multiply the science from the Gaia, TESS and eROSITA missions. AS4 will also create a contiguous spectroscopic map of the interstellar gas in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies that is 1,000 times larger than the state of the art, uncovering the self-regulation mechanisms of Galactic ecosystems. It will pioneer systematic, spectroscopic monitoring across the whole sky, revealing changes on timescales from 20 minutes to 20 years. The project is now developing new hardware to build on the SDSS-IV infrastructure, designing the detailed survey strategy, and actively seeking to complete its consortium of institutional and individual members.

SDSS QUASARS IN THE WISE PRELIMINARY DATA RELEASE AND QUASAR CANDIDATE SELECTION WITH OPTICAL/INFRARED COLORS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Xuebing; Hao Guoqiang; Jia Zhendong; Zhang Yanxia; Peng Nanbo

2012-01-01

We present a catalog of 37,842 quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7, which have counterparts within 6'' in the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) Preliminary Data Release. The overall WISE detection rate of the SDSS quasars is 86.7%, and it decreases to less than 50.0% when the quasar magnitude is fainter than i = 20.5. We derive the median color-redshift relations based on this SDSS-WISE quasar sample and apply them to estimate the photometric redshifts of the SDSS-WISE quasars. We find that by adding the WISE W1- and W2-band data to the SDSS photometry we can increase the photometric redshift reliability, defined as the percentage of sources with photometric and spectroscopic redshift difference less than 0.2, from 70.3% to 77.2%. We also obtain the samples of WISE-detected normal and late-type stars with SDSS spectroscopy, and present a criterion in the z – W1 versus g – z color-color diagram, z – W1 > 0.66(g – z) + 2.01, to separate quasars from stars. With this criterion we can recover 98.6% of 3089 radio-detected SDSS-WISE quasars with redshifts less than four and overcome the difficulty in selecting quasars with redshifts between 2.2 and 3 from SDSS photometric data alone. We also suggest another criterion involving the WISE color only, W1 – W2 > 0.57, to efficiently separate quasars with redshifts less than 3.2 from stars. In addition, we compile a catalog of 5614 SDSS quasars detected by both WISE and UKIDSS surveys and present their color-redshift relations in the optical and infrared bands. By using the SDSS ugriz, UKIDSS, YJHK, and WISE W1- and W2-band photometric data, we can efficiently select quasar candidates and increase the photometric redshift reliability up to 87.0%. We discuss the implications of our results on the future quasar surveys. An updated SDSS-WISE quasar catalog consisting of 101,853 quasars with the recently released WISE all-sky data is also provided.

THINK OUTSIDE THE COLOR BOX: PROBABILISTIC TARGET SELECTION AND THE SDSS-XDQSO QUASAR TARGETING CATALOG

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bovy, Jo; Hogg, David W.; Weaver, Benjamin A.; Hennawi, Joseph F.; Myers, Adam D.; Kirkpatrick, Jessica A.; Schlegel, David J.; Ross, Nicholas P.; Sheldon, Erin S.; McGreer, Ian D.; Schneider, Donald P.

2011-01-01

We present the SDSS-XDQSO quasar targeting catalog for efficient flux-based quasar target selection down to the faint limit of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) catalog, even at medium redshifts (2.5 ∼ 3.5) quasar probabilities for all 160,904,060 point sources with dereddened i-band magnitude between 17.75 and 22.45 mag in the 14,555 deg 2 of imaging from SDSS Data Release 8. The catalog can be used to define a uniformly selected and efficient low- or medium-redshift quasar survey, such as that needed for the SDSS-III's Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey project. We show that the XDQSO technique performs as well as the current best photometric quasar-selection technique at low redshift, and outperforms all other flux-based methods for selecting the medium-redshift quasars of our primary interest. We make code to reproduce the XDQSO quasar target selection publicly available.

Think Outside The Color Box: Probabilistic Target Selection And The SDSS-XDQSO Quasar Targeting Catalog

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bovy, J.; Sheldon, E.; Hennawi, J.F.; Hogg, D.W.; Myers, A.D.

2011-01-01

We present the SDSS-XDQSO quasar targeting catalog for efficient flux-based quasar target selection down to the faint limit of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) catalog, even at medium redshifts (2.5 ∼ 3.5) quasar probabilities for all 160,904,060 point sources with dereddened i-band magnitude between 17.75 and 22.45 mag in the 14,555 deg 2 of imaging from SDSS Data Release 8. The catalog can be used to define a uniformly selected and efficient low- or medium-redshift quasar survey, such as that needed for the SDSS-III's Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey project. We show that the XDQSO technique performs as well as the current best photometric quasar-selection technique at low redshift, and outperforms all other flux-based methods for selecting the medium-redshift quasars of our primary interest. We make code to reproduce the XDQSO quasar target selection publicly available.

GALEX-SDSS CATALOGS FOR STATISTICAL STUDIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Budavari, Tamas; Heinis, Sebastien; Szalay, Alexander S.; Nieto-Santisteban, Maria; Bianchi, Luciana; Gupchup, Jayant; Shiao, Bernie; Smith, Myron; Chang Ruixiang; Kauffmann, Guinevere; Morrissey, Patrick; Wyder, Ted K.; Martin, D. Christopher; Barlow, Tom A.; Forster, Karl; Friedman, Peter G.; Schiminovich, David; Milliard, Bruno; Donas, Jose; Seibert, Mark

2009-01-01

We present a detailed study of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer's (GALEX) photometric catalogs with special focus on the statistical properties of the All-sky and Medium Imaging Surveys. We introduce the concept of primaries to resolve the issue of multiple detections and follow a geometric approach to define clean catalogs with well understood selection functions. We cross-identify the GALEX sources (GR2+3) with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS; DR6) observations, which indirectly provides an invaluable insight into the astrometric model of the UV sources and allows us to revise the band merging strategy. We derive the formal description of the GALEX footprints as well as their intersections with the SDSS coverage along with analytic calculations of their areal coverage. The crossmatch catalogs are made available for the public. We conclude by illustrating the implementation of typical selection criteria in SQL for catalog subsets geared toward statistical analyses, e.g., correlation and luminosity function studies.

Elemental gas-phase abundances of intermediate redshift type Ia supernova star-forming host galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno-Raya, M. E.; Galbany, L.; López-Sánchez, Á. R.; Mollá, M.; González-Gaitán, S.; Vílchez, J. M.; Carnero, A.

2018-05-01

The maximum luminosity of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) depends on the oxygen abundance of the regions of the host galaxies, where they explode. This metallicity dependence reduces the dispersion in the Hubble diagram (HD) when included with the traditional two-parameter calibration of SN Ia light-curve parameters and absolute magnitude. In this work, we use empirical calibrations to carefully estimate the oxygen abundance of galaxies hosting SNe Ia from the SDSS-II/SN (Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova) survey at intermediate redshift by measuring their emission-line intensities. We also derive electronic temperature with the direct method for a small fraction of objects for consistency. We find a trend of decreasing oxygen abundance with increasing redshift for the most massive galaxies. Moreover, we study the dependence of the HD residuals (HR) with galaxy oxygen abundance obtaining a correlation in line with those found in other works. In particular, the HR versus oxygen abundance shows a slope of -0.186 ± 0.123 mag dex-1 (1.52σ) in good agreement with theoretical expectations. This implies smaller distance modulii after corrections for SNe Ia in metal-rich galaxies. Based on our previous results on local SNe Ia, we propose this dependence to be due to the lower luminosity of the SNe Ia produced in more metal-rich environments.

The ASAS-SN bright supernova catalogue - III. 2016

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holoien, T. W. -S.; Brown, J. S.; Stanek, K. Z.

2017-01-01

This catalogue summarizes information for all supernovae discovered by the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN) and all other bright (m(peak)d......This catalogue summarizes information for all supernovae discovered by the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN) and all other bright (m(peak)d...

Nearby supernova host galaxies from the CALIFA survey. II. Supernova environmental metallicity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Galbany, L.; Stanishev, V.; Mourão, A. M.; Rodrigues, M.; Flores, H.; Walcher, C. J.; Sánchez, S. F.; García-Benito, R.; Mast, D.; Badenes, C.; González Delgado, R. M.; Kehrig, C.; Lyubenova, M.; Marino, R. A.; Mollá, M.; Meidt, S.; Pérez, E.; van de Ven, G.; Vílchez, J. M.

2016-01-01

The metallicity of a supernova progenitor, together with its mass, is one of the main parameters that can rule the progenitor's fate. We present the second study of nearby supernova (SN) host galaxies (0.005 ⊙) > 10 dex) by targeted searches. We neither found evidence that the metallicity at the SN

Distance measurements from supernovae and dark energy constraints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yun

2009-01-01

Constraints on dark energy from current observational data are sensitive to how distances are measured from Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) data. We find that flux averaging of SNe Ia can be used to test the presence of unknown systematic uncertainties, and yield more robust distance measurements from SNe Ia. We have applied this approach to the nearby+SDSS+ESSENCE+SNLS+HST set of 288 SNe Ia, and the 'Constitution' set of 397 SNe Ia. Combining the SN Ia data with cosmic microwave background anisotropy data from Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 5 yr observations, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey baryon acoustic oscillation measurements, the data of 69 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) , and the Hubble constant measurement from the Hubble Space Telescope project SHOES, we measure the dark energy density function X(z)≡ρ X (z)/ρ X (0) as a free function of redshift (assumed to be a constant at z>1 or z>1.5). Without the flux averaging of SNe Ia, the combined data using the Constitution set of SNe Ia seem to indicate a deviation from a cosmological constant at ∼95% confidence level at 0 98% confidence level for z≤0.75 using the combined data with 288 SNe Ia from nearby+SDSS+ESSENCE+SNLS+HST, independent of the assumptions about X(z≥1). We quantify dark energy constraints without assuming a flat Universe using the dark energy figure of merit for both X(z) and a dark energy equation-of-state linear in the cosmic scale factor.

Handbook of supernovae

CERN Document Server

Murdin, Paul

2017-01-01

This reference work gathers all of the latest research in the supernova field areas to create a definitive source book on supernovae, their remnants and related topics. It includes each distinct subdiscipline, including stellar types, progenitors, stellar evolution, nucleosynthesis of elements, supernova types, neutron stars and pulsars, black holes, swept up interstellar matter, cosmic rays, neutrinos from supernovae, supernova observations in different wavelengths, interstellar molecules and dust. While there is a great deal of primary and specialist literature on supernovae, with a great many scientific groups around the world focusing on the phenomenon and related subdisciplines, nothing else presents an overall survey. This handbook closes that gap at last. As a comprehensive and balanced collection that presents the current state of knowledge in the broad field of supernovae, this is to be used as a basis for further work and study by graduate students, astronomers and astrophysicists working in close/r...

OVERVIEW OF THE SDSS-IV MaNGA SURVEY: MAPPING NEARBY GALAXIES AT APACHE POINT OBSERVATORY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bundy, Kevin [Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU, WPI), Todai Institutes for Advanced Study, the University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8583 (Japan); Bershady, Matthew A.; Wake, David A.; Tremonti, Christy; Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M. [Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 475 North Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Law, David R.; Cherinka, Brian [Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H4 (Canada); Yan, Renbin; Sánchez-Gallego, José R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, 505 Rose Street, Lexington, KY 40506-0055 (United States); Drory, Niv [McDonald Observatory, Department of Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, Austin, TX 78712-0259 (United States); MacDonald, Nicholas [Department of Astronomy, Box 351580, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Weijmans, Anne-Marie [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9SS (United Kingdom); Thomas, Daniel; Masters, Karen; Coccato, Lodovico [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth (United Kingdom); Aragón-Salamanca, Alfonso [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); Avila-Reese, Vladimir [Instituto de Astronomia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, A.P. 70-264, 04510 Mexico D.F. (Mexico); Badenes, Carles [Department of Physics and Astronomy and Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology Center (PITT PACC), University of Pittsburgh, 3941 OHara St, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Falcón-Barroso, Jésus [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Belfiore, Francesco [Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, 19 J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE (United Kingdom); and others

2015-01-01

We present an overview of a new integral field spectroscopic survey called MaNGA (Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory), one of three core programs in the fourth-generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) that began on 2014 July 1. MaNGA will investigate the internal kinematic structure and composition of gas and stars in an unprecedented sample of 10,000 nearby galaxies. We summarize essential characteristics of the instrument and survey design in the context of MaNGA's key science goals and present prototype observations to demonstrate MaNGA's scientific potential. MaNGA employs dithered observations with 17 fiber-bundle integral field units that vary in diameter from 12'' (19 fibers) to 32'' (127 fibers). Two dual-channel spectrographs provide simultaneous wavelength coverage over 3600-10300 Å at R ∼ 2000. With a typical integration time of 3 hr, MaNGA reaches a target r-band signal-to-noise ratio of 4-8 (Å{sup –1} per 2'' fiber) at 23 AB mag arcsec{sup –2}, which is typical for the outskirts of MaNGA galaxies. Targets are selected with M {sub *} ≳ 10{sup 9} M {sub ☉} using SDSS-I redshifts and i-band luminosity to achieve uniform radial coverage in terms of the effective radius, an approximately flat distribution in stellar mass, and a sample spanning a wide range of environments. Analysis of our prototype observations demonstrates MaNGA's ability to probe gas ionization, shed light on recent star formation and quenching, enable dynamical modeling, decompose constituent components, and map the composition of stellar populations. MaNGA's spatially resolved spectra will enable an unprecedented study of the astrophysics of nearby galaxies in the coming 6 yr.

OVERVIEW OF THE SDSS-IV MaNGA SURVEY: MAPPING NEARBY GALAXIES AT APACHE POINT OBSERVATORY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bundy, Kevin; Bershady, Matthew A.; Wake, David A.; Tremonti, Christy; Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M.; Law, David R.; Cherinka, Brian; Yan, Renbin; Sánchez-Gallego, José R.; Drory, Niv; MacDonald, Nicholas; Weijmans, Anne-Marie; Thomas, Daniel; Masters, Karen; Coccato, Lodovico; Aragón-Salamanca, Alfonso; Avila-Reese, Vladimir; Badenes, Carles; Falcón-Barroso, Jésus; Belfiore, Francesco

2015-01-01

We present an overview of a new integral field spectroscopic survey called MaNGA (Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory), one of three core programs in the fourth-generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) that began on 2014 July 1. MaNGA will investigate the internal kinematic structure and composition of gas and stars in an unprecedented sample of 10,000 nearby galaxies. We summarize essential characteristics of the instrument and survey design in the context of MaNGA's key science goals and present prototype observations to demonstrate MaNGA's scientific potential. MaNGA employs dithered observations with 17 fiber-bundle integral field units that vary in diameter from 12'' (19 fibers) to 32'' (127 fibers). Two dual-channel spectrographs provide simultaneous wavelength coverage over 3600-10300 Å at R ∼ 2000. With a typical integration time of 3 hr, MaNGA reaches a target r-band signal-to-noise ratio of 4-8 (Å –1 per 2'' fiber) at 23 AB mag arcsec –2 , which is typical for the outskirts of MaNGA galaxies. Targets are selected with M * ≳ 10 9 M ☉ using SDSS-I redshifts and i-band luminosity to achieve uniform radial coverage in terms of the effective radius, an approximately flat distribution in stellar mass, and a sample spanning a wide range of environments. Analysis of our prototype observations demonstrates MaNGA's ability to probe gas ionization, shed light on recent star formation and quenching, enable dynamical modeling, decompose constituent components, and map the composition of stellar populations. MaNGA's spatially resolved spectra will enable an unprecedented study of the astrophysics of nearby galaxies in the coming 6 yr

Evolution of the clustering of photometrically selected SDSS galaxies

OpenAIRE

Ross, Ashley; Percival, Will; Brunner, R.

2010-01-01

We measure the angular auto-correlation functions, ω(θ), of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxies selected to have photometric redshifts 0.1 < z < 0.4 and absolute r-band magnitudes Mr < −21.2. We split these galaxies into five overlapping redshift shells of width 0.1 and measure ω(θ) in each subsample in order to investigate the evolution of SDSS galaxies. We find that the bias increases substantially with redshift – much more so than one would expect for a passively evolving sample. We u...

GLOBULAR AND OPEN CLUSTERS OBSERVED BY SDSS/SEGUE: THE GIANT STARS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morrison, Heather L.; Ma, Zhibo; Connor, Thomas; Schechtman-Rook, Andrew; Harding, Paul [Department of Astronomy, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106 (United States); Clem, James L. [Department of Physics, Grove City College, 100 Campus Dr., Grove City, PA 16127 (United States); An, Deokkeun [Department of Science Education, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 120-750 (Korea, Republic of); Casagrande, Luca [Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mount Stromlo Observatory, The Australian National University, ACT 2611 (Australia); Rockosi, Constance [UCO/Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Yanny, Brian [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia IL 60510 (United States); Beers, Timothy C. [Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, 225 Nieuwland Science Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46656 (United States); Johnson, Jennifer A. [Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Schneider, Donald P., E-mail: hlm5@case.edu [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)

2016-01-15

We present griz observations for the clusters M92, M13 and NGC 6791 and gr photometry for M71, Be 29 and NGC 7789. In addition we present new membership identifications for all these clusters, which have been observed spectroscopically as calibrators for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)/SEGUE survey; this paper focuses in particular on the red giant branch stars in the clusters. In a number of cases, these giants were too bright to be observed in the normal SDSS survey operations, and we describe the procedure used to obtain spectra for these stars. For M71, we also present a new variable reddening map and a new fiducial for the gr giant branch. For NGC 7789, we derived a transformation from T{sub eff} to g–r for giants of near solar abundance, using IRFM T{sub eff} measures of stars with good ugriz  and 2MASS photometry and SEGUE spectra. The result of our analysis is a robust list of known cluster members with correctly dereddened and (if needed) transformed gr photometry for crucial calibration efforts for SDSS and SEGUE.

Supernova Photometric Lightcurve Classification

Science.gov (United States)

Zaidi, Tayeb; Narayan, Gautham

2016-01-01

This is a preliminary report on photometric supernova classification. We first explore the properties of supernova light curves, and attempt to restructure the unevenly sampled and sparse data from assorted datasets to allow for processing and classification. The data was primarily drawn from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) simulated data, created for the Supernova Photometric Classification Challenge. This poster shows a method for producing a non-parametric representation of the light curve data, and applying a Random Forest classifier algorithm to distinguish between supernovae types. We examine the impact of Principal Component Analysis to reduce the dimensionality of the dataset, for future classification work. The classification code will be used in a stage of the ANTARES pipeline, created for use on the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope alert data and other wide-field surveys. The final figure-of-merit for the DES data in the r band was 60% for binary classification (Type I vs II).Zaidi was supported by the NOAO/KPNO Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program which is funded by the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program (AST-1262829).

The Type Ia Supernova Rate in Radio and Infrared Galaxies from the CFHT Supernova Legacy Survey

OpenAIRE

Graham, M. L.; Pritchet, C. J.; Sullivan, M.; Howell, D. A.; Gwyn, S. D. J.; Astier, P.; Balland, C.; Basa, S.; Carlberg, R. G.; Conley, A.; Fouchez, D.; Guy, J.; Hardin, D.; Hook, I. M.; Pain, R.

2009-01-01

We have combined the large SN Ia database of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Supernova Legacy Survey and catalogs of galaxies with photometric redshifts, VLA 1.4 GHz radio sources, and Spitzer infrared sources. We present eight SNe Ia in early-type host galaxies which have counterparts in the radio and infrared source catalogs. We find the SN Ia rate in subsets of radio and infrared early-type galaxies is ~1-5 times the rate in all early-type galaxies, and that any enhancement is always

NEAR-INFRARED PHOTOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF 130,000 QUASARS: AN SDSS-UKIDSS-MATCHED CATALOG

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peth, Michael A.; Ross, Nicholas P.; Schneider, Donald P.

2011-01-01

We present a catalog of over 130,000 quasar candidates with near-infrared (NIR) photometric properties, with an areal coverage of approximately 1200 deg 2 . This is achieved by matching the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in the optical ugriz bands to the UKIRT Infrared Digital Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Large Area Survey (LAS) in the NIR YJHK bands. We match the ∼1 million SDSS DR6 Photometric Quasar catalog to Data Release 3 of the UKIDSS LAS (ULAS) and produce a catalog with 130,827 objects with detections in one or more NIR bands, of which 74,351 objects have optical and K-band detections and 42,133 objects have the full nine-band photometry. The majority (∼85%) of the SDSS objects were not matched simply because these were not covered by the ULAS. The positional standard deviation of the SDSS Quasar to ULAS matches is δ R.A. = 0.''1370 and δ decl. = 0.''1314. We find an absolute systematic astrometric offset between the SDSS Quasar catalog and the UKIDSS LAS, of |R.A. offset | = 0.''025 and |decl. offset | = 0.''040; we suggest the nature of this offset to be due to the matching of catalog, rather than image, level data. Our matched catalog has a surface density of ∼53 deg -2 for K ≤ 18.27 objects; tests using our matched catalog, along with data from the UKIDSS Deep Extragalactic Survey, imply that our limiting magnitude is i ∼ 20.6. Color-redshift diagrams, for the optical and NIR, show a close agreement between our matched catalog and recent quasar color models at redshift z ∼ 4.6, and very high, z > 5.7, redshift previously discovered quasars.

Abundance analysis of SDSS J134338.67+484426.6; an extremely metal-poor star from the MARVELS pre-survey

Science.gov (United States)

Susmitha Rani, A.; Sivarani, T.; Beers, T. C.; Fleming, S.; Mahadevan, S.; Ge, J.

2016-05-01

We present an elemental-abundance analysis of an extremely metal-poor (EMP; [Fe/H] <-3.0) star, SDSS J134338.67+484426.6, identified during the course of the Multi-object Apache Point Observatory Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey spectroscopic pre-survey of some 20 000 stars to identify suitable candidates for exoplanet searches. This star, with an apparent magnitude V = 12.14, is the lowest metallicity star found in the pre-survey, and is one of only ˜20 known EMP stars that are this bright or brighter. Our high-resolution spectroscopic analysis shows that this star is a subgiant with [Fe/H] = -3.42, having `normal' carbon and no enhancement of neutron-capture abundances. Strontium is underabundant, [Sr/Fe] = -0.47, but the derived lower limit on [Sr/Ba] indicates that Sr is likely enhanced relative to Ba. This star belongs to the sparsely populated class of α-poor EMP stars that exhibit low ratios of [Mg/Fe], [Si/Fe], and [Ca/Fe] compared to typical halo stars at similar metallicity. The observed variations in radial velocity from several epochs of (low- and high-resolution) spectroscopic follow-up indicate that SDSS J134338.67+484426.6 is a possible long-period binary. We also discuss the abundance trends in EMP stars for r-process elements, and compare with other magnesium-poor stars.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Faint cataclysmic variables from SDSS (Woudt+, 2012)

Science.gov (United States)

Woudt, P. A.; Warner, B.; de Bude, D.; Macfarlane, S.; Schurch, M. P. E.; Zietsman, E.

2013-01-01

We present high-speed photometric observations of 20 faint cataclysmic variables (CVs) selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Catalina catalogues. Measurements are given of 15 new directly measured orbital periods, including four eclipsing dwarf novae (SDSS 0904+03, CSS 0826-00, CSS 1404-10 and CSS 1626-12), two new polars (CSS 0810+00 and CSS 1503-22) and two dwarf novae with superhumps in quiescence (CSS 0322+02 and CSS 0826-00). Whilst most of the dwarf novae presented here have periods below 2h, SDSS 0805+07 and SSS 0617-36 have relatively long orbital periods of 5.489 and 3.440h, respectively. The double-humped orbital modulations observed in SSS 0221-26, CSS 0345-01, CSS 1300+11 and CSS 1443-17 are typical of low-mass transfer rate dwarf novae. The white dwarf primary of SDSS 0919+08 is confirmed to have non-radial oscillations, and quasi-periodic oscillations were observed in the short-period dwarf nova CSS 1028-08 during outburst. We further report the detection of a new nova-like variable (SDSS 1519+06). The frequency distribution of orbital periods of CVs in the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey (CRTS) has a high peak near ~80min orbital period, independently confirming that found by Gansicke et al. (2009MNRAS.397.2170G) from SDSS sources. We also observe a marked correlation between the median in the orbital period distribution and the outburst class, in the sense that dwarf novae with a single observed outburst (over the 5-year baseline of the CRTS coverage) occur predominantly at shortest orbital period. (2 data files).

The SDSS-III APOGEE radial velocity survey of M dwarfs. I. Description of the survey and science goals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deshpande, R.; Bender, C. F.; Mahadevan, S.; Terrien, R. C.; Schneider, D. P.; Fleming, S. W. [Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Blake, C. H. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Carlberg, J. K. [Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015 (United States); Zasowski, G.; Hearty, F. [University of Virginia, 530 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States); Crepp, J. [Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, 225 Nieuwland Science Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States); Rajpurohit, A. S.; Reylé, C. [Institut UTINAM, CNRS UMR 6213, Observatoire des Sciences de l' Univers THETA Franche-Comt é-Bourgogne, Université de Franche Comté, Observatoire de Besançon, BP 1615, F-25010 Besançon Cedex (France); Nidever, D. L. [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Prieto, C. Allende; Hernández, J. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Bizyaev, D. [Apache Point Observatory, P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349-0059 (United States); Ebelke, G. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas Christian University, TCU Box 298840, Fort Worth, TX 76129 (United States); Frinchaboy, P. M. [Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, 211 Bryant Space Science Center, Gainesville, FL 32611-2055 (United States); Ge, J. [Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); and others

2013-12-01

We are carrying out a large ancillary program with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, SDSS-III, using the fiber-fed multi-object near-infrared APOGEE spectrograph, to obtain high-resolution H-band spectra of more than 1200 M dwarfs. These observations will be used to measure spectroscopic rotational velocities, radial velocities, physical stellar parameters, and variability of the target stars. Here, we describe the target selection for this survey, as well as results from the first year of scientific observations based on spectra that will be publicly available in the SDSS-III DR10 data release. As part of this paper we present radial velocities and rotational velocities of over 200 M dwarfs, with a vsin i precision of ∼2 km s{sup –1} and a measurement floor at vsin i = 4 km s{sup –1}. This survey significantly increases the number of M dwarfs studied for rotational velocities and radial velocity variability (at ∼100-200 m s{sup –1}), and will inform and advance the target selection for planned radial velocity and photometric searches for low-mass exoplanets around M dwarfs, such as the Habitable Zone Planet Finder, CARMENES, and TESS. Multiple epochs of radial velocity observations enable us to identify short period binaries, and adaptive optics imaging of a subset of stars enables the detection of possible stellar companions at larger separations. The high-resolution APOGEE spectra, covering the entire H band, provide the opportunity to measure physical stellar parameters such as effective temperatures and metallicities for many of these stars. At the culmination of this survey, we will have obtained multi-epoch spectra and radial velocities for over 1400 stars spanning the spectral range M0-L0, providing the largest set of near-infrared M dwarf spectra at high resolution, and more than doubling the number of known spectroscopic vsin i values for M dwarfs. Furthermore, by modeling telluric lines to correct for small instrumental radial velocity shifts, we

MOTION VERIFIED RED STARS (MoVeRS): A CATALOG OF PROPER MOTION SELECTED LOW-MASS STARS FROM WISE, SDSS, AND 2MASS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Theissen, Christopher A.; West, Andrew A. [Department of Astronomy, Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 (United States); Dhital, Saurav, E-mail: ctheisse@bu.edu [Department of Physical Sciences, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 600 South Clyde Morris Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL 32114 (United States)

2016-02-15

We present a photometric catalog of 8,735,004 proper motion selected low-mass stars (KML-spectral types) within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) footprint, from the combined SDSS Data Release 10 (DR10), Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) point-source catalog (PSC), and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) AllWISE catalog. Stars were selected using r − i, i − z, r − z, z − J, and z − W1 colors, and SDSS, WISE, and 2MASS astrometry was combined to compute proper motions. The resulting 3,518,150 stars were augmented with proper motions for 5,216,854 earlier type stars from the combined SDSS and United States Naval Observatory B1.0 catalog (USNO-B). We used SDSS+USNO-B proper motions to determine the best criteria for selecting a clean sample of stars. Only stars whose proper motions were greater than their 2σ uncertainty were included. Our Motion Verified Red Stars catalog is available through SDSS CasJobs and VizieR.

Bayesian analysis of the dynamic cosmic web in the SDSS galaxy survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leclercq, Florent; Wandelt, Benjamin; Jasche, Jens

2015-01-01

Recent application of the Bayesian algorithm \\textsc(borg) to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) main sample galaxies resulted in the physical inference of the formation history of the observed large-scale structure from its origin to the present epoch. In this work, we use these inferences as inputs for a detailed probabilistic cosmic web-type analysis. To do so, we generate a large set of data-constrained realizations of the large-scale structure using a fast, fully non-linear gravitational model. We then perform a dynamic classification of the cosmic web into four distinct components (voids, sheets, filaments, and clusters) on the basis of the tidal field. Our inference framework automatically and self-consistently propagates typical observational uncertainties to web-type classification. As a result, this study produces accurate cosmographic classification of large-scale structure elements in the SDSS volume. By also providing the history of these structure maps, the approach allows an analysis of the origin and growth of the early traces of the cosmic web present in the initial density field and of the evolution of global quantities such as the volume and mass filling fractions of different structures. For the problem of web-type classification, the results described in this work constitute the first connection between theory and observations at non-linear scales including a physical model of structure formation and the demonstrated capability of uncertainty quantification. A connection between cosmology and information theory using real data also naturally emerges from our probabilistic approach. Our results constitute quantitative chrono-cosmography of the complex web-like patterns underlying the observed galaxy distribution

A DESCRIPTION OF QUASAR VARIABILITY MEASURED USING REPEATED SDSS AND POSS IMAGING

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacLeod, Chelsea L.; Ivezić, Željko; Becker, Andrew C.; Anderson, Scott F.; Sesar, Branimir; De Vries, Wim; Kochanek, Christopher S.; Kelly, Brandon C.; Lupton, Robert H.; Hall, Patrick B.; Richards, Gordon T.; Schneider, Donald P.

2012-01-01

We provide a quantitative description and statistical interpretation of the optical continuum variability of quasars. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has obtained repeated imaging in five UV-to-IR photometric bands for 33,881 spectroscopically confirmed quasars. About 10,000 quasars have an average of 60 observations in each band obtained over a decade along Stripe 82 (S82), whereas the remaining ∼25,000 have 2-3 observations due to scan overlaps. The observed time lags span the range from a day to almost 10 years, and constrain quasar variability at rest-frame time lags of up to 4 years, and at rest-frame wavelengths from 1000 Å to 6000 Å. We publicly release a user-friendly catalog of quasars from the SDSS Data Release 7 that have been observed at least twice in SDSS or once in both SDSS and the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey, and we use it to analyze the ensemble properties of quasar variability. Based on a damped random walk (DRW) model defined by a characteristic timescale and an asymptotic variability amplitude that scale with the luminosity, black hole mass, and rest wavelength for individual quasars calibrated in S82, we can fully explain the ensemble variability statistics of the non-S82 quasars such as the exponential distribution of large magnitude changes. All available data are consistent with the DRW model as a viable description of the optical continuum variability of quasars on timescales of ∼5-2000 days in the rest frame. We use these models to predict the incidence of quasar contamination in transient surveys such as those from the Palomar Transient Factory and Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

UBVRIz LIGHT CURVES OF 51 TYPE II SUPERNOVAE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galbany, Lluis; Hamuy, Mario; Jaeger, Thomas de; Moraga, Tania; González-Gaitán, Santiago; Gutiérrez, Claudia P.; Phillips, Mark M.; Morrell, Nidia I.; Thomas-Osip, Joanna; Suntzeff, Nicholas B.; Maza, José; González, Luis; Antezana, Roberto; Wishnjewski, Marina; Krisciunas, Kevin; Krzeminski, Wojtek; McCarthy, Patrick; Anderson, Joseph P.; Stritzinger, Maximilian; Folatelli, Gastón

2016-01-01

We present a compilation of UBVRIz light curves of 51 type II supernovae discovered during the course of four different surveys during 1986–2003: the Cerro Tololo Supernova Survey, the Calán/Tololo Supernova Program (C and T), the Supernova Optical and Infrared Survey (SOIRS), and the Carnegie Type II Supernova Survey (CATS). The photometry is based on template-subtracted images to eliminate any potential host galaxy light contamination, and calibrated from foreground stars. This work presents these photometric data, studies the color evolution using different bands, and explores the relation between the magnitude at maximum brightness and the brightness decline parameter (s) from maximum light through the end of the recombination phase. This parameter is found to be shallower for redder bands and appears to have the best correlation in the B band. In addition, it also correlates with the plateau duration, being shorter (longer) for larger (smaller) s values

UBVRIz LIGHT CURVES OF 51 TYPE II SUPERNOVAE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Galbany, Lluis; Hamuy, Mario; Jaeger, Thomas de; Moraga, Tania; González-Gaitán, Santiago; Gutiérrez, Claudia P. [Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, Universidad de Chile (Chile); Phillips, Mark M.; Morrell, Nidia I.; Thomas-Osip, Joanna [Carnegie Observatories, Las Campanas Observatory, Casilla 60, La Serena (Chile); Suntzeff, Nicholas B. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States); Maza, José; González, Luis; Antezana, Roberto; Wishnjewski, Marina [Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Chile, Camino El Observatorio 1515, Las Condes, Santiago (Chile); Krisciunas, Kevin [George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A. and M. University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 4242 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843 (United States); Krzeminski, Wojtek [N. Copernicus Astronomical Center, ul. Bartycka 18, 00-716 Warszawa (Poland); McCarthy, Patrick [The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Anderson, Joseph P. [European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Cordova 3107, Vitacura, Casilla 19001, Santiago (Chile); Stritzinger, Maximilian [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University (Denmark); Folatelli, Gastón, E-mail: lgalbany@das.uchile.cl [Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata (IALP, CONICET) (Argentina); and others

2016-02-15

We present a compilation of UBVRIz light curves of 51 type II supernovae discovered during the course of four different surveys during 1986–2003: the Cerro Tololo Supernova Survey, the Calán/Tololo Supernova Program (C and T), the Supernova Optical and Infrared Survey (SOIRS), and the Carnegie Type II Supernova Survey (CATS). The photometry is based on template-subtracted images to eliminate any potential host galaxy light contamination, and calibrated from foreground stars. This work presents these photometric data, studies the color evolution using different bands, and explores the relation between the magnitude at maximum brightness and the brightness decline parameter (s) from maximum light through the end of the recombination phase. This parameter is found to be shallower for redder bands and appears to have the best correlation in the B band. In addition, it also correlates with the plateau duration, being shorter (longer) for larger (smaller) s values.

Detecting First Supernovae with JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Regos, Eniko; FLARE

2018-01-01

We have applied for a JWST ERS First Transients Survey, FLARE to answer empirically how the Universe made its first stars. To quest the epoch of reionization we target what happened to these first stars by observing the most luminous events, supernovae. These transients provide direct constraints on star formation rates and the initial mass function.These very rare events can be reached by JWST at 27 mag AB in 2 micron and 4.4 micron over a field of 0.1 square degree visited multiple times each year.The survey may detect massive Pop III SNe at redshifts up to 10, pinpointing the redshift of first stars, a key scientific goal of JWST.We explore all models of star formation history (derived from UV luminosity densities and IR data), DTD, top heavy IMF of early, low metallicity stars, and normalizations to data of SN Ia, II rates (SNLS, CLASH, CANDELS, SDSS, SVISS), as well as SLSN (ROTSE, SNLS) to estimate the expected SN rates as function of redshift.Population synthesis of double degenerate and single degenerate scenarios of SN Ia shows that the shape of the DTD is rather insensitive to the assumptions (common envelope prescription and metallicities, or retention efficiency of accreted H to white dwarf core and mass transfer rate).Indeed GOODS High z SN Ia rates imply substantial delay in their progenitor model, and Hubble Higher z SN search constrains delay time distribution models as well.SLSN (I, II /H/ and extreme rare pulsational pair instability) are magnetars (ULGRB) in high local star formation rate, faint, low metallicity galaxies.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: SDSS-III/APOGEE. I. Be stars (Chojnowski+, 2015)

Science.gov (United States)

Chojnowski, S. D.; Whelan, D. G.; Wisniewski, J. P.; Majewski, S. R.; Hall, M.; Shetrone, M.; Beaton, R.; Burton, A.; Damke, G.; Eikenberry, S.; Hasselquist, S.; Holtzman, J. A.; Meszaros, S.; Nidever, D.; Schneider, D. P.; Wilson, J.; Zasowski, G.; Bizyaev, D.; Brewington, H.; Brinkmann, J.; Ebelke, G.; Frinchaboy, P. M.; Kinemuchi, K.; Malanushenko, E.; Malanushenko, V.; Marchante, M.; Oravetz, D.; Pan, K.; Simmons, A.

2015-01-01

The sample at hand consists of 238 B-type emission line (Be) stars that have been observed by APOGEE. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) instrument is a 300 fiber, R~22500 spectrograph attached to the SDSS 2.5m telescope at Apache Point Observatory. APOGEE records a vacuum wavelength range of 15145-16955Å via an arrangement of three Teledyne H2RG 2048*2048 detectors. The detector layout consists of "blue," "green," and "red" detectors which cover 15145-15808Å, 15858-16433Å, and 16474-16955Å respectively, resulting in coverage gaps between 15808-15858Å and 16433-16474Å. The APOGEE survey uses the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS; cat. II/246) as a source catalog. Both proprietary and publicly available spectra are used and displayed in this paper. The publicly available spectra were included in SDSS data release 10 (DR10: pertains to APOGEE data taken prior to MJD=56112), and the full data set will be made publicly available in SDSS data release 12 (DR12: scheduled for 2014 December). Shortly after DR12, we intend to convert the ABE star spectra to the format accepted by the Be Star Spectra Database (BeSS; Neiner et al., 2011AJ....142..149N) and deposit them there, ensuring convenient public access. More details on DR10-released APOGEE data can be found on the SDSS-III website (http://www.sdss3.org/dr10/irspec/). (2 data files).

Panchromatic properties of 99 000 galaxies detected by SDSS, and (some by) ROSAT, GALEX, 2MASS, IRAS, GB6, FIRST, NVSS and WENSS surveys

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Obric, M.; Ivezic, Z.; Best, P. N.; Lupton, R. H.; Tremonti, C.; Brinchmann, J.; Agueeros, M. A.; Knapp, G. R.; Gunn, J. E.; Rockosi, C. M.; Schlegel, D.; Finkbeiner, D.; Gacesa, M.; Smolcic, V.; Anderson, S. F.; Voges, W.; Juric, M.; Siverd, R. J.; Steinhardt, W.; Jagoda, A. S.; Blanton, M. R.; Schneider, D. P.

2006-01-01

We discuss the panchromatic properties of 99 088 galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 1 'main' spectroscopic sample ( a flux-limited sample for 1360 deg(2)). These galaxies are positionally matched to sources detected by ROSAT, Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX),

The SDSS Discovery of a Strongly Lensed Post-Starburst Galaxy at z=0.766

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shin, Min-Su; Strauss, Michael A.; Oguri, Masamune; Inada, Naohisa; Falco, Emilio E.; Broadhurst, Tom; Gunn, James E.

2008-09-30

We present the first result of a survey for strong galaxy-galaxy lenses in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) images. SDSS J082728.70+223256.4 was selected as a lensing candidate using selection criteria based on the color and positions of objects in the SDSS photometric catalog. Follow-up imaging and spectroscopy showed this object to be a lensing system. The lensing galaxy is an elliptical at z = 0.349 in a galaxy cluster. The lensed galaxy has the spectrum of a post-starburst galaxy at z = 0.766. The lensing galaxy has an estimated mass of {approx} 1.2 x 10{sup 12} M{sub {circle_dot}} and the corresponding mass to light ratio in the B-band is {approx} 26 M{sub {circle_dot}}/L{sub {circle_dot}} inside 1.1 effective radii of the lensing galaxy. Our study shows how catalogs drawn from multi-band surveys can be used to find strong galaxy-galaxy lenses having multiple lens images. Our strong lensing candidate selection based on photometry-only catalogs will be useful in future multi-band imaging surveys such as SNAP and LSST.

SDSS Log Viewer: visual exploratory analysis of large-volume SQL log data

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jian; Chen, Chaomei; Vogeley, Michael S.; Pan, Danny; Thakar, Ani; Raddick, Jordan

2012-01-01

User-generated Structured Query Language (SQL) queries are a rich source of information for database analysts, information scientists, and the end users of databases. In this study a group of scientists in astronomy and computer and information scientists work together to analyze a large volume of SQL log data generated by users of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data archive in order to better understand users' data seeking behavior. While statistical analysis of such logs is useful at aggregated levels, efficiently exploring specific patterns of queries is often a challenging task due to the typically large volume of the data, multivariate features, and data requirements specified in SQL queries. To enable and facilitate effective and efficient exploration of the SDSS log data, we designed an interactive visualization tool, called the SDSS Log Viewer, which integrates time series visualization, text visualization, and dynamic query techniques. We describe two analysis scenarios of visual exploration of SDSS log data, including understanding unusually high daily query traffic and modeling the types of data seeking behaviors of massive query generators. The two scenarios demonstrate that the SDSS Log Viewer provides a novel and potentially valuable approach to support these targeted tasks.

LIKELIHOOD-FREE COSMOLOGICAL INFERENCE WITH TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE: APPROXIMATE BAYESIAN COMPUTATION FOR A COMPLETE TREATMENT OF UNCERTAINTY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weyant, Anja; Wood-Vasey, W. Michael [Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Center (PITT PACC), Physics and Astronomy Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Schafer, Chad, E-mail: anw19@pitt.edu [Department of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States)

2013-02-20

Cosmological inference becomes increasingly difficult when complex data-generating processes cannot be modeled by simple probability distributions. With the ever-increasing size of data sets in cosmology, there is an increasing burden placed on adequate modeling; systematic errors in the model will dominate where previously these were swamped by statistical errors. For example, Gaussian distributions are an insufficient representation for errors in quantities like photometric redshifts. Likewise, it can be difficult to quantify analytically the distribution of errors that are introduced in complex fitting codes. Without a simple form for these distributions, it becomes difficult to accurately construct a likelihood function for the data as a function of parameters of interest. Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) provides a means of probing the posterior distribution when direct calculation of a sufficiently accurate likelihood is intractable. ABC allows one to bypass direct calculation of the likelihood but instead relies upon the ability to simulate the forward process that generated the data. These simulations can naturally incorporate priors placed on nuisance parameters, and hence these can be marginalized in a natural way. We present and discuss ABC methods in the context of supernova cosmology using data from the SDSS-II Supernova Survey. Assuming a flat cosmology and constant dark energy equation of state, we demonstrate that ABC can recover an accurate posterior distribution. Finally, we show that ABC can still produce an accurate posterior distribution when we contaminate the sample with Type IIP supernovae.

LIKELIHOOD-FREE COSMOLOGICAL INFERENCE WITH TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE: APPROXIMATE BAYESIAN COMPUTATION FOR A COMPLETE TREATMENT OF UNCERTAINTY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weyant, Anja; Wood-Vasey, W. Michael; Schafer, Chad

2013-01-01

Cosmological inference becomes increasingly difficult when complex data-generating processes cannot be modeled by simple probability distributions. With the ever-increasing size of data sets in cosmology, there is an increasing burden placed on adequate modeling; systematic errors in the model will dominate where previously these were swamped by statistical errors. For example, Gaussian distributions are an insufficient representation for errors in quantities like photometric redshifts. Likewise, it can be difficult to quantify analytically the distribution of errors that are introduced in complex fitting codes. Without a simple form for these distributions, it becomes difficult to accurately construct a likelihood function for the data as a function of parameters of interest. Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) provides a means of probing the posterior distribution when direct calculation of a sufficiently accurate likelihood is intractable. ABC allows one to bypass direct calculation of the likelihood but instead relies upon the ability to simulate the forward process that generated the data. These simulations can naturally incorporate priors placed on nuisance parameters, and hence these can be marginalized in a natural way. We present and discuss ABC methods in the context of supernova cosmology using data from the SDSS-II Supernova Survey. Assuming a flat cosmology and constant dark energy equation of state, we demonstrate that ABC can recover an accurate posterior distribution. Finally, we show that ABC can still produce an accurate posterior distribution when we contaminate the sample with Type IIP supernovae.

Discovery of A Young L Dwarf Binary, SDSS J224953.47+004404.6AB

Science.gov (United States)

Allers, K. N.; Liu, Michael C.; Dupuy, Trent J.; Cushing, Michael C.

2010-05-01

We report discovery of a young 0farcs32 L dwarf binary, SDSS J2249+0044AB, found as the result of a Keck laser guide star adaptive optics imaging survey of young field brown dwarfs. Weak K I, Na I, and FeH features as well as strong VO absorption in the integrated-light J-band spectrum indicate a low surface gravity and hence young age for the system. From spatially resolved K-band spectra we determine spectral types of L3 ± 0.5 and L5 ± 1 for components A and B, respectively. SDSS J2249+0044A is spectrally very similar to G196-3B, an L3 companion to a young M2.5 field dwarf. Thus, we adopt 100 Myr (the age estimate of the G196-3 system) as the age of SDSS J2249+0044AB, but ages of 12-790 Myr are possible. By comparing our photometry to the absolute magnitudes of G196-3B, we estimate a distance to SDSS J2249+0044AB of 54 ± 16 pc and infer a projected separation of 17 ± 5 AU for the binary. Comparison of the luminosities to evolutionary models at an age of 100 Myr yields masses of 0.029 ± 0.006 and 0.022+0.006 -0.009 M sun for SDSS J2249+0044A and B, respectively. Over the possible ages of the system (12-790 Myr), the mass of SDSS J2249+0044A could range from 0.011 to 0.070 M sun and the mass of SDSS J2249+0044B could range from 0.009 to 0.065 M sun. Evolutionary models predict that either component could be burning deuterium, which could result in a mass ratio as low as 0.4, or alternatively, a reversal in the luminosities of the binary. We find a likely proper motion companion, GSC 00568-01752, which lies 48farcs9 away (a projected separation of 2600 AU) and has Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Two Micron All Sky Survey colors consistent with an early M dwarf. We calculate a photometric distance to GSC 00568-01752 of 53 ± 15 pc, in good agreement with our distance estimate for SDSS J2249+0044AB. The space motion of SDSS J2249+0044AB shows no obvious coincidence with known young moving groups, though radial velocity and parallax measurements are necessary to

A Comparison of Galaxy Bulge+Disk Decomposition Between Pan-STARRS and SDSS

Science.gov (United States)

Lokken, Martine Elena; McPartland, Conor; Sanders, David B.

2018-01-01

Measurements of the size and shape of bulges in galaxies provide key constraints for models of galaxy evolution. A comprehensive catalog of bulge measurements for Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7 galaxies is currently available to the public. However, the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) 3π survey now covers the same region with ~1-2 mag deeper photometry, a ~10-30% smaller PSF, and additional coverage in y-band. To test how much improvement in galaxy parameter measurements (e.g. bulge + disk) can be achieved using the new PS1 data, we make use of ultra-deep imaging data from the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Subaru Strategic Program (SSP). We fit bulge+disk models to images of 372 bright (mi SSP images shows a tighter correlation between PS1 and SSP measurements for both bulge and disk parameters. Bulge parameters, such as bulge-to-total fraction and bulge radius, show the strongest improvement. However, measurements of all parameters degrade for galaxies with total r-band magnitude below the SDSS spectroscopic limit, mr = 17.7. We plan to use the PS1 3π survey data to produce an updated catalog of bulge+disk decomposition measurements for the entire SDSS DR7 spectroscopic galaxy sample.

Cataclysmic Variables from SDSS I. The First Results

OpenAIRE

Szkody, P.; Anderson, S. F.; Agueros, M.; Covarrubias, R.; Bentz, M.; Hawley, S.; Margon, B.; Voges, W.; Henden, A.; Knapp, G. R.; Berk, D. E. Vanden; Rest, A.; Miknaitis, G.; Magnier, E.; Brinkmann, J.

2001-01-01

The commissioning year of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey has demonstrated that many cataclysmic variables have been missed in previous surveys with brighter limits. We report the identification of 22 cataclysmic variables, of which 19 are new discoveries and 3 are known systems (SW UMa, BH Lyn and Vir4). A compendium of positions, colors and characteristics of these systems obtained from the SDSS photometry and spectroscopy is presented along with data obtained during follow-up studies with the...

Supernovae and cosmology with future European facilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Hook, I M

2013-06-13

Prospects for future supernova surveys are discussed, focusing on the European Space Agency's Euclid mission and the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), both expected to be in operation around the turn of the decade. Euclid is a 1.2 m space survey telescope that will operate at visible and near-infrared wavelengths, and has the potential to find and obtain multi-band lightcurves for thousands of distant supernovae. The E-ELT is a planned, general-purpose ground-based, 40-m-class optical-infrared telescope with adaptive optics built in, which will be capable of obtaining spectra of type Ia supernovae to redshifts of at least four. The contribution to supernova cosmology with these facilities will be discussed in the context of other future supernova programmes such as those proposed for DES, JWST, LSST and WFIRST.

MULTI-WAVELENGTH CHARACTERIZATION OF STELLAR FLARES ON LOW-MASS STARS USING SDSS AND 2MASS TIME-DOMAIN SURVEYS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davenport, James R. A.; Becker, Andrew C.; Kowalski, Adam F.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Schmidt, Sarah J.; Hilton, Eric J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Sesar, Branimir [Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Cutri, Roc, E-mail: jrad@astro.washington.edu [Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

2012-03-20

We present the first rates of flares from M dwarf stars in both red optical and near-infrared (NIR) filters. We have studied {approx}50,000 M dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 area and 1321 M dwarfs from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) Calibration Scan Point Source Working Database that overlap SDSS imaging fields. We assign photometric spectral types from M0 to M6 using (r - i) and (i - z) colors for every star in our sample. Stripe 82 stars each have 50-100 epochs of data, while 2MASS Calibration stars have {approx}1900 epochs. From these data we estimate the observed rates and theoretical detection thresholds for flares in eight photometric bands as a function of spectral type. Optical flare rates are found to be in agreement with previous studies, while the frequency per hour of NIR flare detections is found to be more than two orders of magnitude lower. An excess of small-amplitude flux increases in all bands exhibits a power-law distribution, which we interpret as the result of flares below our detection thresholds. In order to investigate the recovery efficiency for flares in each filter, we extend a two-component flare model into the NIR. Quiescent M0-M6 spectral templates were used with the model to predict the photometric response of flares from u to K{sub s} . We determine that red optical filters are sensitive to flares with u-band amplitudes {approx}>2 mag, and NIR filters to flares with {Delta}u {approx}> 4.5 mag. Our model predicts that M0 stars have the best color contrast for J-band detections, but M4-M6 stars should yield the highest rate of NIR flares with amplitudes of {Delta}J {>=} 0.01 mag. Characterizing flare rates and photometric variations at longer wavelengths is important for predicting the signatures of M dwarf variability in next-generation surveys, and we discuss their impact on surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

MULTI-WAVELENGTH CHARACTERIZATION OF STELLAR FLARES ON LOW-MASS STARS USING SDSS AND 2MASS TIME-DOMAIN SURVEYS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davenport, James R. A.; Becker, Andrew C.; Kowalski, Adam F.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Schmidt, Sarah J.; Hilton, Eric J.; Sesar, Branimir; Cutri, Roc

2012-01-01

We present the first rates of flares from M dwarf stars in both red optical and near-infrared (NIR) filters. We have studied ∼50,000 M dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 area and 1321 M dwarfs from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) Calibration Scan Point Source Working Database that overlap SDSS imaging fields. We assign photometric spectral types from M0 to M6 using (r – i) and (i – z) colors for every star in our sample. Stripe 82 stars each have 50-100 epochs of data, while 2MASS Calibration stars have ∼1900 epochs. From these data we estimate the observed rates and theoretical detection thresholds for flares in eight photometric bands as a function of spectral type. Optical flare rates are found to be in agreement with previous studies, while the frequency per hour of NIR flare detections is found to be more than two orders of magnitude lower. An excess of small-amplitude flux increases in all bands exhibits a power-law distribution, which we interpret as the result of flares below our detection thresholds. In order to investigate the recovery efficiency for flares in each filter, we extend a two-component flare model into the NIR. Quiescent M0-M6 spectral templates were used with the model to predict the photometric response of flares from u to K s . We determine that red optical filters are sensitive to flares with u-band amplitudes ∼>2 mag, and NIR filters to flares with Δu ∼> 4.5 mag. Our model predicts that M0 stars have the best color contrast for J-band detections, but M4-M6 stars should yield the highest rate of NIR flares with amplitudes of ΔJ ≥ 0.01 mag. Characterizing flare rates and photometric variations at longer wavelengths is important for predicting the signatures of M dwarf variability in next-generation surveys, and we discuss their impact on surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

EVOLUTION IN THE VOLUMETRIC TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA RATE FROM THE SUPERNOVA LEGACY SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perrett, K.; Gonzalez-Gaitan, S.; Carlberg, R. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H4 (Canada); Sullivan, M.; Hook, I. M. [Department of Physics (Astrophysics), University of Oxford, DWB, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Conley, A. [Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado, 593 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0593 (United States); Fouchez, D. [CPPM, CNRS-IN2P3 and University Aix Marseille II, Case 907, 13288 Marseille cedex 9 (France); Ripoche, P. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Mail Stop 50-232, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Neill, J. D. [Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Astier, P.; Balland, C.; Guy, J.; Hardin, D.; Pain, R.; Regnault, N. [LPNHE, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6, Universite Paris Diderot Paris 7, CNRS-IN2P3, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris (France); Balam, D. [Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC, V9E 2E7 (Canada); Basa, S. [Laboratoire d' Astrophysique de Marseille, Pole de l' Etoile Site de Chateau-Gombert, 38, rue Frederic Joliot-Curie, 13388 Marseille cedex 13 (France); Howell, D. A. [Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, 6740 Cortona Dr., Suite 102, Goleta, CA 93117 (United States); Palanque-Delabrouille, N. [DSM/IRFU/SPP, CEA-Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Pritchet, C., E-mail: perrett@astro.utoronto.ca, E-mail: sullivan@astro.ox.ac.uk [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3055, Stn CSC, Victoria, BC, V8W 3P6 (Canada); and others

2012-08-15

We present a measurement of the volumetric Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) rate (SNR{sub Ia}) as a function of redshift for the first four years of data from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). This analysis includes 286 spectroscopically confirmed and more than 400 additional photometrically identified SNe Ia within the redshift range 0.1 {<=} z {<=} 1.1. The volumetric SNR{sub Ia} evolution is consistent with a rise to z {approx} 1.0 that follows a power law of the form (1+z){sup {alpha}}, with {alpha} = 2.11 {+-} 0.28. This evolutionary trend in the SNLS rates is slightly shallower than that of the cosmic star formation history (SFH) over the same redshift range. We combine the SNLS rate measurements with those from other surveys that complement the SNLS redshift range, and fit various simple SN Ia delay-time distribution (DTD) models to the combined data. A simple power-law model for the DTD (i.e., {proportional_to}t{sup -{beta}}) yields values from {beta} = 0.98 {+-} 0.05 to {beta} = 1.15 {+-} 0.08 depending on the parameterization of the cosmic SFH. A two-component model, where SNR{sub Ia} is dependent on stellar mass (M{sub stellar}) and star formation rate (SFR) as SNR{sub Ia}(z) = A Multiplication-Sign M{sub stellar}(z) + B Multiplication-Sign SFR(z), yields the coefficients A = (1.9 {+-} 0.1) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -14} SNe yr{sup -1} M{sup -1}{sub Sun} and B = (3.3 {+-} 0.2) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4} SNe yr{sup -1} (M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1}){sup -1}. More general two-component models also fit the data well, but single Gaussian or exponential DTDs provide significantly poorer matches. Finally, we split the SNLS sample into two populations by the light-curve width (stretch), and show that the general behavior in the rates of faster-declining SNe Ia (0.8 {<=} s < 1.0) is similar, within our measurement errors, to that of the slower objects (1.0 {<=} s < 1.3) out to z {approx} 0.8.

Type-Ia supernova rates to redshift 2.4 from clash: The cluster lensing and supernova survey with Hubble

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graur, O.; Rodney, S. A.; Riess, A. G.; Medezinski, E.; Maoz, D.; Jha, S. W.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; McCully, C.; Patel, B.; Postman, M.; Dahlen, T.; Strolger, L.-G.; Coe, D.; Bradley, L.; Koekemoer, A.; Benítez, N.; Molino, A.; Jouvel, S.; Nonino, M.; Balestra, I.

2014-01-01

We present the supernova (SN) sample and Type-Ia SN (SN Ia) rates from the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH). Using the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we have imaged 25 galaxy-cluster fields and parallel fields of non-cluster galaxies. We report a sample of 27 SNe discovered in the parallel fields. Of these SNe, ∼13 are classified as SN Ia candidates, including four SN Ia candidates at redshifts z > 1.2. We measure volumetric SN Ia rates to redshift 1.8 and add the first upper limit on the SN Ia rate in the range 1.8 < z < 2.4. The results are consistent with the rates measured by the HST/GOODS and Subaru Deep Field SN surveys. We model these results together with previous measurements at z < 1 from the literature. The best-fitting SN Ia delay-time distribution (DTD; the distribution of times that elapse between a short burst of star formation and subsequent SN Ia explosions) is a power law with an index of −1.00 −0.06(0.10) +0.06(0.09) (statistical) −0.08 +0.12 (systematic), where the statistical uncertainty is a result of the 68% and 95% (in parentheses) statistical uncertainties reported for the various SN Ia rates (from this work and from the literature), and the systematic uncertainty reflects the range of possible cosmic star-formation histories. We also test DTD models produced by an assortment of published binary population synthesis (BPS) simulations. The shapes of all BPS double-degenerate DTDs are consistent with the volumetric SN Ia measurements, when the DTD models are scaled up by factors of 3-9. In contrast, all BPS single-degenerate DTDs are ruled out by the measurements at >99% significance level.

CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES FROM SDSS. VII. THE SEVENTH YEAR (2006)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szkody, Paula; Anderson, Scott F.; Hayden, Michael; Kronberg, Martin; McGurk, Rosalie; Riecken, Thomas; Schmidt, Gary D.; West, Andrew A.; Gaensicke, Boris T.; Gomez-Moran, Ada N.; Schwope, Axel D.; Schneider, Donald P.; Schreiber, Matthias R.

2009-01-01

Coordinates, magnitudes, and spectra are presented for 39 cataclysmic variables (CVs) found in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectra that were primarily obtained in 2006. Of these, 13 were CVs identified prior to the SDSS spectra (AK Cnc, GY Cnc, GO Com, ST LMi, NY Ser, MR Ser, QW Ser, EU UMa, IY UMa, HS1340+1524, RXJ1610.1+0352, Boo 1, Leo 5). Follow-up spectroscopic observations of seven systems (including one from year 2005 and another from year 2004) were obtained, resulting in estimates of the orbital periods for three objects. The new CVs include two candidates for high inclination, eclipsing systems, four new polars, and three systems whose spectra clearly reveal atmospheric absorption lines from the underlying white dwarf.

Cosmological parameter analysis including SDSS Lyα forest and galaxy bias: Constraints on the primordial spectrum of fluctuations, neutrino mass, and dark energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seljak, Uros; Makarov, Alexey; McDonald, Patrick; Anderson, Scott F.; Bahcall, Neta A.; Cen, Renyue; Gunn, James E.; Lupton, Robert H.; Schlegel, David J.; Brinkmann, J.; Burles, Scott; Doi, Mamoru; Ivezic, Zeljko; Kent, Stephen; Loveday, Jon; Munn, Jeffrey A.; Nichol, Robert C.; Ostriker, Jeremiah P.; Schneider, Donald P.; Berk, Daniel E. Vanden

2005-01-01

We combine the constraints from the recent Lyα forest analysis of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the SDSS galaxy bias analysis with previous constraints from SDSS galaxy clustering, the latest supernovae, and 1st year WMAP cosmic microwave background anisotropies. We find significant improvements on all of the cosmological parameters compared to previous constraints, which highlights the importance of combining Lyα forest constraints with other probes. Combining WMAP and the Lyα forest we find for the primordial slope n s =0.98±0.02. We see no evidence of running, dn/dlnk=-0.003±0.010, a factor of 3 improvement over previous constraints. We also find no evidence of tensors, r 2 model is within the 2-sigma contour, V∝φ 4 is outside the 3-sigma contour. For the amplitude we find σ 8 =0.90±0.03 from the Lyα forest and WMAP alone. We find no evidence of neutrino mass: for the case of 3 massive neutrino families with an inflationary prior, eV and the mass of lightest neutrino is m 1 ν λ =0.72±0.02, w(z=0.3)=-0.98 -0.12 +0.10 , the latter changing to w(z=0.3)=-0.92 -0.10 +0.09 if tensors are allowed. We find no evidence for variation of the equation of state with redshift, w(z=1)=-1.03 -0.28 +0.21 . These results rely on the current understanding of the Lyα forest and other probes, which need to be explored further both observationally and theoretically, but extensive tests reveal no evidence of inconsistency among different data sets used here

Gravitational lensing in the supernova legacy survey (SNLS)

Science.gov (United States)

Kronborg, T.; Hardin, D.; Guy, J.; Astier, P.; Balland, C.; Basa, S.; Carlberg, R. G.; Conley, A.; Fouchez, D.; Hook, I. M.; Howell, D. A.; Jönsson, J.; Pain, R.; Pedersen, K.; Perrett, K.; Pritchet, C. J.; Regnault, N.; Rich, J.; Sullivan, M.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Ruhlmann-Kleider, V.

2010-05-01

Aims: The observed brightness of type Ia supernovae is affected by gravitational lensing caused by the mass distribution along the line of sight, which introduces an additional dispersion into the Hubble diagram. We look for evidence of lensing in the SuperNova Legacy Survey 3-year data set. Methods: We investigate the correlation between the residuals from the Hubble diagram and the gravitational magnification based on a modeling of the mass distribution of foreground galaxies. A deep photometric catalog, photometric redshifts, and well established mass luminosity relations are used. Results: We find evidence of a lensing signal with a 2.3σ significance. The current result is limited by the number of SNe, their redshift distribution, and the other sources of scatter in the Hubble diagram. Separating the galaxy population into a red and a blue sample has a positive impact on the significance of the signal detection. On the other hand, increasing the depth of the galaxy catalog, the precision of photometric redshifts or reducing the scatter in the mass luminosity relations have little effect. We show that for the full SuperNova Legacy Survey sample (~400 spectroscopically confirmed type Ia SNe and ~200 photometrically identified type Ia SNe), there is an 80% probability of detecting the lensing signal with a 3σ significance. Based on observations obtained with MegaPrime/MegaCam, a joint project of CFHT and CEA/DAPNIA, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii. This work is based in part on data products produced at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, a collaborative project of NRC and CNRS. Based on observations obtained at the European Southern Observatory using the Very Large Telescope on

Photometric Separation of Stellar Properties Using SDSS Filters

Science.gov (United States)

Lenz, Dawn D.; Newberg, Jo; Rosner, Robert; Richards, Gordon T.; Stoughton, Chris

1998-12-01

Using synthetic photometry of Kurucz model spectra, we explore the colors of stars as a function of temperature, metallicity, and surface gravity with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) filters, u'g'r'i'z'. The synthetic colors show qualitative agreement with the few published observations in these filters. We find that the locus of synthetic stars is basically two-dimensional for 4500 advantageous to use more than two colors when determining stellar properties by color. Strategic observations in SDSS filters are required to resolve the source of a ~5% discrepancy between synthetic colors of Gunn-Stryker stars, Kurucz models, and external determinations of the metallicities and surface gravities. The synthetic star colors can be used to investigate the properties of any normal star and to construct analytic expressions for the photometric prediction of stellar properties in special cases.

SDSS DR7 WHITE DWARF CATALOG

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kleinman, S. J.; Nitta, A. [Gemini Observatory, 670 North A' ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States); Kepler, S. O.; Pelisoli, Ingrid; Pecanha, Viviane; Costa, J. E. S. [Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil); Koester, D. [Institut fuer Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Universitaet Kiel, D-24098 Kiel (Germany); Krzesinski, J. [Mt. Suhora Observatory, Pedagogical University of Cracow, ul. Podchorazych 2, 30-084 Cracow (Poland); Dufour, P.; Lachapelle, F.-R.; Bergeron, P. [Departement de Physique, Universite de Montreal, C. P. 6128, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7 (Canada); Yip, Ching-Wa [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3701 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Harris, Hugh C. [United States Naval Observatory, Flagstaff Station, 10391 West Naval Observatory Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001-8521 (United States); Eisenstein, Daniel J. [Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, MS 20, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Althaus, L.; Corsico, A., E-mail: hch@nofs.navy.mil [Facultad de Ciencias Astronomicas y Geofisicas, Paseo del Bosque S/N, (1900) La Plata (Argentina)

2013-01-15

We present a new catalog of spectroscopically confirmed white dwarf stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 spectroscopic catalog. We find 20,407 white dwarf spectra, representing 19,712 stars, and provide atmospheric model fits to 14,120 DA and 1011 DB white dwarf spectra from 12,843 and 923 stars, respectively. These numbers represent more than a factor of two increase in the total number of white dwarf stars from the previous SDSS white dwarf catalogs based on DR4 data. Our distribution of subtypes varies from previous catalogs due to our more conservative, manual classifications of each star in our catalog, supplementing our automatic fits. In particular, we find a large number of magnetic white dwarf stars whose small Zeeman splittings mimic increased Stark broadening that would otherwise result in an overestimated log g if fit as a non-magnetic white dwarf. We calculate mean DA and DB masses for our clean, non-magnetic sample and find the DB mean mass is statistically larger than that for the DAs.

Prediction and Confirmation of V-type Asteroids Beyond 2.5 AU Based on SDSS Colors

Science.gov (United States)

Binzel, Richard P.; Masi, G.; Foglia, S.

2006-09-01

We apply a taxonomic classification system developed by Masi et al. (2006, submitted to Icarus) to identify C-, S-, and V-type asteroids present within the 3rd Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Object Catalog (SDSS MOC3). The classifications deduced by Masi et al. for 43,000 asteroids using SDSS colors are based on the taxonomy of Bus (1999; MIT Ph.D. thesis). To link SDSS colors to the Bus taxonomy, Masi et al. (2006) use 149 objects measured in common by both SDSS and the Small Main-Belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey (SMASS) (Bus and Binzel 2002, Icarus 158, 106). We report results of direct testing of SDSS V-type classification predictions for six objects, where the tests were performed by visible wavelength spectroscopy (Lazzaro et al. 2004, Icarus 172, 179) and target of opportunity near-infrared spectroscopy obtained using the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF). Vesta-like spectra and a V-type taxonomy are confirmed for five of the six predicted V-type objects sampled. Most interestingly, the SDSS taxonomy correctly predicted the V-type spectral characteristics for asteroid (21238) 1995 WV7, a 6 km asteroid located far from Vesta across the 3:1 mean motion resonance at 2.54 AU. (Proper elements a,e,i: 2.54 AU, 0.14, and 10.8 deg.) Given the 2 km/sec ejection velocity required from Vesta to reach the current orbit, and the difficulty of migrating across the 3:1 resonance (at 2.5 AU) by a process such as Yarkovsky drift or via secular resonances (Carruba et al. 2005, Astron. Astrophys. 441, 819), asteroid 21238 may be a new candidate for a basaltic asteroid having no relationship to Vesta.

On the fairness of the main galaxy sample of SDSS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng Kelai; Pan Jun; Feng Longlong; Ma Bin

2011-01-01

Flux-limited and volume-limited galaxy samples are constructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data releases DR4, DR6 and DR7 for statistical analysis. The two-point correlation functions ξ(s), monopole of three-point correlation functions ζ 0 , projected two-point correlation function w p and pairwise velocity dispersion σ 12 are measured to test if galaxy samples are fair for these statistics. We find that with the increment of sky coverage of subsequent data releases in SDSS, ξ(s) of the flux-limited sample is extremely robust and insensitive to local structures at low redshift. However, for volume-limited samples fainter than L* at large scales s > or approx. 10 h -1 Mpc, the deviation of ξ(s) from different SDSS data releases (DR7, DR6 and DR4) increases with the increment of absolute magnitude. The case of ζ 0 (s) is similar to that of ξ(s). In the weakly nonlinear regime, there is no agreement between ζ 0 of different data releases in all luminosity bins. Furthermore, w p of volume-limited samples of DR7 in luminosity bins fainter than -M r,0.1 = [18.5, 19.5] are significantly larger and σ 12 of the two faintest volume-limited samples of DR7 display a very different scale dependence than results from DR4 and DR6. Our findings call for caution in understanding clustering analysis results of SDSS faint galaxy samples and higher order statistics of SDSS volume-limited samples in the weakly nonlinear regime. The first zero-crossing points of ξ(s) from volume-limited samples are also investigated and discussed. (research papers)

CHARACTERIZING THE MID-INFRARED EXTRAGALACTIC SKY WITH WISE AND SDSS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Lin; Donoso, E.; Tsai, Chao-Wei; Cutri, R.; Jarrett, T.; Stern, D.; Assef, R. J.; Eisenhardt, P.; Blain, A. W.; Stanford, S. A.; Wright, E.; Bridge, C.; Riechers, D. A.

2013-01-01

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has completed its all-sky survey in four channels at 3.4-22 μm, detecting hundreds of millions of objects. We merge the WISE mid-infrared data with optical data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and provide a phenomenological characterization of WISE extragalactic sources. WISE is most sensitive at 3.4 μm (W1) and least sensitive at 22 μm (W4). The W1 band probes massive early-type galaxies out to z ∼> 1. This is more distant than SDSS identified early-type galaxies, consistent with the fact that 28% of 3.4 μm sources have faint or no r-band counterparts (r > 22.2). In contrast, 92%-95% of 12 μm and 22 μm sources have SDSS optical counterparts with r ≤ 22.2. WISE 3.4 μm detects 89.8% of the entire SDSS QSO catalog at S/N W1 >7σ, but only 18.9% at 22 μm with S/N W4 > 5σ. We show that WISE colors alone are effective in isolating stars (or local early-type galaxies), star-forming galaxies, and strong active galactic nuclei (AGNs)/QSOs at z ∼ 0.8 and W2 –2 . (2) Selection of dust-obscured, type-2 AGN/QSO candidates. We show that WISE W1 – W2 > 0.8, W2 6 (Vega) colors can be used to identify type-2 AGN candidates. The fraction of these type-2 AGN candidates is one-third of all WISE color-selected AGNs. (3) Selection of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) at z ∼ 2 with extremely red colors, r – W4 > 14 or well-detected 22 μm sources lacking detections in the 3.4 and 4.6 μm bands. The surface density of z ∼ 2 ULIRG candidates selected with r – W4 > 14 is 0.9 ± 0.07 deg –2 at S/N W4 ≥ 5 (the corresponding, lowest flux density of 2.5 mJy), which is consistent with that inferred from smaller area Spitzer surveys. Optical spectroscopy of a small number of these high-redshift ULIRG candidates confirms our selection, and reveals a possible trend that optically fainter or r – W4 redder candidates are at higher redshifts.

The SDSS-III DR12 MARVELS radial velocity data release: the first data release from the multiple object Doppler exoplanet survey

Science.gov (United States)

Ge, Jian; Thomas, Neil B.; Li, Rui; Senan Seieroe Grieves, Nolan; Ma, Bo; de Lee, Nathan M.; Lee, Brian C.; Liu, Jian; Bolton, Adam S.; Thakar, Aniruddha R.; Weaver, Benjamin; SDSS-Iii Marvels Team

2015-01-01

We present the first data release from the SDSS-III Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS) through the SDSS-III DR12. The data include 181,198 radial velocity (RV) measurements for a total of 5520 different FGK stars with V~7.6-12, of which more than 80% are dwarfs and subdwarfs while remainders are GK giants, among a total of 92 fields nearly randomly spread out over the entire northern sky taken with a 60-object MARVELS dispersed fixed-delay interferometer instrument over four years (2008-2012). There were 55 fields with a total of 3300 FGK stars which had 14 or more observations over about 2-year survey window. The median number of observations for these plates is 27 RV measurements. This represents the largest homogeneous sample of precision RV measurements of relatively bright stars. In this first released data, a total of 18 giant planet candidates, 16 brown dwarfs, and over 500 binaries with additional 96 targets having RV variability indicative of a giant planet companion are reported. The released data were produced by the MARVELS finalized 1D pipeline. We will also report preliminary statistical results from the MARVELS 2D data pipeline which has produced a median RV precision of ~30 m/s for stable stars.

The ASAS-SN bright supernova catalogue - III. 2016

Science.gov (United States)

Holoien, T. W.-S.; Brown, J. S.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Shappee, B. J.; Prieto, J. L.; Dong, Subo; Brimacombe, J.; Bishop, D. W.; Bose, S.; Beacom, J. F.; Bersier, D.; Chen, Ping; Chomiuk, L.; Falco, E.; Godoy-Rivera, D.; Morrell, N.; Pojmanski, G.; Shields, J. V.; Strader, J.; Stritzinger, M. D.; Thompson, Todd A.; Woźniak, P. R.; Bock, G.; Cacella, P.; Conseil, E.; Cruz, I.; Fernandez, J. M.; Kiyota, S.; Koff, R. A.; Krannich, G.; Marples, P.; Masi, G.; Monard, L. A. G.; Nicholls, B.; Nicolas, J.; Post, R. S.; Stone, G.; Wiethoff, W. S.

2017-11-01

This catalogue summarizes information for all supernovae discovered by the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN) and all other bright (mpeak ≤ 17), spectroscopically confirmed supernovae discovered in 2016. We then gather the near-infrared through ultraviolet magnitudes of all host galaxies and the offsets of the supernovae from the centres of their hosts from public data bases. We illustrate the results using a sample that now totals 668 supernovae discovered since 2014 May 1, including the supernovae from our previous catalogues, with type distributions closely matching those of the ideal magnitude limited sample from Li et al. This is the third of a series of yearly papers on bright supernovae and their hosts from the ASAS-SN team.

Type-Ia Supernova Rates to Redshift 2.4 from Clash: The Cluster Lensing and Supernova Survey with Hubble

Science.gov (United States)

Graur, O.; Rodney, S. A.; Maoz, D.; Riess, A. G.; Jha, S. W.; Postman, M.; Dahlen, T.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; McCully, C.; Patel, B.;

A Study of E+A Galaxies Through SDSS-MaNGA Integral Field Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Wally, Muhammad; Weaver, Olivia A.; Anderson, Miguel Ricardo; Liu, Allen; Falcone, Julia; Wallack, Nicole Lisa; James, Olivia; Liu, Charles

2017-01-01

We outline the selection process and analysis of sixteen E+A galaxies observed by the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at the Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey as a part of the fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV). We present their Integral field spectroscopy and analyze their spatial distribution of stellar ages, metallicities and other stellar population properties. We can potentially study the variation in these properties as a function of redshift. This work was supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation via the SDSS-IV Faculty and Student Team (FAST) initiative, ARC Agreement #SSP483 to the CUNY College of Staten Island. This work was also supported by grants to The American Museum of Natural History, and the CUNY College of Staten Island through The National Science Foundation.

The Supernova Legacy Survey: Measurement of Omega_M, Omega_Lambda,and w from the First Year Data Set

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Astier, P.; Guy, J.; Regnault, N.; Pain, R.; Aubourg, E.; Balam,D.; Basa, S.; Carlberg, R.G.; Fabbro, S.; Fouchez, D.; Hook, I.M.; Howell, D.A.; Lafoux, H.; Neill, J.D.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Perrett, K.; Pritchet, C.J.; Rich, J.; Sullivan, M.; Taillet, R.; Aldering, G.; Antilogus, P.; Arsenijevic, V.; Balland, C.; Baumont, S.; Bronder, J.; Courtois, H.; Ellis, R.S.; Filiol, M.; Goncalves, A.C.; Goobar, A.; Guide, D.; Hardin, D.; Lusset, V.; Lidman, C.; McMahon, R.; Mouchet, M.; Mourao, A.; Perlmutter, S.; Ripoche, P.; Tao, C.; Walton, N.

2005-10-14

We present distance measurements to 71 high redshift type Ia supernovae discovered during the first year of the 5-year Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). These events were detected and their multi-color light-curves measured using the MegaPrime/MegaCam instrument at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), by repeatedly imaging four one-square degree fields in four bands. Follow-up spectroscopy was performed at the VLT, Gemini and Keck telescopes to confirm the nature of the supernovae and to measure their redshift. With this data set, we have built a Hubble diagram extending to z = 1, with all distance measurements involving at least two bands. Systematic uncertainties are evaluated making use of the multiband photometry obtained at CFHT. Cosmological fits to this first year SNLS Hubble diagram give the following results: {Omega}{sub M} = 0.263 {+-} 0.042 (stat) {+-} 0.032 (sys) for a flat {Lambda}CDM model; and w = -1.023 {+-} 0.090 (stat) {+-} 0.054 (sys) for a flat cosmology with constant equation of state w when combined with the constraint from the recent Sloan Digital Sky Survey measurement of baryon acoustic oscillations.

The Supernova Legacy Survey: Measurement of Omega_M, Omega_Lambda, and w from the First Year Data Set

Science.gov (United States)

Astier, P.; Guy, J.; Regnault, N.; Pain, R.; Aubourg, E.; Balam, D.; Basa, S.; Carlberg, R. G.; Fabbro, S.; Fouchez, D.; Hook, I. M.; Howell, D. A.; Lafoux, H.; Neill, J. D.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Perrett, K.; Pritchet, C. J.; Rich, J.; Sullivan, M.; Taillet, R.; Aldering, G.; Antilogus, P.; Arsenijevic, V.; Balland, C.; Baumont, S.; Bronder, J.; Courtois, H.; Ellis, R. S.; Filiol, M.; Goncalves, A. C.; Goobar, A.; Guide, D.; Hardin, D.; Lusset, V.; Lidman, C.; McMahon, R.; Mouchet, M.; Mourao, A.; Perlmutter, S.; Ripoche, P.; Tao, C.; Walton, N.

2005-10-14

We present distance measurements to 71 high redshift type Ia supernovae discovered during the first year of the 5-year Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). These events were detected and their multi-color light-curves measured using the MegaPrime/MegaCam instrument at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), by repeatedly imaging four one-square degree fields in four bands. Follow-up spectroscopy was performed at the VLT, Gemini and Keck telescopes to confirm the nature of the supernovae and to measure their redshift. With this data set, we have built a Hubble diagram extending to z = 1, with all distance measurements involving at least two bands. Systematic uncertainties are evaluated making use of the multiband photometry obtained at CFHT. Cosmological fits to this first year SNLS Hubble diagram give the following results: {Omega}{sub M} = 0.263 {+-} 0.042 (stat) {+-} 0.032 (sys) for a flat {Lambda}CDM model; and w = -1.023 {+-} 0.090 (stat) {+-} 0.054 (sys) for a flat cosmology with constant equation of state w when combined with the constraint from the recent Sloan Digital Sky Survey measurement of baryon acoustic oscillations.

Supernovae Discovery Efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

John, Colin

2018-01-01

Abstract:We present supernovae (SN) search efficiency measurements for recent Hubble Space Telescope (HST) surveys. Efficiency is a key component to any search, and is important parameter as a correction factor for SN rates. To achieve an accurate value for efficiency, many supernovae need to be discoverable in surveys. This cannot be achieved from real SN only, due to their scarcity, so fake SN are planted. These fake supernovae—with a goal of realism in mind—yield an understanding of efficiency based on position related to other celestial objects, and brightness. To improve realism, we built a more accurate model of supernovae using a point-spread function. The next improvement to realism is planting these objects close to galaxies and of various parameters of brightness, magnitude, local galactic brightness and redshift. Once these are planted, a very accurate SN is visible and discoverable by the searcher. It is very important to find factors that affect this discovery efficiency. Exploring the factors that effect detection yields a more accurate correction factor. Further inquires into efficiency give us a better understanding of image processing, searching techniques and survey strategies, and result in an overall higher likelihood to find these events in future surveys with Hubble, James Webb, and WFIRST telescopes. After efficiency is discovered and refined with many unique surveys, it factors into measurements of SN rates versus redshift. By comparing SN rates vs redshift against the star formation rate we can test models to determine how long star systems take from the point of inception to explosion (delay time distribution). This delay time distribution is compared to SN progenitors models to get an accurate idea of what these stars were like before their deaths.

THE z = 5 QUASAR LUMINOSITY FUNCTION FROM SDSS STRIPE 82

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGreer, Ian D.; Fan Xiaohui; Jiang Linhua; Richards, Gordon T.; Strauss, Michael A.; Ross, Nicholas P.; White, Martin; Shen Yue; Schneider, Donald P.; Brandt, W. Niel; Myers, Adam D.; DeGraf, Colin; Glikman, Eilat; Ge Jian; Streblyanska, Alina

2013-01-01

We present a measurement of the Type I quasar luminosity function at z = 5 using a large sample of spectroscopically confirmed quasars selected from optical imaging data. We measure the bright end (M 1450 2 , then extend to lower luminosities (M 1450 2 of deep, coadded imaging in the SDSS Stripe 82 region (the celestial equator in the Southern Galactic Cap). The faint sample includes 14 quasars with spectra obtained as ancillary science targets in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, and 59 quasars observed at the MMT and Magellan telescopes. We construct a well-defined sample of 4.7 1450 * ∼-27). The bright-end slope is steep (β ∼ 1450 < –26) from z = 5 to z = 6 than from z = 4 to z = 5, suggesting a more rapid decline in quasar activity at high redshift than found in previous surveys. Our model for the quasar luminosity function predicts that quasars generate ∼30% of the ionizing photons required to keep hydrogen in the universe ionized at z = 5.

THE LICK/SDSS LIBRARY. II. [Ca/Fe] AND [Mg/Fe] IN F, G, AND K STARS FROM SDSS-DR7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franchini, M.; Morossi, C.; Di Marcantonio, P.; Malagnini, M. L.; Chavez, M.

2011-01-01

We analyzed the spectra of 17,600 F, G, and K stars extracted from the seventh Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release (SDSS-DR7) database in order to derive ([α/Fe]), [Ca/Fe], and [Mg/Fe] ratios. Particular attention has been devoted to estimating homogeneous and self-consistent atmospheric parameter values, T eff , log g, and [Fe/H], by comparing synthetic and observational Lick/SDSS indices. We present results for the sub-sample of more than 4000 spectra whose overall quality allowed us to derive fairly accurate stellar atmospheric parameter values and, therefore, reliable abundance ratios. A Monte Carlo approach was adopted to evaluate both the errors in the observational Lick/SDSS indices and in the derived parameter estimates. The analysis of the trends of [Ca/Fe] and [Mg/Fe] versus [Fe/H] pointed out that (1) the [Ca/Fe] and [Mg/Fe] ratios increase with decreasing [Fe/H] with different slopes reaching maximum average levels of +0.25 and +0.40 dex at [Fe/H] ≅ -1.75, respectively; (2) our sample contains, at a given [Fe/H], stars characterized by significantly different amounts of α-enhancement, thus belonging to different Galactic populations; and (3) the analyzed sample shows a predominance of thick disk stars for [Fe/H] > - 0.5 and the presence of stars belonging to the h igh-αhalo population for -2.0 < [Fe/H] <-0.5.

Spectrophotometric Properties of E+A Galaxies in SDSS-IV MaNGA

Science.gov (United States)

Marinelli, Mariarosa; Dudley, Raymond; Edwards, Kay; Gonzalez, Andrea; Johnson, Amalya; Kerrison, Nicole; Melchert, Nancy; Ojanen, Winonah; Weaver, Olivia; Liu, Charles; SDSS-IV MaNGA

2018-01-01

Quenched post-starburst galaxies, or E+A galaxies, represent a unique and informative phase in the evolution of galaxies. We used a qualitative rubric-based methodology, informed by the literature, to manually select galaxies from the SDSS-IV IFU survey Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) using the single-fiber spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 8. Of the 2,812 galaxies observed so far in MaNGA, we found 39 galaxies meeting our criteria for E+A classification. Spectral energy distributions of these 39 galaxies from the far-UV to the mid-infrared demonstrate a heterogeneity in our sample emerging in the infrared, indicating many distinct paths to visually similar optical spectra. We used SDSS-IV MaNGA Pipe3D data products to analyze stellar population ages, and found that 34 galaxies exhibited stellar populations that were older at 1 effective radius than at the center of the galaxy. Given that our sample was manually chosen based on E+A markers in the single-fiber spectra aimed at the center of each galaxy, our E+A galaxies may have only experienced their significant starbursts in the central region, with a disk of quenched or quenching material further outward. This work was supported by grants AST-1460860 from the National Science Foundation and SDSS FAST/SSP-483 from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to the CUNY College of Staten Island.

Low-z Type Ia Supernova Calibration

Science.gov (United States)

Hamuy, Mario

The discovery of acceleration and dark energy in 1998 arguably constitutes one of the most revolutionary discoveries in astrophysics in recent years. This paradigm shift was possible thanks to one of the most traditional cosmological tests: the redshift-distance relation between galaxies. This discovery was based on a differential measurement of the expansion rate of the universe: the current one provided by nearby (low-z) type Ia supernovae and the one in the past measured from distant (high-z) supernovae. This paper focuses on the first part of this journey: the calibration of the type Ia supernova luminosities and the local expansion rate of the universe, which was made possible thanks to the introduction of digital CCD (charge-coupled device) digital photometry. The new technology permitted us in the early 1990s to convert supernovae as precise tools to measure extragalactic distances through two key surveys: (1) the "Tololo Supernova Program" which made possible the critical discovery of the "peak luminosity-decline rate" relation for type Ia supernovae, the key underlying idea today behind precise cosmology from supernovae, and (2) the Calán/Tololo project which provided the low - z type Ia supernova sample for the discovery of acceleration.

The Supernova Legacy Survey 3-year sample: Type Ia supernovae photometric distances and cosmological constraints

Science.gov (United States)

Guy, J.; Sullivan, M.; Conley, A.; Regnault, N.; Astier, P.; Balland, C.; Basa, S.; Carlberg, R. G.; Fouchez, D.; Hardin, D.; Hook, I. M.; Howell, D. A.; Pain, R.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Perrett, K. M.; Pritchet, C. J.; Rich, J.; Ruhlmann-Kleider, V.; Balam, D.; Baumont, S.; Ellis, R. S.; Fabbro, S.; Fakhouri, H. K.; Fourmanoit, N.; González-Gaitán, S.; Graham, M. L.; Hsiao, E.; Kronborg, T.; Lidman, C.; Mourao, A. M.; Perlmutter, S.; Ripoche, P.; Suzuki, N.; Walker, E. S.

2010-11-01

Aims: We present photometric properties and distance measurements of 252 high redshift Type Ia supernovae (0.15 Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), by repeatedly imaging four one-square degree fields in four bands. Follow-up spectroscopy was performed at the VLT, Gemini and Keck telescopes to confirm the nature of the supernovae and to measure their redshifts. Methods: Systematic uncertainties arising from light curve modeling are studied, making use of two techniques to derive the peak magnitude, shape and colour of the supernovae, and taking advantage of a precise calibration of the SNLS fields. Results: A flat ΛCDM cosmological fit to 231 SNLS high redshift type Ia supernovae alone gives Ω_M = 0.211 ± 0.034(stat) ± 0.069(sys). The dominant systematic uncertainty comes from uncertainties in the photometric calibration. Systematic uncertainties from light curve fitters come next with a total contribution of ±0.026 on Ω_M. No clear evidence is found for a possible evolution of the slope (β) of the colour-luminosity relation with redshift. Based on observations obtained with MegaPrime/MegaCam, a joint project of CFHT and CEA/DAPNIA, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii. This work is based in part on data products produced at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, a collaborative project of NRC and CNRS. Based on observations obtained at the European Southern Observatory using the Very Large Telescope on the Cerro Paranal (ESO Large Programme 171.A-0486 & 176.A-0589). Based on observations (programs GS-2003B-Q-8, GN-2003B-Q-9, GS-2004A-Q-11, GN-2004A-Q-19, GS-2004B-Q-31, GN-2004B-Q-16, GS-2005A-Q-11, GN-2005A-Q-11, GS-2005B-Q-6, GN-2005B-Q-7, GN-2006A-Q-7, GN-2006B-Q-10) obtained at

Report of the Committee on the Participation of Women in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Adam D.; Diamond-Stanic, Aleks; Gallagher, John S.; Gillespie, Bruce Andrew; Ho, Shirley; Kinemuchi, Karen; Lucatello, Sara; Lundgren, Britt; Tremonti, Christina A.; Zasowski, Gail; SDSS-III Collaboration, SDSS-IV Collaboration

2015-01-01

The Committee on the Participation of Women in the SDSS (CPWS) was formed by the SDSS to evaluate the gender climate within the collaboration. The CPWS seeks to foster gender balance in our collaboration by fielding concerns from our members and by recommending best practices for establishing the SDSS leadership team. An important aspect of the mission of the CPWS is to regularly assess gender diversity and inclusiveness within the SDSS. Against the backdrop of the transition from SDSS-III to SDSS-IV, the CPWS has been collecting data relevant to gender issues through interviews and surveys. In April, 2014, the CPWS surveyed 251 SDSS-IV members (~50% of active membership) regarding gender and leadership. Broad findings from this survey include that the male-to-female ratio in SDSS-IV is about 3:1 and that the male-to-female ratio among those that identify themselves as being in an SDSS-IV leadership role is also close to 3:1. About 35% of those surveyed self-identify as an SDSS-IV "leader," though we recognize the possibility that active stakeholders might be more likely to respond to a demographics survey. About 80% of those that self-identify as leaders consider their leadership role within SDSS-IV to be officially acknowledged, regardless of gender. The fraction of women in SDSS leadership roles appears to be a weak function of current job position in that 6 of 32 (19%) senior faculty that are SDSS leaders are women, compared to 4 of 13 (31%) postdocs. Similarly, the fraction of SDSS leaders who are women is highest (32%) amongst those leaders who received their PhDs 6-10 years ago, while the fraction of female leaders amongst other age demographics is somewhat lower (20%). Although these are small sample sizes, this hints at a trend where women are most likely to fill SDSS leadership roles at certain stages of their lives and careers. The CPWS intends to use this initial survey data to establish a baseline for tracking SDSS-IV demographics, and thus hopes to

THE SPITZER EXTRAGALACTIC REPRESENTATIVE VOLUME SURVEY: THE ENVIRONMENTS OF HIGH-z SDSS QUASI-STELLAR OBJECTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Falder, J. T.; Stevens, J. A.; Jarvis, Matt J.; Bonfield, D. G.; Lacy, M.; Farrah, D.; Oliver, S.; Surace, J.; Mauduit, J.-C.; Vaccari, M.; Marchetti, L.; Gonzalez-Solares, E.; Afonso, J.; Cava, A.; Seymour, N.

2011-01-01

This paper presents a study of the environments of SDSS quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) in the Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (SERVS). We concentrate on the high-redshift QSOs as these have not been studied in large numbers with data of this depth before. We use the IRAC 3.6-4.5 μm color of objects and ancillary r-band data to filter out as much foreground contamination as possible. This technique allows us to find a significant (>4σ) overdensity of galaxies around QSOs in a redshift bin centered on z ∼ 2.0 and an (>2σ) overdensity of galaxies around QSOs in a redshift bin centered on z ∼ 3.3. We compare our findings to the predictions of a semi-analytic galaxy formation model, based on the ΛCDM MILLENNIUM simulation, and find for both redshift bins that the model predictions match well the source density we have measured from the SERVS data.

The Type Ia Supernova Rate at z~0.5 from the Supernova Legacy Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Neill, J. D.; Sullivan, M.; Balam, D.; Pritchet, C. J.; Howell, D. A.; Perrett, K.; Astier, P.; Aubourg, E.; Basa, S.; Carlberg, R. G.; Conley, A.; Fabbro, S.; Fouchez, D.; Guy, J.; Hook, I.; Pain, R.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Regnault, N.; Rich, J.; Taillet, R.; Aldering, G.; Antilogus, P.; Arsenijevic, V.; Balland, C.; Baumont, S.; Bronder, J.; Ellis, R. S.; Filiol, M.; Gonçalves, A. C.; Hardin, D.; Kowalski, M.; Lidman, C.; Lusset, V.; Mouchet, M.; Mourao, A.; Perlmutter, S.; Ripoche, P.; Schlegel, D.; Tao, C.

2006-09-01

We present a measurement of the distant Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) rate derived from the first 2 yr of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Supernova Legacy Survey. We observed four 1deg×1deg fields with a typical temporal frequency of ~4 observer-frame days over time spans of 158-211 days per season for each field, with breaks during the full Moon. We used 8-10 m class telescopes for spectroscopic follow-up to confirm our candidates and determine their redshifts. Our starting sample consists of 73 spectroscopically verified SNe Ia in the redshift range 0.2=0.47)=[0.42+0.13-0.09(syst.)+/-0.06(stat.)×10-4 yr-1 Mpc3, assuming h=0.7, Ωm=0.3, and a flat cosmology. Using recently published galaxy luminosity functions derived in our redshift range, we derive a SN Ia rate per unit luminosity of rL(=0.47)=0.154+0.048-0.033(syst.)+0.039-0.031(stat.) SN units. Using our rate alone, we place an upper limit on the component of SN Ia production that tracks the cosmic star formation history of 1 SN Ia per 103 Msolar of stars formed. Our rate and other rates from surveys using spectroscopic sample confirmation display only a modest evolution out to z=0.55. Based on observations obtained with MegaPrime/MegaCam, a joint project of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) and CEA/DAPNIA, at CFHT, which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii. This work is based in part on data products produced at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, a collaborative project of NRC and CNRS. This work is also based on observations obtained at the European Southern Observatory using the Very Large Telescope on the Cerro Paranal (ESO Large Program 171.A-0486), and on observations (programs GN-2004A-Q-19, GS-2004A-Q-11, GN-2003B-Q-9, and GS-2003B-Q-8) obtained at the Gemini

Initial Hubble Diagram Results from the Nearby Supernova Factory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bailey, S. [Lab. Nuclear and High-Energy Physics (LPNHE), Paris (France); Aldering, G. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Antilogus, P. [Lab. Nuclear and High-Energy Physics (LPNHE), Paris (France); Aragon, C. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Baltay, C. [Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States); Bongard, S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Buton, C [Inst. of Nuclear Physics of Lyon (France); Childress, M. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Copin, Y. [Inst. of Nuclear Physics of Lyon (France); Gangler, E. [Inst. of Nuclear Physics of Lyon (France); Loken, S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Nugent, P. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Pain, R. [Lab. Nuclear and High-Energy Physics (LPNHE), Paris (France); Pecontal, E. [Center of Research Astrophysics of Lyon (CRAL) (France); Pereira, R. [Lab. Nuclear and High-Energy Physics (LPNHE), Paris (France); Perlmutter, S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Rabinowitz, D. [Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States); Rigaudier, G. [Center of Research Astrophysics of Lyon (CRAL) (France); Ripoche, P. [Lab. Nuclear and High-Energy Physics (LPNHE), Paris (France); Runge, K. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Scalzo, R. [Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States); Smadja, G. [Inst. of Nuclear Physics of Lyon (France); Tao, C. [Inst. of Nuclear Physics of Lyon (France); Thomas, R. C. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Wu, C. [Lab. Nuclear and High-Energy Physics (LPNHE), Paris (France)

2017-07-06

The use of Type Ia supernovae as distance indicators led to the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe a decade ago. Now that large second generation surveys have significantly increased the size and quality of the high-redshift sample, the cosmological constraints are limited by the currently available sample of ~50 cosmologically useful nearby supernovae. The Nearby Supernova Factory addresses this problem by discovering nearby supernovae and observing their spectrophotometric time development. Our data sample includes over 2400 spectra from spectral timeseries of 185 supernovae. This talk presents results from a portion of this sample including a Hubble diagram (relative distance vs. redshift) and a description of some analyses using this rich dataset.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) revisited (Graur+, 2017)

Science.gov (United States)

Graur, O.; Bianco, F. B.; Huang, S.; Modjaz, M.; Shivvers, I.; Filippenko, A. V.; Li, W.; Eldridge, J. J.

2017-10-01

Most types of supernovae (SNe) have yet to be connected with their progenitor stellar systems. Here, we reanalyze the 10-year SN sample collected during 1998-2008 by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS; see Leaman+, 2011, J/MNRAS/412/1419) in order to constrain the progenitors of SNe Ia and stripped-envelope SNe (SE SNe, i.e., SNe IIb, Ib, Ic, and broad-lined Ic). We matched the LOSS galaxy sample with spectroscopy from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and measured SN rates as a function of galaxy stellar mass, specific star formation rate, and oxygen abundance (metallicity). We find significant correlations between the SN rates and all three galaxy properties. The SN Ia correlations are consistent with other measurements, as well as with our previous explanation of these measurements in the form of a combination of the SN Ia delay-time distribution and the correlation between galaxy mass and age. The ratio between the SE SN and SN II rates declines significantly in low-mass galaxies. This rules out single stars as SE SN progenitors, and is consistent with predictions from binary-system progenitor models. Using well-known galaxy scaling relations, any correlation between the rates and one of the galaxy properties examined here can be expressed as a correlation with the other two. These redundant correlations preclude us from establishing causality-that is, from ascertaining which of the galaxy properties (or their combination) is the physical driver for the difference between the SE SN and SN II rates. We outline several methods that have the potential to overcome this problem in future works. (7 data files).

Interacting supernovae and supernova impostors

Science.gov (United States)

Tartaglia, Leonardo

2016-02-01

Massive stars are thought to end their lives with spectacular explosions triggered by the gravitational collapse of their cores. Interacting supernovae are generally attributed to supernova explosions occurring in dense circumstellar media, generated through mass-loss which characterisie the late phases of the life of their progenitors. In the last two decades, several observational evidences revealed that mass-loss in massive stars may be related to violent eruptions involving their outer layers, such as the luminous blue variables. Giant eruptions of extragalactic luminous blue variables, similar to that observed in Eta Car in the 19th century, are usually labelled 'SN impostors', since they mimic the behaviour of genuine SNe, but are not the final act of the life of the progenitor stars. The mechanisms producing these outbursts are still not understood, although the increasing number of observed cases triggered the efforts of the astronomical community to find possible theoretical interpretations. More recently, a number of observational evidences suggested that also lower-mass stars can experience pre-supernova outbursts, hence becoming supernova impostors. Even more interestingly, there is growing evidence of a connection among massive stars, their outbursts and interacting supernovae. All of this inspired this research, which has been focused in particular on the characterisation of supernova impostors and the observational criteria that may allow us to safely discriminate them from interacting supernovae. Moreover, the discovery of peculiar transients, motivated us to explore the lowest range of stellar masses that may experience violent outbursts. Finally, the quest for the link among massive stars, their giant eruptions and interacting supernovae, led us to study the interacting supernova LSQ13zm, which possibly exploded a very short time after an LBV-like major outburst.

Supernova 1604, Kepler’s Supernova, and Its Remnant

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vink, J.; Alsabti, A.W.; Murdin, P.

2016-01-01

Supernova 1604 is the last galactic supernova for which historical records exist. Johannes Kepler’s name is attached to it, as he published a detailed account of the observations made by himself and European colleagues. Supernova 1604 was very likely a type Ia supernova, which exploded 350–750 pc

The Influence of Host Galaxies in Type Ia Supernova Cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Uddin, Syed A. [Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangshu (China); Mould, Jeremy [Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC (Australia); Lidman, Chris; Zhang, Bonnie R. [Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO) (Australia); Ruhlmann-Kleider, Vanina, E-mail: saushuvo@gmail.com [CEA, Centre de Saclay, Irfu/SPP, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, Paris (France)

2017-10-10

We use a sample of 1338 spectroscopically confirmed and photometrically classified Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) sourced from Carnegie Supernova Project, Center for Astrophysics Supernova Survey, Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II, and SuperNova Legacy Survey SN samples to examine the relationships between SNe Ia and the galaxies that host them. Our results provide confirmation with improved statistical significance that SNe Ia, after standardization, are on average more luminous in massive hosts (significance >5 σ ), and decline more rapidly in massive hosts (significance >9 σ ) and in hosts with low specific star formation rates (significance >8 σ ). We study the variation of these relationships with redshift and detect no evolution. We split SNe Ia into pairs of subsets that are based on the properties of the hosts and fit cosmological models to each subset. Including both systematic and statistical uncertainties, we do not find any significant shift in the best-fit cosmological parameters between the subsets. Among different SN Ia subsets, we find that SNe Ia in hosts with high specific star formation rates have the least intrinsic scatter ( σ {sub int} = 0.08 ± 0.01) in luminosity after standardization.

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the Second Phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Abolfathi, Bela; Aguado, D. S.; Aguilar, Gabriela; Allende Prieto, Carlos; Almeida, Andres; Tasnim Ananna, Tonima; Anders, Friedrich; Anderson, Scott F.; Andrews, Brett H.; Anguiano, Borja; Aragón-Salamanca, Alfonso; Argudo-Fernández, Maria; Armengaud, Eric; Ata, Metin; Aubourg, Eric; Avila-Reese, Vladimir; Badenes, Carles; Bailey, Stephen; Balland, Christophe; Barger, Kathleen A.; Barrera-Ballesteros, Jorge; Bartosz, Curtis; Bastien, Fabienne; Bates, Dominic; Baumgarten, Falk; Bautista, Julian; Beaton, Rachael; Beers, Timothy C.; Belfiore, Francesco; Bender, Chad F.; Bernardi, Mariangela; Bershady, Matthew A.; Beutler, Florian; Bird, Jonathan C.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Blanc, Guillermo A.; Blanton, Michael R.; Blomqvist, Michael; Bolton, Adam S.; Boquien, Médéric; Borissova, Jura; Bovy, Jo; Andres Bradna Diaz, Christian; Nielsen Brandt, William; Brinkmann, Jonathan; Brownstein, Joel R.; Bundy, Kevin; Burgasser, Adam J.; Burtin, Etienne; Busca, Nicolás G.; Cañas, Caleb I.; Cano-Díaz, Mariana; Cappellari, Michele; Carrera, Ricardo; Casey, Andrew R.; Cervantes Sodi, Bernardo; Chen, Yanping; Cherinka, Brian; Chiappini, Cristina; Doohyun Choi, Peter; Chojnowski, Drew; Chuang, Chia-Hsun; Chung, Haeun; Clerc, Nicolas; Cohen, Roger E.; Comerford, Julia M.; Comparat, Johan; Correa do Nascimento, Janaina; da Costa, Luiz; Cousinou, Marie-Claude; Covey, Kevin; Crane, Jeffrey D.; Cruz-Gonzalez, Irene; Cunha, Katia; da Silva Ilha, Gabriele; Damke, Guillermo J.; Darling, Jeremy; Davidson, James W., Jr.; Dawson, Kyle; de Icaza Lizaola, Miguel Angel C.; de la Macorra, Axel; de la Torre, Sylvain; De Lee, Nathan; de Sainte Agathe, Victoria; Deconto Machado, Alice; Dell’Agli, Flavia; Delubac, Timothée; Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M.; Donor, John; José Downes, Juan; Drory, Niv; du Mas des Bourboux, Hélion; Duckworth, Christopher J.; Dwelly, Tom; Dyer, Jamie; Ebelke, Garrett; Davis Eigenbrot, Arthur; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Elsworth, Yvonne P.; Emsellem, Eric; Eracleous, Michael; Erfanianfar, Ghazaleh; Escoffier, Stephanie; Fan, Xiaohui; Fernández Alvar, Emma; Fernandez-Trincado, J. G.; Cirolini, Rafael Fernando; Feuillet, Diane; Finoguenov, Alexis; Fleming, Scott W.; Font-Ribera, Andreu; Freischlad, Gordon; Frinchaboy, Peter; Fu, Hai; Gómez Maqueo Chew, Yilen; Galbany, Lluís; García Pérez, Ana E.; Garcia-Dias, R.; García-Hernández, D. A.; Garma Oehmichen, Luis Alberto; Gaulme, Patrick; Gelfand, Joseph; Gil-Marín, Héctor; Gillespie, Bruce A.; Goddard, Daniel; González Hernández, Jonay I.; Gonzalez-Perez, Violeta; Grabowski, Kathleen; Green, Paul J.; Grier, Catherine J.; Gueguen, Alain; Guo, Hong; Guy, Julien; Hagen, Alex; Hall, Patrick; Harding, Paul; Hasselquist, Sten; Hawley, Suzanne; Hayes, Christian R.; Hearty, Fred; Hekker, Saskia; Hernandez, Jesus; Hernandez Toledo, Hector; Hogg, David W.; Holley-Bockelmann, Kelly; Holtzman, Jon A.; Hou, Jiamin; Hsieh, Bau-Ching; Hunt, Jason A. S.; Hutchinson, Timothy A.; Hwang, Ho Seong; Jimenez Angel, Camilo Eduardo; Johnson, Jennifer A.; Jones, Amy; Jönsson, Henrik; Jullo, Eric; Sakil Khan, Fahim; Kinemuchi, Karen; Kirkby, David; Kirkpatrick, Charles C., IV; Kitaura, Francisco-Shu; Knapp, Gillian R.; Kneib, Jean-Paul; Kollmeier, Juna A.; Lacerna, Ivan; Lane, Richard R.; Lang, Dustin; Law, David R.; Le Goff, Jean-Marc; Lee, Young-Bae; Li, Hongyu; Li, Cheng; Lian, Jianhui; Liang, Yu; Lima, Marcos; Lin, Lihwai; Long, Dan; Lucatello, Sara; Lundgren, Britt; Mackereth, J. Ted; MacLeod, Chelsea L.; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Geimba Maia, Marcio Antonio; Majewski, Steven; Manchado, Arturo; Maraston, Claudia; Mariappan, Vivek; Marques-Chaves, Rui; Masseron, Thomas; Masters, Karen L.; McDermid, Richard M.; McGreer, Ian D.; Melendez, Matthew; Meneses-Goytia, Sofia; Merloni, Andrea; Merrifield, Michael R.; Meszaros, Szabolcs; Meza, Andres; Minchev, Ivan; Minniti, Dante; Mueller, Eva-Maria; Muller-Sanchez, Francisco; Muna, Demitri; Muñoz, Ricardo R.; Myers, Adam D.; Nair, Preethi; Nandra, Kirpal; Ness, Melissa; Newman, Jeffrey A.; Nichol, Robert C.; Nidever, David L.; Nitschelm, Christian; Noterdaeme, Pasquier; O’Connell, Julia; Oelkers, Ryan James; Oravetz, Audrey; Oravetz, Daniel; Aquino Ortíz, Erik; Osorio, Yeisson; Pace, Zach; Padilla, Nelson; Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Alonso Palicio, Pedro; Pan, Hsi-An; Pan, Kaike; Parikh, Taniya; Pâris, Isabelle; Park, Changbom; Peirani, Sebastien; Pellejero-Ibanez, Marcos; Penny, Samantha; Percival, Will J.; Perez-Fournon, Ismael; Petitjean, Patrick; Pieri, Matthew M.; Pinsonneault, Marc; Pisani, Alice; Prada, Francisco; Prakash, Abhishek; Queiroz, Anna Bárbara de Andrade; Raddick, M. Jordan; Raichoor, Anand; Barboza Rembold, Sandro; Richstein, Hannah; Riffel, Rogemar A.; Riffel, Rogério; Rix, Hans-Walter; Robin, Annie C.; Rodríguez Torres, Sergio; Román-Zúñiga, Carlos; Ross, Ashley J.; Rossi, Graziano; Ruan, John; Ruggeri, Rossana; Ruiz, Jose; Salvato, Mara; Sánchez, Ariel G.; Sánchez, Sebastián F.; Sanchez Almeida, Jorge; Sánchez-Gallego, José R.; Santana Rojas, Felipe Antonio; Santiago, Basílio Xavier; Schiavon, Ricardo P.; Schimoia, Jaderson S.; Schlafly, Edward; Schlegel, David; Schneider, Donald P.; Schuster, William J.; Schwope, Axel; Seo, Hee-Jong; Serenelli, Aldo; Shen, Shiyin; Shen, Yue; Shetrone, Matthew; Shull, Michael; Silva Aguirre, Víctor; Simon, Joshua D.; Skrutskie, Mike; Slosar, Anže; Smethurst, Rebecca; Smith, Verne; Sobeck, Jennifer; Somers, Garrett; Souter, Barbara J.; Souto, Diogo; Spindler, Ashley; Stark, David V.; Stassun, Keivan; Steinmetz, Matthias; Stello, Dennis; Storchi-Bergmann, Thaisa; Streblyanska, Alina; Stringfellow, Guy S.; Suárez, Genaro; Sun, Jing; Szigeti, Laszlo; Taghizadeh-Popp, Manuchehr; Talbot, Michael S.; Tang, Baitian; Tao, Charling; Tayar, Jamie; Tembe, Mita; Teske, Johanna; Thakar, Aniruddha R.; Thomas, Daniel; Tissera, Patricia; Tojeiro, Rita; Tremonti, Christy; Troup, Nicholas W.; Urry, Meg; Valenzuela, O.; van den Bosch, Remco; Vargas-González, Jaime; Vargas-Magaña, Mariana; Vazquez, Jose Alberto; Villanova, Sandro; Vogt, Nicole; Wake, David; Wang, Yuting; Weaver, Benjamin Alan; Weijmans, Anne-Marie; Weinberg, David H.; Westfall, Kyle B.; Whelan, David G.; Wilcots, Eric; Wild, Vivienne; Williams, Rob A.; Wilson, John; Wood-Vasey, W. M.; Wylezalek, Dominika; Xiao, Ting; Yan, Renbin; Yang, Meng; Ybarra, Jason E.; Yèche, Christophe; Zakamska, Nadia; Zamora, Olga; Zarrouk, Pauline; Zasowski, Gail; Zhang, Kai; Zhao, Cheng; Zhao, Gong-Bo; Zheng, Zheng; Zheng, Zheng; Zhou, Zhi-Min; Zhu, Guangtun; Zinn, Joel C.; Zou, Hu

2018-04-01

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since 2014 July. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the 14th from SDSS overall (making this Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes the data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (2014–2016 July) public. Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey; the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data-driven machine-learning algorithm known as “The Cannon” and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from the SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS web site (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020 and will be followed by SDSS-V.

TRACING SAGITTARIUS STRUCTURE WITH SDSS AND SEGUE IMAGING AND SPECTROSCOPY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yanny, Brian; Newberg, Heidi Jo; Johnson, Jennifer A.; Lee, Young Sun; Beers, Timothy C.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Brewington, Howard; Malanushenko, Elena; Malanushenko, Viktor; Oravetz, Dan; Pan, Kaike; Simmons, Audrey; Snedden, Stephanie; Fiorentin, Paola Re; Harding, Paul

2009-01-01

We show that the Sagittarius dwarf tidal stream can be traced with very red K/M-giant stars, selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) photometry. A subset of these stars are spectroscopically confirmed with SEGUE and SDSS spectra, and the distance scale of 2MASS and SDSS M giants is calibrated to the RR Lyrae distance scale. The absolute magnitude of the K/M-giant stars at the tip of the giant branch is M g 0 =-1.0. The line-of-sight velocities of the M giant and blue horizontal-branch (BHB) stars that are spatially coincident with the Sgr dwarf tidal stream are consistent with those of previous authors, reinforcing the need for new models that can explain all of the Sgr tidal debris stream observations. We estimate stellar densities along the tidal tails that can be used to help constrain future models. The K/M giant, BHB, and F-turnoff stars in the lower surface brightness tidal stream that is adjacent to the main leading Sgr dwarf tidal tail have velocities and metallicities that are similar to those of the stars in the leading tidal tail. The ratio of K/M giants to BHBs and BHBs to F-turnoff stars are also similar for both branches of the leading tidal tail. We show that there is an additional low-metallicity tidal stream near the Sgr trailing tidal tail.

Spectral Analysis, Synthesis, & Energy Distributions of Nearby E+A Galaxies Using SDSS-IV MaNGA

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Olivia A.; Anderson, Miguel Ricardo; Wally, Muhammad; James, Olivia; Falcone, Julia; Liu, Allen; Wallack, Nicole; Liu, Charles; SDSS Collaboration

2017-01-01

Utilizing data from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) Survey (MaNGA Product Launch-4, or MPL-4), of the latest generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV), we identified nine post-starburst (E+A) systems that lie within the Green Valley transition zone. We identify the E+A galaxies by their SDSS single fiber spectrum and u-r color, then confirmed their classification as post-starburst by coding/plotting methods and spectral synthesis codes (FIREFLY and PIPE3D), as well as with their Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) from 0.15 µm to 22 µm, using GALEX, SDSS, 2MASS, and WISE data. We produced maps of gaussian-fitted fluxes, equivalent widths, stellar velocities, metallicities and age. We also produced spectral line ratio diagrams to classify regions of stellar populations of the galaxies. We found that our sample of E+As retain their post-starburst properties across the entire galaxy, not just at their center. We detected matching a trend line in the ultraviolet and optical bands, consistent with the expected SEDs for an E+A galaxy, and also through the J, H and Ks bands, except for one object. We classified one of the nine galaxies as a luminous infrared galaxy, unusual for a post-starburst object. Our group seeks to further study stellar population properties, spectral energy distributions and quenching properties in E+A galaxies, and investigate their role in galaxy evolution as a whole. This work was supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation via the SDSS-IV Faculty and Student Team (FAST) initiative, ARC Agreement #SSP483 to the CUNY College of Staten Island. This work was also supported by grants to The American Museum of Natural History, and the CUNY College of Staten Island through from National Science Foundation.

QUEST1 Variability Survey. III. Light Curve Catalog Update

Science.gov (United States)

Rengstorf, A. W.; Thompson, D. L.; Mufson, S. L.; Andrews, P.; Honeycutt, R. K.; Vivas, A. K.; Abad, C.; Adams, B.; Bailyn, C.; Baltay, C.; Bongiovanni, A.; Briceño, C.; Bruzual, G.; Coppi, P.; Della Prugna, F.; Emmet, W.; Ferrín, I.; Fuenmayor, F.; Gebhard, M.; Hernández, J.; Magris, G.; Musser, J.; Naranjo, O.; Oemler, A.; Rosenzweig, P.; Sabbey, C. N.; Sánchez, Ge.; Sánchez, Gu.; Schaefer, B.; Schenner, H.; Sinnott, J.; Snyder, J. A.; Sofia, S.; Stock, J.; van Altena, W.

2009-03-01

This paper reports an update to the QUEST1 (QUasar Equatorial Survey Team, Phase 1) Variability Survey (QVS) light curve catalog, which links QVS instrumental magnitude light curves to Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) objects and photometry. In the time since the original QVS catalog release, the overlap between publicly available SDSS data and QVS data has increased by 8% in sky coverage and 16,728 in number of matched objects. The astrometric matching and the treatment of SDSS masks have been refined for the updated catalog. We report on these improvements and present multiple bandpass light curves, global variability information, and matched SDSS photometry for 214,941 QUEST1 objects. Based on observations obtained at the Llano del Hato National Astronomical Observatory, operated by the Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomía for the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologia of Venezuela.

Supernova VLBI

Science.gov (United States)

Bartel, N.

2009-08-01

We review VLBI observations of supernovae over the last quarter century and discuss the prospect of imaging future supernovae with space VLBI in the context of VSOP-2. From thousands of discovered supernovae, most of them at cosmological distances, ˜50 have been detected at radio wavelengths, most of them in relatively nearby galaxies. All of the radio supernovae are Type II or Ib/c, which originate from the explosion of massive progenitor stars. Of these, 12 were observed with VLBI and four of them, SN 1979C, SN 1986J, SN 1993J, and SN 1987A, could be imaged in detail, the former three with VLBI. In addition, supernovae or young supernova remnants were discovered at radio wavelengths in highly dust-obscured galaxies, such as M82, Arp 299, and Arp 220, and some of them could also be imaged in detail. Four of the supernovae so far observed were sufficiently bright to be detectable with VSOP-2. With VSOP-2 the expansion of supernovae can be monitored and investigated with unsurpassed angular resolution, starting as early as the time of the supernova's transition from its opaque to transparent stage. Such studies can reveal, in a movie, the aftermath of a supernova explosion shortly after shock break out.

Spectroscopic Properties of Star-Forming Host Galaxies and Type Ia Supernova Hubble Residuals in a Nearly Unbiased Sample

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

D' Andrea, Chris B. [Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States); et al.

2011-12-20

We examine the correlation between supernova host galaxy properties and their residuals on the Hubble diagram. We use supernovae discovered during the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II - Supernova Survey, and focus on objects at a redshift of z < 0.15, where the selection effects of the survey are known to yield a complete Type Ia supernova sample. To minimize the bias in our analysis with respect to measured host-galaxy properties, spectra were obtained for nearly all hosts, spanning a range in magnitude of -23 < M_r < -17. In contrast to previous works that use photometric estimates of host mass as a proxy for global metallicity, we analyze host-galaxy spectra to obtain gas-phase metallicities and star-formation rates from host galaxies with active star formation. From a final sample of ~ 40 emission-line galaxies, we find that light-curve corrected Type Ia supernovae are ~ 0.1 magnitudes brighter in high-metallicity hosts than in low-metallicity hosts. We also find a significant (> 3{\\sigma}) correlation between the Hubble residuals of Type Ia supernovae and the specific star-formation rate of the host galaxy. We comment on the importance of supernova/host-galaxy correlations as a source of systematic bias in future deep supernova surveys.

Intensive Monitoring Survey of Nearby Galaxies (IMSNG): Catching Early Light Curves of Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Im, Myungshin; IMSNG Team

2018-01-01

SNe light curves have been used to study the expansion history of the universe, and a lot of efforts have gone into understanding the overall shape of the radioactively powered light curve. However, we still have little direct observational evidence for the theorized SN progenitor systems. Recent studies suggest that the light curve of a supernova shortly after its explosion (world. Through this survey, we expect to catch the very early precursor emission as faint as R=21 mag (~0.1 Rsun for the progenitor). This poster outlines this project, and present a few scientific highlights, such as the early light curve of SN 2015F in NGC 2442.

zBEAMS: a unified solution for supernova cosmology with redshift uncertainties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, Ethan; Lochner, Michelle; Bassett, Bruce A.; Lablanche, Pierre-Yves; Agarwal, Shankar; Fonseca, José

2017-01-01

Supernova cosmology without spectra will be an important component of future surveys such as LSST. This lack of supernova spectra results in uncertainty in the redshifts which, if ignored, leads to significantly biased estimates of cosmological parameters. Here we present a hierarchical Bayesian formalism— zBEAMS—that addresses this problem by marginalising over the unknown or uncertain supernova redshifts to produce unbiased cosmological estimates that are competitive with supernova data with spectroscopically confirmed redshifts. zBEAMS provides a unified treatment of both photometric redshifts and host galaxy misidentification (occurring due to chance galaxy alignments or faint hosts), effectively correcting the inevitable contamination in the Hubble diagram. Like its predecessor BEAMS, our formalism also takes care of non-Ia supernova contamination by marginalising over the unknown supernova type. We illustrate this technique with simulations of supernovae with photometric redshifts and host galaxy misidentification. A novel feature of the photometric redshift case is the important role played by the redshift distribution of the supernovae.

zBEAMS: a unified solution for supernova cosmology with redshift uncertainties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roberts, Ethan; Lochner, Michelle; Bassett, Bruce A.; Lablanche, Pierre-Yves; Agarwal, Shankar [African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, 6 Melrose Road, Muizenberg, 7945, Cape Town (South Africa); Fonseca, José, E-mail: rbreth001@myuct.ac.za, E-mail: michelle@aims.ac.za, E-mail: jfonseca@uwc.ac.za, E-mail: bruce.a.bassett@gmail.com, E-mail: plablanche@aims.ac.za, E-mail: agarwalshankar@aims.ac.za [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7535 (South Africa)

2017-10-01

Supernova cosmology without spectra will be an important component of future surveys such as LSST. This lack of supernova spectra results in uncertainty in the redshifts which, if ignored, leads to significantly biased estimates of cosmological parameters. Here we present a hierarchical Bayesian formalism— zBEAMS—that addresses this problem by marginalising over the unknown or uncertain supernova redshifts to produce unbiased cosmological estimates that are competitive with supernova data with spectroscopically confirmed redshifts. zBEAMS provides a unified treatment of both photometric redshifts and host galaxy misidentification (occurring due to chance galaxy alignments or faint hosts), effectively correcting the inevitable contamination in the Hubble diagram. Like its predecessor BEAMS, our formalism also takes care of non-Ia supernova contamination by marginalising over the unknown supernova type. We illustrate this technique with simulations of supernovae with photometric redshifts and host galaxy misidentification. A novel feature of the photometric redshift case is the important role played by the redshift distribution of the supernovae.

Data compression of measurements of peculiar velocities of supernovae type Ia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irsic, Vid; Slosar, Anze

2011-01-01

We study the compression of information present in the correlated perturbations to the luminosity distance in the low-redshift (z 2 P(k), where f is the logarithmic rate of growth of linear perturbations and P(k) is their power spectrum. We develop an optimal quadratic estimator and show that it recovers all information for ΛCDM models for surveys of N∼10,000 or more supernovae. We explicitly demonstrate robustness with respect to the assumed fiducial model and the number of power spectrum bins. Using mock catalogues of supernovae Ia we estimate that future low-redshift surveys will be able to probe σ 8 to 6% accuracy with 10 000 supernovae Ia.

Discovery of 11 ASAS-SN Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Brimacombe, J.; Cacella, P.; Stone, G.; Fernandez, J. M.; Vallely, P.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Brown, J. S.; Shields, J.; Thompson, T. A.; Shappee, B. J.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Prieto, J. L.; Bersier, D.; Dong, Subo; Bose, S.; Chen, Ping; Stritzinger, M.; Holmbo, S.; Nicholls, B.; Post, R. S.

2018-05-01

During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014), using data from 14-cm telescopes in Hawaii, Texas, South Africa, and Chile, we discovered several new transient sources.

Counts of low-Redshift SDSS quasar candidates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeljko Ivezic

2004-01-01

We analyze the counts of low-redshift quasar candidates selected using nine-epoch SDSS imaging data. The co-added catalogs are more than 1 mag deeper than single-epoch SDSS data, and allow the selection of low-redshift quasar candidates using UV-excess and also variability techniques. The counts of selected candidates are robustly determined down to g = 21.5. This is about 2 magnitudes deeper than the position of a change in the slope of the counts reported by Boyle (and others) (1990, 2000) for a sample selected by UV-excess, and questioned by Hawkins and Veron (1995), who utilized a variability-selected sample. Using SDSS data, we confirm a change in the slope of the counts for both UV-excess and variability selected samples, providing strong support for the Boyle (and others) results

Photometric properties of galaxies in the SDSS

Science.gov (United States)

Hogg, D. W.; Blanton, M.; SDSS Collaboration

2001-12-01

We analyze the number density distribution of galaxy properties in a sample of 8x 104 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, in the redshift range 0.02calculated for each galaxy. The photometry is of excellent quality; every galaxy has CCD imaging with signal-to-noise for the flux well above 100. The distribution of galaxies in the (six-dimensional) space spanned by four colors, central surface-brightness, and radial concentration is described and analyzed, with the following results: \\textsl{(1)} The galaxies occupy only a small part of the six-dimensional space. \\textsl{(2)} The distribution of galaxy number density in the space is a strong function of intrinsic galaxy luminosity. \\textsl{(3)} Elliptical (or early type) and spiral (or late type) galaxies are clearly separated in the space. The ratio of early-type to late-type galaxy contributions to the luminosity density of the Universe is computed, as a function of wavelength. At 1 {μm }, early-type galaxies dominate the luminosity density. \\textsl{(4)} Outliers in color tend to be lower surface-brightness galaxies. Funding for the SDSS has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the SDSS member institutions, NASA, NSF, DOE, the Japanese Monbukagakusho, and the Max Planck Society. This research has been supported by the NYU Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Spectro-photometric calibration of the SuperNova Integral Field Spectrograph in the Nearby Supernova Factory collaboration framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buton, Clement

2009-01-01

Ten years ago, type Ia supernovae used as distances indicators led to the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe. Today, a second generation of surveys has significantly increased the high-redshift type Ia supernovae sample. The low-redshift sample was however still limiting the cosmological analysis using SNe. In this framework, the Nearby Supernova Factory has followed 200 nearby type Ia supernovae using the dedicated Supernovae Integral Field Spectrograph with spectro-photometric capacities. My PhD thesis has been carried out at the Institut de Physique Nucleaire de Lyon and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the framework of the international cosmological project SNfactory. In order to reach the design spectrophotometric accuracy, attention has been focused on several key aspects of the calibration procedure, including: determination of a dedicated point spread function for 3D point source extraction, estimating the nightly photometric quality, derivation of the nightly sky extinction over the extended optical domain, its modeling in terms of physical components and its variability within a given night. A full multi-standards calibration pipeline has been implemented using approximately 4000 observations of spectrophotometric standard stars taken throughout the night over nearly 500 individual nights. Preliminary scientific results of the whole SNfactory collaboration will be presented at the end of this thesis. (author)

THE HALO OCCUPATION DISTRIBUTION OF SDSS QUASARS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richardson, Jonathan; Chatterjee, Suchetana; Nagai, Daisuke; Zheng Zheng; Shen Yue

2012-01-01

We present an estimate of the projected two-point correlation function (2PCF) of quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) over the full range of one- and two-halo scales, 0.02 h –1 Mpc p –1 Mpc. This was achieved by combining data from SDSS DR7 on large scales and Hennawi et al. (with appropriate statistical corrections) on small scales. Our combined clustering sample is the largest spectroscopic quasar clustering sample to date, containing ∼48, 000 quasars in the redshift range 0.4 ∼ sat = (7.4 ± 1.4) × 10 –4 , be satellites in dark matter halos. At z ∼ 1.4, the median masses of the host halos of central and satellite quasars are constrained to be M cen = 4.1 +0.3 –0.4 × 10 12 h –1 M ☉ and M sat = 3.6 +0.8 –1.0 × 10 14 h –1 M ☉ , respectively. To investigate the redshift evolution of the quasar-halo relationship, we also perform HOD modeling of the projected 2PCF measured by Shen et al. for SDSS quasars with median redshift 3.2. We find tentative evidence for an increase in the mass scale of quasar host halos—the inferred median mass of halos hosting central quasars at z ∼ 3.2 is M cen = 14.1 +5.8 –6.9 × 10 12 h –1 M ☉ . The cutoff profiles of the mean occupation functions of central quasars reveal that quasar luminosity is more tightly correlated with halo mass at higher redshifts. The average quasar duty cycle around the median host halo mass is inferred to be f q = 7.3 +0.6 –1.5 × 10 –4 at z ∼ 1.4 and f q = 8.6 +20.4 –7.2 × 10 –2 at z ∼ 3.2. We discuss the implications of our results for quasar evolution and quasar-galaxy co-evolution.

Simulations of the WFIRST Supernova Survey and Forecasts of Cosmological Constraints

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hounsell, R. [Illinois U., Urbana, Astron. Dept.; Scolnic, D. [Chicago U., KICP; Foley, R. J. [UC, Santa Cruz; Kessler, R. [Chicago U., KICP; Miranda, V. [Pennsylvania U.; Avelino, A. [Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys.; Bohlin, R. C. [Baltimore, Space Telescope Sci.; Filippenko, A. V. [UC, Berkeley; Frieman, J. [Fermilab; Jha, S. W. [Rutgers U., Piscataway; Kelly, P. L. [UC, Berkeley; Kirshner, R. P. [Xerox, Palo Alto; Mandel, K. [Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys.; Rest, A. [Baltimore, Space Telescope Sci.; Riess, A. G. [Johns Hopkins U.; Rodney, S. A. [South Carolina U.; Strolger, L. [Baltimore, Space Telescope Sci.

2017-02-06

The Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST) was the highest rankedlarge space-based mission of the 2010 New Worlds, New Horizons decadal survey.It is now a NASA mission in formulation with a planned launch in themid-2020's. A primary mission objective is to precisely constrain the nature ofdark energy through multiple probes, including Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia).Here, we present the first realistic simulations of the WFIRST SN survey basedon current hardware specifications and using open-source tools. We simulate SNlight curves and spectra as viewed by the WFIRST wide-field channel (WFC)imager and integral field channel (IFC) spectrometer, respectively. We examine11 survey strategies with different time allocations between the WFC and IFC,two of which are based upon the strategy described by the WFIRST ScienceDefinition Team, which measures SN distances exclusively from IFC data. Wepropagate statistical and, crucially, systematic uncertainties to predict thedark energy task force figure of merit (DETF FoM) for each strategy. Theincrease in FoM values with SN search area is limited by the overhead times foreach exposure. For IFC-focused strategies the largest individual systematicuncertainty is the wavelength-dependent calibration uncertainty, whereas forWFC-focused strategies, it is the intrinsic scatter uncertainty. We find thatthe best IFC-focused and WFC-exclusive strategies have comparable FoM values.Even without improvements to other cosmological probes, the WFIRST SN surveyhas the potential to increase the FoM by more than an order of magnitude fromthe current values. Although the survey strategies presented here have not beenfully optimized, these initial investigations are an important step in thedevelopment of the final hardware design and implementation of the WFIRSTmission.

Flying across Galaxy Clusters with Google Earth: additional imagery from SDSS co-added data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hao, Jiangang; Annis, James; /Fermilab

2010-10-01

Galaxy clusters are spectacular. We provide a Google Earth compatible imagery for the deep co-added images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and make it a tool for examing galaxy clusters. Google Earth (in sky mode) provides a highly interactive environment for visualizing the sky. By encoding the galaxy cluster information into a kml/kmz file, one can use Google Earth as a tool for examining galaxy clusters and fly across them freely. However, the resolution of the images provided by Google Earth is not very high. This is partially because the major imagery google earth used is from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) (SDSS collaboration 2000) and the resolutions have been reduced to speed up the web transferring. To have higher resolution images, you need to add your own images in a way that Google Earth can understand. The SDSS co-added data are the co-addition of {approx}100 scans of images from SDSS stripe 82 (Annis et al. 2010). It provides the deepest images based on SDSS and reach as deep as about redshift 1.0. Based on the co-added images, we created color images in a way as described by Lupton et al. (2004) and convert the color images to Google Earth compatible images using wcs2kml (Brewer et al. 2007). The images are stored at a public server at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and can be accessed by the public. To view those images in Google Earth, you need to download a kmz file, which contains the links to the color images, and then open the kmz file with your Google Earth. To meet different needs for resolutions, we provide three kmz files corresponding to low, medium and high resolution images. We recommend the high resolution one as long as you have a broadband Internet connection, though you should choose to download any of them, depending on your own needs and Internet speed. After you open the downloaded kmz file with Google Earth (in sky mode), it takes about 5 minutes (depending on your Internet connection and the resolution of images you

Flying across Galaxy Clusters with Google Earth: additional imagery from SDSS co-added data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hao, Jiangang; Annis, James

2010-01-01

Galaxy clusters are spectacular. We provide a Google Earth compatible imagery for the deep co-added images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and make it a tool for examing galaxy clusters. Google Earth (in sky mode) provides a highly interactive environment for visualizing the sky. By encoding the galaxy cluster information into a kml/kmz file, one can use Google Earth as a tool for examining galaxy clusters and fly across them freely. However, the resolution of the images provided by Google Earth is not very high. This is partially because the major imagery google earth used is from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) (SDSS collaboration 2000) and the resolutions have been reduced to speed up the web transferring. To have higher resolution images, you need to add your own images in a way that Google Earth can understand. The SDSS co-added data are the co-addition of ∼100 scans of images from SDSS stripe 82 (Annis et al. 2010). It provides the deepest images based on SDSS and reach as deep as about redshift 1.0. Based on the co-added images, we created color images in a way as described by Lupton et al. (2004) and convert the color images to Google Earth compatible images using wcs2kml (Brewer et al. 2007). The images are stored at a public server at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and can be accessed by the public. To view those images in Google Earth, you need to download a kmz file, which contains the links to the color images, and then open the kmz file with your Google Earth. To meet different needs for resolutions, we provide three kmz files corresponding to low, medium and high resolution images. We recommend the high resolution one as long as you have a broadband Internet connection, though you should choose to download any of them, depending on your own needs and Internet speed. After you open the downloaded kmz file with Google Earth (in sky mode), it takes about 5 minutes (depending on your Internet connection and the resolution of images you want

A search for optical variability of type 2 quasars in SDSS stripe 82

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barth, Aaron J.; Carson, Daniel J.; Voevodkin, Alexey; Woźniak, Przemysław

2014-01-01

Hundreds of Type 2 quasars have been identified in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data, and there is substantial evidence that they are generally galaxies with highly obscured central engines, in accord with unified models for active galactic nuclei (AGNs). A straightforward expectation of unified models is that highly obscured Type 2 AGNs should show little or no optical variability on timescales of days to years. As a test of this prediction, we have carried out a search for variability in Type 2 quasars in SDSS Stripe 82 using difference-imaging photometry. Starting with the Type 2 AGN catalogs of Zakamska et al. and Reyes et al., we find evidence of significant g-band variability in 17 out of 173 objects for which light curves could be measured from the Stripe 82 data. To determine the nature of this variability, we obtained new Keck spectropolarimetry observations for seven of these variable AGNs. The Keck data show that these objects have low continuum polarizations (p ≲ 1% in most cases) and all seven have broad Hα and/or Mg II emission lines in their total (unpolarized) spectra, indicating that they should actually be classified as Type 1 AGNs. We conclude that the primary reason variability is found in the SDSS-selected Type 2 AGN samples is that these samples contain a small fraction of Type 1 AGNs as contaminants, and it is not necessary to invoke more exotic possible explanations such as a population of 'naked' or unobscured Type 2 quasars. Aside from misclassified Type 1 objects, the Type 2 quasars do not generally show detectable optical variability over the duration of the Stripe 82 survey.

Galaxy–Galaxy Weak-lensing Measurements from SDSS. I. Image Processing and Lensing Signals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luo, Wentao [Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Nandan Road 80, Shanghai 200030 (China); Yang, Xiaohu; Zhang, Jun; Tweed, Dylan [Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States); Fu, Liping; Shu, Chenggang [Shanghai Key Lab for Astrophysics, Shanghai Normal University, 100 Guilin Road, 200234, Shanghai (China); Mo, H. J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9305 (United States); Bosch, Frank C. van den [Department of Astronomy, Yale University, P.O. Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520-8101 (United States); Li, Ran [Key Laboratory for Computational Astrophysics, Partner Group of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100012 (China); Li, Nan [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Liu, Xiangkun; Pan, Chuzhong [Department of Astronomy, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); Wang, Yiran [Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1002 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States); Radovich, Mario, E-mail: walt@shao.ac.cn, E-mail: xyang@sjtu.edu.cn [INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Napoli, via Moiariello 16, I-80131 Napoli (Italy)

2017-02-10

We present our image processing pipeline that corrects the systematics introduced by the point-spread function (PSF). Using this pipeline, we processed Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7 imaging data in r band and generated a galaxy catalog containing the shape information. Based on our shape measurements of the galaxy images from SDSS DR7, we extract the galaxy–galaxy (GG) lensing signals around foreground spectroscopic galaxies binned in different luminosities and stellar masses. We estimated the systematics, e.g., selection bias, PSF reconstruction bias, PSF dilution bias, shear responsivity bias, and noise rectification bias, which in total is between −9.1% and 20.8% at 2 σ levels. The overall GG lensing signals we measured are in good agreement with Mandelbaum et al. The reduced χ {sup 2} between the two measurements in different luminosity bins are from 0.43 to 0.83. Larger reduced χ {sup 2} from 0.60 to 1.87 are seen for different stellar mass bins, which is mainly caused by the different stellar mass estimator. The results in this paper with higher signal-to-noise ratio are due to the larger survey area than SDSS DR4, confirming that more luminous/massive galaxies bear stronger GG lensing signals. We divide the foreground galaxies into red/blue and star-forming/quenched subsamples and measure their GG lensing signals. We find that, at a specific stellar mass/luminosity, the red/quenched galaxies have stronger GG lensing signals than their counterparts, especially at large radii. These GG lensing signals can be used to probe the galaxy–halo mass relations and their environmental dependences in the halo occupation or conditional luminosity function framework.

Aspherical supernovae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasen, Daniel Nathan

2004-01-01

Although we know that many supernovae are aspherical, the exact nature of their geometry is undetermined. Because all the supernovae we observe are too distant to be resolved, the ejecta structure can't be directly imaged, and asymmetry must be inferred from signatures in the spectral features and polarization of the supernova light. The empirical interpretation of this data, however, is rather limited--to learn more about the detailed supernova geometry, theoretical modeling must been undertaken. One expects the geometry to be closely tied to the explosion mechanism and the progenitor star system, both of which are still under debate. Studying the 3-dimensional structure of supernovae should therefore provide new break throughs in our understanding. The goal of this thesis is to advance new techniques for calculating radiative transfer in 3-dimensional expanding atmospheres, and use them to study the flux and polarization signatures of aspherical supernovae. We develop a 3-D Monte Carlo transfer code and use it to directly fit recent spectropolarimetric observations, as well as calculate the observable properties of detailed multi-dimensional hydrodynamical explosion simulations. While previous theoretical efforts have been restricted to ellipsoidal models, we study several more complicated configurations that are tied to specific physical scenarios. We explore clumpy and toroidal geometries in fitting the spectropolarimetry of the Type Ia supernova SN 2001el. We then calculate the observable consequences of a supernova that has been rendered asymmetric by crashing into a nearby companion star. Finally, we fit the spectrum of a peculiar and extraordinarily luminous Type Ic supernova. The results are brought to bear on three broader astrophysical questions: (1) What are the progenitors and the explosion processes of Type Ia supernovae? (2) What effect does asymmetry have on the observational diversity of Type Ia supernovae, and hence their use in cosmology? (3) And

Comments on the Redshift Distribution of 44,200 SDSS Quasars: Evidence for Predicted Preferred Redshifts?

OpenAIRE

Bell, M. B.

2004-01-01

A Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) source sample containing 44,200 quasar redshifts is examined. Although arguments have been put forth to explain some of the structure observed in the redshift distribution, it is argued here that this structure may just as easily be explained by the presence of previously predicted preferred redshifts.

A sample of galaxy pairs identified from the LAMOST spectral survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen, Shi-Yin; Argudo-Fernández, Maria; Chen, Li; Feng, Shuai; Hou, Jin-Liang; Shao, Zheng-Yi; Chen, Xiao-Yan; Luo, A-Li; Wu, Hong; Yang, Hai-Feng; Yang, Ming; Hou, Yong-Hui; Wang, Yue-Fei; Jiang, Peng; Wang, Ting-Gui; Jing, Yi-Peng; Kong, Xu; Wang, Wen-Ting; Luo, Zhi-Jian; Wu, Xue-Bing

2016-01-01

A small fraction (< 10%) of the SDSS main galaxy (MG) sample has not been targeted with spectroscopy due to the effect of fiber collisions. These galaxies have been compiled into the input catalog of the LAMOST ExtraGAlactic Surveys and named the complementary galaxy sample. In this paper, we introduce this project and status of the spectroscopies associated with the complementary galaxies in the first two years of the LAMOST spectral survey (till Sep. of 2014). Moreover, we present a sample of 1102 galaxy pairs identified from the LAMOST complementary galaxies and SDSS MGs, which are defined as two members that have a projected distance smaller than 100 h −1 70 kpc and a recessional velocity difference smaller than 500 km s −1 . Compared with galaxy pairs that are only selected from SDSS, the LAMOST-SDSS pairs have the advantages of not being biased toward large separations and therefore act as a useful supplement in statistical studies of galaxy interaction and galaxy merging. (paper)

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abolfathi, Bela; Aguado, D. S.; Aguilar, Gabriela

2018-01-01

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since 2014 July. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the 14th from SDSS overall (making this Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes the data taken by SDSS-IV in its firs...

A Survey of z>5.7 Quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fan, Xiaohui; Strauss, Michael A.; Richards, Gordon T.

2005-01-01

We present the discovery of seven quasars at z>5.7, selected from ~2000 deg^2 of multicolor imaging data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The new quasars have redshifts z from 5.79 to 6.13. Five are selected as part of a complete flux-limited sample in the SDSS Northern Galactic Cap; two...

New ultracool subdwarfs identified in large-scale surveys using Virtual Observatory tools. I. UKIDSS LAS DR5 vs. SDSS DR7

Science.gov (United States)

Lodieu, N.; Espinoza Contreras, M.; Zapatero Osorio, M. R.; Solano, E.; Aberasturi, M.; Martín, E. L.

2012-06-01

Aims: The aim of the project is to improve our knowledge of the low-mass and low-metallicity population to investigate the influence of metallicity on the stellar (and substellar) mass function. Methods: We present the results of a photometric and proper motion search aimed at discovering ultracool subdwarfs in large-scale surveys. We employed and combined the Fifth Data Release (DR5) of the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Large Area Survey (LAS) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 complemented with ancillary data from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS), the DEep Near-Infrared Survey (DENIS) and the SuperCOSMOS Sky Surveys (SSS). Results: The SDSS DR7 vs. UKIDSS LAS DR5 search returned a total of 32 ultracool subdwarf candidates, only two of which are recognised as a subdwarf in the literature. Twenty-seven candidates, including the two known ones, were followed-up spectroscopically in the optical between 600 and 1000 nm, thus covering strong spectral features indicative of low metallicity (e.g., CaH), 21 with the Very Large Telescope, one with the Nordic Optical Telescope, and five were extracted from the Sloan spectroscopic database to assess (or refute) their low-metal content. We confirm 20 candidates as subdwarfs, extreme subdwarfs, or ultra-subdwarfs with spectral types later than M5; this represents a success rate of ≥ 60%. Among those 20 new subdwarfs, we identify two early-L subdwarfs that are very likely located within 100 pc, which we propose as templates for future searches because they are the first examples of their subclass. Another seven sources are solar-metallicity M dwarfs with spectral types between M4 and M7 without Hα emission, suggesting that they are old M dwarfs. The remaining five candidates do not have spectroscopic follow-up yet; only one remains as a bona-fide ultracool subdwarf after revision of their proper motions. We assigned spectral types based on the current classification schemes and, when

Astronomical Surveys and Big Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mickaelian Areg M.

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Recent all-sky and large-area astronomical surveys and their catalogued data over the whole range of electromagnetic spectrum, from γ-rays to radio waves, are reviewed, including such as Fermi-GLAST and INTEGRAL in γ-ray, ROSAT, XMM and Chandra in X-ray, GALEX in UV, SDSS and several POSS I and POSS II-based catalogues (APM, MAPS, USNO, GSC in the optical range, 2MASS in NIR, WISE and AKARI IRC in MIR, IRAS and AKARI FIS in FIR, NVSS and FIRST in radio range, and many others, as well as the most important surveys giving optical images (DSS I and II, SDSS, etc., proper motions (Tycho, USNO, Gaia, variability (GCVS, NSVS, ASAS, Catalina, Pan-STARRS, and spectroscopic data (FBS, SBS, Case, HQS, HES, SDSS, CALIFA, GAMA. An overall understanding of the coverage along the whole wavelength range and comparisons between various surveys are given: galaxy redshift surveys, QSO/AGN, radio, Galactic structure, and Dark Energy surveys. Astronomy has entered the Big Data era, with Astrophysical Virtual Observatories and Computational Astrophysics playing an important role in using and analyzing big data for new discoveries.

supernovae: Photometric classification of supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Charnock, Tom; Moss, Adam

2017-05-01

Supernovae classifies supernovae using their light curves directly as inputs to a deep recurrent neural network, which learns information from the sequence of observations. Observational time and filter fluxes are used as inputs; since the inputs are agnostic, additional data such as host galaxy information can also be included.

A topological analysis of large-scale structure, studied using the CMASS sample of SDSS-III

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parihar, Prachi; Gott, J. Richard III; Vogeley, Michael S.; Choi, Yun-Young; Kim, Juhan; Kim, Sungsoo S.; Speare, Robert; Brownstein, Joel R.; Brinkmann, J.

2014-01-01

We study the three-dimensional genus topology of large-scale structure using the northern region of the CMASS Data Release 10 (DR10) sample of the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. We select galaxies with redshift 0.452 < z < 0.625 and with a stellar mass M stellar > 10 11.56 M ☉ . We study the topology at two smoothing lengths: R G = 21 h –1 Mpc and R G = 34 h –1 Mpc. The genus topology studied at the R G = 21 h –1 Mpc scale results in the highest genus amplitude observed to date. The CMASS sample yields a genus curve that is characteristic of one produced by Gaussian random phase initial conditions. The data thus support the standard model of inflation where random quantum fluctuations in the early universe produced Gaussian random phase initial conditions. Modest deviations in the observed genus from random phase are as expected from shot noise effects and the nonlinear evolution of structure. We suggest the use of a fitting formula motivated by perturbation theory to characterize the shift and asymmetries in the observed genus curve with a single parameter. We construct 54 mock SDSS CMASS surveys along the past light cone from the Horizon Run 3 (HR3) N-body simulations, where gravitationally bound dark matter subhalos are identified as the sites of galaxy formation. We study the genus topology of the HR3 mock surveys with the same geometry and sampling density as the observational sample and find the observed genus topology to be consistent with ΛCDM as simulated by the HR3 mock samples. We conclude that the topology of the large-scale structure in the SDSS CMASS sample is consistent with cosmological models having primordial Gaussian density fluctuations growing in accordance with general relativity to form galaxies in massive dark matter halos.

Supernovae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petschek, A.

1990-01-01

This book offers papers incorporating the latest results and understanding about supernovae, including SN1987A. There are several chapters reviewing all the radio through infrared, visible, and ultraviolet to X-rays and gamma-rays but also neutrinos. Other chapters deal with the classification of supernovae, depending on their spectra and light curves. Three chapters treat supernovae theory, including an idea of a fractal burning front and another on the behavior of neutron stars

Molecular clouds near supernova remnants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wootten, H.A.

1978-01-01

The physical properties of molecular clouds near supernova remnants were investigated. Various properties of the structure and kinematics of these clouds are used to establish their physical association with well-known remmnants. An infrared survey of the most massive clouds revealed embedded objects, probably stars whose formation was induced by the supernova blast wave. In order to understand the relationship between these and other molecular clouds, a control group of clouds was also observed. Excitation models for dense regions of all the clouds are constructed to evaluate molecular abundances in these regions. Those clouds that have embedded stars have lower molecular abundances than the clouds that do not. A cloud near the W28 supernova remnant also has low abundances. Molecular abundances are used to measure an important parameter, the electron density, which is not directly observable. In some clouds extensive deuterium fractionation is observed which confirms electron density measurements in those clouds. Where large deuterium fractionation is observed, the ionization rate in the cloud interior can also be measured. The electron density and ionization rate in the cloud near W28 are higher than in most clouds. The molecular abundances and electron densities are functions of the chemical and dynamical state of evolution of the cloud. Those clouds with lowest abundances are probably the youngest clouds. As low-abundance clouds, some clouds near supernova remnants may have been recently swept from the local interstellar material. Supernova remnants provide sites for star formation in ambient clouds by compressing them, and they sweep new clouds from more diffuse local matter

Giant Planet Candidates, Brown Dwarfs, and Binaries from the SDSS-III MARVELS Planet Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Neil; Ge, Jian; Li, Rui; de Lee, Nathan M.; Heslar, Michael; Ma, Bo; SDSS-Iii Marvels Team

2015-01-01

We report the discoveries of giant planet candidates, brown dwarfs, and binaries from the SDSS-III MARVELS survey. The finalized 1D pipeline has provided 18 giant planet candidates, 16 brown dwarfs, and over 500 binaries. An additional 96 targets having RV variability indicative of a giant planet companion are also reported for future investigation. These candidates are found using the advanced MARVELS 1D data pipeline developed at UF from scratch over the past three years. This pipeline carefully corrects most of the instrument effects (such as trace, slant, distortion, drifts and dispersion) and observation condition effects (such as illumination profile, fiber degradation, and tracking variations). The result is long-term RV precisions that approach the photon limits in many cases for the ~89,000 individual stellar observations. A 2D version of the pipeline that uses interferometric information is nearing completion and is demonstrating a reduction of errors to half the current levels. The 2D processing will be used to increase the robustness of the detections presented here and to find new candidates in RV regions not confidently detectable with the 1D pipeline. The MARVELS survey has produced the largest homogeneous RV measurements of 3300 V=7.6-12 FGK stars with a well defined cadence of 27 RV measurements over 2 years. The MARVELS RV data and other follow-up data (photometry, high contrast imaging, high resolution spectroscopy and RV measurements) will explore the diversity of giant planet companion formation and evolution around stars with a broad range in metallicity (Fe/H -1.5-0.5), mass ( 0.6-2.5M(sun)), and environment (thin disk and thick disk), and will help to address the key scientific questions identified for the MARVELS survey including, but not limited to: Do metal poor stars obey the same trends for planet occurrence as metal rich stars? What is the distribution of giant planets around intermediate-mass stars and binaries? Is the 'planet desert

PHOTOMETRIC SUPERNOVA CLASSIFICATION WITH MACHINE LEARNING

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lochner, Michelle; Peiris, Hiranya V.; Lahav, Ofer; Winter, Max K. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); McEwen, Jason D., E-mail: dr.michelle.lochner@gmail.com [Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Surrey RH5 6NT (United Kingdom)

2016-08-01

Automated photometric supernova classification has become an active area of research in recent years in light of current and upcoming imaging surveys such as the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, given that spectroscopic confirmation of type for all supernovae discovered will be impossible. Here, we develop a multi-faceted classification pipeline, combining existing and new approaches. Our pipeline consists of two stages: extracting descriptive features from the light curves and classification using a machine learning algorithm. Our feature extraction methods vary from model-dependent techniques, namely SALT2 fits, to more independent techniques that fit parametric models to curves, to a completely model-independent wavelet approach. We cover a range of representative machine learning algorithms, including naive Bayes, k -nearest neighbors, support vector machines, artificial neural networks, and boosted decision trees (BDTs). We test the pipeline on simulated multi-band DES light curves from the Supernova Photometric Classification Challenge. Using the commonly used area under the curve (AUC) of the Receiver Operating Characteristic as a metric, we find that the SALT2 fits and the wavelet approach, with the BDTs algorithm, each achieve an AUC of 0.98, where 1 represents perfect classification. We find that a representative training set is essential for good classification, whatever the feature set or algorithm, with implications for spectroscopic follow-up. Importantly, we find that by using either the SALT2 or the wavelet feature sets with a BDT algorithm, accurate classification is possible purely from light curve data, without the need for any redshift information.

PHOTOMETRIC SUPERNOVA CLASSIFICATION WITH MACHINE LEARNING

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lochner, Michelle; Peiris, Hiranya V.; Lahav, Ofer; Winter, Max K.; McEwen, Jason D.

2016-01-01

Automated photometric supernova classification has become an active area of research in recent years in light of current and upcoming imaging surveys such as the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, given that spectroscopic confirmation of type for all supernovae discovered will be impossible. Here, we develop a multi-faceted classification pipeline, combining existing and new approaches. Our pipeline consists of two stages: extracting descriptive features from the light curves and classification using a machine learning algorithm. Our feature extraction methods vary from model-dependent techniques, namely SALT2 fits, to more independent techniques that fit parametric models to curves, to a completely model-independent wavelet approach. We cover a range of representative machine learning algorithms, including naive Bayes, k -nearest neighbors, support vector machines, artificial neural networks, and boosted decision trees (BDTs). We test the pipeline on simulated multi-band DES light curves from the Supernova Photometric Classification Challenge. Using the commonly used area under the curve (AUC) of the Receiver Operating Characteristic as a metric, we find that the SALT2 fits and the wavelet approach, with the BDTs algorithm, each achieve an AUC of 0.98, where 1 represents perfect classification. We find that a representative training set is essential for good classification, whatever the feature set or algorithm, with implications for spectroscopic follow-up. Importantly, we find that by using either the SALT2 or the wavelet feature sets with a BDT algorithm, accurate classification is possible purely from light curve data, without the need for any redshift information.

SHOCK BREAKOUT IN TYPE II PLATEAU SUPERNOVAE: PROSPECTS FOR HIGH-REDSHIFT SUPERNOVA SURVEYS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tominaga, N.; Morokuma, T.; Blinnikov, S. I.; Nomoto, K.; Baklanov, P.; Sorokina, E. I.

2011-01-01

Shock breakout is the brightest radiative phenomenon in a supernova (SN) but is difficult to be observed owing to the short duration and X-ray/ultraviolet (UV)-peaked spectra. After the first observation from the rising phase reported in 2008, its observability at high redshift is attracting enormous attention. We perform multigroup radiation hydrodynamics calculations of explosions for evolutionary presupernova models with various main-sequence masses M MS , metallicities Z, and explosion energies E. We present multicolor light curves of shock breakouts in Type II plateau SNe, being the most frequent core-collapse SNe, and predict apparent multicolor light curves of shock breakout at various redshifts z. We derive the observable SN rate and reachable redshift as functions of filter x and limiting magnitude m x,lim by taking into account an initial mass function, cosmic star formation history, intergalactic absorption, and host galaxy extinction. We propose a realistic survey strategy optimized for shock breakout. For example, the g'-band observable SN rate for m g',lim = 27.5 mag is 3.3 SNe deg -2 day -1 and half of them are located at z ≥ 1.2. It is clear that the shock breakout is a beneficial clue for probing high-z core-collapse SNe. We also establish ways to identify shock breakout and constrain SN properties from the observations of shock breakout, brightness, timescale, and color. We emphasize that the multicolor observations in blue optical bands with ∼hour intervals, preferably over ≥2 continuous nights, are essential to efficiently detect, identify, and interpret shock breakout.

Preparatory studies for the WFIRST supernova cosmology measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Perlmutter, Saul

tune details, like the wavelength coverage and S/N requirements, of the WFIRST IFS to capitalize on these systematic error reduction methods. b) Supernova extraction and host galaxy subtractions. The underlying light of the host galaxy must be subtracted from the supernova images making up the lightcurves. Using the IFS to provide the lightcurve points via spectrophotometry requires the subtraction of a reference spectrum of the galaxy taken after the supernova light has faded to a negligible level. We plan to apply the expertise obtained from the SNfactory to develop galaxy background procedures that minimize the systematic errors introduced by this step in the analysis. c) Instrument calibration and ground to space cross calibration. Calibrating the entire supernova sample will be a challenge as no standard stars exist that span the range of magnitudes and wavelengths relevant to the WFIRST survey. Linking the supernova measurements to the relatively brighter standards will require several links. WFIRST will produce the high redshift sample, but the nearby supernova to anchor the Hubble diagram will have to come from ground based observations. Developing algorithms to carry out the cross calibration of these two samples to the required one percent level will be an important goal of our proposal. An integral part of this calibration will be to remove all instrumental signatures and to develop unbiased measurement techniques starting at the pixel level. We then plan to pull the above studies together in a synthesis to produce a correlated error matrix. We plan to develop a Fisher Matrix based model to evaluate the correlated error matrix due to the various systematic errors discussed above. A realistic error model will allow us to carry out a more reliable estimates of the eventual errors on the measurement of the cosmological parameters, as well as serve as a means of optimizing and fine tuning the requirements for the instruments and survey strategies.

A SYSTEMATIC SURVEY FOR BROADENED CO EMISSION TOWARD GALACTIC SUPERNOVA REMNANTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kilpatrick, Charles D.; Bieging, John H.; Rieke, George H. [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

2016-01-01

We present molecular spectroscopy toward 50 Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) taken at millimeter wavelengths in {sup 12}CO J = 2 − 1. These observations are part of a systematic survey for broad molecular line (BML) regions indicative of interactions with molecular clouds (MCs). We detected BML regions toward 19 SNRs, including 9 newly identified BML regions associated with SNRs (G08.3–0.0, G09.9–0.8, G11.2–0.3, G12.2+0.3, G18.6–0.2, G23.6+0.3, 4C–04.71, G29.6+0.1, and G32.4+0.1). The remaining 10 SNRs with BML regions confirm previous evidence for MC interaction in most cases (G16.7+0.1, Kes 75, 3C 391, Kes 79, 3C 396, 3C 397, W49B, Cas A, and IC 443), although we confirm that the BML region toward HB 3 is associated with the W3(OH) H ii region, not the SNR. Based on the systemic velocity of each MC, molecular line diagnostics, and cloud morphology, we test whether these detections represent SNR–MC interactions. One of the targets (G54.1+0.3) had previous indications of a BML region, but we did not detect broadened emission toward it. Although broadened {sup 12}CO J = 2 − 1 line emission should be detectable toward virtually all SNR–MC interactions, we find relatively few examples; therefore, the number of interactions is low. This result favors mechanisms other than supernova feedback as the basic trigger for star formation. In addition, we find no significant association between TeV gamma-ray sources and MC interactions, contrary to predictions that SNR–MC interfaces are the primary venues for cosmic ray acceleration.

Redshift evolution of the dynamical properties of massive galaxies from SDSS-III/BOSS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beifiori, Alessandra; Saglia, Roberto P.; Bender, Ralf; Senger, Robert; Thomas, Daniel; Maraston, Claudia; Steele, Oliver; Masters, Karen L.; Pforr, Janine; Tojeiro, Rita; Johansson, Jonas; Nichol, Robert C.; Chen, Yan-Mei; Wake, David; Bolton, Adam; Brownstein, Joel R.; Leauthaud, Alexie; Schneider, Donald P.; Skibba, Ramin; Pan, Kaike

2014-01-01

We study the redshift evolution of the dynamical properties of ∼180, 000 massive galaxies from SDSS-III/BOSS combined with a local early-type galaxy sample from SDSS-II in the redshift range 0.1 ≤ z ≤ 0.6. The typical stellar mass of this sample is M * ∼2 × 10 11 M ☉ . We analyze the evolution of the galaxy parameters effective radius, stellar velocity dispersion, and the dynamical to stellar mass ratio with redshift. As the effective radii of BOSS galaxies at these redshifts are not well resolved in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging we calibrate the SDSS size measurements with Hubble Space Telescope/COSMOS photometry for a sub-sample of galaxies. We further apply a correction for progenitor bias to build a sample which consists of a coeval, passively evolving population. Systematic errors due to size correction and the calculation of dynamical mass are assessed through Monte Carlo simulations. At fixed stellar or dynamical mass, we find moderate evolution in galaxy size and stellar velocity dispersion, in agreement with previous studies. We show that this results in a decrease of the dynamical to stellar mass ratio with redshift at >2σ significance. By combining our sample with high-redshift literature data, we find that this evolution of the dynamical to stellar mass ratio continues beyond z ∼ 0.7 up to z > 2 as M dyn /M * ∼(1 + z) –0.30±0.12 , further strengthening the evidence for an increase of M dyn /M * with cosmic time. This result is in line with recent predictions from galaxy formation simulations based on minor merger driven mass growth, in which the dark matter fraction within the half-light radius increases with cosmic time.

Redshift evolution of the dynamical properties of massive galaxies from SDSS-III/BOSS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beifiori, Alessandra; Saglia, Roberto P.; Bender, Ralf; Senger, Robert [Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstraße, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Thomas, Daniel; Maraston, Claudia; Steele, Oliver; Masters, Karen L.; Pforr, Janine; Tojeiro, Rita; Johansson, Jonas; Nichol, Robert C. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Dennis Sciama Building, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Chen, Yan-Mei; Wake, David [Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 475 N. Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Bolton, Adam; Brownstein, Joel R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Leauthaud, Alexie [Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU), The University of Tokyo, Chiba 277-8582 (Japan); Schneider, Donald P. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Skibba, Ramin [Department of Physics, Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California, 9500 Gilman Drive, San Diego, CA 92093 (United States); Pan, Kaike, E-mail: beifiori@mpe.mpg.de [Apache Point Observatory, P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349-0059 (United States); and others

2014-07-10

We study the redshift evolution of the dynamical properties of ∼180, 000 massive galaxies from SDSS-III/BOSS combined with a local early-type galaxy sample from SDSS-II in the redshift range 0.1 ≤ z ≤ 0.6. The typical stellar mass of this sample is M{sub *} ∼2 × 10{sup 11} M{sub ☉}. We analyze the evolution of the galaxy parameters effective radius, stellar velocity dispersion, and the dynamical to stellar mass ratio with redshift. As the effective radii of BOSS galaxies at these redshifts are not well resolved in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging we calibrate the SDSS size measurements with Hubble Space Telescope/COSMOS photometry for a sub-sample of galaxies. We further apply a correction for progenitor bias to build a sample which consists of a coeval, passively evolving population. Systematic errors due to size correction and the calculation of dynamical mass are assessed through Monte Carlo simulations. At fixed stellar or dynamical mass, we find moderate evolution in galaxy size and stellar velocity dispersion, in agreement with previous studies. We show that this results in a decrease of the dynamical to stellar mass ratio with redshift at >2σ significance. By combining our sample with high-redshift literature data, we find that this evolution of the dynamical to stellar mass ratio continues beyond z ∼ 0.7 up to z > 2 as M{sub dyn}/M{sub *} ∼(1 + z){sup –0.30±0.12}, further strengthening the evidence for an increase of M{sub dyn}/M{sub *} with cosmic time. This result is in line with recent predictions from galaxy formation simulations based on minor merger driven mass growth, in which the dark matter fraction within the half-light radius increases with cosmic time.

Photometry of High-Redshift Gravitationally Lensed Type Ia Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Haynie, Annastasia

2018-01-01

Out of more than 1100 well-identified Type Ia Supernovae, only roughly 10 of them are at z> 1.5. High redshift supernovae are hard to detect but this is made easier by taking advantage of the effects of gravitational lensing, which magnifies objects in the background field of massive galaxy clusters. Supernova Nebra (z= ~1.8), among others, was discovered during observations taken as part of the RELICS survey, which focused on fields of view that experience strong gravitational lensing effects. SN Nebra, which sits behind galaxy cluster Abell 1763, is magnified and therefore appears closer and easier to see than with HST alone. Studying high-redshift supernovae like SN Nebra is an important step towards creating cosmological models that accurately describe the behavior of dark energy in the early Universe. Recent efforts have been focused on improving photometry and the building and fitting of preliminary light curves.

Identification of SDSS J141324.27+530527.0 as a New “Changing-look” Quasar with a “Turn-on” Transition

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, J.; Xu, D. W.; Wei, J. Y.

2018-05-01

We report an identification of SDSS J141324+530527.0 (SBS 1411+533) at z = 0.456344 as a new “changing-look” quasar with a “turn-on” spectral type transition from Type-1.9/2 to Type-1 within a rest-frame timescale of 1–10 yr by a comparison of our new spectroscopic observation and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) archive database. The SDSS DR7 spectrum taken in 2003 is dominated by a starlight emission from host galaxy redward of the Balmer limit, and has a non-detectable broad Hβ line. The new spectrum taken by us on 2017 June 1 and the SDSS DR14 spectrum taken on 2017 May 29 indicate that the object has a typical quasar spectrum with a blue continuum and strong Balmer broad emission lines. In addition, an intermediate spectral type can be identified in the SDSS DR13 spectrum taken in 2015. The invariability of the line wing of Mg II λ2800 emission and timescale argument (the invariability of [O III]λ5007 line blue asymmetry) suggests that a variation of obscuration (an accelerating outflow) is not a favorable scenario. The timescale argument allows us to believe the type transition is possibly caused by either a viscous radial inflow or a disk instability around a ∼ (5{--}9)× {10}7 {M}ȯ black hole.

A SPITZER SURVEY FOR DUST IN TYPE IIn SUPERNOVAE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fox, Ori D.; Chevalier, Roger A.; Skrutskie, Michael F.; Soderberg, Alicia M.; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Ganeshalingam, Mohan; Silverman, Jeffrey M.; Smith, Nathan; Steele, Thea N.

2011-01-01

Recent observations suggest that Type IIn supernovae (SNe IIn) may exhibit late-time (>100 days) infrared (IR) emission from warm dust more than other types of core-collapse SNe. Mid-IR observations, which span the peak of the thermal spectral energy distribution, provide useful constraints on the properties of the dust and, ultimately, the circumstellar environment, explosion mechanism, and progenitor system. Due to the low SN IIn rate (<10% of all core-collapse SNe), few IR observations exist for this subclass. The handful of isolated studies, however, show late-time IR emission from warm dust that, in some cases, extends for five or six years post-discovery. While previous Spitzer/IRAC surveys have searched for dust in SNe, none have targeted the Type IIn subclass. This paper presents results from a warm Spitzer/IRAC survey of the positions of all 68 known SNe IIn within a distance of 250 Mpc between 1999 and 2008 that have remained unobserved by Spitzer more than 100 days post-discovery. The detection of late-time emission from 10 targets (∼15%) nearly doubles the database of existing mid-IR observations of SNe IIn. Although optical spectra show evidence for new dust formation in some cases, the data show that in most cases the likely origin of the mid-IR emission is pre-existing dust, which is continuously heated by optical emission generated by ongoing circumstellar interaction between the forward shock and circumstellar medium. Furthermore, an emerging trend suggests that these SNe decline at ∼1000-2000 days post-discovery once the forward shock overruns the dust shell. The mass-loss rates associated with these dust shells are consistent with luminous blue variable progenitors.

Deep Recurrent Neural Networks for Supernovae Classification

Science.gov (United States)

Charnock, Tom; Moss, Adam

2017-03-01

We apply deep recurrent neural networks, which are capable of learning complex sequential information, to classify supernovae (code available at https://github.com/adammoss/supernovae). The observational time and filter fluxes are used as inputs to the network, but since the inputs are agnostic, additional data such as host galaxy information can also be included. Using the Supernovae Photometric Classification Challenge (SPCC) data, we find that deep networks are capable of learning about light curves, however the performance of the network is highly sensitive to the amount of training data. For a training size of 50% of the representational SPCC data set (around 104 supernovae) we obtain a type-Ia versus non-type-Ia classification accuracy of 94.7%, an area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve AUC of 0.986 and an SPCC figure-of-merit F 1 = 0.64. When using only the data for the early-epoch challenge defined by the SPCC, we achieve a classification accuracy of 93.1%, AUC of 0.977, and F 1 = 0.58, results almost as good as with the whole light curve. By employing bidirectional neural networks, we can acquire impressive classification results between supernovae types I, II and III at an accuracy of 90.4% and AUC of 0.974. We also apply a pre-trained model to obtain classification probabilities as a function of time and show that it can give early indications of supernovae type. Our method is competitive with existing algorithms and has applications for future large-scale photometric surveys.

H I-SELECTED GALAXIES IN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY. I. OPTICAL DATA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

West, Andrew A.; Garcia-Appadoo, Diego A.; Dalcanton, Julianne J.; Ivezic, Zeljko; Bentz, Misty C.; Disney, Mike J.; Rockosi, Constance M.; Brinkmann, J.

2010-01-01

We present the optical data for 195 H I-selected galaxies that fall within both the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Parkes Equatorial Survey (ES). The photometric quantities have been independently recomputed for our sample using a new photometric pipeline optimized for large galaxies, thus correcting for SDSS's limited reliability for automatic photometry of angularly large or low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies. We outline the magnitude of the uncertainty in the SDSS catalog-level photometry and derive a quantitative method for correcting the over-sky subtraction in the SDSS photometric pipeline. The main thrust of this paper is to present the ES/SDSS sample and discuss the methods behind the improved photometry, which will be used in future scientific analysis. We present the overall optical properties of the sample and briefly compare to a volume-limited, optically selected sample. Compared to the optically selected SDSS sample (in the similar volume), H I-selected galaxies are bluer and more luminous (fewer dwarf ellipticals and more star formation). However, compared to typical SDSS galaxy studies, which have their own selection effect, our sample is bluer, fainter, and less massive.

The fall of the Northern Unicorn: Tangential motions in the Galactic Anti-centre with SDSS and Gaia

OpenAIRE

de Boer, T. J. L.; Belokurov, V.; Koposov, S. E.

2017-01-01

We present the first detailed study of the behaviour of the stellar proper motion across the entire Galactic Anti-centre area visible in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data. We use recalibrated SDSS astrometry in combination with positions from {\\it Gaia} DR1 to provide tangential motion measurements with a systematic uncertainty $

Galaxy Clustering in Early SDSS Redshift Data

CERN Document Server

Zehavi, I.; Frieman, Joshua A.; Weinberg, David H.; Mo, Houjun J.; Anderson, Scott F.; Strauss, Michael A.; Annis, James; Bahcall, Neta A.; Bernardi, Mariangela; Briggs, John W.; Brinkmann, Jon; Burles, Scott; Carey, Larry; Castander, Francisco J.; Connolly, J.; Csabai, Istvan; Dalcanton, Julianne J.; Dodelson,Scott; Doi,Mamoru; Eisenstein, Daniel; Evans, Michael L.; Finkbeiner, Douglas P.; Friedman, Scott; Fukugita, Masataka; Gunn, James E.; Hennessy, Greg S.; Hindsley, Robert B.; Ivezic, Zeljko; Kent,Stephen; Knapp, Gillian R.; Kron, Richard; Kunszt, Peter; Lamb, Donald; French Leger, R.; Long, Daniel C.; Loveday, Jon.; Lupton, Robert H.; McKay, Timothy; Meiksin, Avery; Merrelli, Aronne; Munn, Jeffrey A.; Narayanan, Vijay; Newcomb, Matt; Nichol, Robert C.; Owen, Russell; Peoples, John; Pope, Adrian; Rockosi, Constance M.; Schlegel, David; Schneider, Donald P.; Scoccimarro, Roman; Sheth, Ravi K.; Siegmund, Walter; Smee, Stephen; Snir, Yehuda; Stebbins, Albert; Stoughton, Christopher; SubbaRao, Mark; Szalay, Alexander S.; Szapudi, Istvan; Tegmark, Max; Tucker, Douglas L.; Uomoto, Alan; Vanden Berk, Dan; Vogeley, Michael S.; Waddell,Patrick; Yanny, Brian; York, Donald G.; Zehavi, Idit; Blanton, Michael R.; Frieman, Joshua A.; Weinberg, David H.; Mo, Houjun J.; Strauss, Michael A.

2002-01-01

We present the first measurements of clustering in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxy redshift survey. Our sample consists of 29,300 galaxies with redshifts 5,700 km/s < cz < 39,000 km/s, distributed in several long but narrow (2.5-5 degree) segments, covering 690 square degrees. For the full, flux-limited sample, the redshift-space correlation length is approximately 8 Mpc/h. The two-dimensional correlation function \\xi(r_p,\\pi) shows clear signatures of both the small-scale, ``fingers-of-God'' distortion caused by velocity dispersions in collapsed objects and the large-scale compression caused by coherent flows, though the latter cannot be measured with high precision in the present sample. The inferred real-space correlation function is well described by a power law, \\xi(r)=(r/6.1+/-0.2 Mpc/h)^{-1.75+/-0.03}, for 0.1 Mpc/h < r < 16 Mpc/h. The galaxy pairwise velocity dispersion is \\sigma_{12} ~ 600+/-100 km/s for projected separations 0.15 Mpc/h < r_p < 5 Mpc/h. When we divide the...

Halo substructure in the SDSS-Gaia catalogue: streams and clumps

Science.gov (United States)

Myeong, G. C.; Evans, N. W.; Belokurov, V.; Amorisco, N. C.; Koposov, S. E.

2018-04-01

We use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)-Gaia Catalogue to identify six new pieces of halo substructure. SDSS-Gaia is an astrometric catalogue that exploits SDSS data release 9 to provide first epoch photometry for objects in the Gaia source catalogue. We use a version of the catalogue containing 245 316 stars with all phase-space coordinates within a heliocentric distance of ˜10 kpc. We devise a method to assess the significance of halo substructures based on their clustering in velocity space. The two most substantial structures are multiple wraps of a stream which has undergone considerable phase mixing (S1, with 94 members) and a kinematically cold stream (S2, with 61 members). The member stars of S1 have a median position of (X, Y, Z) = (8.12, -0.22, 2.75) kpc and a median metallicity of [Fe/H] = -1.78. The stars of S2 have median coordinates (X, Y, Z) = (8.66, 0.30, 0.77) kpc and a median metallicity of [Fe/H] = -1.91. They lie in velocity space close to some of the stars in the stream reported by Helmi et al. By modelling, we estimate that both structures had progenitors with virial masses ≈1010M⊙ and infall times ≳ 9 Gyr ago. Using abundance matching, these correspond to stellar masses between 106 and 107M⊙. These are somewhat larger than the masses inferred through the mass-metallicity relation by factors of 5 to 15. Additionally, we identify two further substructures (S3 and S4 with 55 and 40 members) and two clusters or moving group (C1 and C2 with 24 and 12) members. In all six cases, clustering in kinematics is found to correspond to clustering in both configuration space and metallicity, adding credence to the reliability of our detections.

DES13S2cmm: the first superluminous supernova from the Dark Energy Survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Papadopoulos, A.; D' Andrea, C. B.; Sullivan, M.; Nichol, R. C.; Barbary, K.; Biswas, R.; Brown, P. J.; Covarrubias, R. A.; Finley, D. A.; Fischer, J. A.; Foley, R. J.; Goldstein, D.; Gupta, R. R.; Kessler, R.; Kovacs, E.; Kuhlmann, S. E.; Lidman, C.; March, M.; Nugent, P. E.; Sako, M.; Smith, R. C.; Spinka, H.; Wester, W.; Abbott, T. M. C.; Abdalla, F.; Allam, S. S.; Banerji, M.; Bernstein, J. P.; Bernstein, R. A.; Carnero, A.; da Costa, L. N.; DePoy, D. L.; Desai, S.; Diehl, H. T.; Eifler, T.; Evrard, A. E.; Flaugher, B.; Frieman, J. A.; Gerdes, D.; Gruen, D.; Honscheid, K.; James, D.; Kuehn, K.; Kuropatkin, N.; Lahav, O.; Maia, M. A. G.; Makler, M.; Marshall, J. L.; Merritt, K. W.; Miller, C. J.; Miquel, R.; Ogando, R.; Plazas, A. A.; Roe, N. A.; Romer, A. K.; Rykoff, E.; Sanchez, E.; Santiago, B. X.; Scarpine, V.; Schubnell, M.; Sevilla, I.; Soares-Santos, M.; Suchyta, E.; Swanson, M.; Tarle, G.; Thaler, J.; Tucker, L. D.; Wechsler, R. H.; Zuntz, J.

2015-03-20

We present DES13S2cmm, the first spectroscopically-confirmed superluminous supernova (SLSN) from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We briefly discuss the data and search algorithm used to find this event in the first year of DES operations, and outline the spectroscopic data obtained from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope to confirm its redshift (z = 0.663 +/- 0.001 based on the host-galaxy emission lines) and likely spectral type (Type I). Using this redshift, we find M-U(peak) = -21.05(-0.09)(+0.10) for the peak, rest-frame U-band absolute magnitude, and find DES13S2cmm to be located in a faint, low-metallicity (subsolar), low stellar-mass host galaxy (log (M/M-circle dot) = 9.3 +/- 0.3), consistent with what is seen for other SLSNe-I. We compare the bolometric light curve of DES13S2cmm to 14 similarly well-observed SLSNe-I in the literature and find that it possesses one of the slowest declining tails (beyond +30 d rest-frame past peak), and is the faintest at peak. Moreover, we find the bolometric light curves of all SLSNe-I studied herein possess a dispersion of only 0.2-0.3 mag between +25 and +30 d after peak (rest frame) depending on redshift range studied; this could be important for 'standardizing' such supernovae, as is done with the more common Type Ia. We fit the bolometric light curve of DES13S2cmm with two competing models for SLSNe-I-the radioactive decay of Ni-56, and a magnetar - and find that while the magnetar is formally a better fit, neither model provides a compelling match to the data. Although we are unable to conclusively differentiate between these two physical models for this particular SLSN-I, further DES observations of more SLSNe-I should break this degeneracy, especially if the light curves of SLSNe-I can be observed beyond 100 d in the rest frame of the supernova.

RADIO-SELECTED QUASARS IN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGreer, Ian D.; Helfand, David J.; White, Richard L.

2009-01-01

We have conducted a pilot survey for z > 3.5 quasars by combining the FIRST radio survey with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). While SDSS already targets FIRST sources for spectroscopy as quasar candidates, our survey includes fainter quasars and greatly improves the discovery rate by using strict astrometric criteria for matching the radio and optical positions. Our method allows for selection of high-redshift quasars with less color bias than with optical selection, as using radio selection essentially eliminates stellar contamination. We report the results of spectroscopy for 45 candidates, including 29 quasars in the range 0.37 3.5. We compare quasars selected using radio and optical criteria, and find that radio-selected quasars have a much higher fraction of moderately reddened objects. We derive a radio-loud quasar luminosity function at 3.5 < z < 4.0, and find that it is in good agreement with expectations from prior SDSS results.

Simulating Supernova Light Curves

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Even, Wesley Paul [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Dolence, Joshua C. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-05-05

This report discusses supernova light simulations. A brief review of supernovae, basics of supernova light curves, simulation tools used at LANL, and supernova results are included. Further, it happens that many of the same methods used to generate simulated supernova light curves can also be used to model the emission from fireballs generated by explosions in the earth’s atmosphere.

Simulating Supernova Light Curves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Even, Wesley Paul; Dolence, Joshua C.

2016-01-01

This report discusses supernova light simulations. A brief review of supernovae, basics of supernova light curves, simulation tools used at LANL, and supernova results are included. Further, it happens that many of the same methods used to generate simulated supernova light curves can also be used to model the emission from fireballs generated by explosions in the earth's atmosphere.

THE MULTI-OBJECT, FIBER-FED SPECTROGRAPHS FOR THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY AND THE BARYON OSCILLATION SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smee, Stephen A.; Barkhouser, Robert H.; Gunn, James E.; Carr, Michael A.; Lupton, Robert H.; Loomis, Craig; Uomoto, Alan; Roe, Natalie; Schlegel, David; Rockosi, Constance M.; Leger, French; Owen, Russell; Anderson, Lauren; Dawson, Kyle S.; Olmstead, Matthew D.; Brinkmann, Jon; Long, Dan; Honscheid, Klaus; Harding, Paul; Annis, James

2013-01-01

We present the design and performance of the multi-object fiber spectrographs for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and their upgrade for the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). Originally commissioned in Fall 1999 on the 2.5 m aperture Sloan Telescope at Apache Point Observatory, the spectrographs produced more than 1.5 million spectra for the SDSS and SDSS-II surveys, enabling a wide variety of Galactic and extra-galactic science including the first observation of baryon acoustic oscillations in 2005. The spectrographs were upgraded in 2009 and are currently in use for BOSS, the flagship survey of the third-generation SDSS-III project. BOSS will measure redshifts of 1.35 million massive galaxies to redshift 0.7 and Lyα absorption of 160,000 high redshift quasars over 10,000 deg 2 of sky, making percent level measurements of the absolute cosmic distance scale of the universe and placing tight constraints on the equation of state of dark energy. The twin multi-object fiber spectrographs utilize a simple optical layout with reflective collimators, gratings, all-refractive cameras, and state-of-the-art CCD detectors to produce hundreds of spectra simultaneously in two channels over a bandpass covering the near-ultraviolet to the near-infrared, with a resolving power R = λ/FWHM ∼ 2000. Building on proven heritage, the spectrographs were upgraded for BOSS with volume-phase holographic gratings and modern CCD detectors, improving the peak throughput by nearly a factor of two, extending the bandpass to cover 360 nm < λ < 1000 nm, and increasing the number of fibers from 640 to 1000 per exposure. In this paper we describe the original SDSS spectrograph design and the upgrades implemented for BOSS, and document the predicted and measured performances

THE MULTI-OBJECT, FIBER-FED SPECTROGRAPHS FOR THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY AND THE BARYON OSCILLATION SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smee, Stephen A.; Barkhouser, Robert H. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Gunn, James E.; Carr, Michael A.; Lupton, Robert H.; Loomis, Craig [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Uomoto, Alan [Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Roe, Natalie; Schlegel, David [Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Rockosi, Constance M. [UC Observatories and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, 375 Interdisciplinary Sciences Building (ISB) Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Leger, French; Owen, Russell; Anderson, Lauren [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 09195 (United States); Dawson, Kyle S.; Olmstead, Matthew D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Brinkmann, Jon; Long, Dan [Apache Point Observatory, Sunspot, NM 88349 (United States); Honscheid, Klaus [Department of Physics and Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Harding, Paul [Department of Astronomy, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106 (United States); Annis, James, E-mail: smee@pha.jhu.edu [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); and others

2013-08-01

We present the design and performance of the multi-object fiber spectrographs for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and their upgrade for the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). Originally commissioned in Fall 1999 on the 2.5 m aperture Sloan Telescope at Apache Point Observatory, the spectrographs produced more than 1.5 million spectra for the SDSS and SDSS-II surveys, enabling a wide variety of Galactic and extra-galactic science including the first observation of baryon acoustic oscillations in 2005. The spectrographs were upgraded in 2009 and are currently in use for BOSS, the flagship survey of the third-generation SDSS-III project. BOSS will measure redshifts of 1.35 million massive galaxies to redshift 0.7 and Ly{alpha} absorption of 160,000 high redshift quasars over 10,000 deg{sup 2} of sky, making percent level measurements of the absolute cosmic distance scale of the universe and placing tight constraints on the equation of state of dark energy. The twin multi-object fiber spectrographs utilize a simple optical layout with reflective collimators, gratings, all-refractive cameras, and state-of-the-art CCD detectors to produce hundreds of spectra simultaneously in two channels over a bandpass covering the near-ultraviolet to the near-infrared, with a resolving power R = {lambda}/FWHM {approx} 2000. Building on proven heritage, the spectrographs were upgraded for BOSS with volume-phase holographic gratings and modern CCD detectors, improving the peak throughput by nearly a factor of two, extending the bandpass to cover 360 nm < {lambda} < 1000 nm, and increasing the number of fibers from 640 to 1000 per exposure. In this paper we describe the original SDSS spectrograph design and the upgrades implemented for BOSS, and document the predicted and measured performances.

THE MULTI-OBJECT, FIBER-FED SPECTROGRAPHS FOR THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY AND THE BARYON OSCILLATION SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smee, Stephen A.; Gunn, James E.; Uomoto, Alan; Roe, Natalie; Schlegel, David; Rockosi, Constance M.; Carr, Michael A.; Leger, French; Dawson, Kyle S.; Olmstead, Matthew D.; Brinkmann, Jon; Owen, Russell; Barkhouser, Robert H.; Honscheid, Klaus; Harding, Paul; Long, Dan; Lupton, Robert H.; Loomis, Craig; Anderson, Lauren; Annis, James; Bernardi, Mariangela; Bhardwaj, Vaishali; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Bolton, Adam S.; Brewington, Howard; Briggs, John W.; Burles, Scott; Burns, James G.; Castander, Francisco Javier; Connolly, Andrew; Davenport, James R. A.; Ebelke, Garrett; Epps, Harland; Feldman, Paul D.; Friedman, Scott D.; Frieman, Joshua; Heckman, Timothy; Hull, Charles L.; Knapp, Gillian R.; Lawrence, David M.; Loveday, Jon; Mannery, Edward J.; Malanushenko, Elena; Malanushenko, Viktor; Merrelli, Aronne James; Muna, Demitri; Newman, Peter R.; Nichol, Robert C.; Oravetz, Daniel; Pan, Kaike; Pope, Adrian C.; Ricketts, Paul G.; Shelden, Alaina; Sandford, Dale; Siegmund, Walter; Simmons, Audrey; Smith, D. Shane; Snedden, Stephanie; Schneider, Donald P.; SubbaRao, Mark; Tremonti, Christy; Waddell, Patrick; York, Donald G.

2013-07-12

We present the design and performance of the multi-object fiber spectrographs for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and their upgrade for the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). Originally commissioned in Fall 1999 on the 2.5-m aperture Sloan Telescope at Apache Point Observatory, the spectrographs produced more than 1.5 million spectra for the SDSS and SDSS-II surveys, enabling a wide variety of Galactic and extra-galactic science including the first observation of baryon acoustic oscillations in 2005. The spectrographs were upgraded in 2009 and are currently in use for BOSS, the flagship survey of the third-generation SDSS-III project. BOSS will measure redshifts of 1.35 million massive galaxies to redshift 0.7 and Lyman-alpha absorption of 160,000 high redshift quasars over 10,000 square degrees of sky, making percent level measurements of the absolute cosmic distance scale of the Universe and placing tight constraints on the equation of state of dark energy. The twin multi-object fiber spectrographs utilize a simple optical layout with reflective collimators, gratings, all-refractive cameras, and state-of-the-art CCD detectors to produce hundreds of spectra simultaneously in two channels over a bandpass covering the near ultraviolet to the near infrared, with a resolving power R = \\lambda/FWHM ~ 2000. Building on proven heritage, the spectrographs were upgraded for BOSS with volume-phase holographic gratings and modern CCD detectors, improving the peak throughput by nearly a factor of two, extending the bandpass to cover 360 < \\lambda < 1000 nm, and increasing the number of fibers from 640 to 1000 per exposure. In this paper we describe the original SDSS spectrograph design and the upgrades implemented for BOSS, and document the predicted and measured performances.

ESTIMATING PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFTS OF QUASARS VIA THE k-NEAREST NEIGHBOR APPROACH BASED ON LARGE SURVEY DATABASES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang Yanxia; Ma He; Peng Nanbo; Zhao Yongheng [Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100012 Beijing (China); Wu Xuebing, E-mail: zyx@bao.ac.cn [Department of Astronomy, Peking University, 100871 Beijing (China)

2013-08-01

We apply one of the lazy learning methods, the k-nearest neighbor (kNN) algorithm, to estimate the photometric redshifts of quasars based on various data sets from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS), and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; the SDSS sample, the SDSS-UKIDSS sample, the SDSS-WISE sample, and the SDSS-UKIDSS-WISE sample). The influence of the k value and different input patterns on the performance of kNN is discussed. kNN performs best when k is different with a special input pattern for a special data set. The best result belongs to the SDSS-UKIDSS-WISE sample. The experimental results generally show that the more information from more bands, the better performance of photometric redshift estimation with kNN. The results also demonstrate that kNN using multiband data can effectively solve the catastrophic failure of photometric redshift estimation, which is met by many machine learning methods. Compared with the performance of various other methods of estimating the photometric redshifts of quasars, kNN based on KD-Tree shows superiority, exhibiting the best accuracy.

ESTIMATING PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFTS OF QUASARS VIA THE k-NEAREST NEIGHBOR APPROACH BASED ON LARGE SURVEY DATABASES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yanxia; Ma He; Peng Nanbo; Zhao Yongheng; Wu Xuebing

2013-01-01

We apply one of the lazy learning methods, the k-nearest neighbor (kNN) algorithm, to estimate the photometric redshifts of quasars based on various data sets from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS), and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; the SDSS sample, the SDSS-UKIDSS sample, the SDSS-WISE sample, and the SDSS-UKIDSS-WISE sample). The influence of the k value and different input patterns on the performance of kNN is discussed. kNN performs best when k is different with a special input pattern for a special data set. The best result belongs to the SDSS-UKIDSS-WISE sample. The experimental results generally show that the more information from more bands, the better performance of photometric redshift estimation with kNN. The results also demonstrate that kNN using multiband data can effectively solve the catastrophic failure of photometric redshift estimation, which is met by many machine learning methods. Compared with the performance of various other methods of estimating the photometric redshifts of quasars, kNN based on KD-Tree shows superiority, exhibiting the best accuracy.

THE TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA RATE IN RADIO AND INFRARED GALAXIES FROM THE CANADA-FRANCE-HAWAII TELESCOPE SUPERNOVA LEGACY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graham, M. L.; Pritchet, C. J.; Balam, D.; Fabbro, S.; Sullivan, M.; Hook, I. M.; Howell, D. A.; Gwyn, S. D. J.; Astier, P.; Balland, C.; Guy, J.; Hardin, D.; Pain, R.; Regnault, N.; Basa, S.; Carlberg, R. G.; Perrett, K.; Conley, A.; Fouchez, D.; Rich, J.

2010-01-01

We have combined the large SN Ia database of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Supernova Legacy Survey and catalogs of galaxies with photometric redshifts, Very Large Array 1.4 GHz radio sources, and Spitzer infrared sources. We present eight SNe Ia in early-type host galaxies which have counterparts in the radio and infrared source catalogs. We find the SN Ia rate in subsets of radio and infrared early-type galaxies is ∼1-5 times the rate in all early-type galaxies, and that any enhancement is always ∼<2σ. Rates in these subsets are consistent with predictions of the two-component 'A+B' SN Ia rate model. Since infrared properties of radio SN Ia hosts indicate dust-obscured star formation, we incorporate infrared star formation rates into the 'A+B' model. We also show the properties of SNe Ia in radio and infrared galaxies suggest the hosts contain dust and support a continuum of delay time distributions (DTDs) for SNe Ia, although other DTDs cannot be ruled out based on our data.

SPECTROSCOPIC ORBITAL PERIODS FOR 29 CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES FROM THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thorstensen, John R.; Taylor, Cynthia J.; Peters, Christopher S.; Skinner, Julie N. [Department of Physics and Astronomy 6127 Wilder Laboratory, Dartmouth College Hanover, NH 03755-3528 (United States); Southworth, John [Astrophysics Group Keele University Staffordshire ST5 5BG (United Kingdom); Gänsicke, Boris T. [Department of Physics University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom)

2015-04-15

We report follow-up spectroscopy of 29 cataclysmic variables from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), 22 of which were discovered by SDSS and seven of which are previously known systems that were recovered in SDSS. The periods for 16 of these objects were included in the tabulation by Gänsicke et al. While most of the systems have periods less than 2 hr, only one has a period in the 80–86 minutes “spike” found by Gänsicke et al., and 11 have periods longer than 3 hr, indicating that the present sample is skewed toward longer-period, higher-luminosity objects. Seven of the objects have spectra resembling dwarf novae, but have apparently never been observed in outburst, suggesting that many cataclysmics with relatively low variability amplitude remain to be discovered. Some of the objects are notable. SDSS J07568+0858 and SDSS J08129+1911 were previously known to have deep eclipses; in addition to spectroscopy, we use archival data from the Catalina Real Time Transient Survey to refine their periods. We give a parallax-based distance of 195 (+54, −39) pc for LV Cnc (SDSS J09197+0857), which at P{sub orb} = 81 m has the shortest orbital period in our sample. SDSS J08091+3814 shows both the spectroscopic phase offset and phase-dependent absorption found in SW Sextantis stars. The average spectra of SDSS J08055+0720 and SDSS J16191+1351 show contributions from K-type secondaries, and SDSS J080440+0239 shows a contribution from an early M star. We use these to constrain the distances. SDSS J09459+2922 has characteristics typical of a magnetic system. SDSS11324+6249 may be a novalike variable, and if so, its orbital period (99 minutes) is unusually short for that subclass.

Masses of supernova progenitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tinsley, B.M.

1977-01-01

The possible nature and masses of supernovae progenitors, and the bearing of empirical results on some unsolved theoretical problems concerning the origin of supernovae, are discussed. The author concentrates on two main questions: what is the lower mass limit for stars to die explosively and what stars initiate type I supernovae. The evidence considered includes local supernova rates, empirical estimates of msub(w) (the upper mass limit for death as a white dwarf), the distributions of supernovae among stellar populations in galaxies and the colors of supernova producing galaxies. (B.D.)

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of the Cool Brown Dwarf, SDSS 1624+00

Science.gov (United States)

Nakajima, Tadashi; Tsuji, Takashi; Maihara, Toshinori; Iwamuro, Fumihide; Motohara, Ken-taro; Taguchi, Tomoyuki; Hata, Ryuji; Tamura, Motohide; Yamashita, Takuya

2000-02-01

Using the Subaru Telescope, we have obtained multiple near-infrared spectra of the cool brown dwarf, SDSS 1624+00 (J162414.37+002915.8), in search of spectral variability in an 80 minute time span. We have found the suspected variability of water vapor absorption throughout the observations, which requires a confirmation with a longer time baseline. After coadding the spectra, we have obtained a high-quality spectrum covering from 1.05 to 1.8 mu m. There are three kinds of spectral indicators, the water vapor bands, methane band and K I lines at 1.243 and 1.252 mu m, which can be used to study the temperature and the presence of dust. We compare the spectra of SDSS 1624+00 and Gliese 229B, while paying special attention to these indicators. The shallower water vapor absorption of SDSS 1624+00 indicates that it is warmer and/or dustier. The shallower methane absorption suggests that SDSS 1624+00 is warmer. We interpret the deeper K I lines in SDSS 1624+00 as being the result of its higher temperature. With the help of model spectra, we conclude that SDSS 1624+00 is warmer and dustier than Gliese 229B. For the first time in a cool brown dwarf, a finite flux is seen at the bottom of the water vapor band between 1.34 and 1.42 mu m, which means that the 1.4 mu m band of water can be completely observed from the ground.

A Spitzer Survey for Dust in Type IIn Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Ori D.; Chevalier, Roger A.; Skrutskie, Michael F.; Soderberg, Alicia M.; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Ganeshalingam, Mohan; Silverman, Jeffrey M.; Smith, Nathan; Steele, Thea N.

2011-01-01

Recent observations suggest that Type IIn supernovae (SNe IIn) may exhibit late-time (greater than 100 days) infrared (IR) emission from warm dust more than other types of core-collapse SNe. Mid-IR observations, which span the peak of the thermal spectral energy distribution, provide useful constraints on the properties of the dust and, ultimately, the circumstellar environment, explosion mechanism, and progenitor system. Due to the low SN IIn rate (less than 10% of all core-collapse SNe), few IR observations exist for this subclass. The handful of isolated studies, however, show late-time IR emission from warm dust that, in some cases, extends for five or six years post-discovery. While previous Spitzer/IRAC surveys have searched for dust in SNe, none have targeted the Type IIn subclass. This article presents results from a warm Spitzer/IRAC survey of the positions of all 68 known SNe IIn within a distance of 250 Mpc between 1999 and 2008 that have remained unobserved by Spitzer more than 100 days postdiscovery. The detection of late-time emission from ten targets (approximately 15%) nearly doubles the database of existing mid-IR observations of SNe IIn. Although optical spectra show evidence for new dust formation in some cases, the data show that in most cases the likely origin of the mid-IR emission is pre-existing dust, which is continuously heated by optical emission generated by ongoing circumstellar interaction between the forward shock and circumstellar medium. Furthermore, an emerging trend suggests that these SNe decline at approximately 1000-2000 days post-discovery once the forward shock overruns the dust shell. The mass-loss rates associated with these dust shells are consistent with luminous blue variable (LBV) progenitors.

An X-ray study of the supernova remnant G20.0-0.2 and its surroundings

OpenAIRE

Petriella, Alberto; Paron, Sergio; Giacani, Elsa

2013-01-01

Aims. We study the supernova remnant G20.0-0.2 and its surroundings in order to look for the high energy counterpart of the radio nebula and to find evidence of interaction between the shock front and the interstellar medium. Methods. We used Chandra archival observations to analyze the X-ray emission from the supernova remnant. The surrounding gas was investigated using data extracted from the Galactic Ring Survey, the VLA Galactic Plane Survey, the Galactic Legacy Infrared Midplane Survey E...

Smoking supernovae

OpenAIRE

Gomez, Haley Louise; Eales, Stephen Anthony; Dunne, L.

2007-01-01

The question ‘Are supernovae important sources of dust?’ is a contentious one. Observations with the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) only detected very small amounts of hot dust in supernova remnants. Here, we review observations of two young Galactic remnants with the Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array (SCUBA), which imply that large quantities of dust are produced by supernovae. The association of dust with the Cassiopeia A remnant is i...

The historical supernovae

CERN Document Server

Clark, David H

1977-01-01

The Historical Supernovae is an interdisciplinary study of the historical records of supernova. This book is composed of 12 chapters that particularly highlight the history of the Far East. The opening chapter briefly describes the features of nova and supernova, stars which spontaneously explode with a spectacular and rapid increase in brightness. The succeeding chapter deals with the search for the historical records of supernova from Medieval European monastic chronicles, Arabic chronicles, astrological works etc., post renaissance European scientific writings, and Far Eastern histories and

THE FORMATION OF THE PRIMITIVE STAR SDSS J102915+172927: EFFECT OF THE DUST MASS AND THE GRAIN-SIZE DISTRIBUTION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bovino, S.; Banerjee, R.; Grassi, T.; Schleicher, D. R. G.

2016-01-01

Understanding the formation of the extremely metal-poor star SDSS J102915+172927 is of fundamental importance to improve our knowledge on the transition between the first and second generation of stars in the universe. In this paper, we perform three-dimensional cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of dust-enriched halos during the early stages of the collapse process including a detailed treatment of the dust physics. We employ the astrochemistry package krome coupled with the hydrodynamical code enzo assuming grain-size distributions produced by the explosion of core-collapse supernovae (SNe) of 20 and 35 M ⊙ primordial stars, which are suitable to reproduce the chemical pattern of the SDSS J102915+172927 star. We find that the dust mass yield produced from Population III SNe explosions is the most important factor that drives the thermal evolution and the dynamical properties of the halos. Hence, for the specific distributions relevant in this context, the composition, the dust optical properties, and the size range have only minor effects on the results due to similar cooling functions. We also show that the critical dust mass to enable fragmentation provided by semi-analytical models should be revised, as we obtain values one order of magnitude larger. This determines the transition from disk fragmentation to a more filamentary fragmentation mode, and suggests that likely more than one single SN event or efficient dust growth should be invoked to get such high dust content.

THE FORMATION OF THE PRIMITIVE STAR SDSS J102915+172927: EFFECT OF THE DUST MASS AND THE GRAIN-SIZE DISTRIBUTION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bovino, S.; Banerjee, R. [Hamburger Sternwarte, Universität Hamburg, Gojenbergsweg 112, D-21029 Hamburg (Germany); Grassi, T. [Niels Bohr Institute and Centre for Star and Planet Formation, Øster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen (Denmark); Schleicher, D. R. G., E-mail: stefano.bovino@uni-hamburg.de [Departamento de Astronomía, Facultad Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Concepción, Av. Esteban Iturra s/n Barrio Universitario, Casilla 160, Concepción (Chile)

2016-12-01

Understanding the formation of the extremely metal-poor star SDSS J102915+172927 is of fundamental importance to improve our knowledge on the transition between the first and second generation of stars in the universe. In this paper, we perform three-dimensional cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of dust-enriched halos during the early stages of the collapse process including a detailed treatment of the dust physics. We employ the astrochemistry package krome coupled with the hydrodynamical code enzo assuming grain-size distributions produced by the explosion of core-collapse supernovae (SNe) of 20 and 35 M {sub ⊙} primordial stars, which are suitable to reproduce the chemical pattern of the SDSS J102915+172927 star. We find that the dust mass yield produced from Population III SNe explosions is the most important factor that drives the thermal evolution and the dynamical properties of the halos. Hence, for the specific distributions relevant in this context, the composition, the dust optical properties, and the size range have only minor effects on the results due to similar cooling functions. We also show that the critical dust mass to enable fragmentation provided by semi-analytical models should be revised, as we obtain values one order of magnitude larger. This determines the transition from disk fragmentation to a more filamentary fragmentation mode, and suggests that likely more than one single SN event or efficient dust growth should be invoked to get such high dust content.

Discovery of four gravitational lensing systems by clusters in the SDSS DR6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wen Zhonglue; Han Jinlin; Xu Xiangyang; Jiang Yunying; Guo Zhiqing; Wang Pengfei; Liu Fengshan

2009-01-01

We report the discovery of 4 strong gravitational lensing systems by visual inspections of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey images of galaxy clusters in Data Release 6 (SDSS DR6). Two of the four systems show Einstein rings while the others show tangential giant arcs. These arcs or rings have large angular separations (> 8) from the bright central galaxies and show bluer color compared with the red cluster galaxies. In addition, we found 5 probable and 4 possible lenses by galaxy clusters. (letters)

Discovery of Ten ASAS-SN Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholls, B.; Brimacombe, J.; Kiyota, S.; Stone, G.; Cruz, I.; Trappett, D.; Vallely, P.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Brown, J. S.; Shields, J.; Thompson, T. A.; Shappee, B. J.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Prieto, J. L.; Bersier, D.; Dong, Subo; Bose, S.; Chen, Ping; Stritzinger, M.; Holmbo, S.

2018-03-01

During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, the "Leavitt" telescope in Fort Davis, Texas, the "Payne-Gaposchkin" telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, and the "Cassius" and "Paczynski" telescopes in Cerro Tololo, Chile, we discovered several new transient sources.

Discovery of 11 ASAS-SN Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Brimacombe, J.; Fernandez, J. M.; Stone, G.; Vallely, P.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Brown, J. S.; Shields, J.; Thompson, T. A.; Shappee, B. J.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Prieto, J. L.; Bersier, D.; Dong, Subo; Bose, S.; Chen, Ping; Stritzinger, M.; Holmbo, S.; Nicholls, B.

2018-04-01

During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, the "Leavitt" telescope in Fort Davis, Texas, the "Payne-Gaposchkin" telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, and the "Cassius" and "Paczynski" telescopes in Cerro Tololo, Chile, we discovered several new transient sources.

Properties of optically selected BL Lacertae candidates from the SDSS

Science.gov (United States)

Kügler, S. D.; Nilsson, K.; Heidt, J.; Esser, J.; Schultz, T.

2014-09-01

Context. Deep optical surveys open the avenue for finding large numbers of BL Lac objects that are hard to identify because they lack the unique properties classifying them as such. While radio or X-ray surveys typically reveal dozens of sources, recent compilations based on optical criteria alone have increased the number of BL Lac candidates considerably. However, these compilations are subject to biases and may contain a substantial number of contaminating sources. Aims: In this paper we extend our analysis of 182 optically selected BL Lac object candidates from the SDSS with respect to an earlier study. The main goal is to determine the number of bona fide BL Lac objects in this sample. Methods: We examine their variability characteristics, determine their broad-band radio-UV spectral energy distributions (SEDs), and search for the presence of a host galaxy. In addition we present new optical spectra for 27 targets with improved signal-to-noise ratio with respect to the SDSS spectra. Results: At least 59% of our targets have shown variability between SDSS DR2 and our observations by more than 0.1-0.27 mag depending on the telescope used. A host galaxy was detected in 36% of our targets. The host galaxy type and luminosities are consistent with earlier studies of BL Lac host galaxies. Simple fits to broad-band SEDs for 104 targets of our sample derived synchrotron peak frequencies between 13.5 ≤ log 10(νpeak) ≤ 16 with a peak at log 10 ~ 14.5. Our new optical spectra do not reveal any new redshift for any of our objects. Thus the sample contains a large number of bona fide BL Lac objects and seems to contain a substantial fraction of intermediate-frequency peaked BL Lacs. Based on observations collected with the NTT on La Silla (Chile) operated by the European Southern Observatory under proposal 082.B-0133.Based on observations collected at the Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán (CAHA), operated jointly by the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie and the

Evolution of Supernova Remnants

Science.gov (United States)

Arbutina, B.

2017-12-01

This book, both a monograph and a graduate textbook, is based on my original research and partly on the materials prepared earlier for the 2007 and 2008 IARS Astrophysics Summer School in Istanbul, AstroMundus course 'Supernovae and Their Remnants' that was held for the first time in 2011 at the Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Belgrade, and a graduate course 'Evolution of Supernova Remnants' that I teach at the aforementioned university. The first part Supernovae (introduction, thermonuclear supernovae, core-collapse supernovae) provides introductory information and explains the classification and physics of supernova explosions, while the second part Supernova remnants (introduction, shock waves, cosmic rays and particle acceleration, magnetic fields, synchrotron radiation, hydrodynamic and radio evolution of supernova remnants), which is the field I work in, is more detailed in scope i.e. technical/mathematical. Special attention is paid to details of mathematical derivations that often cannot be found in original works or available literature. Therefore, I believe it can be useful to both, graduate students and researchers interested in the field.

Supernova neutrinos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1990-01-01

In the first part of his in-depth article on the 1987 supernova, David Schramm of the University of Chicago and the NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Centre reviewed the background to supernovae, the composition of massive stars and the optical history of SN 1987A, and speculated on what the 1987 remnant might be. In such a Type II supernova, gravitational pressure crushes the atoms of the star's interior producing neutron matter, or even a black hole, and releasing an intense burst of neutrinos. 1987 was the first time that physicists were equipped (but not entirely ready!) to intercept these particles, and in the second part of his article, David Schramm covers the remarkable new insights from the science of supernova neutrino astronomy, born on 23 February 1987

Supernovae and neutrinos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Totsuka, Y.

1991-01-01

On February 25, 1987, a sheet of telefax came to us from S. A. Bludman, saying Supernova went off in Large Magellanic Clouds. Can you see it? This is what we have been waiting 350 years for exclamation point In few hours, more information arrived. But it was still too early to definitely identify the supernova as type I or type II. This paper reports that the type I supernova is an explosion of a complete star due to uncontrolled nuclear fusion, while the type II supernova is triggered by gravitational collapse of the Fe core of a massive star (≥8 solar mass). It is this type II supernova that would leave a neutron star or a black hole after the liberation of an enormous amount of energy (3 x 10 53 erg) in the form of neutrinos. Therefore only the type II supernova is a relevant place to look for neutrino signals. It was also frustrating that the time when the stellar collapse actually took place was not definitely determined, because it was believed that the supernova brightened up about a day after the collapse and there was an ambiguity in a time lag of the optical observation. There was a possibility that it had happened well before February 24

Dust in Supernovae and Supernova Remnants II: Processing and Survival

Science.gov (United States)

Micelotta, E. R.; Matsuura, M.; Sarangi, A.

2018-03-01

Observations have recently shown that supernovae are efficient dust factories, as predicted for a long time by theoretical models. The rapid evolution of their stellar progenitors combined with their efficiency in precipitating refractory elements from the gas phase into dust grains make supernovae the major potential suppliers of dust in the early Universe, where more conventional sources like Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars did not have time to evolve. However, dust yields inferred from observations of young supernovae or derived from models do not reflect the net amount of supernova-condensed dust able to be expelled from the remnants and reach the interstellar medium. The cavity where the dust is formed and initially resides is crossed by the high velocity reverse shock which is generated by the pressure of the circumstellar material shocked by the expanding supernova blast wave. Depending on grain composition and initial size, processing by the reverse shock may lead to substantial dust erosion and even complete destruction. The goal of this review is to present the state of the art about processing and survival of dust inside supernova remnants, in terms of theoretical modelling and comparison to observations.

Constraint on neutrino masses from SDSS-III/BOSS Ly$\\alpha$ forest and other cosmological probes

CERN Document Server

Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Lesgourgues, Julien; Rossi, Graziano; Borde, Arnaud; Viel, Matteo; Aubourg, Eric; Kirkby, David; LeGoff, Jean-Marc; Rich, James; Roe, Natalie; Ross, Nicholas P.; Schneider, Donald P.; Weinberg, David

2015-02-27

We present constraints on the parameters of the $\\Lambda$CDM cosmological model in the presence of massive neutrinos, using the one-dimensional Ly$\\alpha$ forest power spectrum obtained with the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) by Palanque-Delabrouille et al. (2013), complemented by additional cosmological probes. The interpretation of the measured Ly$\\alpha$ spectrum is done using a second-order Taylor expansion of the simulated power spectrum. BOSS Ly$\\alpha$ data alone provide better bounds than previous Ly$\\alpha$ results, but are still poorly constraining, especially for the sum of neutrino masses $\\sum m_\

Nearby supernova factory announces 34 supernovae in one year'; best Rookie year ever for supernova search

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

The Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory), an international collaboration based at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, announced that it had discovered 34 supernovae during the first year of the prototype system's operation (2 pages).

Neutrinos from type-II supernovae and the neutrino-driven supernova mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janka, H.T.

1996-01-01

Supernova 1987A has confirmed fundamental aspects of our theoretical view of type-II supernovae: Type-II supernovae are a consequence of the collapse of the iron core of a massive evolved star and lead to the formation of a neutron star or black hole. This picture is most strongly supported by the detection of electron antineutrinos in the IMB and Kamiokande II experiments in connection with SN 1987A. However, the mechanism causing the supernova explosion is not yet satisfactorily understood. In this paper the properties of the neutrino emission from supernovae and protoneutron stars will be reviewed; analytical estimates will be derived and results of numerical simulations will be shown. It will be demonstrated that the spectral distributions of the emitted neutrinos show clear and systematic discrepancies compared with thermal (black body-type) emission. This must be taken into account when neutrino observations from supernovae are to be interpreted, or when implications of the neutrino emission on nucleosynthesis processes in mantle and envelope of the progenitor star are to be investigated. Furthermore, the influence of neutrinos on the supernova dynamics will be discussed, in particular their crucial role in causing the explosion by Wilson's neutrino-driven delayed mechanism. Possible implications of convection inside the newly born neutron star and between surface and the supernova shock will be addressed and results of multi-dimensional simulations will be presented. (author) 7 figs., 1 tab., refs

Neutrinos from type-II supernovae and the neutrino-driven supernova mechanism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Janka, H T [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astrophysik, Garching (Germany)

1996-11-01

Supernova 1987A has confirmed fundamental aspects of our theoretical view of type-II supernovae: Type-II supernovae are a consequence of the collapse of the iron core of a massive evolved star and lead to the formation of a neutron star or black hole. This picture is most strongly supported by the detection of electron antineutrinos in the IMB and Kamiokande II experiments in connection with SN 1987A. However, the mechanism causing the supernova explosion is not yet satisfactorily understood. In this paper the properties of the neutrino emission from supernovae and protoneutron stars will be reviewed; analytical estimates will be derived and results of numerical simulations will be shown. It will be demonstrated that the spectral distributions of the emitted neutrinos show clear and systematic discrepancies compared with thermal (black body-type) emission. This must be taken into account when neutrino observations from supernovae are to be interpreted, or when implications of the neutrino emission on nucleosynthesis processes in mantle and envelope of the progenitor star are to be investigated. Furthermore, the influence of neutrinos on the supernova dynamics will be discussed, in particular their crucial role in causing the explosion by Wilson`s neutrino-driven delayed mechanism. Possible implications of convection inside the newly born neutron star and between surface and the supernova shock will be addressed and results of multi-dimensional simulations will be presented. (author) 7 figs., 1 tab., refs.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog V. Seventh Data Release

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schneider, Donald P.; /Penn State U.; Richards, Gordon T.; /Drexel U.; Hall, Patrick B.; /York U., Canada; Strauss, Michael A.; /Princeton U. Observ.; Anderson, Scott F.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Boroson, Todd A.; /Kitt Peak Observ.; Ross, Nicholas P.; /Penn State U.; Shen, Yue; /Princeton U. Observ.; Brandt, W.N.; /Penn State U.; Fan, Xiaohui; /Arizona U., Astron. Dept. - Steward Observ.; Inada, Naohisa; /Wako, RIKEN /Southampton U. /Heidelberg, Max Planck Inst. Astron.

2010-04-01

We present the fifth edition of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Catalog, which is based upon the SDSS Seventh Data Release. The catalog, which contains 105,783 spectroscopically confirmed quasars, represents the conclusion of the SDSS-I and SDSS-II quasar survey. The catalog consists of the SDSS objects that have luminosities larger than M{sub i} = -22.0 (in a cosmology with H{sub 0} = 70 km s{sup -1} Mpc{sup -1}, {Omega}{sub M} = 0.3, and {Omega}{sub {Lambda}} = 0.7), have at least one emission line with FWHM larger than 1000 km s{sup -1} or have interesting/complex absorption features, are fainter than i {approx} 15.0, and have highly reliable redshifts. The catalog covers an area of {approx} 9380 deg{sup 2}. The quasar redshifts range from 0.065 to 5.46, with a median value of 1.49; the catalog includes 1248 quasars at redshifts greater than 4, of which 56 are at redshifts greater than 5. The catalog contains 9210 quasars with i < 18; slightly over half of the entries have i < 19. For each object the catalog presents positions accurate to better than 0.1-inch rms per coordinate, five-band (ugriz) CCD-based photometry with typical accuracy of 0.03 mag, and information on the morphology and selection method. The catalog also contains radio, near-infrared, and X-ray emission properties of the quasars, when available, from other large-area surveys. The calibrated digital spectra cover the wavelength region 3800-9200 {angstrom} at a spectral resolution of {approx_equal} 2000; the spectra can be retrieved from the SDSS public database using the information provided in the catalog. Over 96% of the objects in the catalog were discovered by the SDSS. We also include a supplemental list of an additional 207 quasars with SDSS spectra whose archive photometric information is incomplete.

SLOW-SPEED SUPERNOVAE FROM THE PALOMAR TRANSIENT FACTORY: TWO CHANNELS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

White, Christopher J. [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Kasliwal, Mansi M.; Piro, Anthony L. [The Observatories, Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Nugent, Peter E. [Computational Cosmology Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Gal-Yam, Avishay; Ofek, Eran O.; Ben-Ami, Sagi [Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100 (Israel); Howell, D. Andrew [Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Broida Hall, Mail Code 9530, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9530 (United States); Sullivan, Mark [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom); Goobar, Ariel [The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Physics, AlbaNova, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden); Bloom, Joshua S. [Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States); Kulkarni, Shrinivas R.; Cao, Yi [Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Laher, Russ R.; Masci, Frank; Surace, Jason [Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, M/S 314-6, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Cenko, S. Bradley [Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Mail Code 661, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Hook, Isobel M. [Department of Physics (Astrophysics), University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Jönsson, Jakob [Savantic AB, Rosenlundsgatan 50, SE-118 63 Stockholm (Sweden); Matheson, Thomas [National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ 85719-4933 (United States); and others

2015-01-20

Since the discovery of the unusual prototype SN 2002cx, the eponymous class of Type I (hydrogen-poor) supernovae with low ejecta speeds has grown to include approximately two dozen members identified from several heterogeneous surveys, in some cases ambiguously. Here we present the results of a systematic study of 1077 Type I supernovae discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory, leading to nine new members of this peculiar class. Moreover, we find there are two distinct subclasses based on their spectroscopic, photometric, and host galaxy properties: ''SN 2002cx-like'' supernovae tend to be in later-type or more irregular hosts, have more varied and generally dimmer luminosities, have longer rise times, and lack a Ti II trough when compared to ''SN 2002es-like'' supernovae. None of our objects show helium, and we counter a previous claim of two such events. We also find that the occurrence rate of these transients relative to Type Ia supernovae is 5.6{sub −3.8}{sup +22}% (90% confidence), lower compared to earlier estimates. Combining our objects with the literature sample, we propose that these subclasses have two distinct physical origins.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Tully-Fisher relation for SDSS galaxies (Reyes+, 2011)

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes, R.; Mandelbaum, R.; Gunn, J. E.; Pizagno, J.; Lackner, C. N.

2012-05-01

In this paper, we derive scaling relations between photometric observable quantities and disc galaxy rotation velocity Vrot or Tully-Fisher relations (TFRs). Our methodology is dictated by our purpose of obtaining purely photometric, minimal-scatter estimators of Vrot applicable to large galaxy samples from imaging surveys. To achieve this goal, we have constructed a sample of 189 disc galaxies at redshifts z<0.1 with long-slit Hα spectroscopy from Pizagno et al. (2007, Cat. J/AJ/134/945) and new observations. By construction, this sample is a fair subsample of a large, well-defined parent disc sample of ~170000 galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS DR7). (4 data files).

ACOUSTIC SCALE FROM THE ANGULAR POWER SPECTRA OF SDSS-III DR8 PHOTOMETRIC LUMINOUS GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seo, Hee-Jong; Ho, Shirley; White, Martin; Reid, Beth; Schlegel, David J.; Cuesta, Antonio J.; Padmanabhan, Nikhil; Ross, Ashley J.; Percival, Will J.; Nichol, Robert C.; Saito, Shun; De Putter, Roland; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Xu Xiaoying; Skibba, Ramin; Schneider, Donald P.; Verde, Licia; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Brewington, Howard; Brinkmann, J.

2012-01-01

We measure the acoustic scale from the angular power spectra of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) Data Release 8 imaging catalog that includes 872, 921 galaxies over ∼10,000 deg 2 between 0.45 A (z)/r s = 9.212 +0.416 – 0 .404 at z = 0.54, and therefore D A (z) = 1411 ± 65 Mpc at z = 0.54; the result is fairly independent of assumptions on the underlying cosmology. Our measurement of angular diameter distance D A (z) is 1.4σ higher than what is expected for the concordance ΛCDM, in accordance to the trend of other spectroscopic BAO measurements for z ∼> 0.35. We report constraints on cosmological parameters from our measurement in combination with the WMAP7 data and the previous spectroscopic BAO measurements of SDSS and WiggleZ. We refer to our companion papers (Ho et al.; de Putter et al.) for investigations on information of the full power spectrum.

MASS AND ENVIRONMENT AS DRIVERS OF GALAXY EVOLUTION IN SDSS AND zCOSMOS AND THE ORIGIN OF THE SCHECHTER FUNCTION

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peng, Ying-Jie; Lilly, Simon J.; Kovac, Katarina; Bolzonella, Micol; Pozzetti, Lucia; Renzini, Alvio; Zamorani, Gianni; Ilbert, Olivier; Knobel, Christian; Iovino, Angela; Maier, Christian; Cucciati, Olga; Tasca, Lidia; Carollo, C. Marcella; Silverman, John; Kampczyk, Pawel; De Ravel, Loic; Sanders, David; Scoville, Nicholas; Contini, Thierry; Mainieri, Vincenzo; Scodeggio, Marco; Kneib, Jean-Paul; Le Fevre, Olivier; Bardelli, Sandro; Bongiorno, Angela; Caputi, Karina; Coppa, Graziano; de la Torre, Sylvain; Franzetti, Paolo; Garilli, Bianca; Lamareille, Fabrice; Le Borgne, Jean-Francois; Le Brun, Vincent; Mignoli, Marco; Montero, Enrique Perez; Pello, Roser; Ricciardelli, Elena; Tanaka, Masayuki; Tresse, Laurence; Vergani, Daniela; Welikala, Niraj; Zucca, Elena; Oesch, Pascal; Abbas, Ummi; Barnes, Luke; Bordoloi, Rongmon; Bottini, Dario; Cappi, Alberto; Cassata, Paolo; Cimatti, Andrea; Fumana, Marco; Hasinger, Gunther; Koekemoer, Anton; Leauthaud, Alexei; Maccagni, Dario; Marinoni, Christian; McCracken, Henry; Memeo, Pierdomenico; Meneux, Baptiste; Nair, Preethi; Porciani, Cristiano; Presotto, Valentina; Scaramella, Roberto

2010-01-01

We explore the simple inter-relationships between mass, star formation rate, and environment in the SDSS, zCOSMOS, and other deep surveys. We take a purely empirical approach in identifying those features of galaxy evolution that are demanded by the data and then explore the analytic consequences of

Supernova cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leibundgut, B.

2005-01-01

Supernovae have developed into a versatile tool for cosmology. Their impact on the cosmological model has been profound and led to the discovery of the accelerated expansion. The current status of the cosmological model as perceived through supernova observations will be presented. Supernovae are currently the only astrophysical objects that can measure the dynamics of the cosmic expansion during the past eight billion years. Ongoing experiments are trying to determine the characteristics of the accelerated expansion and give insight into what might be the physical explanation for the acceleration. (author)

Supernova models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woosley, S.E.; Weaver, T.A.

1980-01-01

Recent progress in understanding the observed properties of Type I supernovae as a consequence of the thermonuclear detonation of white dwarf stars and the ensuing decay of the 56 Ni produced therein is reviewed. Within the context of this model for Type I explosions and the 1978 model for Type II explosions, the expected nucleosynthesis and gamma-line spectra from both kinds of supernovae are presented. Finally, a qualitatively new approach to the problem of massive star death and Type II supernovae based upon a combination of rotation and thermonuclear burning is discussed

PROGENITORS OF RECOMBINING SUPERNOVA REMNANTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moriya, Takashi J., E-mail: takashi.moriya@ipmu.jp [Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, Todai Institutes for Advanced Study, University of Tokyo, Kashiwanoha 5-1-5, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583 (Japan)

2012-05-01

Usual supernova remnants have either ionizing plasma or plasma in collisional ionization equilibrium, i.e., the ionization temperature is lower than or equal to the electron temperature. However, the existence of recombining supernova remnants, i.e., supernova remnants with ionization temperature higher than the electron temperature, has been recently confirmed. One suggested way to have recombining plasma in a supernova remnant is to have a dense circumstellar medium at the time of the supernova explosion. If the circumstellar medium is dense enough, collisional ionization equilibrium can be established in the early stage of the evolution of the supernova remnant and subsequent adiabatic cooling, which occurs after the shock wave gets out of the dense circumstellar medium, makes the electron temperature lower than the ionization temperature. We study the circumstellar medium around several supernova progenitors and show which supernova progenitors can have a circumstellar medium dense enough to establish collisional ionization equilibrium soon after the explosion. We find that the circumstellar medium around red supergiants (especially massive ones) and the circumstellar medium dense enough to make Type IIn supernovae can establish collisional ionization equilibrium soon after the explosion and can evolve to become recombining supernova remnants. Wolf-Rayet stars and white dwarfs have the possibility to be recombining supernova remnants but the fraction is expected to be very small. As the occurrence rate of the explosions of red supergiants is much higher than that of Type IIn supernovae, the major progenitors of recombining supernova remnants are likely to be red supergiants.

High-redshift supernova rates measured with the gravitational telescope A 1689

OpenAIRE

Petrushevska, T.; Amanullah, R.; Goobar, A.; Fabbro, S.; Johansson, J.; Kjellsson, T.; Lidman, C.; Paech, K.; Richard, J.; Dahle, Håkon; Ferretti, R.; Kneib, J.-P.; Limousin, M.; Nordin, J.; Stanishev, V.

2016-01-01

Aims. We present a ground-based, near-infrared search for lensed supernovae behind the massive cluster Abell 1689 at z = 0.18, which is one of the most powerful gravitational telescopes that nature provides. Methods. Our survey was based on multi-epoch J-band observations with the HAWK-I instrument on VLT, with supporting optical data from the Nordic Optical Telescope. Results. Our search resulted in the discovery of five photometrically classified, core-collapse supernovae with high re...

Spectroscopic Classification of SN 2017ghm as a Type Ia Supernova

Science.gov (United States)

Vinko, J.; Wheeler, J. C.; Wang, X.; Li, W.; Li, Z.; Xiang, D.; Rui, L.; Lin, H.; Xu, Z.; Li, B.; Zhao, H.; Wang, L.; Tan, H.; Zhang, J.

2017-09-01

An optical spectrum (range 360-680 nm) of SN 2017ghm (=PTSS-17uyml), discovered by the PMO-Tsinghua Supernova Survey (PTSS, http://www.cneost.org/ptss/), was obtained with the new "Low Resolution Spectrograph-2" (LRS2) on the 10m Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory by S. Rostopchin on 2017 Aug 31.17 UT. The spectrum is consistent with that of a heavily reddened Type Ia supernova (with Av > 2.3 mag) around maximum light.

THE CARNEGIE SUPERNOVA PROJECT: SECOND PHOTOMETRY DATA RELEASE OF LOW-REDSHIFT TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stritzinger, Maximilian D.; Phillips, M. M.; Campillay, Abdo; Morrell, Nidia; Krzeminski, Wojtek; Roth, Miguel; Boldt, Luis N.; Burns, Chris; Freedman, Wendy L.; Madore, Barry F.; Persson, Sven E.; Contreras, Carlos; Gonzalez, Sergio; Folatelli, Gaston; Salgado, Francisco; DePoy, D. L.; Marshall, J. L.; Rheault, Jean-Philippe; Suntzeff, Nicholas B.; Hamuy, Mario

2011-01-01

The Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP) was a five-year observational survey conducted at Las Campanas Observatory that obtained, among other things, high-quality light curves of ∼100 low-redshift Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). Presented here is the second data release of nearby SN Ia photometry consisting of 50 objects, with a subset of 45 having near-infrared follow-up observations. Thirty-three objects have optical pre-maximum coverage with a subset of 15 beginning at least five days before maximum light. In the near-infrared, 27 objects have coverage beginning before the epoch of B-band maximum, with a subset of 13 beginning at least five days before maximum. In addition, we present results of a photometric calibration program to measure the CSP optical (uBgVri) bandpasses with an accuracy of ∼1%. Finally, we report the discovery of a second SN Ia, SN 2006ot, similar in its characteristics to the peculiar SN 2006bt.

THE CARNEGIE SUPERNOVA PROJECT: FIRST PHOTOMETRY DATA RELEASE OF LOW-REDSHIFT TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Contreras, Carlos; Phillips, M. M.; Folatelli, Gaston; Stritzinger, Maximilian; Boldt, Luis; Gonzalez, Sergio; Krzeminski, Wojtek; Morrell, Nidia; Roth, Miguel; Salgado, Francisco; Hamuy, Mario; Maureira, MarIa Jose; Suntzeff, Nicholas B.; Persson, S. E.; Burns, Christopher R.; Freedman, W. L.; Madore, Barry F.; Murphy, David; Wyatt, Pamela; Li Weidong

2010-01-01

The Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP) is a five-year survey being carried out at the Las Campanas Observatory to obtain high-quality light curves of ∼100 low-redshift Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in a well-defined photometric system. Here we present the first release of photometric data that contains the optical light curves of 35 SNe Ia, and near-infrared light curves for a subset of 25 events. The data comprise 5559 optical (ugriBV) and 1043 near-infrared (Y JHK s ) data points in the natural system of the Swope telescope. Twenty-eight SNe have pre-maximum data, and for 15 of these, the observations begin at least 5 days before B maximum. This is one of the most accurate data sets of low-redshift SNe Ia published to date. When completed, the CSP data set will constitute a fundamental reference for precise determinations of cosmological parameters, and serve as a rich resource for comparison with models of SNe Ia.

The Intrinsic Shape of Galaxies in SDSS/Galaxy Zoo

OpenAIRE

Rodríguez, Silvio; Padilla, Nelson D.

2013-01-01

By modelling the axis ratio distribution of SDSS DR8 galaxies we find the intrinsic 3D shapes of spirals and ellipticals. We use morphological information from the Galaxy Zoo project and assume a non-parametric distribution intrinsic of shapes, while taking into account dust extinction. We measure the dust extinction of the full sample of spiral galaxies and find a smaller value than previous estimations, with an edge-on extinction of $E_0 = 0.284^{+0.015}_{-0.026}$ in the SDSS r band. We als...

The 3D Power Spectrum from Angular Clustering of Galaxies in Early SDSS Data

CERN Document Server

Dodelson, Scott; Tegmark, Max; Scranton, Ryan; Budavari, Tamas; Connolly, Andrew; Csabai, Istvan; Eisenstein, Daniel; Frieman, Joshua A.; Gunn, James E.; Hui, Lam; Jain, Bhuvnesh; Johnston, David; Kent, Stephen M.; Loveday, Jon; Nichol, Robert C.; O'Connell, Liam; Scoccimarro, Roman; Sheth, Ravi K.; Stebbins, Albert; Strauss, Michael A.; Szalay, Alexander S.; Szapudi, Istvan; Vogeley, Michael S.; Zehavi, Idit; Annis, James; Bahcall, Neta A.; Brinkman, Jon; Doi, Mamoru; Fukugita, Masataka; Hennessy, Greg; Ivezic, Zeljko; Knapp, Gillian R.; Kunszt, Peter; Lamb, Don Q.; Lee, Brian C.; Lupton, Robert H.; Munn, Jeffrey A.; Peoples, John; Pier, Jeffrey R.; Rockosi, Constance; Schlegel, David; Stoughton, Christopher; Tucker, Douglas L.; Yanny, Brian; York, Donald G.; Dodelson, Scott; Narayanan, Vijay K.; Tegmark, Max; Scranton, Ryan; Budavari, Tamas; Connolly, Andrew; Csabai, Istvan; Eisenstein, Daniel; Frieman, Joshua A.; Gunn, James E.; Hui, Lam; Jain, Bhuvnesh; Johnston, David; Kent, Stephen; Loveday, Jon; Nichol, Robert C.; Connell, Liam O'; Scoccimarro, Roman; Sheth, Ravi K.; Stebbins, Albert; Strauss, Michael A.; Szalay, Alexander S.; Szapudi, Istv\\'an; Vogeley, Michael S.; Zehavi, Idit

2001-01-01

Early photometric data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) contain angular positions for 1.5 million galaxies. In companion papers, the angular correlation function $w(\\theta)$ and 2D power spectrum $C_l$ of these galaxies are presented. Here we invert Limber's equation to extract the 3D power spectrum from the angular results. We accomplish this using an estimate of $dn/dz$, the redshift distribution of galaxies in four different magnitude slices in the SDSS photometric catalog. The resulting 3D power spectrum estimates from $w(\\theta)$ and $C_l$ agree with each other and with previous estimates over a range in wavenumbers $0.03 < k/{\\rm h Mpc}^{-1} < 1$. The galaxies in the faintest magnitude bin ($21 < \\rstar < 22$, which have median redshift $z_m=0.43$) are less clustered than the galaxies in the brightest magnitude bin ($18 < \\rstar < 19$ with $z_m=0.17$), especially on scales where nonlinearities are important. The derived power spectrum agrees with that of Szalay et al. (2001) wh...

Strong chromatic microlensing in HE0047–1756 and SDSS1155+6346

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rojas, K.; Motta, V. [Instituto de Física y Astronomía, Universidad de Valparaíso, Avda. Gran Bretaña 1111, Playa Ancha, Valparaíso 2360102 (Chile); Mediavilla, E. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Avda. Vía Lactea s/n, La Laguna, E-38200 Tenerife (Spain); Falco, E. [Whipple Observatory, Smithsonian Institution, 670 Mt. Hopkins Road, PO Box 6369, Amado, AZ 85645 (United States); Jiménez-Vicente, J. [Departamento de Física Teórica y del Cosmos, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Fuentenueva, E-18071 Granada (Spain); Muñoz, J. A., E-mail: karina.rojas@uv.cl, E-mail: veronica.motta@uv.cl, E-mail: emg@iac.es, E-mail: falco@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: jjimenez@ugr.es, E-mail: jmunoz@uv.es [Departamento de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Universidad de Valencia, Burjassot, E-46100 Valencia (Spain)

2014-12-10

We use spectra of the double-lensed quasars HE0047–1756 and SDSS1155+6346 to study their unresolved structure through the impact of microlensing. There is no significant evidence of microlensing in the emission line profiles except for the Lyα line of SDSS1155+6346, which shows strong differences in the shapes for images A and B. However, the continuum of the B image spectrum in SDSS1155+6346 is strongly contaminated by the lens galaxy, and these differences should be considered with caution. Using the flux ratios of the emission lines for image pairs as a baseline to remove macro-magnification and extinction, we have detected strong chromatic microlensing in the continuum measured by CASTLES (www.cfa.harvard.edu/castles/) in both lens systems, with amplitudes 0.09(λ16000) ≲ |Δm| ≲ 0.8(λ5439) for HE0047–1756, and 0.2(λ16000) ≲ |Δm| ≲ 0.8(λ5439) for SDSS1155+6346. Using magnification maps to simulate microlensing and modeling the accretion disk as a Gaussian source (I ∝ exp(–R {sup 2}/2r {sub s}{sup 2})) of size r {sub s} ∝ λ {sup p}, we find r {sub s} = 2.5{sub −1.4}{sup +3.0} √(M/0.3M{sub ⊙}) lt-day and p = 2.3 ± 0.8 at the rest frame for λ = 2045 for HE0047–1756 (log prior) and r {sub s} = 5.5{sub −3.3}{sup +8.2} √(M/0.3M{sub ⊙}) lt-day and p = 1.5 ± 0.6 at the rest frame of λ = 1398 for SDSS1155+6346 (log prior). Contrary to other studied lens systems, the chromaticity detected in HE0047–1756 and SDSS1155+6346 is large enough to fulfill the thin disk prediction. The inferred sizes, however, are very large compared to the predictions of this model, especially in the case of SDSS1155+6346.

The Prevalence of Ionized Gas Outflow Signatures in SDSS-IV MaNGA Active Galactic Nuclei

Science.gov (United States)

Flores, Anthony M.; Wylezalek, Dominika; Zakamska, Nadia

2018-01-01

Actively accreting supermassive black holes (AGN) can have a variety of effects on their host galaxies, from generating large regions of hot, photoionized gas, to driving AGN feedback in the form of galaxy wide outflows that may affect the evolution of the galaxy over time by quenching their star formation and by thus setting limits to the total mass of their host galaxy. The focus of this work is to assess the prevalence of AGN-driven outflows in low-redshift AGN of moderate power using IFU observations of 2778 galaxies available through SDSS-IV MaNGA.SDSS-IV MaNGA is an optical spectroscopic IFU survey which will have obtained spatially resolved spectroscopic observations of ~10,000 galaxies at z ≤ 0.1 and with stellar masses >10^9 solar masses over the next three years, allowing us to describe the kinematic properties of a large galaxy sample across different spatial regions.We have re-mapped the kinematics of the [O III] emission line to account for asymmetries and secondary kinematic components in the emission line brought on by potential AGN-driven outflows. Using all galaxies currently in the MaNGA survey, we implement a new fitting procedure to help determine the prevalence of these secondary components. Specifically, we use the non-parametric W80 value as a proxy for velocity dispersion, which we expect to be affected especially in the case of asymmetries and broadening of the emission lines. Separating these galaxies into two samples of independently identified AGN candidates and non-AGN, I will show that broad secondary components are twice as common in MaNGA-selected AGN compared to galaxies in MaNGA not classified as AGN. Moreover, when the underlying distribution of W80 values are compared between samples, I will show that the differences in these distributions are statistically significant. This demonstrates that large IFU survey like SDSS-IV MaNGA will uncover many previously unknown AGN and AGN feedback signatures. Outflows and feedback from low

Hydrogen-Poor Core-Collapse Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Pian, Elena; Mazzali, Paolo A.

Hydrogen-poor core-collapse supernovae (SNe) signal the explosive death of stars more massive than the progenitors of hydrogen-rich core-collapse supernovae, i.e., approximately in the range 15-50 M⊙ in main sequence. Since hydrogen-poor core-collapse supernovae include those that accompany gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which were all rigorously identified with type Ic supernovae, their explosion energies cover almost two decades. The light curves and spectra are consequently very heterogeneous and often bear the signature of an asymmetric, i.e., aspherical, explosion. Asphericity is best traced by early-time (within days of the explosion) optical spectropolarimetry and by late-epoch (more than ˜ 100 days after explosion) low-resolution spectroscopy. While the relationship between hydrogen-poor core-collapse supernovae to hydrogen-poor super-luminous supernovae is not understood, a known case of association between an ultra-long gamma-ray burst and a very luminous hydrogen-poor supernova may help unraveling the connection. This is tantalizingly pointing to a magnetar powering source for both phenomena, although this scenario is still highly speculative. Host galaxies of hydrogen-poor supernovae are always star forming; in those of completely stripped supernovae and gamma-ray burst supernovae, the spatial distribution of the explosions follows the blue/ultraviolet light, with a correlation that is more than linear.

Peculiar Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Milisavljevic, Dan; Margutti, Raffaella

2018-06-01

What makes a supernova truly "peculiar?" In this review we attempt to address this question by tracing the history of the use of "peculiar" as a descriptor of non-standard supernovae back to the original binary spectroscopic classification of Type I vs. Type II proposed by Minkowski (Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac., 53:224, 1941). A handful of noteworthy examples are highlighted to illustrate a general theme: classes of supernovae that were once thought to be peculiar are later seen as logical branches of standard events. This is not always the case, however, and we discuss ASASSN-15lh as an example of a transient with an origin that remains contentious. We remark on how late-time observations at all wavelengths (radio-through-X-ray) that probe 1) the kinematic and chemical properties of the supernova ejecta and 2) the progenitor star system's mass loss in the terminal phases preceding the explosion, have often been critical in understanding the nature of seemingly unusual events.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog: Fourteenth data release

Science.gov (United States)

Pâris, Isabelle; Petitjean, Patrick; Aubourg, Éric; Myers, Adam D.; Streblyanska, Alina; Lyke, Brad W.; Anderson, Scott F.; Armengaud, Éric; Bautista, Julian; Blanton, Michael R.; Blomqvist, Michael; Brinkmann, Jonathan; Brownstein, Joel R.; Brandt, William Nielsen; Burtin, Étienne; Dawson, Kyle; de la Torre, Sylvain; Georgakakis, Antonis; Gil-Marín, Héctor; Green, Paul J.; Hall, Patrick B.; Kneib, Jean-Paul; LaMassa, Stephanie M.; Le Goff, Jean-Marc; MacLeod, Chelsea; Mariappan, Vivek; McGreer, Ian D.; Merloni, Andrea; Noterdaeme, Pasquier; Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Percival, Will J.; Ross, Ashley J.; Rossi, Graziano; Schneider, Donald P.; Seo, Hee-Jong; Tojeiro, Rita; Weaver, Benjamin A.; Weijmans, Anne-Marie; Yèche, Christophe; Zarrouk, Pauline; Zhao, Gong-Bo

2018-05-01

We present the data release 14 Quasar catalog (DR14Q) from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV). This catalog includes all SDSS-IV/eBOSS objects that were spectroscopically targeted as quasar candidates and that are confirmed as quasars via a new automated procedure combined with a partial visual inspection of spectra, have luminosities Mi [z = 2] < -20.5 (in a Λ CDM cosmology with H0 = 70 km s-1 Mpc-1, Ω M =0.3, and Ω Λ = 0.7), and either display at least one emission line with a full width at half maximum larger than 500 km s-1 or, if not, have interesting/complex absorption features. The catalog also includes previously spectroscopically-confirmed quasars from SDSS-I, II, and III. The catalog contains 526 356 quasars (144 046 are new discoveries since the beginning of SDSS-IV) detected over 9376 deg2 (2044 deg2 having new spectroscopic data available) with robust identification and redshift measured by a combination of principal component eigenspectra. The catalog is estimated to have about 0.5% contamination. Redshifts are provided for the Mg II emission line. The catalog identifies 21 877 broad absorption line quasars and lists their characteristics. For each object, the catalog presents five-band (u, g, r, i, z) CCD-based photometry with typical accuracy of 0.03 mag. The catalog also contains X-ray, ultraviolet, near-infrared, and radio emission properties of the quasars, when available, from other large-area surveys. The calibrated digital spectra, covering the wavelength region 3610-10 140 Å at a spectral resolution in the range 1300 < R < 2500, can be retrieved from the SDSS Science Archiver Server. http://www.sdss.org/dr14/algorithms/qso_catalog

HOW TO FIND GRAVITATIONALLY LENSED TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldstein, Daniel A.; Nugent, Peter E.

2017-01-01

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) that are multiply imaged by gravitational lensing can extend the SN Ia Hubble diagram to very high redshifts ( z ≳ 2), probe potential SN Ia evolution, and deliver high-precision constraints on H _0, w , and Ω_m via time delays. However, only one, iPTF16geu, has been found to date, and many more are needed to achieve these goals. To increase the multiply imaged SN Ia discovery rate, we present a simple algorithm for identifying gravitationally lensed SN Ia candidates in cadenced, wide-field optical imaging surveys. The technique is to look for supernovae that appear to be hosted by elliptical galaxies, but that have absolute magnitudes implied by the apparent hosts’ photometric redshifts that are far brighter than the absolute magnitudes of normal SNe Ia (the brightest type of supernovae found in elliptical galaxies). Importantly, this purely photometric method does not require the ability to resolve the lensed images for discovery. Active galactic nuclei, the primary sources of contamination that affect the method, can be controlled using catalog cross-matches and color cuts. Highly magnified core-collapse SNe will also be discovered as a byproduct of the method. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, we forecast that the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope can discover up to 500 multiply imaged SNe Ia using this technique in a 10 year z -band search, more than an order of magnitude improvement over previous estimates. We also predict that the Zwicky Transient Facility should find up to 10 multiply imaged SNe Ia using this technique in a 3 year R -band search—despite the fact that this survey will not resolve a single system.

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: constraining modified gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Mueller, Eva-Maria; Percival, Will; Linder, Eric; Alam, Shadab; Zhao, Gong-Bo; Sánchez, Ariel G.; Beutler, Florian; Brinkmann, Jon

2018-04-01

We use baryon acoustic oscillation and redshift space distortion from the completed Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, corresponding to Data Release 12 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, combined sample analysis in combination with cosmic microwave background, supernova, and redshift space distortion measurements from additional spectroscopic surveys to test deviations from general relativity. We present constraints on several phenomenological models of modified gravity: First, we parametrize the growth of structure using the growth index γ, finding γ = 0.566 ± 0.058 (68 per cent C.L.). Secondly, we modify the relation of the two Newtonian potentials by introducing two additional parameters, GM and GL. In this approach, GM refers to modifications of the growth of structure whereas GL to modification of the lensing potential. We consider a power law to model the redshift dependence of GM and GL as well as binning in redshift space, introducing four additional degrees of freedom, GM(z 0.5), GL(z 0.5). At 68 per cent C.L., we measure GM = 0.980 ± 0.096 and GL = 1.082 ± 0.060 for a linear model, GM = 1.01 ± 0.36 and GL = 1.31 ± 0.19 for a cubic model as well as GM(z 0.5) = 0.986 ± 0.022, GL(z 0.5) = 1.037 ± 0.029. Thirdly, we investigate general scalar tensor theories of gravity, finding the model to be mostly unconstrained by current data. Assuming a one-parameter f(R) model, we can constrain B0 < 7.7 × 10-5 (95 per cent C.L). For all models we considered, we find good agreement with general relativity.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Gaia-PS1-SDSS (GPS1) proper motion catalog (Tian+, 2017)

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, H.-J.; Gupta, P.; Sesar, B.; Rix, H.-W.; Martin, N. F.; Liu, C.; Goldman, B.; Platais, I.; Kudritzki, R.-P.; Waters, C. Z.

2018-02-01

In order to construct proper motions, we analyze and model catalog positions from four different imaging surveys, as discussed below. Gaia DR1 is based on observations collected between 2014 July 25 and 2015 September 16. PS1 observations were collected between 2010 and 2014. The SDSS DR9 data used here were obtained in the years between 2000 and 2008. The images from 2MASS were taken between 1997 and 2001. (1 data file).

IMPROVED BACKGROUND SUBTRACTION FOR THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY IMAGES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanton, Michael R.; Kazin, Eyal; Muna, Demitri; Weaver, Benjamin A.; Price-Whelan, Adrian

2011-01-01

We describe a procedure for background subtracting Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging that improves the resulting detection and photometry of large galaxies on the sky. Within each SDSS drift scan run, we mask out detected sources and then fit a smooth function to the variation of the sky background. This procedure has been applied to all SDSS-III Data Release 8 images, and the results are available as part of that data set. We have tested the effect of our background subtraction on the photometry of large galaxies by inserting fake galaxies into the raw pixels, reanalyzing the data, and measuring them after background subtraction. Our technique results in no size-dependent bias in galaxy fluxes up to half-light radii r 50 ∼ 100 arcsec; in contrast, for galaxies of that size the standard SDSS photometric catalog underestimates fluxes by about 1.5 mag. Our results represent a substantial improvement over the standard SDSS catalog results and should form the basis of any analysis of nearby galaxies using the SDSS imaging data.

Type Ia Supernova Cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Leibundgut, B.; Sullivan, M.

2018-03-01

The primary agent for Type Ia supernova cosmology is the uniformity of their appearance. We present the current status, achievements and uncertainties. The Hubble constant and the expansion history of the universe are key measurements provided by Type Ia supernovae. They were also instrumental in showing time dilation, which is a direct observational signature of expansion. Connections to explosion physics are made in the context of potential improvements of the quality of Type Ia supernovae as distance indicators. The coming years will see large efforts to use Type Ia supernovae to characterise dark energy.

Discovery of 7 ASAS-SN Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Brimacombe, J.; Castro, N.; Clocchiatti, A.; Stone, G.; Nicholls, B.; Fernandez, J. M.; Cacella, P.; Vallely, P.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Brown, J. S.; Shields, J.; Thompson, T. A.; Shappee, B. J.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Prieto, J. L.; Bersier, D.; Dong, Subo; Bose, S.; Chen, Ping; Stritzinger, M.; Holmbo, S.; Bock, G.

2018-06-01

During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, the quadruple 14-cm "Leavitt" telescope in Fort Davis, Texas, the quadruple 14-cm "Payne-Gaposchkin" telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, and the quadruple 14-cm "Cassius" and "Paczynski" telescopes in Cerro Tololo, Chile, we discovered several new transient sources.

Discovery of 9 ASAS-SN Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Brimacombe, J.; Castro, N.; Clocchiatti, A.; Cacella, P.; Wiethoff, W.; Krannich, G.; Stone, G.; Kiyota, S.; Vallely, P.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Brown, J. S.; Shields, J.; Thompson, T. A.; Shappee, B. J.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Prieto, J. L.; Bersier, D.; Dong, Subo; Bose, S.; Chen, Ping; Stritzinger, M.; Holmbo, S.; Bock, G.

2018-05-01

During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, the quadruple 14-cm "Leavitt" telescope in Fort Davis, Texas, the quadruple 14-cm "Payne-Gaposchkin" telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, and the quadruple 14-cm "Cassius" and "Paczynski" telescopes in Cerro Tololo, Chile, we discovered several new transient sources.

Discovery of 8 ASAS-SN Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Brimacombe, J.; Kiyota, S.; Wiethoff, W.; Stone, G.; Vallely, P.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Brown, J. S.; Shields, J.; Thompson, T. A.; Shappee, B. J.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Prieto, J. L.; Bersier, D.; Dong, Subo; Bose, S.; Chen, Ping; Stritzinger, M.; Holmbo, S.; Bock, G.

2018-06-01

During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, the quadruple 14-cm "Leavitt" telescope in Fort Davis, Texas, the quadruple 14-cm "Payne-Gaposchkin" telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, and the quadruple 14-cm "Cassius" and "Paczynski" telescopes in Cerro Tololo, Chile, we discovered several new transient sources.

Discovery of Six ASAS-SN Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Brimacombe, J.; Stone, G.; Kiyota, S.; Vallely, P.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Brown, J. S.; Shields, J.; Thompson, T. A.; Shappee, B. J.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Prieto, J. L.; Bersier, D.; Dong, Subo; Bose, S.; Chen, Ping; Stritzinger, M.; Holmbo, S.; Bock, G.; Cornect, R.

2018-02-01

During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, the quadruple 14-cm "Leavitt" telescope in Fort Davis, Texas, the quadruple 14-cm "Payne-Gaposchkin" telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, and the quadruple 14-cm "Cassius" and "Paczynski" telescopes in Cerro Tololo, Chile, we discovered several new transient sources.

Discovery of 8 ASAS-SN Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Brimacombe, J.; Tomasella, Lina; Krannich, G.; Stone, G.; Vallely, P.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Brown, J. S.; Shields, J.; Thompson, T. A.; Shappee, B. J.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Prieto, J. L.; Bersier, D.; Dong, Subo; Bose, S.; Chen, Ping; Stritzinger, M.; Holmbo, S.; Nicholls, B.; Cacella, P.; Kiyota, S.

2018-05-01

During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, the quadruple 14-cm "Leavitt" telescope in Fort Davis, Texas, the quadruple 14-cm "Payne-Gaposchkin" telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, and the quadruple 14-cm "Cassius" and "Paczynski" telescopes in Cerro Tololo, Chile, we discovered several new transient sources.

Discovery of Eight ASAS-SN Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, G.; Brimacombe, J.; Cacella, P.; Farfan, R. G.; Vallely, P.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Brown, J. S.; Shields, J.; Thompson, T. A.; Shappee, B. J.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Prieto, J. L.; Bersier, D.; Dong, Subo; Bose, S.; Chen, Ping; Stritzinger, M.; Holmbo, S.; Trappett, D.

2018-02-01

During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, the quadruple 14-cm "Leavitt" telescope in Fort Davis, Texas, the quadruple 14-cm "Payne-Gaposchkin" telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, and the quadruple 14-cm "Cassius" and "Paczynski" telescopes in Cerro Tololo, Chile, we discovered several new transient sources.

Discovery of Four ASAS-SN Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Brimacombe, J.; Kiyota, S.; Cruz, I.; Stone, G.; Vallely, P.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Brown, J. S.; Shields, J.; Thompson, T. A.; Shappee, B. J.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Prieto, J. L.; Bersier, D.; Dong, Subo; Bose, S.; Chen, Ping; Stritzinger, M.; Holmbo, S.

2018-02-01

During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, the quadruple 14-cm "Leavitt" telescope in Fort Davis, Texas, the quadruple 14-cm "Payne-Gaposchkin" telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, and the quadruple 14-cm "Cassius" and "Paczynski" telescopes in Cerro Tololo, Chile, we discovered several new transient sources.

Discovery of Nine ASAS-SN Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Cacella, P.; Brimacombe, J.; Fernandez, J. M.; Kiyota, S.; Krannich, G.; Koff, R. A.; Vallely, P.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Brown, J. S.; Shields, J.; Thompson, T. A.; Shappee, B. J.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Prieto, J. L.; Bersier, D.; Dong, Subo; Bose, S.; Chen, Ping; Stritzinger, M.; Holmbo, S.; Aslan, L.; Bock, G.; Stone, G.

2018-01-01

During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, the quadruple 14-cm "Leavitt" telescope in Fort Davis, Texas, the quadruple 14-cm "Payne-Gaposchkin" telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, and the quadruple 14-cm "Cassius" and "Paczynski" telescopes in Cerro Tololo, Chile, we discovered several new transient sources.

Discovery of Five ASAS-SN Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Brimacombe, J.; Stone, G.; Kiyota, S.; Vallely, P.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Brown, J. S.; Shields, J.; Thompson, T. A.; Shappee, B. J.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Prieto, J. L.; Bersier, D.; Dong, Subo; Bose, S.; Chen, Ping; Stritzinger, M.; Holmbo, S.

2018-02-01

During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, the quadruple 14-cm "Leavitt" telescope in Fort Davis, Texas, the quadruple 14-cm "Payne-Gaposchkin" telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, and the quadruple 14-cm "Cassius" and "Paczynski" telescopes in Cerro Tololo, Chile, we discovered several new transient sources.

X-RAY-EMITTING STARS IDENTIFIED FROM THE ROSAT ALL-SKY SURVEY AND THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agueeros, Marcel A.; Newsom, Emily R.; Anderson, Scott F.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Silvestri, Nicole M.; Szkody, Paula; Covey, Kevin R.; Posselt, Bettina; Margon, Bruce; Voges, Wolfgang

2009-01-01

The ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) was the first imaging X-ray survey of the entire sky. Combining the RASS Bright and Faint Source Catalogs yields an average of about three X-ray sources per square degree. However, while X-ray source counterparts are known to range from distant quasars to nearby M dwarfs, the RASS data alone are often insufficient to determine the nature of an X-ray source. As a result, large-scale follow-up programs are required to construct samples of known X-ray emitters. We use optical data produced by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to identify 709 stellar X-ray emitters cataloged in the RASS and falling within the SDSS Data Release 1 footprint. Most of these are bright stars with coronal X-ray emission unsuitable for SDSS spectroscopy, which is designed for fainter objects (g > 15 [mag]). Instead, we use SDSS photometry, correlations with the Two Micron All Sky Survey and other catalogs, and spectroscopy from the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m telescope to identify these stellar X-ray counterparts. Our sample of 707 X-ray-emitting F, G, K, and M stars is one of the largest X-ray-selected samples of such stars. We derive distances to these stars using photometric parallax relations appropriate for dwarfs on the main sequence, and use these distances to calculate L X . We also identify a previously unknown cataclysmic variable (CV) as a RASS counterpart. Separately, we use correlations of the RASS and the SDSS spectroscopic catalogs of CVs and white dwarfs (WDs) to study the properties of these rarer X-ray-emitting stars. We examine the relationship between (f X /f g ) and the equivalent width of the Hβ emission line for 46 X-ray-emitting CVs and discuss tentative classifications for a subset based on these quantities. We identify 17 new X-ray-emitting DA (hydrogen) WDs, of which three are newly identified WDs. We report on follow-up observations of three candidate cool X-ray-emitting WDs (one DA and two DB (helium) WDs); we have not

DISCLOSING THE RADIO LOUDNESS DISTRIBUTION DICHOTOMY IN QUASARS: AN UNBIASED MONTE CARLO APPROACH APPLIED TO THE SDSS-FIRST QUASAR SAMPLE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Balokovic, M. [Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Smolcic, V. [Argelander-Institut fuer Astronomie, Auf dem Hugel 71, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Ivezic, Z. [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Zamorani, G. [INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, via Ranzani 1, I-40127 Bologna (Italy); Schinnerer, E. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astronomie, Koenigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Kelly, B. C. [Department of Physics, Broida Hall, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States)

2012-11-01

We investigate the dichotomy in the radio loudness distribution of quasars by modeling their radio emission and various selection effects using a Monte Carlo approach. The existence of two physically distinct quasar populations, the radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars, is controversial and over the last decade a bimodal distribution of radio loudness of quasars has been both affirmed and disputed. We model the quasar radio luminosity distribution with simple unimodal and bimodal distribution functions. The resulting simulated samples are compared to a fiducial sample of 8300 quasars drawn from the SDSS DR7 Quasar Catalog and combined with radio observations from the FIRST survey. Our results indicate that the SDSS-FIRST sample is best described by a radio loudness distribution which consists of two components, with (12 {+-} 1)% of sources in the radio-loud component. On the other hand, the evidence for a local minimum in the loudness distribution (bimodality) is not strong and we find that previous claims for its existence were probably affected by the incompleteness of the FIRST survey close to its faint limit. We also investigate the redshift and luminosity dependence of the radio loudness distribution and find tentative evidence that at high redshift radio-loud quasars were rarer, on average louder, and exhibited a smaller range in radio loudness. In agreement with other recent work, we conclude that the SDSS-FIRST sample strongly suggests that the radio loudness distribution of quasars is not a universal function, and that more complex models than presented here are needed to fully explain available observations.

DISCLOSING THE RADIO LOUDNESS DISTRIBUTION DICHOTOMY IN QUASARS: AN UNBIASED MONTE CARLO APPROACH APPLIED TO THE SDSS-FIRST QUASAR SAMPLE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baloković, M.; Smolčić, V.; Ivezić, Ž.; Zamorani, G.; Schinnerer, E.; Kelly, B. C.

2012-01-01

We investigate the dichotomy in the radio loudness distribution of quasars by modeling their radio emission and various selection effects using a Monte Carlo approach. The existence of two physically distinct quasar populations, the radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars, is controversial and over the last decade a bimodal distribution of radio loudness of quasars has been both affirmed and disputed. We model the quasar radio luminosity distribution with simple unimodal and bimodal distribution functions. The resulting simulated samples are compared to a fiducial sample of 8300 quasars drawn from the SDSS DR7 Quasar Catalog and combined with radio observations from the FIRST survey. Our results indicate that the SDSS-FIRST sample is best described by a radio loudness distribution which consists of two components, with (12 ± 1)% of sources in the radio-loud component. On the other hand, the evidence for a local minimum in the loudness distribution (bimodality) is not strong and we find that previous claims for its existence were probably affected by the incompleteness of the FIRST survey close to its faint limit. We also investigate the redshift and luminosity dependence of the radio loudness distribution and find tentative evidence that at high redshift radio-loud quasars were rarer, on average louder, and exhibited a smaller range in radio loudness. In agreement with other recent work, we conclude that the SDSS-FIRST sample strongly suggests that the radio loudness distribution of quasars is not a universal function, and that more complex models than presented here are needed to fully explain available observations.

THE TYPE II SUPERNOVA RATE IN z {approx} 0.1 GALAXY CLUSTERS FROM THE MULTI-EPOCH NEARBY CLUSTER SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Graham, M. L.; Sand, D. J. [Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Santa Barbara, CA 93117 (United States); Bildfell, C. J.; Pritchet, C. J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3055, STN CSC, Victoria BC V8W 3P6 (Canada); Zaritsky, D.; Just, D. W.; Herbert-Fort, S. [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Hoekstra, H. [Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Niels Bohrweg 2, NL-2333 CA Leiden (Netherlands); Sivanandam, S. [Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, 50 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 (Canada); Foley, R. J. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2012-07-01

We present seven spectroscopically confirmed Type II cluster supernovae (SNe II) discovered in the Multi-Epoch Nearby Cluster Survey, a supernova survey targeting 57 low-redshift 0.05 < z < 0.15 galaxy clusters with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. We find the rate of Type II supernovae within R{sub 200} of z {approx} 0.1 galaxy clusters to be 0.026{sup +0.085}{sub -0.018}(stat){sup +0.003}{sub -0.001}(sys) SNuM. Surprisingly, one SN II is in a red-sequence host galaxy that shows no clear evidence of recent star formation (SF). This is unambiguous evidence in support of ongoing, low-level SF in at least some cluster elliptical galaxies, and illustrates that galaxies that appear to be quiescent cannot be assumed to host only Type Ia SNe. Based on this single SN II we make the first measurement of the SN II rate in red-sequence galaxies, and find it to be 0.007{sup +0.014}{sub -0.007}(stat){sup +0.009}{sub -0.001}(sys) SNuM. We also make the first derivation of cluster specific star formation rates (sSFR) from cluster SN II rates. We find that for all galaxy types the sSFR is 5.1{sup +15.8}{sub -3.1}(stat) {+-} 0.9(sys) M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1} (10{sup 12} M{sub Sun }){sup -1}, and for red-sequence galaxies only it is 2.0{sup +4.2}{sub -0.9}(stat) {+-} 0.4(sys) M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1} (10{sup 12} M{sub Sun }){sup -1}. These values agree with SFRs measured from infrared and ultraviolet photometry, and H{alpha} emission from optical spectroscopy. Additionally, we use the SFR derived from our SNII rate to show that although a small fraction of cluster Type Ia SNe may originate in the young stellar population and experience a short delay time, these results do not preclude the use of cluster SN Ia rates to derive the late-time delay time distribution for SNe Ia.

The SOAR Gravitational Arc Survey – I. Survey overview and photometric catalogues

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Furlanetto, Cristina; Santiago, Basílio X.; Makler, Martín; Cypriano, Eduardo S.; Caminha, Gabriel B.; Pereira, Maria E. S.; Neto, Angelo Fausti; Estrada, Juan; Lin, Huan; Hao, Jiangang; McKay, Timothy A.; da Costa, Luiz N.; Maia, Marcio A. G.

2013-04-11

We present the first results of the SOAR (Southern Astrophysical Research) Gravitational Arc Survey (SOGRAS). The survey imaged 47 clusters in two redshift intervals centered at $z=0.27$ and $z=0.55$, targeting the richest clusters in each interval. Images were obtained in the $g'$, $r'$ and $i'$ bands using the SOAR Optical Imager (SOI), with a median seeing of 0.83, 0.76 and 0.71 arcsec, respectively, in these filters. Most of the survey clusters are located within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 region and all of them are in the SDSS footprint. Photometric calibration was therefore performed using SDSS stars located in our SOI fields. We reached for galaxies in all fields the detection limits of $g \\sim 23.5$, $r \\sim 23$ and $i \\sim 22.5$ for a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) = 3. As a by-product of the image processing, we generated a source catalogue with 19760 entries, the vast majority of which are galaxies, where we list their positions, magnitudes and shape parameters. We compared our galaxy shape measurements to those of local galaxies and concluded that they were not strongly affected by seeing. From the catalogue data, we are able to identify a red sequence of galaxies in most clusters in the lower $z$ range. We found 16 gravitational arc candidates around 8 clusters in our sample. They tend to be bluer than the central galaxies in the lensing cluster. A preliminary analysis indicates that $\\sim 10%$ of the clusters have arcs around them, with a possible indication of a larger efficiency associated to the high-$z$ systems when compared to the low-$z$ ones. Deeper follow-up images with Gemini strengthen the case for the strong lensing nature of the candidates found in this survey.

Pruning The ELM Survey: Characterizing Candidate Low-mass White Dwarfs through Photometric Variability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bell, Keaton J.; Winget, D. E.; Montgomery, M. H.; Castanheira, B. G.; Vanderbosch, Z.; Winget, K. I. [Department of Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 (United States); Gianninas, A.; Kilic, Mukremin [Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 (United States); Hermes, J. J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 (United States); Brown, Warren R., E-mail: keatonb@astro.as.utexas.edu [Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2017-02-01

We assess the photometric variability of nine stars with spectroscopic T {sub eff} and log g values from the ELM Survey that locates them near the empirical extremely low-mass (ELM) white dwarf instability strip. We discover three new pulsating stars: SDSS J135512.34+195645.4, SDSS J173521.69+213440.6, and SDSS J213907.42+222708.9. However, these are among the few ELM Survey objects that do not show radial velocity (RV) variations that confirm the binary nature expected of helium-core white dwarfs. The dominant 4.31 hr pulsation in SDSS J135512.34+195645.4 far exceeds the theoretical cut-off for surface reflection in a white dwarf, and this target is likely a high-amplitude δ Scuti pulsator with an overestimated surface gravity. We estimate the probability to be less than 0.0008 that the lack of measured RV variations in four of eight other pulsating candidate ELM white dwarfs could be due to low orbital inclination. Two other targets exhibit variability as photometric binaries. Partial coverage of the 19.342 hr orbit of WD J030818.19+514011.5 reveals deep eclipses that imply a primary radius >0.4 R {sub ⊙}—too large to be consistent with an ELM white dwarf. The only object for which our time series photometry adds support to ELM white dwarf classification is SDSS J105435.78−212155.9, which has consistent signatures of Doppler beaming and ellipsoidal variations. We conclude that the ELM Survey contains multiple false positives from another stellar population at T {sub eff}≲9000 K, possibly related to the sdA stars recently reported from SDSS spectra.

A solar-type star polluted by calcium-rich supernova ejecta inside the supernova remnant RCW 86

Science.gov (United States)

Gvaramadze, Vasilii V.; Langer, Norbert; Fossati, Luca; Bock, Douglas C.-J.; Castro, Norberto; Georgiev, Iskren Y.; Greiner, Jochen; Johnston, Simon; Rau, Arne; Tauris, Thomas M.

2017-06-01

When a massive star in a binary system explodes as a supernova, its companion star may be polluted with heavy elements from the supernova ejecta. Such pollution has been detected in a handful of post-supernova binaries 1 , but none of them is associated with a supernova remnant. We report the discovery of a binary G star strongly polluted with calcium and other elements at the position of the candidate neutron star [GV2003] N within the young galactic supernova remnant RCW 86. Our discovery suggests that the progenitor of the supernova that produced RCW 86 could have been a moving star, which exploded near the edge of its wind bubble and lost most of its initial mass because of common-envelope evolution shortly before core collapse, and that the supernova explosion might belong to the class of calcium-rich supernovae — faint and fast transients 2,3 , the origin of which is strongly debated 4-6 .

HOW TO FIND GRAVITATIONALLY LENSED TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goldstein, Daniel A.; Nugent, Peter E. [Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States)

2017-01-01

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) that are multiply imaged by gravitational lensing can extend the SN Ia Hubble diagram to very high redshifts ( z ≳ 2), probe potential SN Ia evolution, and deliver high-precision constraints on H {sub 0}, w , and Ω{sub m} via time delays. However, only one, iPTF16geu, has been found to date, and many more are needed to achieve these goals. To increase the multiply imaged SN Ia discovery rate, we present a simple algorithm for identifying gravitationally lensed SN Ia candidates in cadenced, wide-field optical imaging surveys. The technique is to look for supernovae that appear to be hosted by elliptical galaxies, but that have absolute magnitudes implied by the apparent hosts’ photometric redshifts that are far brighter than the absolute magnitudes of normal SNe Ia (the brightest type of supernovae found in elliptical galaxies). Importantly, this purely photometric method does not require the ability to resolve the lensed images for discovery. Active galactic nuclei, the primary sources of contamination that affect the method, can be controlled using catalog cross-matches and color cuts. Highly magnified core-collapse SNe will also be discovered as a byproduct of the method. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, we forecast that the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope can discover up to 500 multiply imaged SNe Ia using this technique in a 10 year z -band search, more than an order of magnitude improvement over previous estimates. We also predict that the Zwicky Transient Facility should find up to 10 multiply imaged SNe Ia using this technique in a 3 year R -band search—despite the fact that this survey will not resolve a single system.

Nucleosynthesis in Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Thielemann, Friedrich-Karl; Isern, Jordi; Perego, Albino; von Ballmoos, Peter

2018-04-01

We present the status and open problems of nucleosynthesis in supernova explosions of both types, responsible for the production of the intermediate mass, Fe-group and heavier elements (with the exception of the main s-process). Constraints from observations can be provided through individual supernovae (SNe) or their remnants (e.g. via spectra and gamma-rays of decaying unstable isotopes) and through surface abundances of stars which witness the composition of the interstellar gas at their formation. With a changing fraction of elements heavier than He in these stars (known as metallicity) the evolution of the nucleosynthesis in galaxies over time can be determined. A complementary way, related to gamma-rays from radioactive decays, is the observation of positrons released in β+-decays, as e.g. from ^{26}Al, ^{44}Ti, ^{56,57}Ni and possibly further isotopes of their decay chains (in competition with the production of e+e- pairs in acceleration shocks from SN remnants, pulsars, magnetars or even of particle physics origin). We discuss (a) the role of the core-collapse supernova explosion mechanism for the composition of intermediate mass, Fe-group (and heavier?) ejecta, (b) the transition from neutron stars to black holes as the final result of the collapse of massive stars, and the relation of the latter to supernovae, faint supernovae, and gamma-ray bursts/hypernovae, (c) Type Ia supernovae and their nucleosynthesis (e.g. addressing the ^{55}Mn puzzle), plus (d) further constraints from galactic evolution, γ-ray and positron observations. This is complemented by the role of rare magneto-rotational supernovae (related to magnetars) in comparison with the nucleosynthesis of compact binary mergers, especially with respect to forming the heaviest r-process elements in galactic evolution.

A relativistic type Ibc supernova without a detected gamma-ray burst.

Science.gov (United States)

Soderberg, A M; Chakraborti, S; Pignata, G; Chevalier, R A; Chandra, P; Ray, A; Wieringa, M H; Copete, A; Chaplin, V; Connaughton, V; Barthelmy, S D; Bietenholz, M F; Chugai, N; Stritzinger, M D; Hamuy, M; Fransson, C; Fox, O; Levesque, E M; Grindlay, J E; Challis, P; Foley, R J; Kirshner, R P; Milne, P A; Torres, M A P

2010-01-28

Long duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) mark the explosive death of some massive stars and are a rare sub-class of type Ibc supernovae. They are distinguished by the production of an energetic and collimated relativistic outflow powered by a central engine (an accreting black hole or neutron star). Observationally, this outflow is manifested in the pulse of gamma-rays and a long-lived radio afterglow. Until now, central-engine-driven supernovae have been discovered exclusively through their gamma-ray emission, yet it is expected that a larger population goes undetected because of limited satellite sensitivity or beaming of the collimated emission away from our line of sight. In this framework, the recovery of undetected GRBs may be possible through radio searches for type Ibc supernovae with relativistic outflows. Here we report the discovery of luminous radio emission from the seemingly ordinary type Ibc SN 2009bb, which requires a substantial relativistic outflow powered by a central engine. A comparison with our radio survey of type Ibc supernovae reveals that the fraction harbouring central engines is low, about one per cent, measured independently from, but consistent with, the inferred rate of nearby GRBs. Independently, a second mildly relativistic supernova has been reported.

A relativistic type Ibc supernova without a detected γ-ray burst

Science.gov (United States)

Soderberg, A. M.; Chakraborti, S.; Pignata, G.; Chevalier, R. A.; Chandra, P.; Ray, A.; Wieringa, M. H.; Copete, A.; Chaplin, V.; Connaughton, V.; Barthelmy, S. D.; Bietenholz, M. F.; Chugai, N.; Stritzinger, M. D.; Hamuy, M.; Fransson, C.; Fox, O.; Levesque, E. M.; Grindlay, J. E.; Challis, P.; Foley, R. J.; Kirshner, R. P.; Milne, P. A.; Torres, M. A. P.

2010-01-01

Long duration γ-ray bursts (GRBs) mark the explosive death of some massive stars and are a rare sub-class of type Ibc supernovae. They are distinguished by the production of an energetic and collimated relativistic outflow powered by a central engine (an accreting black hole or neutron star). Observationally, this outflow is manifested in the pulse of γ-rays and a long-lived radio afterglow. Until now, central-engine-driven supernovae have been discovered exclusively through their γ-ray emission, yet it is expected that a larger population goes undetected because of limited satellite sensitivity or beaming of the collimated emission away from our line of sight. In this framework, the recovery of undetected GRBs may be possible through radio searches for type Ibc supernovae with relativistic outflows. Here we report the discovery of luminous radio emission from the seemingly ordinary type Ibc SN 2009bb, which requires a substantial relativistic outflow powered by a central engine. A comparison with our radio survey of type Ibc supernovae reveals that the fraction harbouring central engines is low, about one per cent, measured independently from, but consistent with, the inferred rate of nearby GRBs. Independently, a second mildly relativistic supernova has been reported.

H I SHELLS AND SUPERSHELLS IN THE I-GALFA H I 21 cm LINE SURVEY. I. FAST-EXPANDING H I SHELLS ASSOCIATED WITH SUPERNOVA REMNANTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, G.; Koo, B.-C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Gibson, S. J.; Newton, J. H. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101 (United States); Kang, J.-H.; Lane, D. C.; Douglas, K. A. [Arecibo Observatory, HC 3 Box 53995, Arecibo, PR 00612 (United States); Peek, J. E. G. [Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Korpela, E. J. [Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Heiles, C., E-mail: koo@astro.snu.ac.kr [Radio Astronomy Lab, UC Berkeley, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

2013-11-01

We search for fast-expanding H I shells associated with Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) in the longitude range l ≈ 32° to 77° using 21 cm line data from the Inner-Galaxy Arecibo L-band Feed Array (I-GALFA) H I survey. Among the 39 known Galactic SNRs in this region, we find such H I shells in 4 SNRs: W44, G54.4-0.3, W51C, and CTB 80. All four were previously identified in low-resolution surveys, and three of those (excluding G54.4-0.3) were previously studied with the Arecibo telescope. A remarkable new result, however, is the detection of H I emission at both very high positive and negative velocities in W44 from the receding and approaching parts of the H I expanding shell, respectively. This is the first detection of both sides of an expanding shell associated with an SNR in H I 21 cm emission. The high-resolution I-GALFA survey data also reveal a prominent expanding H I shell with high circular symmetry associated with G54.4-0.3. We explore the physical characteristics of four SNRs and discuss what differentiates them from other SNRs in the survey area. We conclude that these four SNRs are likely the remnants of core-collapse supernovae interacting with a relatively dense (∼> 1 cm{sup –3}) ambient medium, and we discuss the visibility of SNRs in the H I 21 cm line.

Millijansky radio variability in SDSS stripe 82

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hodge, J. A.; Becker, R. H. [University of California, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616 (United States); White, R. L. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Richards, G. T., E-mail: hodge@mpia.de [Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States)

2013-06-01

We report on a blind survey for extragalactic radio variability that was carried out by comparing two epochs of data from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty centimeters survey with a third epoch from a new 1.4 GHz survey of SDSS Stripe 82. The three epochs are spaced seven years apart and have an overlapping area of 60 deg{sup 2}. We uncover 89 variable sources down to the millijansky level, 75 of which are newly identified, and we find no evidence for transient phenomena. This new sample of variable sources allows us to infer an upper limit to the mean characteristic timescale of active galactic nucleus radio variability of 14 yr. We find that only 1% of extragalactic sources have fractional variability f {sub var} > 3, while 44% of Galactic sources vary by this much. The variable sample contains a larger fraction of quasars than a comparable non-variable control sample, though the majority of the variable sources appear to be extended galaxies in the optical. This implies that either quasars are not the dominant contributor to the variability of the sample, or that the deep optical data allow us to detect the host galaxies of some low-z quasars. We use the new, higher resolution data to report on the morphology of the variable sources. Finally, we show that the fraction of sources that are variable remains constant or increases at low flux densities. This may imply that next generation radio surveys with telescopes like Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder and MeerKAT will see a constant or even increasing fraction of variable sources down into the sub-millijansky regime.

SDSS J090152.05+624342.6: A NEW “OVERLAPPING-TROUGH” FeLoBAL QUASAR AT Z ~ 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Jing; Xu, Dawei; Wei, Jianyan, E-mail: wj@bao.ac.cn [Key Laboratory of Space Astronomy and Technology, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)

2017-11-22

We here report an identification of SDSS J090152.04+624342.6 as a new “overlapping-trough” iron low-ionization broad absorption line quasar at redshift of z ~ 2.1. No strong variation of the broad absorption lines can be revealed through the two spectra taken by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with a time interval of ~6 yr. Further optical and infrared spectroscopic study on this object is suggested.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey COADD: 275 deg2 of deep Sloan Digital Sky Survey imaging on stripe 82

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Annis, James; Soares-Santos, Marcelle; Dodelson, Scott; Hao, Jiangang; Jester, Sebastian; Johnston, David E.; Kubo, Jeffrey M.; Lampeitl, Hubert; Lin, Huan; Miknaitis, Gajus; Yanny, Brian; Strauss, Michael A.; Gunn, James E.; Lupton, Robert H.; Becker, Andrew C.; Ivezić, Željko; Fan, Xiaohui; Jiang, Linhua; Seo, Hee-Jong; Simet, Melanie

2014-01-01

We present details of the construction and characterization of the coaddition of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 ugriz imaging data. This survey consists of 275 deg 2 of repeated scanning by the SDSS camera over –50° ≤ α ≤ 60° and –1.°25 ≤ δ ≤ +1.°25 centered on the Celestial Equator. Each piece of sky has ∼20 runs contributing and thus reaches ∼2 mag fainter than the SDSS single pass data, i.e., to r ∼ 23.5 for galaxies. We discuss the image processing of the coaddition, the modeling of the point-spread function (PSF), the calibration, and the production of standard SDSS catalogs. The data have an r-band median seeing of 1.''1 and are calibrated to ≤1%. Star color-color, number counts, and PSF size versus modeled size plots show that the modeling of the PSF is good enough for precision five-band photometry. Structure in the PSF model versus magnitude plot indicates minor PSF modeling errors, leading to misclassification of stars as galaxies, as verified using VVDS spectroscopy. There are a variety of uses for this wide-angle deep imaging data, including galactic structure, photometric redshift computation, cluster finding and cross wavelength measurements, weak lensing cluster mass calibrations, and cosmic shear measurements.

A Moderate Redshift Supernova Search Program

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, M. T.; Wheeler, J. C.; Ward, M.; Wren, W. R.; Schmidt, B. P.

1995-12-01

We report on a recently initiated supernova (SN) search program using the McDonald Observatory 0.76m telescope and Prime Focus Camera (PFC). This SN search program takes advantage of the PFC's 42.6 x 42.6 arcmin FOV to survey moderate redshift Abell clusters in single Kron-Cousins R-band images. Our scientific goal is to discover and provide quality BVRI photometric follow-up, to R \\ +21, for a significant SNe sample at 0.03 group (Perlmutter et al 1995, ApJ, 440, L41), and the High Redshift SN Search Team (Schmidt et al 1995, Aiguiblava NATO ASI Proceedings). The McDonald SN search program includes a sample of the Abell clusters used by Lauer and Postman (1994, ApJ, 425, 418) to analyze Local Group motion. SNe discovered in these clusters contribute to the resolution of the Local Group motion controversy. We present an overview of the McDonald Observatory supernova search program, and discuss recent results.

MAGNETAR-POWERED SUPERNOVAE IN TWO DIMENSIONS. I. SUPERLUMINOUS SUPERNOVAE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Ke-Jung [Division of Theoretical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Woosley, S. E.; Sukhbold, Tuguldur, E-mail: ken.chen@nao.ac.jp [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)

2016-11-20

Previous studies have shown that the radiation emitted by a rapidly rotating magnetar embedded in a young supernova can greatly amplify its luminosity. These one-dimensional studies have also revealed the existence of an instability arising from the piling up of radiatively accelerated matter in a thin dense shell deep inside the supernova. Here, we examine the problem in two dimensions and find that, while instabilities cause mixing and fracture this shell into filamentary structures that reduce the density contrast, the concentration of matter in a hollow shell persists. The extent of the mixing depends upon the relative energy input by the magnetar and the kinetic energy of the inner ejecta. The light curve and spectrum of the resulting supernova will be appreciably altered, as will the appearance of the supernova remnant, which will be shellular and filamentary. A similar pile up and mixing might characterize other events where energy is input over an extended period by a centrally concentrated source, e.g., a pulsar, radioactive decay, a neutrino-powered wind, or colliding shells. The relevance of our models to the recent luminous transient ASASSN-15lh is briefly discussed.

Photometric variability in a warm, strongly magnetic DQ white dwarf, SDSS J103655.39+652252.2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williams, Kurtis A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A and M University-Commerce, P.O. Box 3011, Commerce, TX 75429 (United States); Winget, D. E.; Montgomery, M. H.; Hermes, J. J.; Falcon, Ross E.; Winget, K. I. [Department of Astronomy, University of Texas, 1 University Station C1400, Austin, TX 78712 (United States); Dufour, Patrick [Département de Physique, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7 (Canada); Kepler, S. O. [Departamento de Astronomia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500 Porto Alegre 91501-970, RS (Brazil); Bolte, Michael [UCO/Lick Observatory, University of California, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Rubin, Kate H. R. [Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Liebert, James, E-mail: Kurtis.Williams@tamuc.edu, E-mail: jamesliebert@gmail.com [Emeritus, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

2013-06-01

We present the discovery of photometric variability in the DQ white dwarf SDSS J103655.39+652252.2 (SDSS J1036+6522). Time-series photometry reveals a coherent monoperiodic modulation at a period of 1115.64751(67) s with an amplitude 0.442% ± 0.024%; no other periodic modulations are observed with amplitudes ≳ 0.13%. The period, amplitude, and phase of this modulation are constant within errors over 16 months. The spectrum of SDSS J1036+6522 shows magnetic splitting of carbon lines, and we use Paschen-Back formalism to develop a grid of model atmospheres for mixed carbon and helium atmospheres. Our models, while reliant on several simplistic assumptions, nevertheless match the major spectral and photometric properties of the star with a self-consistent set of parameters: T {sub eff} ≈ 15, 500 K, log g ≈ 9, log (C/He) = –1.0, and a mean magnetic field strength of 3.0 ± 0.2 MG. The temperature and abundances strongly suggest that SDSS J1036+6522 is a transition object between the hot, carbon-dominated DQs and the cool, helium-dominated DQs. The variability of SDSS J1036+6522 has characteristics similar to those of the variable hot carbon-atmosphere white dwarfs (DQVs), however, its temperature is significantly cooler. The pulse profile of SDSS J1036+6522 is nearly sinusoidal, in contrast with the significantly asymmetric pulse shapes of the known magnetic DQVs. If the variability in SDSS J1036+6522 is due to the same mechanism as other DQVs, then the pulse shape is not a definitive diagnostic on the absence of a strong magnetic field in DQVs. It remains unclear whether the root cause of the variability in SDSS J1036+6522 and the other hot DQVs is the same.

Photometric variability in a warm, strongly magnetic DQ white dwarf, SDSS J103655.39+652252.2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, Kurtis A.; Winget, D. E.; Montgomery, M. H.; Hermes, J. J.; Falcon, Ross E.; Winget, K. I.; Dufour, Patrick; Kepler, S. O.; Bolte, Michael; Rubin, Kate H. R.; Liebert, James

2013-01-01

We present the discovery of photometric variability in the DQ white dwarf SDSS J103655.39+652252.2 (SDSS J1036+6522). Time-series photometry reveals a coherent monoperiodic modulation at a period of 1115.64751(67) s with an amplitude 0.442% ± 0.024%; no other periodic modulations are observed with amplitudes ≳ 0.13%. The period, amplitude, and phase of this modulation are constant within errors over 16 months. The spectrum of SDSS J1036+6522 shows magnetic splitting of carbon lines, and we use Paschen-Back formalism to develop a grid of model atmospheres for mixed carbon and helium atmospheres. Our models, while reliant on several simplistic assumptions, nevertheless match the major spectral and photometric properties of the star with a self-consistent set of parameters: T eff ≈ 15, 500 K, log g ≈ 9, log (C/He) = –1.0, and a mean magnetic field strength of 3.0 ± 0.2 MG. The temperature and abundances strongly suggest that SDSS J1036+6522 is a transition object between the hot, carbon-dominated DQs and the cool, helium-dominated DQs. The variability of SDSS J1036+6522 has characteristics similar to those of the variable hot carbon-atmosphere white dwarfs (DQVs), however, its temperature is significantly cooler. The pulse profile of SDSS J1036+6522 is nearly sinusoidal, in contrast with the significantly asymmetric pulse shapes of the known magnetic DQVs. If the variability in SDSS J1036+6522 is due to the same mechanism as other DQVs, then the pulse shape is not a definitive diagnostic on the absence of a strong magnetic field in DQVs. It remains unclear whether the root cause of the variability in SDSS J1036+6522 and the other hot DQVs is the same.

CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES FROM THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY. VIII. THE FINAL YEAR (2007–2008)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szkody, Paula; Anderson, Scott F.; Brooks, Keira; Kronberg, Martin; Riecken, Thomas; Gänsicke, Boris T.; Ross, Nicholas P.; Schmidt, Gary D.; Schneider, Donald P.; Agüeros, Marcel A.; Gomez-Moran, Ada N.; Schwope, Axel D.; Knapp, Gillian R.; Schreiber, Matthias R.

2011-01-01

This paper completes the series of cataclysmic variables (CVs) identified from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) I/II. The coordinates, magnitudes, and spectra of 33 CVs are presented. Among the 33 are eight systems known prior to SDSS (CT Ser, DO Leo, HK Leo, IR Com, V849 Her, V405 Peg, PG1230+226, and HS0943+1404), as well as nine objects recently found through various photometric surveys. Among the systems identified since the SDSS are two polar candidates, two intermediate polar candidates, and one candidate for containing a pulsating white dwarf. Our follow-up data have confirmed a polar candidate from Paper VII and determined tentative periods for three of the newly identified CVs. A complete summary table of the 285 CVs with spectra from SDSS I/II is presented as well as a link to an online table of all known CVs from both photometry and spectroscopy that will continue to be updated as future data appear.

Supernova Explosions Stay In Shape

Science.gov (United States)

2009-12-01

At a very early age, children learn how to classify objects according to their shape. Now, new research suggests studying the shape of the aftermath of supernovas may allow astronomers to do the same. A new study of images from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory on supernova remnants - the debris from exploded stars - shows that the symmetry of the remnants, or lack thereof, reveals how the star exploded. This is an important discovery because it shows that the remnants retain information about how the star exploded even though hundreds or thousands of years have passed. "It's almost like the supernova remnants have a 'memory' of the original explosion," said Laura Lopez of the University of California at Santa Cruz, who led the study. "This is the first time anyone has systematically compared the shape of these remnants in X-rays in this way." Astronomers sort supernovas into several categories, or "types", based on properties observed days after the explosion and which reflect very different physical mechanisms that cause stars to explode. But, since observed remnants of supernovas are leftover from explosions that occurred long ago, other methods are needed to accurately classify the original supernovas. Lopez and colleagues focused on the relatively young supernova remnants that exhibited strong X-ray emission from silicon ejected by the explosion so as to rule out the effects of interstellar matter surrounding the explosion. Their analysis showed that the X-ray images of the ejecta can be used to identify the way the star exploded. The team studied 17 supernova remnants both in the Milky Way galaxy and a neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. For each of these remnants there is independent information about the type of supernova involved, based not on the shape of the remnant but, for example, on the elements observed in it. The researchers found that one type of supernova explosion - the so-called Type Ia - left behind relatively symmetric, circular

DOES A DIFFERENTIATED, CARBONATE-RICH, ROCKY OBJECT POLLUTE THE WHITE DWARF SDSS J104341.53+085558.2?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melis, Carl [Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093-0424 (United States); Dufour, P., E-mail: cmelis@ucsd.edu [Institut de Recherche sur les Exoplanètes (iREx), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7 (Canada)

2017-01-01

We present spectroscopic observations of the dust- and gas-enshrouded, polluted, single white dwarf star SDSS J104341.53+085558.2 (hereafter SDSS J1043+0855). Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph far-ultraviolet spectra combined with deep Keck HIRES optical spectroscopy reveal the elements C, O, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Ca, Fe, and Ni and enable useful limits for Sc, Ti, V, Cr, and Mn in the photosphere of SDSS J1043+0855. From this suite of elements we determine that the parent body being accreted by SDSS J1043+0855 is similar to the silicate Moon or the outer layers of Earth in that it is rocky and iron-poor. Combining this with comparison to other heavily polluted white dwarf stars, we are able to identify the material being accreted by SDSS J1043+0855 as likely to have come from the outermost layers of a differentiated object. Furthermore, we present evidence that some polluted white dwarfs (including SDSS J1043+0855) allow us to examine the structure of differentiated extrasolar rocky bodies. Enhanced levels of carbon in the body polluting SDSS J1043+0855 relative to the Earth–Moon system can be explained with a model where a significant amount of the accreted rocky minerals took the form of carbonates; specifically, through this model the accreted material could be up to 9% calcium-carbonate by mass.

Berkeley automated supernova search

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kare, J.T.; Pennypacker, C.R.; Muller, R.A.; Mast, T.S.; Crawford, F.S.; Burns, M.S.

1981-01-01

The Berkeley automated supernova search employs a computer controlled 36-inch telescope and charge coupled device (CCD) detector to image 2500 galaxies per night. A dedicated minicomputer compares each galaxy image with stored reference data to identify supernovae in real time. The threshold for detection is m/sub v/ = 18.8. We plan to monitor roughly 500 galaxies in Virgo and closer every night, and an additional 6000 galaxies out to 70 Mpc on a three night cycle. This should yield very early detection of several supernovae per year for detailed study, and reliable premaximum detection of roughly 100 supernovae per year for statistical studies. The search should be operational in mid-1982.

Berkeley automated supernova search

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kare, J.T.; Pennypacker, C.R.; Muller, R.A.; Mast, T.S.

1981-01-01

The Berkeley automated supernova search employs a computer controlled 36-inch telescope and charge coupled device (CCD) detector to image 2500 galaxies per night. A dedicated minicomputer compares each galaxy image with stored reference data to identify supernovae in real time. The threshold for detection is m/sub v/ = 18.8. We plan to monitor roughly 500 galaxies in Virgo and closer every night, and an additional 6000 galaxies out to 70 Mpc on a three night cycle. This should yield very early detection of several supernovae per year for detailed study, and reliable premaximum detection of roughly 100 supernovae per year for statistical studies. The search should be operational in mid-1982

CHARACTERIZATION OF SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY STELLAR PHOTOMETRY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukugita, Masataka; Yasuda, Naoki; Doi, Mamoru; Gunn, James E.; York, Donald G.

2011-01-01

We study the photometric properties of stars in the data archive of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the prime aim being to understand the photometric calibration over the entire data set. It is confirmed that the photometric calibration of point sources is accurately on the system defined by the SDSS standard stars. We have also confirmed that the photometric synthesis of the SDSS spectrophotometric data gives broadband fluxes that agree with the photometry with errors of no more than 0.04 mag and little systematic tilt with wavelength. This verifies that the response functions of the 2.5 m telescope system are well characterized. We locate stars in the SDSS photometric system, so that stars can roughly be classified into spectral classes from the color information. We show how metallicity and surface gravity affect colors, and that stars contained in the SDSS general catalog, plotted in color space, show a distribution that matches well with what is anticipated from the variations of metallicity and surface gravity. The color-color plots are perfectly consistent among the three samples-stars in the SDSS general catalog, SDSS standard stars, and spectrophotometric stars of Gunn and Stryker-especially when some considerations are taken into account of the differences (primarily metallicity) of the samples. We show that the g - r-inverse temperature relation is tight and can be used as a good estimator of the effective temperature of stars over a fairly wide range of effective temperatures. We also confirm that the colors of G2V stars in the SDSS photometric system match well with the Sun.

CALIBRATIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC PARAMETERS OBTAINED FROM THE FIRST YEAR OF SDSS-III APOGEE OBSERVATIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mészáros, Sz.; Allende Prieto, C. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Holtzman, J. [New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003 (United States); García Pérez, A. E.; Chojnowski, S. D.; Hearty, F. R.; Majewski, S. R. [Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325 (United States); Schiavon, R. P. [Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Egerton Wharf, Birkenhead, Wirral CH41 1LD (United Kingdom); Basu, S. [Department of Astronomy, Yale University, P.O. Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520-8101 (United States); Bizyaev, D. [Apache Point Observatory, P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349-0059 (United States); Chaplin, W. J.; Elsworth, Y. [University of Birmingham, School of Physics and Astronomy, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT (United Kingdom); Cunha, K. [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Epstein, C.; Johnson, J. A. [Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Frinchaboy, P. M. [Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX 76129 (United States); García, R. A. [Laboratoire AIM, CEA/DSM-CNRS-Université Paris Diderot, IRFU/SAp, Centre de Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Hekker, S. [Astronomical Institute ' ' Anton Pannekoek' ' , University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam (Netherlands); Kallinger, T. [Institute for Astronomy, University of Vienna, Türkenschanzstrasse 17, A-1180 Vienna (Austria); Koesterke, L. [Texas Advanced Computing Center, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78759 (United States); and others

2013-11-01

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) is a three-year survey that is collecting 10{sup 5} high-resolution spectra in the near-IR across multiple Galactic populations. To derive stellar parameters and chemical compositions from this massive data set, the APOGEE Stellar Parameters and Chemical Abundances Pipeline (ASPCAP) has been developed. Here, we describe empirical calibrations of stellar parameters presented in the first SDSS-III APOGEE data release (DR10). These calibrations were enabled by observations of 559 stars in 20 globular and open clusters. The cluster observations were supplemented by observations of stars in NASA's Kepler field that have well determined surface gravities from asteroseismic analysis. We discuss the accuracy and precision of the derived stellar parameters, considering especially effective temperature, surface gravity, and metallicity; we also briefly discuss the derived results for the abundances of the α-elements, carbon, and nitrogen. Overall, we find that ASPCAP achieves reasonably accurate results for temperature and metallicity, but suffers from systematic errors in surface gravity. We derive calibration relations that bring the raw ASPCAP results into better agreement with independently determined stellar parameters. The internal scatter of ASPCAP parameters within clusters suggests that metallicities are measured with a precision better than 0.1 dex, effective temperatures better than 150 K, and surface gravities better than 0.2 dex. The understanding provided by the clusters and Kepler giants on the current accuracy and precision will be invaluable for future improvements of the pipeline.

RED RUNAWAYS II: LOW-MASS HILLS STARS IN SDSS STRIPE 82

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Yanqiong; Smith, Martin C. [Key Laboratory of Galaxies and Cosmology, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030 (China); Carlin, Jeffrey L., E-mail: zhangyq@shao.ac.cn, E-mail: msmith@shao.ac.cn [Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy (United States)

2016-11-20

Stars ejected from the Galactic Center can be used to place important constraints on the Milky Way potential. Since existing hypervelocity stars are too distant to accurately determine orbits, we have conducted a search for nearby candidates using full three-dimensional velocities. Since the efficacy of such studies is often hampered by deficiencies in proper motion catalogs, we have chosen to utilize the reliable, high-precision Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 proper motion catalog. Although we do not find any candidates which have velocities in excess of the escape speed, we identify 226 stars on orbits that are consistent with Galactic Center ejection. This number is significantly larger than what we would expect for halo stars on radial orbits and cannot be explained by disk or bulge contamination. If we restrict ourselves to metal-rich stars, we find 29 candidates with [Fe/H] > −0.8 dex and 10 with [Fe/H] > −0.6 dex. Their metallicities are more consistent with what we expect for bulge ejecta, and so we believe these candidates are especially deserving of further study. We have supplemented this sample using our own radial velocities, developing an algorithm to use proper motions for optimizing candidate selection. This technique provides considerable improvement on the blind spectroscopic sample of SDSS, being able to identify candidates with an efficiency around 20 times better than a blind search.

RED RUNAWAYS II: LOW-MASS HILLS STARS IN SDSS STRIPE 82

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Yanqiong; Smith, Martin C.; Carlin, Jeffrey L.

2016-01-01

Stars ejected from the Galactic Center can be used to place important constraints on the Milky Way potential. Since existing hypervelocity stars are too distant to accurately determine orbits, we have conducted a search for nearby candidates using full three-dimensional velocities. Since the efficacy of such studies is often hampered by deficiencies in proper motion catalogs, we have chosen to utilize the reliable, high-precision Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 proper motion catalog. Although we do not find any candidates which have velocities in excess of the escape speed, we identify 226 stars on orbits that are consistent with Galactic Center ejection. This number is significantly larger than what we would expect for halo stars on radial orbits and cannot be explained by disk or bulge contamination. If we restrict ourselves to metal-rich stars, we find 29 candidates with [Fe/H] > −0.8 dex and 10 with [Fe/H] > −0.6 dex. Their metallicities are more consistent with what we expect for bulge ejecta, and so we believe these candidates are especially deserving of further study. We have supplemented this sample using our own radial velocities, developing an algorithm to use proper motions for optimizing candidate selection. This technique provides considerable improvement on the blind spectroscopic sample of SDSS, being able to identify candidates with an efficiency around 20 times better than a blind search.

Discovery of Six ASAS-SN Supernova Candidates

Science.gov (United States)

Brimacombe, J.; Stone, G.; Vallely, P.; Stanek, K. Z.; Brown, J. S.; Kochanek, C. S.; Shields, J.; Thompson, T. A.; Shappee, B. J.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Prieto, J. L.; Bersier, D.; Dong, Subo; Bose, S.; Chen, Ping; Conseil, E.

2018-01-01

During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, the quadruple 14-cm "Leavitt" telescope in Fort Davis, Texas, the quadruple 14-cm "Payne-Gaposchkin" telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, and the quadruple 14-cm "Cassius" and "Paczynski" telescopes in Cerro Tololo, Chile, we discovered several new transient sources.

Sloan Digital Sky Survey Photometric Calibration Revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marriner, John

2012-01-01

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey calibration is revisited to obtain the most accurate photometric calibration. A small but significant error is found in the flat-fielding of the Photometric telescope used for calibration. Two SDSS star catalogs are compared and the average difference in magnitude as a function of right ascension and declination exhibits small systematic errors in relative calibration. The photometric transformation from the SDSS Photometric Telescope to the 2.5 m telescope is recomputed and compared to synthetic magnitudes computed from measured filter bandpasses.

Sloan Digital Sky Survey Photometric Calibration Revisited

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marriner, John; /Fermilab

2012-06-29

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey calibration is revisited to obtain the most accurate photometric calibration. A small but significant error is found in the flat-fielding of the Photometric telescope used for calibration. Two SDSS star catalogs are compared and the average difference in magnitude as a function of right ascension and declination exhibits small systematic errors in relative calibration. The photometric transformation from the SDSS Photometric Telescope to the 2.5 m telescope is recomputed and compared to synthetic magnitudes computed from measured filter bandpasses.

Mining the SDSS SkyServer SQL queries log

Science.gov (United States)

Hirota, Vitor M.; Santos, Rafael; Raddick, Jordan; Thakar, Ani

2016-05-01

SkyServer, the Internet portal for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) astronomic catalog, provides a set of tools that allows data access for astronomers and scientific education. One of SkyServer data access interfaces allows users to enter ad-hoc SQL statements to query the catalog. SkyServer also presents some template queries that can be used as basis for more complex queries. This interface has logged over 330 million queries submitted since 2001. It is expected that analysis of this data can be used to investigate usage patterns, identify potential new classes of queries, find similar queries, etc. and to shed some light on how users interact with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data and how scientists have adopted the new paradigm of e-Science, which could in turn lead to enhancements on the user interfaces and experience in general. In this paper we review some approaches to SQL query mining, apply the traditional techniques used in the literature and present lessons learned, namely, that the general text mining approach for feature extraction and clustering does not seem to be adequate for this type of data, and, most importantly, we find that this type of analysis can result in very different queries being clustered together.

Nurseries of Supernovae

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frederiksen, Teddy

Type Ia supernovae (SNe) have long been the gold standard for precision cosmology and after several decades of intense research the supernova (SN) community was in 2011 honored by giving the Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of Dark Energy to the leaders of the two big SN collaborations: S...

Prompt effects of supernovae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colgate, S.A.

1975-01-01

Conflicting theories on the mechanisms of supernova production are examined. Supernova as sources of other phenomena such as comic rays, gamma rays, x-rays, and electromagnetic pulses are considered. 32 references

Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Performance and Lessons Learned from the First Two Years of Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Boroski, William N.; Gunn, James E.; Kron, Richard G.; Peoples, John, Jr.

2002-12-01

Over a 5-year observing period, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) will acquire data to construct a digital 5-color photometric map of the Northern Galactic sky to about 23rd magnitude, and a correspondingly large and homogeneous spectroscopic survey. The SDSS is in a unique class of projects, in that all aspects of the SDSS infrastructure, from the telescopes and instruments, to software and operations staffing, were designed and assembled specifically to conduct this Survey. To ensure success, observing operations are run in production mode and performance metrics are used to measure progress over time. The methodology of preparing the performance baseline plan, and an assessment of Survey progress after two full years of operation, are reviewed and some lessons learned discussed. In particular, the SDSS has benefited greatly by asking peers in the field to participate in external reviews that periodically assess performance and offer independent, fresh views of potential areas of concerns. Additionally, difficulties caused by the absence of an experienced systems-engineering staff during the final phase of construction and commissioning are reviewed. The challenges of building a production machine out of complex and state-of-the-art sub-systems cannot be overstated. In the case of the SDSS, insufficient systems engineering led to problems meeting initial image quality requirements, primarily because of problems with the thermal performance of the telescope and its environment. A concerted campaign to deal with these issues was successful, but that success came rather later than we would have liked. The improvements made to address the situation, and the resulting increase in operational performance, are discussed.

Core-Collapse Supernova Progenitors In The Era Of Untargeted Transient Searches

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, Nathan Edward

2014-04-01

Core-collapse supernovae (SNe) are the highly energetic explosions of massive stars (≳ 8 M⊙) that are pervasive in their influence throughout astrophysics. They are the phenomenon with primary responsibility for enriching the universe with many of the heavy elements (like carbon and oxygen) that are needed for life, provide a critical feedback pressure which helps to shape the galaxies that host them, and are the likely formation mechanism for stellar mass black holes. In the past decade, the study of these explosions has been revolutionized by the advent of wide field, untargeted transient searches like Pan-STARRS1 (PS1). These new searches permit the discovery of SNe at unprecedented rates, and absent of many of the selection effects that have enforced biases on past, targeted transient searches. This thesis presents a broad survey of core-collapse SN phenomenology exhibited in the discoveries of untargeted searches, and statistically quantifies population properties of these explosions that link them to distinct classes of progenitor stars. Through studies of the host galaxy and explosion properties of extreme PS1-discovered events, and controlled samples of specific classes of core-collapse objects, we constrain the effect of progenitor star chemical composition (metallicity) on their eventual death states. We provide a new observational, photometric tool which lowers the cost of precisely and accurately measuring the metallicities of distant galaxies and supernova host environments. Moreover, we develop and apply a novel, multi-level Bayesian model for optical transient light curves which we apply to simultaneously interpret more than 20,000 PS1 images. This study illustrates how population-level modeling of data from large photometric surveys can yield improved physical inference on their progenitor stars through comparison to physical models. In the coming era, as next-generation facilities like the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope come online, the

Measurements of Ω and Λ from 42 High-Redshift Supernovae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perlmutter, S.; Aldering, G.; Goldhaber, G.; Knop, R.A.; Nugent, P.; Castro, P.G.; Deustua, S.; Fabbro, S.; Goobar, A.; Groom, D.E.; Hook, I.M.; Kim, A.G.; Kim, M.Y.; Lee, J.C.; Nunes, N.J.; Pain, R.; Pennypacker, C.R.; Quimby, R.; Lidman, C.; Ellis, R.S.; Irwin, M.; McMahon, R.G.; Ruiz-Lapuente, P.; Walton, N.; Schaefer, B.; Boyle, B.J.; Filippenko, A.V.; Matheson, T.; Fruchter, A.S.; Panagia, N.; Newberg, H.J.; Couch, W.J.

1999-01-01

We report measurements of the mass density, Ω M , and cosmological-constant energy density, Ω Λ , of the universe based on the analysis of 42 type Ia supernovae discovered by the Supernova Cosmology Project. The magnitude-redshift data for these supernovae, at redshifts between 0.18 and 0.83, are fitted jointly with a set of supernovae from the Calacute an/Tololo Supernova Survey, at redshifts below 0.1, to yield values for the cosmological parameters. All supernova peak magnitudes are standardized using a SN Ia light-curve width-luminosity relation. The measurement yields a joint probability distribution of the cosmological parameters that is approximated by the relation 0.8Ω M -0.6Ω Λ ∼-0.2±0.1 in the region of interest (Ω M approx-lt 1.5). For a flat (Ω M +Ω Λ =1) cosmology we find Ω flat M =0.28 +0.09 -0.08 (1 σ statistical) +0.05 -0.04 (identified systematics). The data are strongly inconsistent with a Λ=0 flat cosmology, the simplest inflationary universe model. An open, Λ=0 cosmology also does not fit the data well: the data indicate that the cosmological constant is nonzero and positive, with a confidence of P(Λ>0)=99%, including the identified systematic uncertainties. The best-fit age of the universe relative to the Hubble time is t flat 0 =14.9 +1.4 -1.1 (0.63/h) Gyr for a flat cosmology. The size of our sample allows us to perform a variety of statistical tests to check for possible systematic errors and biases. We find no significant differences in either the host reddening distribution or Malmquist bias between the low-redshift Calacute an/Tololo sample and our high-redshift sample. Excluding those few supernovae that are outliers in color excess or fit residual does not significantly change the results. The conclusions are also robust whether or not a width-luminosity relation is used to standardize the supernova peak magnitudes. We discuss and constrain, where possible, hypothetical alternatives to a cosmological constant

SNLS3: CONSTRAINTS ON DARK ENERGY COMBINING THE SUPERNOVA LEGACY SURVEY THREE-YEAR DATA WITH OTHER PROBES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sullivan, M.; Hook, I. M.; Guy, J.; Regnault, N.; Astier, P.; Balland, C.; Hardin, D.; Pain, R.; Conley, A.; Carlberg, R. G.; Perrett, K. M.; Basa, S.; Fouchez, D.; Howell, D. A.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Rich, J.; Ruhlmann-Kleider, V.; Pritchet, C. J.; Balam, D.; Baumont, S.

2011-01-01

We present observational constraints on the nature of dark energy using the Supernova Legacy Survey three-year sample (SNLS3) of Guy et al. and Conley et al. We use the 472 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in this sample, accounting for recently discovered correlations between SN Ia luminosity and host galaxy properties, and include the effects of all identified systematic uncertainties directly in the cosmological fits. Combining the SNLS3 data with the full WMAP7 power spectrum, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey luminous red galaxy power spectrum, and a prior on the Hubble constant H 0 from SHOES, in a flat universe we find Ω m = 0.269 ± 0.015 and w = -1.061 +0.069 - 0 .068 (where the uncertainties include all statistical and SN Ia systematic errors)-a 6.5% measure of the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w. The statistical and systematic uncertainties are approximately equal, with the systematic uncertainties dominated by the photometric calibration of the SN Ia fluxes-without these calibration effects, systematics contribute only a ∼2% error in w. When relaxing the assumption of flatness, we find Ω m = 0.271 ± 0.015, Ω k = -0.002 ± 0.006, and w = -1.069 +0.091 -0.092 . Parameterizing the time evolution of w as w(a) = w 0 + w a (1 - a) gives w 0 = -0.905 ± 0.196, w a = -0.984 +1.094 -1.097 in a flat universe. All of our results are consistent with a flat, w = -1 universe. The size of the SNLS3 sample allows various tests to be performed with the SNe segregated according to their light curve and host galaxy properties. We find that the cosmological constraints derived from these different subsamples are consistent. There is evidence that the coefficient, β, relating SN Ia luminosity and color, varies with host parameters at >4σ significance (in addition to the known SN luminosity-host relation); however, this has only a small effect on the cosmological results and is currently a subdominant systematic.

[FeII] as a tracer supernova rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenberg, M J F; Van der Werf, P P; Israel, F P

2012-01-01

Supernovae play an integral role in the feedback of processed material into the ISM of galaxies and are responsible for most of the chemical enrichment of the universe. The rate of supernovae can also reveal the star formation histories. Supernova rate is usually measured through the non-thermal radio continuum luminosity, but in this paper we establish a quantitative relationship between the [FeII] 1.26 luminosity and supernova rate in a sample of 11 near-by starburst galaxies. SINFONI data cubes are used to perform a pixel pixel analysis of this correlation. Using Bry equivalent width and luminosity as the only observational inputs into Starburst 99, the supernova rate is derived at each pixel and a map of supernova rate is created. This is then compared morphologically and quantitatively to [FeII] 1.26 luminosity map. We find a strong linear and morphological correlation between supernova rate and [FeII] 1.26 on a pixel-pixel basis. The Starburst 99 derived supernova rates are also in good agreement with the radio derived supernova rates, which further demonstrates the strength of [FeII] as a tracer of supernova rate. With the strong correlation found in this sample of galaxies, we now qualitatively use [FeII] 1.26 to derive supernova rate on either a pixel-pixel or integrated galactic basis.

THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY QUASAR LENS SEARCH. IV. STATISTICAL LENS SAMPLE FROM THE FIFTH DATA RELEASE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inada, Naohisa; Oguri, Masamune; Shin, Min-Su; Kayo, Issha; Fukugita, Masataka; Strauss, Michael A.; Gott, J. Richard; Hennawi, Joseph F.; Morokuma, Tomoki; Becker, Robert H.; Gregg, Michael D.; White, Richard L.; Kochanek, Christopher S.; Chiu, Kuenley; Johnston, David E.; Clocchiatti, Alejandro; Richards, Gordon T.; Schneider, Donald P.; Frieman, Joshua A.

2010-01-01

We present the second report of our systematic search for strongly lensed quasars from the data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). From extensive follow-up observations of 136 candidate objects, we find 36 lenses in the full sample of 77,429 spectroscopically confirmed quasars in the SDSS Data Release 5. We then define a complete sample of 19 lenses, including 11 from our previous search in the SDSS Data Release 3, from the sample of 36,287 quasars with i Λ = 0.84 +0.06 -0.08 (stat.) +0.09 -0.07 (syst.) assuming a flat universe, which is in good agreement with other cosmological observations. We also report the discoveries of seven binary quasars with separations ranging from 1.''1 to 16.''6, which are identified in the course of our lens survey. This study concludes the construction of our statistical lens sample in the full SDSS-I data set.

Two-dimensional Topology of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Hoyle, Fiona; Vogeley, Michael S.; Gott, J. Richard, III; Blanton, Michael; Tegmark, Max; Weinberg, David H.; Bahcall, N.; Brinkmann, J.; York, D.

2002-12-01

We present the topology of a volume-limited sample of 11,884 galaxies, selected from an apparent magnitude limited sample of over 100,000 galaxies observed as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The data currently cover three main regions on the sky: one in the Galactic north and one in the south, both at zero degrees declination, and one area in the north at higher declination. Each of these areas covers a wide range of survey longitude but a narrow range of survey latitude, allowing the two-dimensional genus to be measured. The genus curves of the SDSS subsamples are similar, after appropriately normalizing these measurements for the different areas. We sum the genus curves from the three areas to obtain the total genus curve of the SDSS. The total curve has a shape similar to the genus curve derived from mock catalogs drawn from the Hubble volume ΛCDM simulation and is similar to that of a Gaussian random field. Likewise, comparison with the genus of the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey, after normalization for the difference in area, reveals remarkable similarity in the topology of these samples. We test for the effects of galaxy-type segregation by splitting the SDSS data into thirds, based on the u*-r* colors of the galaxies, and measure the genus of the reddest and bluest subsamples. This red/blue split in u*-r* is essentially a split by morphology, as explained by Strateva and coworkers. We find that the genus curve for the reddest galaxies exhibits a ``meatball'' shift of the topology-reflecting the concentration of red galaxies in high-density regions-compared to the bluest galaxies and the full sample, in agreement with predictions from simulations.

Creation of a Unified Set of Core-Collapse Supernovae for Training of Photometric Classifiers

Science.gov (United States)

D'Arcy Kenworthy, William; Scolnic, Daniel; Kessler, Richard

2017-01-01

One of the key tasks for future supernova cosmology analyses is to photometrically distinguish type Ia supernovae (SNe) from their core collapse (CC) counterparts. In order to train programs for this purpose, it is necessary to train on a large number of core-collapse SNe. However, there are only a handful used for current programs. We plan to use the large amount of CC lightcurves available on the Open Supernova Catalog (OSC). Since this data is scraped from many different surveys, it is given in a number of photometric systems with different calibration and filters. We therefore created a program to fit smooth lightcurves (as a function of time) to photometric observations of arbitrary SNe. The Supercal method is then used to translate the smoothed lightcurves to a single photometric system. We can thus compile a training set of 782 supernovae, of which 127 are not type Ia. These smoothed lightcurves are also being contributed upstream to the OSC as derived data.

Scattered-Light Echoes from the Historical Galactic Supernovae Cassiopeia A and Tycho (SN 1572)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rest, A; Welch, D L; Suntzeff, N B; Oaster, L; Lanning, H; Olsen, K; Smith, R C; Becker, A C; Bergmann, M; Challis, P; Clocchiatti, A; Cook, K H; Damke, G; Garg, A; Huber, M E; Matheson, T; Minniti, D; Prieto, J L; Wood-Vasey, W M

2008-05-06

We report the discovery of an extensive system of scattered light echo arclets associated with the recent supernovae in the local neighborhood of the Milky Way: Tycho (SN 1572) and Cassiopeia A. Existing work suggests that the Tycho SN was a thermonuclear explosion while the Cas A supernova was a core collapse explosion. Precise classifications according to modern nomenclature require spectra of the outburst light. In the case of ancient SNe, this can only be done with spectroscopy of their light echo, where the discovery of the light echoes from the outburst light is the first step. Adjacent light echo positions suggest that Cas A and Tycho may share common scattering dust structures. If so, it is possible to measure precise distances between historical Galactic supernovae. On-going surveys that alert on the development of bright scattered-light echo features have the potential to reveal detailed spectroscopic information for many recent Galactic supernovae, both directly visible and obscured by dust in the Galactic plane.

Scattered-Light Echoes from the Historical Galactic Supernovae Cassiopeia A and Tycho (SN 1572)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rest, A.; Welch, D.L.; Suntzeff, N.B.; Oaster, L.; Lanning, H.; Olsen, K.; Smith, R.C.; Becker, A.C.; Bergmann, M.; Challis, P.; Clocchiatti, A.; Cook, K.H.; Damke, G.; Garg, A.; Huber, M.E.; Matheson, T.; Minniti, D.; Prieto, J.L.; Wood-Vasey, W.M.

2008-01-01

We report the discovery of an extensive system of scattered light echo arclets associated with the recent supernovae in the local neighborhood of the Milky Way: Tycho (SN 1572) and Cassiopeia A. Existing work suggests that the Tycho SN was a thermonuclear explosion while the Cas A supernova was a core collapse explosion. Precise classifications according to modern nomenclature require spectra of the outburst light. In the case of ancient SNe, this can only be done with spectroscopy of their light echo, where the discovery of the light echoes from the outburst light is the first step. Adjacent light echo positions suggest that Cas A and Tycho may share common scattering dust structures. If so, it is possible to measure precise distances between historical Galactic supernovae. On-going surveys that alert on the development of bright scattered-light echo features have the potential to reveal detailed spectroscopic information for many recent Galactic supernovae, both directly visible and obscured by dust in the Galactic plane

XMM-NEWTON AND OPTICAL OBSERVATIONS OF CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES FROM THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hilton, Eric J.; Szkody, Paula; Mukadam, Anjum; Henden, Arne; Dillon, William; Schmidt, Gary D.

2009-01-01

We report on XMM-Newton and optical results for six cataclysmic variables that were selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectra because they showed strong He II emission lines, indicative of being candidates for containing white dwarfs with strong magnetic fields. While high X-ray background rates prevented optimum results, we are able to confirm SDSS J233325.92+152222.1 as an intermediate polar from its strong pulse signature at 21 minutes and its obscured hard X-ray spectrum. Ground-based circular polarization and photometric observations were also able to confirm SDSS J142256.31 - 022108.1 as a polar with a period near 4 hr. Photometry of SDSS J083751.00+383012.5 and SDSS J093214.82+495054.7 solidifies the orbital period of the former as 3.18 hr and confirms the latter as a high-inclination system with deep eclipses.

Broadband Photometric Reverberation Mapping Analysis on SDSS-RM and Stripe 82 Quasars

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Haowen; Yang, Qian; Wu, Xue-Bing

2018-02-01

We modified the broadband photometric reverberation mapping (PRM) code, JAVELIN, and tested the availability to get broad-line region time delays that are consistent with the spectroscopic reverberation mapping (SRM) project SDSS-RM. The broadband light curves of SDSS-RM quasars produced by convolution with the system transmission curves were used in the test. We found that under similar sampling conditions (evenly and frequently sampled), the key factor determining whether the broadband PRM code can yield lags consistent with the SRM project is the flux ratio of the broad emission line to the reference continuum, which is in line with the previous findings. We further found a critical line-to-continuum flux ratio, about 6%, above which the mean of the ratios between the lags from PRM and SRM becomes closer to unity, and the scatter is pronouncedly reduced. We also tested our code on a subset of SDSS Stripe 82 quasars, and found that our program tends to give biased lag estimations due to the observation gaps when the R-L relation prior in Markov Chain Monte Carlo is discarded. The performance of the damped random walk (DRW) model and the power-law (PL) structure function model on broadband PRM were compared. We found that given both SDSS-RM-like or Stripe 82-like light curves, the DRW model performs better in carrying out broadband PRM than the PL model.

ACOUSTIC SCALE FROM THE ANGULAR POWER SPECTRA OF SDSS-III DR8 PHOTOMETRIC LUMINOUS GALAXIES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seo, Hee-Jong [Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, LBL and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Ho, Shirley; White, Martin; Reid, Beth; Schlegel, David J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Cuesta, Antonio J.; Padmanabhan, Nikhil [Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 (United States); Ross, Ashley J.; Percival, Will J.; Nichol, Robert C. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Dennis Sciama Building, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Saito, Shun [Department of Astronomy, 601 Campbell Hall, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); De Putter, Roland [Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular, Valencia (Spain); Eisenstein, Daniel J. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, MS 20, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Xu Xiaoying; Skibba, Ramin [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Schneider, Donald P. [Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Verde, Licia [Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats, Barcelona (Spain); Bizyaev, Dmitry; Brewington, Howard; Brinkmann, J. [Apache Point Observatory, 2001 Apache Point Road, Sunspot, NM 88349 (United States); and others

2012-12-10

We measure the acoustic scale from the angular power spectra of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) Data Release 8 imaging catalog that includes 872, 921 galaxies over {approx}10,000 deg{sup 2} between 0.45 < z < 0.65. The extensive spectroscopic training set of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey luminous galaxies allows precise estimates of the true redshift distributions of galaxies in our imaging catalog. Utilizing the redshift distribution information, we build templates and fit to the power spectra of the data, which are measured in our companion paper, to derive the location of Baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) while marginalizing over many free parameters to exclude nearly all of the non-BAO signal. We derive the ratio of the angular diameter distance to the sound horizon scale D{sub A} (z)/r{sub s} = 9.212{sup +0.416}{sub -{sub 0.404}} at z = 0.54, and therefore D{sub A} (z) = 1411 {+-} 65 Mpc at z = 0.54; the result is fairly independent of assumptions on the underlying cosmology. Our measurement of angular diameter distance D{sub A} (z) is 1.4{sigma} higher than what is expected for the concordance {Lambda}CDM, in accordance to the trend of other spectroscopic BAO measurements for z {approx}> 0.35. We report constraints on cosmological parameters from our measurement in combination with the WMAP7 data and the previous spectroscopic BAO measurements of SDSS and WiggleZ. We refer to our companion papers (Ho et al.; de Putter et al.) for investigations on information of the full power spectrum.

E+A Galaxy Properties and Post-Starburst Galaxy Evolution Data through SDSS-IV MaNGA and Illustris: A Co-Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Ojanen, Winonah; Dudley, Raymond; Edwards, Kay; Gonzalez, Andrea; Johnson, Amalya; Kerrison, Nicole; Marinelli, Mariarosa; Melchert, Nancy; Liu, Charles; Sloan Collaboration, SDSS-IV MaNGA

2018-01-01

E+A galaxies (Elliptical + A-type stars) are post-starburst galaxies that have experienced a sudden quenching phase. Using previous research methods, 39 candidates out of 2,812 galaxies observed, or 1.4%, were selected from the SDSS-IV MaNGA survey. We then identified morphological characteristics of the 39 galaxies including stellar kinematics, Gini coefficient, gas density and distribution and stellar ages. To study the origin of how E+A galaxies evolved to their present state, galaxy simulation data from the Illustris simulation was utilized to identify similar quenched post-starburst candidates. Seven post-starburst candidates were identified through star formation rate histories of Illustris simulated galaxies. The evolution of these galaxies is studied from 0 to 13.8 billion years ago to identify what caused the starburst and quenching of the Illustris candidates. Similar morphological characteristics of Illustris post-starburst candidates are pulled from before, during, and post-starburst and compared to the same morphological characteristics of the E+A galaxies from SDSS-IV MaNGA. The characteristics and properties of the Illustris galaxies are used to identify the possible evolutionary histories of the observed E+A galaxies. This work was supported by grants AST-1460860 from the National Science Foundation and SDSS FAST/SSP-483 from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to the CUNY College of Staten Island.

An Open Catalog for Supernova Data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guillochon, James; Parrent, Jerod; Kelley, Luke Zoltan; Margutti, Raffaella

2017-01-01

We present the Open Supernova Catalog , an online collection of observations and metadata for presently 36,000+ supernovae and related candidates. The catalog is freely available on the web (https://sne.space), with its main interface having been designed to be a user-friendly, rapidly searchable table accessible on desktop and mobile devices. In addition to the primary catalog table containing supernova metadata, an individual page is generated for each supernova, which displays its available metadata, light curves, and spectra spanning X-ray to radio frequencies. The data presented in the catalog is automatically rebuilt on a daily basis and is constructed by parsing several dozen sources, including the data presented in the supernova literature and from secondary sources such as other web-based catalogs. Individual supernova data is stored in the hierarchical, human- and machine-readable JSON format, with the entirety of each supernova’s data being contained within a single JSON file bearing its name. The setup we present here, which is based on open-source software maintained via git repositories hosted on github, enables anyone to download the entirety of the supernova data set to their home computer in minutes, and to make contributions of their own data back to the catalog via git. As the supernova data set continues to grow, especially in the upcoming era of all-sky synoptic telescopes, which will increase the total number of events by orders of magnitude, we hope that the catalog we have designed will be a valuable tool for the community to analyze both historical and contemporary supernovae.

An Open Catalog for Supernova Data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guillochon, James; Parrent, Jerod; Kelley, Luke Zoltan [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Margutti, Raffaella, E-mail: jguillochon@cfa.harvard.edu [Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astrophysics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208 (United States)

2017-01-20

We present the Open Supernova Catalog , an online collection of observations and metadata for presently 36,000+ supernovae and related candidates. The catalog is freely available on the web (https://sne.space), with its main interface having been designed to be a user-friendly, rapidly searchable table accessible on desktop and mobile devices. In addition to the primary catalog table containing supernova metadata, an individual page is generated for each supernova, which displays its available metadata, light curves, and spectra spanning X-ray to radio frequencies. The data presented in the catalog is automatically rebuilt on a daily basis and is constructed by parsing several dozen sources, including the data presented in the supernova literature and from secondary sources such as other web-based catalogs. Individual supernova data is stored in the hierarchical, human- and machine-readable JSON format, with the entirety of each supernova’s data being contained within a single JSON file bearing its name. The setup we present here, which is based on open-source software maintained via git repositories hosted on github, enables anyone to download the entirety of the supernova data set to their home computer in minutes, and to make contributions of their own data back to the catalog via git. As the supernova data set continues to grow, especially in the upcoming era of all-sky synoptic telescopes, which will increase the total number of events by orders of magnitude, we hope that the catalog we have designed will be a valuable tool for the community to analyze both historical and contemporary supernovae.

Supernova observations at McDonald Observatory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wheeler, J.C.

1984-01-01

The programs to obtain high quality spectra and photometry of supernovae at McDonald Observatory are reviewed. Spectra of recent Type I supernovae in NGC 3227, NGC 3625, and NGC 4419 are compared with those of SN 1981b in NGC 4536 to quantitatively illustrate both the homogeneity of Type I spectra at similar epochs and the differences in detail which will serve as a probe of the physical processes in the explosions. Spectra of the recent supernova in NGC 0991 give for the first time quantitative confirmation of a spectrally homogeneous, but distinct subclass of Type I supernovae which appears to be less luminous and to have lower excitation at maximum light than classical Type I supernovae

Offline analysis in SNLS: measurement of type-Ia supernovae explosion rate and cosmological parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lusset, Vincent

2006-01-01

The Supernova Legacy Survey is a second generation experiment for the measurement of cosmological parameters using type-la supernovae. Il follows the discovery of the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe, attributed to an unknown 'dark energy'. This thesis presents a type-la supernovae search using an offline analysis of SNLS data. It makes it possible to detect the supernovae that were missed online and to study possible selection biases. One of its principal characteristics is that it uses entirely automatic selection criteria. This type of automated offline analysis had never been carried out before for data reaching this redshift. This analysis enabled us to discover 73 additional SNIa candidates compared to those identified in the real time analysis on the same data, representing an increase of more than 50% of the number of supernovae. The final Hubble diagram contains 262 SNIa which gives us, for a flat ACDM model, the following values for the cosmological parameters: Ω_M = 0,31 ± 0,028 (stat) ± 0,036 (syst) et Ω_A = 0,69. This offline analysis of SNLS data opens new horizons, both by checking for possible biases in current measurements of cosmological parameters by supernovae experiments and by preparing the third generation experiments, on the ground or in space, which will detect thousands of SNIa. (author) [fr

Supernova real-time monitor system in Kamiokande

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oyama, Y.; Yamada, M.; Ishida, T.; Yamaguchi, T.; Yokoyama, H.

1994-01-01

A data-analysis program to discover possible supernova neutrino bursts has been installed in the online data-acquisition computer of the Kamiokande experiment. The program automatically analyzes data within 20 min and gives an alarm to collaborators if a possible supernova neutrino burst is found. The detection efficiency of the program is 96% for a typical supernova located 50 kpc from Earth. After a careful analysis by the Kamiokande collaborators, it will be possible to inform all optical observatories in the world about the occurrence of a supernova within 3 h from the time of first detecting the neutrino burst. Information concerning the celestial position of a supernova will also be available for supernovae having a distance less than ∼ 10 kpc. This information will be helpful for observing the first optical emissions from the newly born supernova. (orig.)

SDSS IV MaNGA - Properties of AGN Host Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez, S. F.; Avila-Reese, V.; Hernandez-Toledo, H.; Cortes-Suárez, E.; Rodríguez-Puebla, A.; Ibarra-Medel, H.; Cano-Díaz, M.; Barrera-Ballesteros, J. K.; Negrete, C. A.; Calette, A. R.; de Lorenzo-Cáceres, A.; Ortega-Minakata, R. A.; Aquino, E.; Valenzuela, O.; Clemente, J. C.; Storchi-Bergmann, T.; Riffel, R.; Schimoia, J.; Riffel, R. A.; Rembold, S. B.; Brownstein, J. R.; Pan, K.; Yates, R.; Mallmann, N.; Bitsakis, T.

2018-04-01

We present the characterization of the main properties of a sample of 98 AGN host galaxies, both type-II and type-I, in comparison with those of ≍2700 non-active galaxies observed by the MaNGA survey. We found that AGN hosts are morphologically early-type or early-spirals. AGN hosts are, on average, more massive, more compact, more centrally peaked and more pressure-supported systems. They are located in the intermediate/transition region between starforming and non-star-forming galaxies (i.e., the so-called green valley). We consider that they are in the process of halting/quenching the star formation. The analysis of the radial distributions of different properties shows that the quenching happens from inside-out involving both a decrease of the effciency of the star formation and a deficit of molecular gas. The data-products of the current analysis are distributed as a Value Added Catalog within the SDSS-DR14.

Understanding Core-Collapse Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Hix, W. R.; Lentz, E. J.; Baird, M.; Messer, O. E. B.; Mezzacappa, A.; Lee, C.-T.; Bruenn, S. W.; Blondin, J. M.; Marronetti, P.

2010-03-01

Our understanding of core-collapse supernovae continues to improve as better microphysics is included in increasingly realistic neutrino-radiationhydrodynamic simulations. Recent multi-dimensional models with spectral neutrino transport, which slowly develop successful explosions for a range of progenitors between 12 and 25 solar mass, have motivated changes in our understanding of the neutrino reheating mechanism. In a similar fashion, improvements in nuclear physics, most notably explorations of weak interactions on nuclei and the nuclear equation of state, continue to refine our understanding of how supernovae explode. Recent progresses on both the macroscopic and microscopic effects that affect core-collapse supernovae are discussed.

Presupernova models and supernovae

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sugimoto, D [Tokyo Univ. (Japan). Dept. of Earth Science and Astronomy; Nomoto, K I [Ibaraki Univ., Mito (Japan). Dept. of Physics

1980-02-01

Present status of the theories for presupernova evolution and triggering mechanisms of supernova explosions are summarized and discussed from the standpoint of the theory of stellar structure and evolution. It is not intended to collect every detail of numerical results thus far obtained, but to extract physically clear-cut understanding from complexities of the numerical stellar models. For this purpose the evolution of stellar cores is discussed in a generalized fashion. The following types of the supernova explosions are discussed. The carbon deflagration supernova of intermediate mass star which results in the total disruption of the star. Massive star evolves into a supernova triggered by photo-dissociation of iron nuclei which results in a formation of a neutron star or a black hole depending on its mass. These two are typical types of the supernova. Between them there remains a range of mass for which collapse of the stellar core is triggered by electron captures, which has been recently shown to leave a neutron star despite oxygen deflagration competing with the electron captures. Also discussed are combustion and detonation of helium or carbon which take place in accreting white dwarfs, and the collapse which is triggered by electron-pair creation in very massive stars.

The Complete Light-curve Sample of Spectroscopically Confirmed SNe Ia from Pan-STARRS1 and Cosmological Constraints from the Combined Pantheon Sample

Science.gov (United States)

Scolnic, D. M.; Jones, D. O.; Rest, A.; Pan, Y. C.; Chornock, R.; Foley, R. J.; Huber, M. E.; Kessler, R.; Narayan, G.; Riess, A. G.; Rodney, S.; Berger, E.; Brout, D. J.; Challis, P. J.; Drout, M.; Finkbeiner, D.; Lunnan, R.; Kirshner, R. P.; Sanders, N. E.; Schlafly, E.; Smartt, S.; Stubbs, C. W.; Tonry, J.; Wood-Vasey, W. M.; Foley, M.; Hand, J.; Johnson, E.; Burgett, W. S.; Chambers, K. C.; Draper, P. W.; Hodapp, K. W.; Kaiser, N.; Kudritzki, R. P.; Magnier, E. A.; Metcalfe, N.; Bresolin, F.; Gall, E.; Kotak, R.; McCrum, M.; Smith, K. W.

2018-06-01

We present optical light curves, redshifts, and classifications for 365 spectroscopically confirmed Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) discovered by the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) Medium Deep Survey. We detail improvements to the PS1 SN photometry, astrometry, and calibration that reduce the systematic uncertainties in the PS1 SN Ia distances. We combine the subset of 279 PS1 SNe Ia (0.03 Ia from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), SNLS, and various low-z and Hubble Space Telescope samples to form the largest combined sample of SNe Ia, consisting of a total of 1048 SNe Ia in the range of 0.01 Ia to measure dark energy.

The supernova-gamma-ray burst-jet connection.

Science.gov (United States)

Hjorth, Jens

2013-06-13

The observed association between supernovae and gamma-ray bursts represents a cornerstone in our understanding of the nature of gamma-ray bursts. The collapsar model provides a theoretical framework for this connection. A key element is the launch of a bipolar jet (seen as a gamma-ray burst). The resulting hot cocoon disrupts the star, whereas the (56)Ni produced gives rise to radioactive heating of the ejecta, seen as a supernova. In this discussion paper, I summarize the observational status of the supernova-gamma-ray burst connection in the context of the 'engine' picture of jet-driven supernovae and highlight SN 2012bz/GRB 120422A--with its luminous supernova but intermediate high-energy luminosity--as a possible transition object between low-luminosity and jet gamma-ray bursts. The jet channel for supernova explosions may provide new insights into supernova explosions in general.

VIRIAL BLACK HOLE MASS ESTIMATES FOR 280,000 AGNs FROM THE SDSS BROADBAND PHOTOMETRY AND SINGLE-EPOCH SPECTRA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kozłowski, Szymon, E-mail: simkoz@astrouw.edu.pl [Warsaw University Observatory, Al. Ujazdowskie, 4 00-478 Warszawa (Poland)

2017-01-01

We use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Data Release 12 (DR12Q), containing nearly 300,000 active galactic nuclei (AGNs), to calculate the monochromatic luminosities at 5100, 3000, and 1350 Å, derived from the broadband extinction-corrected SDSS magnitudes. After matching these sources to their counterparts from the SDSS Quasar Data Release 7 (DR7Q), we find very high correlations between our luminosities and DR7Q spectra-based luminosities with minute mean offsets (∼0.01 dex) and dispersions of differences of 0.11, 0.10, and 0.12 dex, respectively, across a luminosity range of 2.5 dex. We then estimate the black hole (BH) masses of the AGNs using the broad line region radius–disk luminosity relations and the FWHM of the Mg ii and C iv emission lines, to provide a catalog of 283,033 virial BH mass estimates (132,451 for Mg ii, 213,071 for C iv, and 62,489 for both) along with the estimates of the bolometric luminosity and Eddington ratio for 0.1 <  z  < 5.5 and for roughly a quarter of the sky covered by SDSS. The BH mass estimates from Mg ii turned out to be closely matched to the ones from DR7Q with a dispersion of differences of 0.34 dex across a BH mass range of ∼2 dex. We uncovered a bias in the derived C iv FWHMs from DR12Q as compared to DR7Q, which we correct empirically. The C iv BH mass estimates should be used with caution because the C iv line is known to cause problems in the estimation of BH mass from single-epoch spectra. Finally, after the FWHM correction, the AGN BH mass estimates from C iv closely match the DR7Q ones (with a dispersion of 0.28 dex), and more importantly the Mg ii and C iv BH masses agree internally with a mean offset of 0.07 dex and a dispersion of 0.39 dex.

PRECIOUS METALS IN SDSS QUASAR SPECTRA. I. TRACKING THE EVOLUTION OF STRONG, 1.5 < z < 4.5 C IV ABSORBERS WITH THOUSANDS OF SYSTEMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooksey, Kathy L.; Kao, Melodie M.; Simcoe, Robert A.; O'Meara, John M.; Prochaska, J. Xavier

2013-01-01

We have vastly increased the C IV statistics at intermediate redshift by surveying the thousands of quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data-Release 7. We visually verified over 16,000 C IV systems with 1.46 r ≈ 0.6 Å. We analyzed the sample as a whole and in 10 small redshift bins with approximately 1500 doublets each. The equivalent width frequency distributions f(W r ) were well modeled by an exponential, with little evolution in shape. In contrast with previous studies that modeled the frequency distribution as a single power law, the fitted exponential gives a finite mass density for the C IV ions. The comoving line density dN CIV /dX evolved smoothly with redshift, increasing by a factor of 2.37 ± 0.09 from z = 4.55-1.96, then plateauing at dN CIV /dX∼0.34 for z = 1.96-1.46. Comparing our SDSS sample with z 5 (infrared) surveys, we see an approximately 10-fold increase in dN CIV /dX over z ≈ 6 → 0, for W r ≥ 0.6 Å. This suggests a monotonic and significant increase in the enrichment of gas outside galaxies over the 12 Gyr lifetime of the universe.

Automated search for supernovae

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kare, J.T.

1984-11-15

This thesis describes the design, development, and testing of a search system for supernovae, based on the use of current computer and detector technology. This search uses a computer-controlled telescope and charge coupled device (CCD) detector to collect images of hundreds of galaxies per night of observation, and a dedicated minicomputer to process these images in real time. The system is now collecting test images of up to several hundred fields per night, with a sensitivity corresponding to a limiting magnitude (visual) of 17. At full speed and sensitivity, the search will examine some 6000 galaxies every three nights, with a limiting magnitude of 18 or fainter, yielding roughly two supernovae per week (assuming one supernova per galaxy per 50 years) at 5 to 50 percent of maximum light. An additional 500 nearby galaxies will be searched every night, to locate about 10 supernovae per year at one or two percent of maximum light, within hours of the initial explosion.

Automated search for supernovae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kare, J.T.

1984-01-01

This thesis describes the design, development, and testing of a search system for supernovae, based on the use of current computer and detector technology. This search uses a computer-controlled telescope and charge coupled device (CCD) detector to collect images of hundreds of galaxies per night of observation, and a dedicated minicomputer to process these images in real time. The system is now collecting test images of up to several hundred fields per night, with a sensitivity corresponding to a limiting magnitude (visual) of 17. At full speed and sensitivity, the search will examine some 6000 galaxies every three nights, with a limiting magnitude of 18 or fainter, yielding roughly two supernovae per week (assuming one supernova per galaxy per 50 years) at 5 to 50 percent of maximum light. An additional 500 nearby galaxies will be searched every night, to locate about 10 supernovae per year at one or two percent of maximum light, within hours of the initial explosion

Decays of supernova neutrinos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindner, Manfred; Ohlsson, Tommy; Winter, Walter

2002-01-01

Supernova neutrinos could be well-suited for probing neutrino decay, since decay may be observed even for very small decay rates or coupling constants. We will introduce an effective operator framework for the combined description of neutrino decay and neutrino oscillations for supernova neutrinos, which can especially take into account two properties: one is the radially symmetric neutrino flux, allowing a decay product to be re-directed towards the observer even if the parent neutrino had a different original direction of propagation. The other is decoherence because of the long baselines for coherently produced neutrinos. We will demonstrate how to use this effective theory to calculate the time-dependent fluxes at the detector. In addition, we will show the implications of a Majoron-like decay model. As a result, we will demonstrate that for certain parameter values one may observe some effects which could also mimic signals similar to the ones expected from supernova models, making it in general harder to separate neutrino and supernova properties

Neutrino Emission from Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Janka, Hans-Thomas

Supernovae are the most powerful cosmic sources of MeV neutrinos. These elementary particles play a crucial role when the evolution of a massive star is terminated by the collapse of its core to a neutron star or a black hole and the star explodes as supernova. The release of electron neutrinos, which are abundantly produced by electron captures, accelerates the catastrophic infall and causes a gradual neutronization of the stellar plasma by converting protons to neutrons as dominant constituents of neutron star matter. The emission of neutrinos and antineutrinos of all flavors carries away the gravitational binding energy of the compact remnant and drives its evolution from the hot initial to the cold final state. The absorption of electron neutrinos and antineutrinos in the surroundings of the newly formed neutron star can power the supernova explosion and determines the conditions in the innermost supernova ejecta, making them an interesting site for the nucleosynthesis of iron-group elements and trans-iron nuclei.

SN 2008jb: A 'LOST' CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVA IN A STAR-FORMING DWARF GALAXY AT ∼10 Mpc

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prieto, J. L.; Lee, J. C.; Drake, A. J.; Djorgovski, S. G.; McNaught, R.; Garradd, G.; Beacom, J. F.; Beshore, E.; Catelan, M.; Pojmanski, G.; Stanek, K. Z.; Szczygieł, D. M.

2012-01-01

We present the discovery and follow-up observations of SN 2008jb, a core-collapse supernova in the southern dwarf irregular galaxy ESO 302–14 (M B = –15.3 mag) at 9.6 Mpc. This nearby transient was missed by galaxy-targeted surveys and was only found in archival optical images obtained by the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey and the All-Sky Automated Survey. The well-sampled archival photometry shows that SN 2008jb was detected shortly after explosion and reached a bright optical maximum, V max ≅ 13.6 mag (M V,max ≅ –16.5). The shape of the light curve shows a plateau of ∼100 days, followed by a drop of ∼1.4 mag in the V band to a slow decline with an approximate 56 Co decay slope. The late-time light curve is consistent with 0.04 ± 0.01 M ☉ of 56 Ni synthesized in the explosion. A spectrum of the supernova obtained two years after explosion shows a broad, boxy Hα emission line, which is unusual for normal Type II-Plateau supernovae at late times. We detect the supernova in archival Spitzer and WISE images obtained 8-14 months after explosion, which show clear signs of warm (600-700 K) dust emission. The dwarf irregular host galaxy, ESO 302–14, has a low gas-phase oxygen abundance, 12 + log(O/H) = 8.2 (∼1/5 Z ☉ ), similar to those of the Small Magellanic Cloud and the hosts of long gamma-ray bursts and luminous core-collapse supernovae. This metallicity is one of the lowest among local (∼ 5 M ☉ for the star formation complex, assuming a single-age starburst. These properties are consistent with the expanding Hα supershells observed in many well-studied nearby dwarf galaxies, which are tell-tale signs of feedback from the cumulative effect of massive star winds and supernovae. The age estimated for the star-forming region where SN 2008jb exploded suggests a relatively high-mass progenitor star with an initial mass M ∼ 20 M ☉ and warrants further study. We discuss the implications of these findings in the study of core

Positron Survival in Type II Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

1989-05-01

B: Computer Program and Flow Diagram 53 References 59 I. Introduction Since the discovery of Supernova 1987A (a Type II supernova) in February of 1987...the fewer number of decays depositing energy within the supernova. The rate of this cooling is unknown because it is uncertain whether a pulsar was

Dimming supernovae without cosmic acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Csaki, Csaba; Terning, John; Kaloper, Nemanja

2002-01-01

We present a simple model where photons propagating in extragalactic magnetic fields can oscillate into very light axions. The oscillations may convert some of the photons, departing a distant supernova, into axions, making the supernova appear dimmer and hence more distant than it really is. Averaging over different configurations of the magnetic field we find that the dimming saturates at about one-third of the light from the supernovae at very large redshifts. This results in a luminosity distance versus redshift curve almost indistinguishable from that produced by the accelerating Universe, if the axion mass and coupling scale are m∼10 -16 eV , M∼4x10 11 GeV . This phenomenon may be an alternative to the accelerating Universe for explaining supernova observations

Supernovae anisotropy power spectrum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghodsi, Hoda; Baghram, Shant [Department of Physics, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 11155-9161, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Habibi, Farhang, E-mail: h.ghodsi@mehr.sharif.ir, E-mail: baghram@sharif.edu, E-mail: habibi@lal.in2p3.fr [LAL-IN2P3/CNRS, BP 34, 91898 Orsay Cedex (France)

2017-10-01

We contribute another anisotropy study to this field of research using Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). In this work, we utilise the power spectrum calculation method and apply it to both the current SNe Ia data and simulation. Using the Union2.1 data set at all redshifts, we compare the spectrum of the residuals of the observed distance moduli to that expected from an isotropic universe affected by the Union2.1 observational uncertainties at low multipoles. Through this comparison we find a dipolar anisotropy with tension of less that 2σ towards l = 171° ± 21° and b = −26° ± 28° which is mainly induced by anisotropic spatial distribution of the SNe with z > 0.2 rather than being a cosmic effect. Furthermore, we find a tension of ∼ 4σ at ℓ = 4 between the two spectra. Our simulations are constructed with the characteristics of the upcoming surveys like the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), which shall bring us the largest SNe Ia collection to date. We make predictions for the amplitude of a possible dipolar anisotropy that would be detectable by future SNe Ia surveys.

UTILIZING TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE IN A LARGE, FAST, IMAGING SURVEY TO CONSTRAIN DARK ENERGY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zentner, Andrew R.; Bhattacharya, Suman

2009-01-01

We study the utility of a large sample of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) that might be observed in an imaging survey that rapidly scans a large fraction of the sky for constraining dark energy. We consider both the information contained in the traditional luminosity distance test as well as the spread in Ia SN fluxes at fixed redshift induced by gravitational lensing. As would be required from an imaging survey, we include a treatment of photometric redshift uncertainties in our analysis. Our primary result is that the information contained in the mean distance moduli of SNe Ia and the dispersion of SN Ia distance moduli complement each other, breaking a degeneracy between the present dark energy equation of state and its time variation without the need for a high-redshift (z ∼> 0.8) SN sample. Including lensing information also allows for some internal calibration of photometric redshifts. To address photometric redshift uncertainties, we present dark energy constraints as a function of the size of an external set of spectroscopically observed SNe that may be used for redshift calibration, N spec . Depending upon the details of potentially available, external SN data sets, we find that an imaging survey can constrain the dark energy equation of state at the epoch where it is best constrained w p , with a 1σ error of σ(w p ) ∼ 0.03-0.09. In addition, the marginal improvement in the error σ(w p ) from an increase in the spectroscopic calibration sample drops once N spec ∼ a few x 10 3 . This result is important because it is of the order of the size of calibration samples likely to be compiled in the coming decade and because, for samples of this size, the spectroscopic and imaging surveys individually place comparable constraints on the dark energy equation of state. In all cases, it is best to calibrate photometric redshifts with a set of spectroscopically observed SNe with relatively more objects at high redshift (z ∼> 0.5) than the parent sample of

THE CLUSTERING OF GALAXIES IN THE SDSS-III BARYON OSCILLATION SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY: LUMINOSITY AND COLOR DEPENDENCE AND REDSHIFT EVOLUTION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guo Hong; Zehavi, Idit [Department of Astronomy, Case Western Reserve University, OH 44106 (United States); Zheng Zheng [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, UT 84112 (United States); Weinberg, David H. [Department of Astronomy and CCAPP, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Berlind, Andreas A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235 (United States); Blanton, Michael [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, New York University, New York, NY 10003 (United States); Chen Yanmei [Department of Astronomy, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China); Eisenstein, Daniel J.; McBride, Cameron K. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Ho, Shirley; Ross, Nicholas P. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Kazin, Eyal [Center for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122 (Australia); Manera, Marc; Maraston, Claudia; Percival, Will J.; Ross, Ashley J.; Samushia, Lado [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Dennis Sciama Building, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Nuza, Sebastian E. [Leibniz-Institut fuer Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam (Germany); Padmanabhan, Nikhil; Parejko, John K. [Department of Physics, Yale University, 260 Whitney Ave, New Haven, CT 06520 (United States); and others

2013-04-20

We measure the luminosity and color dependence and the redshift evolution of galaxy clustering in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Ninth Data Release. We focus on the projected two-point correlation function (2PCF) of subsets of its CMASS sample, which includes about 260,000 galaxies over {approx}3300 deg{sup 2} in the redshift range 0.43 < z < 0.7. To minimize the selection effect on galaxy clustering, we construct well-defined luminosity and color subsamples by carefully accounting for the CMASS galaxy selection cuts. The 2PCF of the whole CMASS sample, if approximated by a power-law, has a correlation length of r{sub 0} = 7.93 {+-} 0.06 h {sup -1} Mpc and an index of {gamma} = 1.85 {+-} 0.01. Clear dependences on galaxy luminosity and color are found for the projected 2PCF in all redshift bins, with more luminous and redder galaxies generally exhibiting stronger clustering and steeper 2PCF. The color dependence is also clearly seen for galaxies within the red sequence, consistent with the behavior of SDSS-II main sample galaxies at lower redshifts. At a given luminosity (k + e corrected), no significant evolution of the projected 2PCFs with redshift is detected for red sequence galaxies. We also construct galaxy samples of fixed number density at different redshifts, using redshift-dependent magnitude thresholds. The clustering of these galaxies in the CMASS redshift range is found to be consistent with that predicted by passive evolution. Our measurements of the luminosity and color dependence and redshift evolution of galaxy clustering will allow for detailed modeling of the relation between galaxies and dark matter halos and new constraints on galaxy formation and evolution.

SDSS J1254+0846: A BINARY QUASAR CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF MERGING

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Green, Paul J.; Cox, Thomas J.; Aldcroft, Thomas L.; Myers, Adam D.; Barkhouse, Wayne A.; Mulchaey, John S.; Bennert, Vardha N.

2010-01-01

We present the first luminous, spatially resolved binary quasar that clearly inhabits an ongoing galaxy merger. SDSS J125455.09+084653.9 and SDSS J125454.87+084652.1 (SDSS J1254+0846 hereafter) are two luminous z = 0.44 radio-quiet quasars, with a radial velocity difference of just 215 km s -1 , separated on the sky by 21 kpc in a disturbed host galaxy merger showing obvious tidal tails. The pair was targeted as part of a complete sample of binary quasar candidates with small transverse separations drawn from SDSS DR6 photometry. We present follow-up optical imaging which shows broad, symmetrical tidal arm features spanning some 75 kpc at the quasars' redshift. Previously, the triggering of two quasars during a merger had only been hypothesized but our observations provide strong evidence of such an event. SDSS J1254+0846, as a face-on, pre-coalescence merger hosting two luminous quasars separated by a few dozen kpc, provides a unique opportunity to probe quasar activity in an ongoing gas-rich merger. Numerical modeling suggests that the system consists of two massive disk galaxies prograde to their mutual orbit, caught during the first passage of an active merger. This demonstrates rapid black hole growth during the early stages of a merger between galaxies with pre-existing bulges. Neither of the two luminous nuclei show significant intrinsic absorption by gas or dust in our optical or X-ray observations, illustrating that not all merging quasars will be in an obscured, ultraluminous phase. We find that the Eddington ratio for the fainter component B is rather normal, while for the A component L/L Edd is quite (>3σ) high compared to quasars of similar luminosity and redshift, possibly evidence for strong merger-triggered accretion. More such mergers should be identifiable at higher redshifts using binary quasars as tracers.

Fluid Instabilities of Magnetar-Powered Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ke-Jung

2017-05-01

Magnetar-powered supernova explosions are competitive models for explaining very luminous optical transits. Until recently, these explosion models were mainly calculated in 1D. Radiation emitted from the magnetar snowplows into the previous supernovae ejecta and causes a nonphysical dense shell (spike) found in previous 1D studies. This suggests that strong fluid instabilities may have developed within the magnetar-powered supernovae. Such fluid instabilities emerge at the region where luminous transits later occur, so they can affect the consequent observational signatures. We examine the magnetar-powered supernovae with 2D hydrodynamics simulations and find that the 1D dense shell transforms into the development of Rayleigh-Taylor and thin shell instabilities in 2D. The resulting mixing is able to fragment the entire shell and break the spherical symmetry of supernovae ejecta.

Rates and progenitors of type Ia supernovae

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood-Vasey, William Michael [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

2004-01-01

The remarkable uniformity of Type Ia supernovae has allowed astronomers to use them as distance indicators to measure the properties and expansion history of the Universe. However, Type Ia supernovae exhibit intrinsic variation in both their spectra and observed brightness. The brightness variations have been approximately corrected by various methods, but there remain intrinsic variations that limit the statistical power of current and future observations of distant supernovae for cosmological purposes. There may be systematic effects in this residual variation that evolve with redshift and thus limit the cosmological power of SN Ia luminosity-distance experiments. To reduce these systematic uncertainties, we need a deeper understanding of the observed variations in Type Ia supernovae. Toward this end, the Nearby Supernova Factory has been designed to discover hundreds of Type Ia supernovae in a systematic and automated fashion and study them in detail. This project will observe these supernovae spectrophotometrically to provide the homogeneous high-quality data set necessary to improve the understanding and calibration of these vital cosmological yardsticks. From 1998 to 2003, in collaboration with the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a systematic and automated searching program was conceived and executed using the computing facilities at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the National Energy Research Supercomputing Center. An automated search had never been attempted on this scale. A number of planned future large supernovae projects are predicated on the ability to find supernovae quickly, reliably, and efficiently in large datasets. A prototype run of the SNfactory search pipeline conducted from 2002 to 2003 discovered 83 SNe at a final rate of 12 SNe/month. A large, homogeneous search of this scale offers an excellent opportunity to measure the rate of Type Ia supernovae. This thesis presents a new method for

Rates and progenitors of type Ia supernovae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood-Vasey, William Michael

2004-01-01

The remarkable uniformity of Type Ia supernovae has allowed astronomers to use them as distance indicators to measure the properties and expansion history of the Universe. However, Type Ia supernovae exhibit intrinsic variation in both their spectra and observed brightness. The brightness variations have been approximately corrected by various methods, but there remain intrinsic variations that limit the statistical power of current and future observations of distant supernovae for cosmological purposes. There may be systematic effects in this residual variation that evolve with redshift and thus limit the cosmological power of SN Ia luminosity-distance experiments. To reduce these systematic uncertainties, we need a deeper understanding of the observed variations in Type Ia supernovae. Toward this end, the Nearby Supernova Factory has been designed to discover hundreds of Type Ia supernovae in a systematic and automated fashion and study them in detail. This project will observe these supernovae spectrophotometrically to provide the homogeneous high-quality data set necessary to improve the understanding and calibration of these vital cosmological yardsticks. From 1998 to 2003, in collaboration with the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a systematic and automated searching program was conceived and executed using the computing facilities at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the National Energy Research Supercomputing Center. An automated search had never been attempted on this scale. A number of planned future large supernovae projects are predicated on the ability to find supernovae quickly, reliably, and efficiently in large datasets. A prototype run of the SNfactory search pipeline conducted from 2002 to 2003 discovered 83 SNe at a final rate of 12 SNe/month. A large, homogeneous search of this scale offers an excellent opportunity to measure the rate of Type Ia supernovae. This thesis presents a new method for

THE TIME DOMAIN SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY: VARIABLE SELECTION AND ANTICIPATED RESULTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morganson, Eric; Green, Paul J. [Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Anderson, Scott F.; Ruan, John J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Myers, Adam D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 (United States); Eracleous, Michael; Brandt, William Nielsen [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 525 Davey Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Kelly, Brandon [Department of Physics, Broida Hall, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9530 (United States); Badenes, Carlos [Department of Physics and Astronomy and Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology Center (PITT PACC), University of Pittsburgh, 3941 O’Hara St, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Bañados, Eduardo [Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Blanton, Michael R. [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 (United States); Bershady, Matthew A. [Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin, 475 N. Charter St., Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Borissova, Jura [Instituto de Física y Astronomía, Universidad de Valparaíso, Av. Gran Bretaña 1111, Playa Ancha, Casilla 5030, and Millennium Institute of Astrophysics (MAS), Santiago (Chile); Burgett, William S. [GMTO Corp, Suite 300, 251 S. Lake Ave, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Chambers, Kenneth, E-mail: emorganson@cfa.harvard.edu [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States); and others

2015-06-20

We present the selection algorithm and anticipated results for the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS). TDSS is an Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)-IV Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) subproject that will provide initial identification spectra of approximately 220,000 luminosity-variable objects (variable stars and active galactic nuclei across 7500 deg{sup 2} selected from a combination of SDSS and multi-epoch Pan-STARRS1 photometry. TDSS will be the largest spectroscopic survey to explicitly target variable objects, avoiding pre-selection on the basis of colors or detailed modeling of specific variability characteristics. Kernel Density Estimate analysis of our target population performed on SDSS Stripe 82 data suggests our target sample will be 95% pure (meaning 95% of objects we select have genuine luminosity variability of a few magnitudes or more). Our final spectroscopic sample will contain roughly 135,000 quasars and 85,000 stellar variables, approximately 4000 of which will be RR Lyrae stars which may be used as outer Milky Way probes. The variability-selected quasar population has a smoother redshift distribution than a color-selected sample, and variability measurements similar to those we develop here may be used to make more uniform quasar samples in large surveys. The stellar variable targets are distributed fairly uniformly across color space, indicating that TDSS will obtain spectra for a wide variety of stellar variables including pulsating variables, stars with significant chromospheric activity, cataclysmic variables, and eclipsing binaries. TDSS will serve as a pathfinder mission to identify and characterize the multitude of variable objects that will be detected photometrically in even larger variability surveys such as Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

Results from a Pilot REU Program: Exploring the Cosmos Using Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data

Science.gov (United States)

Chanover, Nancy J.; Holley-Bockelmann, Kelly; Holtzman, Jon A.

2017-01-01

In the Summer of 2016 we conducted a 10-week pilot Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program aimed at increasing the participation of underrepresented minority undergraduate students in research using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). This program utilized a distributed REU model, whereby students worked with SDSS scientists on exciting research projects while serving as members of a geographically distributed research community. The format of this REU is similar to that of the SDSS collaboration itself, and since this collaboration structure has become a model for the next generation of large scale astronomical surveys, the students participating in the SDSS REU received early exposure and familiarity with this approach to collaborative scientific research. The SDSS REU also provided the participants with a low-risk opportunity to audition for graduate schools and to explore opportunities afforded by a career as a research scientist. The six student participants were placed at SDSS REU host sites at the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Portsmouth. Their research projects covered a broad range of topics related to stars, galaxies, and quasars, all making use of SDSS data. At the start of the summer the REU students participated in a week-long Boot Camp at NMSU, which served as a program orientation, an introduction to skills relevant to their research projects, and an opportunity for team-building and cohort-forming. To foster a sense of community among our distributed students throughout the summer, we conducted a weekly online meeting for all students in the program via virtual meeting tools. These virtual group meetings served two purposes: as a weekly check-in to find out how their projects were progressing, and to conduct professional development seminars on topics of interest and relevance to the REU participants. We discuss the outcomes of this

Near-IR search for lensed supernovae behind galaxy clusters. II. First detection and future prospects

OpenAIRE

Goobar, A.; Paech, K.; Stanishev, V.; Amanullah, R.; Dahlén, T.; Jönsson, J.; Kneib, J. P.; Lidman, C.; Limousin, M.; Mörtsell, E.; Nobili, S.; Richard, J.; Riehm, T.; von Strauss, M.

2009-01-01

Aims. Powerful gravitational telescopes in the form of massive galaxy clusters can be used to enhance the light collecting power over a limited field of view by about an order of magnitude in flux. This effect is exploited here to increase the depth of a survey for lensed supernovae at near-IR wavelengths. Methods. We present a pilot supernova search programme conducted with the ISAAC camera at VLT. Lensed galaxies behind the massive clusters A1689, A1835, and AC114 were observed for a tot...

The great supernova of 1987

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woosley, S.E.

1989-01-01

Seven hundred day after the explosion of the brightest supernova in four centuries, astronomers continue to be both excited and perplexed by its behavior. By now, the supernova has received considerably attention in the literature. This paper emphasizes several aspects of the supernova that continue to be of special interest. These include: the evolution of the presupernova star, why it was blue, what its composition and core structure were; the iron core mass, explosion mechanism, and certain aspects of the neutrino burst; the detailed isotopic composition of the ejecta; the light curve and the requirement for mixing; the expected continued evolution of the supernova at all wavelengths given both the presence of several radioactivities as well as a central collapsed object as a power source; and late breaking news regarding the pulsar

Are crab-type supernova remnants (plerions) short-lived

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weiler, K.W.; Panagia, N.

1978-01-01

Arguments are given for a possible picture of the origin, maintenance, and lifetimes of the so-called Crab-like supernova remnants. It is suggested that these objects imply the existence of at least two distinct types of supernova events. A possible connection of the remnant types with the optically defined supernovae of Type I and Type II is discussed. Accepting that a pulsar is formed in at least some supernova events, the proposal is made that a rapidly rotating, rapidly slowing pulsar is necessary to create and maintain a Crab-like supernova remnant. Finally, arguments are presented that such a supernova remnant will be relatively short lived with respect to the more common shell-type of supernova remnant, perhaps surviving only 10000-20000 yr before fading into the Galactic background. The name of plerion is proposed for these filled-center supernova remnants and observational possiblities for confirming their nature are suggested. (orig.) [de

Characterizing Sky Spectra Using SDSS BOSS Data

Science.gov (United States)

Florez, Lina Maria; Strauss, Michael A.

2018-01-01

In the optical/near-infrared spectra gathered by a ground-based telescope observing very faint sources, the strengths of the emission lines due to the Earth’s atmosphere can be many times larger than the fluxes of the sources we are interested in. Thus the limiting factor in faint-object spectroscopy is the degree to which systematics in the sky subtraction can be minimized. Longwards of 6000 Angstroms, the night-sky spectrum is dominated by multiple vibrational/rotational transitions of the OH radical from our upper atmosphere. While the wavelengths of these lines are the same in each sky spectrum, their relative strengths vary considerably as a function of time and position on the sky. The better we can model their strengths, the better we can hope to subtract them off. We expect that the strength of lines from common upper energy levels will be correlated with one another. We used flux-calibrated sky spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (SDSS BOSS) to explore these correlations. Our aim is to use these correlations for creating improved sky subtraction algorithms for the Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) on the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope. When PFS starts gathering data in 2019, it will be the most powerful multi-object spectrograph in the world. Since PFS will be gathering data on sources as faint as 24th magnitude and fainter, it's of upmost importance to be able to accurately measure and subtract sky spectra from the data that we receive.

Overview of the nearby supernova factory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aldering, Greg; Adam, Gilles; Antilogus, Pierre; Astier, Pierre; Bacon, Roland; Bongard, S.; Bonnaud, C.; Copin, Yannick; Hardin, D.; Howell, D. Andy; Lemmonnier, Jean-Pierre; Levy, J.-M.; Loken, S.; Nugent, Peter; Pain, Reynald; Pecontal, Arlette; Pecontal, Emmanuel; Perlmutter, Saul; Quimby, Robert; Schahmaneche, Kyan; Smadja, Gerard; Wood-Vasey, W. Michael

2002-01-01

The Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory) is an international experiment designed to lay the foundation for the next generation of cosmology experiments (such as CFHTLS, wP, SNAP and LSST) which will measure the expansion history of the Universe using Type Ia supernovae. The SNfactory will discover and obtain frequent lightcurve spectrophotometry covering 3200-10000 (angstrom) for roughly 300 Type Ia supernovae at the loW--redshift end of the smooth Hubble flow. The quantity, quality, breadth of galactic environments, and homogeneous nature of the SNfactory dataset will make it the premier source of calibration for the Type Ia supernova width-brightness relation and the intrinsic supernova colors used for K-correction and correction for extinction by host-galaxy dust. This dataset will also allow an extensive investigation of additional parameters which possibly influence the quality of Type Ia supernovae as cosmological probes. The SNfactory search capabilities and folloW--up instrumentation include wide-field CCD imagers on two 1.2-m telescopes (via collaboration with the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking team at JPL and the QUEST team at Yale), and a two-channel integral-field-unit optical spectrograph/imager being fabricated for the University of Hawaii 2.2-m telescope. In addition to ground-based folloW--up, UV spectra for a subsample of these supernovae will be obtained with HST. The pipeline to obtain, transfer via wireless and standard internet, and automatically process the search images is in operation. Software and hardware development is now underway to enable the execution of folloW--up spectroscopy of supernova candidates at the Hawaii 2.2-m telescope via automated remote control of the telescope and the IFU spectrograph/imager

Gravitational collapse and supernovae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lattimer, J.M.

1989-01-01

The collapse of the core of a massive star and the subsequent birth of a neutron star in a supernova explosion are discussed, and a model of the supernova mechanism is developed. The basic theory is then compared with the particular case of SN1987A, whose emitted neutrinos permitted the first direct test of the model. (author)

Supernova / Acceleration Probe: A Satellite Experiment to Study the Nature of the Dark Energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aldering, G; Althouse, W; Amanullah, R; Annis, J; Astier, P; Baltay, C; Barrelet, E; Basa, S; Bebek, C; Bergstrom, L; Bernstein, G; Bester, M; Bigelow, B; Blandford, R; Bohlin, R; Bonissent, A; Bower, C; Brown, M; Campbell, M; Carithers, W; Commins, E; Craig, W; Day, C; DeJongh, F; Deustua, S; Diehl, T; Dodelson, S; Ealet, A; Ellis, R; Emmet, W; Fouchez, D; Frieman, J; Fruchter, A; Gerdes, D; Gladney, L; Goldhaber, G; Goobar, A; Groom, D; Heetderks, H; Hoff, M; Holland, S; Huffer, M; Hui, L; Huterer, D; Jain, B; Jelinsky, P; Karcher, A; Kent, S; Kahn, S; Kim, A; Kolbe, W; Krieger, B; Kushner, G; Kuznetsova, N; Lafever, R; Lamoureux, J; Lampton, M; Fevre, OL; Levi, M; Limon, P; Lin, H; Linder, E; Loken, S; Lorenzon, W; Malina, R; Marriner, J; Marshall, P; Massey, R; Mazure, A; McKay, T; McKee, S; Miquel, R; Morgan, N; Mortsell, E; Mostek, N; Mufson, S; Musser, J; Nugent, P; Oluseyi, H; Pain, R; Palaio, N; Pankow, D; Peoples, J; Perlmutter, S; Prieto, E; Rabinowitz, D; Refregier, A; Rhodes, J; Roe, N; Rusin, D; Scarpine, V; Schubnell, M; Sholl, M; Smadja, G; Smith, RM; Smoot, G; Snyder, J; Spadafora, A; Stebbins, A; Stoughton, C; Szymkowiak, A; Tarle, G; Taylor, K; Tilquin, A; Tomasch, A; Tucker, D; Vincent, D; Lippe, HVD; Walder, J-P; Wang, G; Wester, W

2004-05-12

The Supernova / Acceleration Probe (SNAP) is a proposed space-based experiment designed to study the dark energy and alternative explanations of the acceleration of the Universe's expansion by performing a series of complementary systematics-controlled measurements. We describe a self-consistent reference mission design for building a Type Ia supernova Hubble diagram and for performing a wide-area weak gravitational lensing study. A 2-m wide-field telescope feeds a focal plane consisting of a 0.7 square-degree imager tiled with equal areas of optical CCDs and near infrared sensors, and a high-efficiency low-resolution integral field spectrograph. The SNAP mission will obtain high-signal-to-noise calibrated light-curves and spectra for several thousand supernovae at redshifts between z=0.1 and 1.7. A wide-field survey covering one thousand square degrees resolves ~100 galaxies per square arcminute. If we assume we live in a cosmological-constant-dominated Universe, the matter density, dark energy density, and flatness of space can all be measured with SNAP supernova and weak-lensing measurements to a systematics-limited accuracy of 1%. For a flat universe, the density-to-pressure ratio of dark energy can be similarly measured to 5% for the present value w₀ and ~0.1 for the time variation w'. The large survey area, depth, spatial resolution, time-sampling, and nine-band optical to NIR photometry will support additional independent and/or complementary dark-energy measurement approaches as well as a broad range of auxiliary science programs.

THE VERY SHORT PERIOD M DWARF BINARY SDSS J001641-000925

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davenport, James R. A.; Becker, Andrew C.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Gunning, Heather C.; Munshi, Ferah A.; Albright, Meagan [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); West, Andrew A. [Astronomy Department, Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 (United States); Bochanski, John J. [Astronomy and Astrophysics Department, Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Holtzman, Jon [Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University, Box 30001, Las Cruces, NM 88003 (United States); Hilton, Eric J., E-mail: jrad@astro.washington.edu [Department of Geology and Geophysics and Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)

2013-02-10

We present follow-up observations and analysis of the recently discovered short period low-mass eclipsing binary, SDSS J001641-000925. With an orbital period of 0.19856 days, this system has one of the shortest known periods for an M dwarf binary system. Medium-resolution spectroscopy and multi-band photometry for the system are presented. Markov Chain Monte Carlo modeling of the light curves and radial velocities yields estimated masses for the stars of M {sub 1} = 0.54 {+-} 0.07 M {sub Sun} and M {sub 2} = 0.34 {+-} 0.04 M {sub Sun }, and radii of R {sub 1} = 0.68 {+-} 0.03 R {sub Sun} and R {sub 2} = 0.58 {+-} 0.03 R {sub Sun }, respectively. This solution places both components above the critical Roche overfill limit, providing strong evidence that SDSS J001641-000925 is the first verified M-dwarf contact binary system. Within the follow-up spectroscopy we find signatures of non-solid body rotation velocities, which we interpret as evidence for mass transfer or loss within the system. In addition, our photometry samples the system over nine years, and we find strong evidence for period decay at the rate of P-dot {approx} 8 s yr{sup -1}. Both of these signatures raise the intriguing possibility that the system is in over-contact, and actively losing angular momentum, likely through mass loss. This places SDSS J001641-000925 as not just the first M-dwarf over-contact binary, but one of the few systems of any spectral type known to be actively undergoing coalescence. Further study of SDSS J001641-000925 is ongoing to verify the nature of the system, which may prove to be a unique astrophysical laboratory.

HOMOGENEOUS UGRIZ PHOTOMETRY FOR ACS VIRGO CLUSTER SURVEY GALAXIES: A NON-PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS FROM SDSS IMAGING

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Chin-Wei; Cote, Patrick; Ferrarese, Laura; West, Andrew A.; Peng, Eric W.

2010-01-01

We present photometric and structural parameters for 100 ACS Virgo Cluster Survey (ACSVCS) galaxies based on homogeneous, multi-wavelength (ugriz), wide-field SDSS (DR5) imaging. These early-type galaxies, which trace out the red sequence in the Virgo Cluster, span a factor of nearly ∼10 3 in g-band luminosity. We describe an automated pipeline that generates background-subtracted mosaic images, masks field sources and measures mean shapes, total magnitudes, effective radii, and effective surface brightnesses using a model-independent approach. A parametric analysis of the surface brightness profiles is also carried out to obtain Sersic-based structural parameters and mean galaxy colors. We compare the galaxy parameters to those in the literature, including those from the ACSVCS, finding good agreement in most cases, although the sizes of the brightest, and most extended, galaxies are found to be most uncertain and model dependent. Our photometry provides an external measurement of the random errors on total magnitudes from the widely used Virgo Cluster Catalog, which we estimate to be σ(B T )∼ 0.13 mag for the brightest galaxies, rising to ∼ 0.3 mag for galaxies at the faint end of our sample (B T ∼ 16). The distribution of axial ratios of low-mass ( d warf ) galaxies bears a strong resemblance to the one observed for the higher-mass ( g iant ) galaxies. The global structural parameters for the full galaxy sample-profile shape, effective radius, and mean surface brightness-are found to vary smoothly and systematically as a function of luminosity, with unmistakable evidence for changes in structural homology along the red sequence. As noted in previous studies, the ugriz galaxy colors show a nonlinear but smooth variation over a ∼7 mag range in absolute magnitude, with an enhanced scatter for the faintest systems that is likely the signature of their more diverse star formation histories.

SDSS-IV MaNGA: the spectroscopic discovery of strongly lensed galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Talbot, Michael S.; Brownstein, Joel R.; Bolton, Adam S.; Bundy, Kevin; Andrews, Brett H.; Cherinka, Brian; Collett, Thomas E.; More, Anupreeta; More, Surhud; Sonnenfeld, Alessandro; Vegetti, Simona; Wake, David A.; Weijmans, Anne-Marie; Westfall, Kyle B.

2018-06-01

We present a catalogue of 38 spectroscopically detected strong galaxy-galaxy gravitational lens candidates identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV). We were able to simulate narrow-band images for eight of them demonstrating evidence of multiple images. Two of our systems are compound lens candidates, each with two background source-planes. One of these compound systems shows clear lensing features in the narrow-band image. Our sample is based on 2812 galaxies observed by the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) integral field unit (IFU). This Spectroscopic Identification of Lensing Objects (SILO) survey extends the methodology of the Sloan Lens ACS Survey (SLACS) and BOSS Emission-Line Survey (BELLS) to lower redshift and multiple IFU spectra. We searched ˜1.5 million spectra, of which 3065 contained multiple high signal-to-noise ratio background emission-lines or a resolved [O II] doublet, that are included in this catalogue. Upon manual inspection, we discovered regions with multiple spectra containing background emission-lines at the same redshift, providing evidence of a common source-plane geometry which was not possible in previous SLACS and BELLS discovery programs. We estimate more than half of our candidates have an Einstein radius ≳ 1.7 arcsec, which is significantly greater than seen in SLACS and BELLS. These larger Einstein radii produce more extended images of the background galaxy increasing the probability that a background emission-line will enter one of the IFU spectroscopic fibres, making detection more likely.

Physics of supernovae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woosley, S.E.; Weaver, T.A.

1985-01-01

Presupernova models of massive stars are presented and their explosion by ''delayed neutrino transport'' examined. A new form of long duration Type II supernova model is also explored based upon repeated encounter with the electron-positron pair instability in stars heavier than about 60 Msub solar. Carbon deflagration in white dwarfs is discussed as the probable explanation of Type I supernovae and special attention is paid to the physical processes whereby a nuclear flame propagates through degenerate carbon. 89 refs., 12 figs

Discovering the Nature of Dark Energy: Towards Better Distances from Type Ia Supernovae -- Final Technical Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Filippenko, Alexei Vladimir [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

2014-05-09

led to the identification of subsamples of SNe Ia that can be used to provide the most reliable cosmological distances, and we developed ways to deal with the dust that makes SNe Ia appear fainter than they really are. Using the KAIT/LOSS sample, we produced an excellent Hubble diagram (galaxy recession speed vs. distance), accurately showing the expansion of the Universe. Even smaller scatter was achieved when spectroscopic characteristics were taken into account. Another high-quality Hubble diagram was constructed with SNe Ia from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). These Hubble diagrams provide useful new constraints on the nature of the dark energy that is accelerating the expansion of the Universe. As an added bonus of our research, we also studied core-collapse SNe, which differ fundamentally from SNe Ia.

MARVELS-1b: A SHORT-PERIOD, BROWN DWARF DESERT CANDIDATE FROM THE SDSS-III MARVELS PLANET SEARCH

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Brian L.; Ge Jian; Fleming, Scott W.; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Sivarani, Thirupathi; Stassun, Keivan G.; Gary, Bruce; Pepper, Joshua; Gaudi, B. Scott; Eastman, Jason D.; Siverd, Robert J.; Barnes, Rory; Laws, Chris; Wisniewski, John P.; Wright, Jason; Ghezzi, Luan; Ogando, Ricardo L. C.; Maia, Marcio A. G.; Da Costa, Luiz Nicolaci; Porto de Mello, G. F.

2011-01-01

We present a new short-period brown dwarf (BD) candidate around the star TYC 1240-00945-1. This candidate was discovered in the first year of the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanets Large-area Survey (MARVELS), which is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) III, and we designate the BD as MARVELS-1b. MARVELS uses the technique of dispersed fixed-delay interferometery to simultaneously obtain radial velocity (RV) measurements for 60 objects per field using a single, custom-built instrument that is fiber fed from the SDSS 2.5 m telescope. From our 20 RV measurements spread over a ∼370 day time baseline, we derive a Keplerian orbital fit with semi-amplitude K = 2.533 ± 0.025 km s -1 , period P = 5.8953 ± 0.0004 days, and eccentricity consistent with circular. Independent follow-up RV data confirm the orbit. Adopting a mass of 1.37 ± 0.11 M sun for the slightly evolved F9 host star, we infer that the companion has a minimum mass of 28.0 ± 1.5 M Jup , a semimajor axis 0.071 ± 0.002 AU assuming an edge-on orbit, and is probably tidally synchronized. We find no evidence for coherent intrinsic variability of the host star at the period of the companion at levels greater than a few millimagnitudes. The companion has an a priori transit probability of ∼14%. Although we find no evidence for transits, we cannot definitively rule them out for companion radii ∼ Jup .

Position-dependent correlation function from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Data Release 10 CMASS sample

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiang, Chi-Ting; Wagner, Christian; Sánchez, Ariel G.; Schmidt, Fabian; Komatsu, Eiichiro

2015-01-01

We report on the first measurement of the three-point function with the position-dependent correlation function from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release 10 CMASS sample. This new observable measures the correlation between two-point functions of galaxy pairs within different subvolumes, ξ-circumflex (ř,ř L ), where ř L is the location of a subvolume, and the corresponding mean overdensities, δ-bar (ř L ). This correlation, which we call the 'integrated three-point function', iζ(r)≡(ξ-circumflex (ř,ř L )δ-bar (ř L )), measures a three-point function of two short- and one long-wavelength modes, and is generated by nonlinear gravitational evolution and possibly also by the physics of inflation. The iζ(r) measured from the BOSS data lies within the scatter of those from the mock galaxy catalogs in redshift space, yielding a ten-percent-level determination of the amplitude of iζ(r). The tree-level perturbation theory in redshift space predicts how this amplitude depends on the linear and quadratic nonlinear galaxy bias parameters (b 1 and b 2 ), as well as on the amplitude and linear growth rate of matter fluctuations (σ 8 and f). Combining iζ(r) with the constraints on b 1σ 8 and fσ 8 from the global two-point correlation function and that on σ 8 from the weak lensing signal of BOSS galaxies, we measure b 2 =0.41±0.41 (68% C.L.) assuming standard perturbation theory at the tree level and the local bias model

Twenty-Three High-Redshift Supernovae from the Institute for Astronomy Deep Survey: Doubling the Supernova Sample at z > 0.7

Science.gov (United States)

Barris, Brian J.; Tonry, John L.; Blondin, Stéphane; Challis, Peter; Chornock, Ryan; Clocchiatti, Alejandro; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Garnavich, Peter; Holland, Stephen T.; Jha, Saurabh; Kirshner, Robert P.; Krisciunas, Kevin; Leibundgut, Bruno; Li, Weidong; Matheson, Thomas; Miknaitis, Gajus; Riess, Adam G.; Schmidt, Brian P.; Smith, R. Chris; Sollerman, Jesper; Spyromilio, Jason; Stubbs, Christopher W.; Suntzeff, Nicholas B.; Aussel, Hervé; Chambers, K. C.; Connelley, M. S.; Donovan, D.; Henry, J. Patrick; Kaiser, Nick; Liu, Michael C.; Martín, Eduardo L.; Wainscoat, Richard J.

2004-02-01

We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of 23 high-redshift supernovae (SNe) spanning a range of z=0.34-1.03, nine of which are unambiguously classified as Type Ia. These SNe were discovered during the IfA Deep Survey, which began in 2001 September and observed a total of 2.5 deg2 to a depth of approximately m~25-26 in RIZ over 9-17 visits, typically every 1-3 weeks for nearly 5 months, with additional observations continuing until 2002 April. We give a brief description of the survey motivations, observational strategy, and reduction process. This sample of 23 high-redshift SNe includes 15 at z>=0.7, doubling the published number of objects at these redshifts, and indicates that the evidence for acceleration of the universe is not due to a systematic effect proportional to redshift. In combination with the recent compilation of Tonry et al. (2003), we calculate cosmological parameter density contours that are consistent with the flat universe indicated by the cosmic microwave background (Spergel et al. 2003). Adopting the constraint that Ωtotal=1.0, we obtain best-fit values of (Ωm,ΩΛ)=(0.33,0.67) using 22 SNe from this survey augmented by the literature compilation. We show that using the empty-beam model for gravitational lensing does not eliminate the need for ΩΛ>0. Experience from this survey indicates great potential for similar large-scale surveys while also revealing the limitations of performing surveys for z>1 SNe from the ground. CFHT: Based in part on observations obtained at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), which is operated by the National Research Council of Canada, the Institut National des Science de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France, and the University of Hawaii. CTIO: Based in part on observations taken at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Keck: Some of the data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership

The intrinsic shape of galaxies in SDSS/Galaxy Zoo

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez, Silvio; Padilla, Nelson D.

2013-09-01

By modelling the axis ratio distribution of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 8 galaxies, we find the intrinsic 3D shapes of spirals and ellipticals. We use morphological information from the Galaxy Zoo project and assume a non-parametric distribution intrinsic of shapes, while taking into account dust extinction. We measure the dust extinction of the full sample of spiral galaxies and find a smaller value than previous estimations, with an edge-on extinction of E_0 = 0.284^{+0.015}_{-0.026} in the SDSS r band. We also find that the distribution of minor to major axis ratio has a mean value of 0.267 ± 0.009, slightly larger than previous estimates mainly due to the lower extinction used; the same affects the circularity of galactic discs, which are found to be less round in shape than in previous studies, with a mean ellipticity of 0.215 ± 0.013. For elliptical galaxies, we find that the minor to major axis ratio, with a mean value of 0.584 ± 0.006, is larger than previous estimations due to the removal of spiral interlopers present in samples with morphological information from photometric profiles. These interlopers are removed when selecting ellipticals using Galaxy Zoo data. We find that the intrinsic shapes of galaxies and their dust extinction vary with absolute magnitude, colour and physical size. We find that bright elliptical galaxies are more spherical than faint ones, a trend that is also present with galaxy size, and that there is no dependence of elliptical galaxy shape with colour. For spiral galaxies, we find that the reddest ones have higher dust extinction as expected, due to the fact that this reddening is mainly due to dust. We also find that the thickness of discs increases with luminosity and size, and that brighter, smaller and redder galaxies have less round discs.

THE BARYON OSCILLATION SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY OF SDSS-III

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dawson, Kyle S.; Ahn, Christopher P.; Bolton, Adam S.; Schlegel, David J.; Bailey, Stephen; Anderson, Scott F.; Bhardwaj, Vaishali; Aubourg, Éric; Bautista, Julian E.; Barkhouser, Robert H.; Beifiori, Alessandra; Berlind, Andreas A.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Brewington, Howard; Blake, Cullen H.; Blanton, Michael R.; Blomqvist, Michael; Borde, Arnaud; Bovy, Jo; Brandt, W. N.

2013-01-01

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) is designed to measure the scale of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of matter over a larger volume than the combined efforts of all previous spectroscopic surveys of large-scale structure. BOSS uses 1.5 million luminous galaxies as faint as i = 19.9 over 10,000 deg 2 to measure BAO to redshifts z A to an accuracy of 1.0% at redshifts z = 0.3 and z = 0.57 and measurements of H(z) to 1.8% and 1.7% at the same redshifts. Forecasts for Lyα forest constraints predict a measurement of an overall dilation factor that scales the highly degenerate D A (z) and H –1 (z) parameters to an accuracy of 1.9% at z ∼ 2.5 when the survey is complete. Here, we provide an overview of the selection of spectroscopic targets, planning of observations, and analysis of data and data quality of BOSS.

An approach to the analysis of SDSS spectroscopic outliers based on self-organizing maps. Designing the outlier analysis software package for the next Gaia survey

Science.gov (United States)

Fustes, D.; Manteiga, M.; Dafonte, C.; Arcay, B.; Ulla, A.; Smith, K.; Borrachero, R.; Sordo, R.

2013-11-01

Aims: A new method applied to the segmentation and further analysis of the outliers resulting from the classification of astronomical objects in large databases is discussed. The method is being used in the framework of the Gaia satellite Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) activities to prepare automated software tools that will be used to derive basic astrophysical information that is to be included in final Gaia archive. Methods: Our algorithm has been tested by means of simulated Gaia spectrophotometry, which is based on SDSS observations and theoretical spectral libraries covering a wide sample of astronomical objects. Self-organizing maps networks are used to organize the information in clusters of objects, as homogeneously as possible according to their spectral energy distributions, and to project them onto a 2D grid where the data structure can be visualized. Results: We demonstrate the usefulness of the method by analyzing the spectra that were rejected by the SDSS spectroscopic classification pipeline and thus classified as "UNKNOWN". First, our method can help distinguish between astrophysical objects and instrumental artifacts. Additionally, the application of our algorithm to SDSS objects of unknown nature has allowed us to identify classes of objects with similar astrophysical natures. In addition, the method allows for the potential discovery of hundreds of new objects, such as white dwarfs and quasars. Therefore, the proposed method is shown to be very promising for data exploration and knowledge discovery in very large astronomical databases, such as the archive from the upcoming Gaia mission.

Luminosity-Environment Relation in the Lowz Sample of the SDSS-III

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deng Xin-Fa

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In this work, we examine the environmental dependence of the u-, g-, r-, i- and z-band luminosities in the LOWZ sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 10 (SDSS DR10. To decrease the radial selection effect, we divide the LOWZ sample into subsamples with a redshift bin size of Δz = 0.01 and analyze the environmental dependence of luminosities for these subsamples in each redshift bin. It is found that all five band luminosities of the LOWZ galaxy sample in the redshift region z=0.16–0.23 show substantial correlation with the local environment, especially in the redshift bins 0.19–0.20 and 0.20–0.21. The environmental dependence of all five band luminosities in the LOWZ galaxy sample becomes weak with increasing redshift, like the one in the apparent-magnitude limited Main galaxy sample.

Disturbance Ecology from nearby Supernovae

OpenAIRE

Hartmann, D. H.; Kretschmer, K.; Diehl, R.

2002-01-01

Monte Carlo simulations of Galactic Supernovae are carried out to study the rate of nearby events, which may have a direct effect on Earth's ecology though ionizing radiation and cosmic ray bombardment. A nearby supernova may have left a radioactive imprint (60Fe) in recent galactic history.

A Subaru galaxy redshift survey: WFMOS survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takada, M

2008-01-01

A planned galaxy redshift survey with the Subaru 8.2m telescope, the WFMOS survey, offers a unique opportunity for probing detailed properties of large-scale structure formation in the expanding universe by measuring clustering strength of galaxy distribution as a function of distance scale and redshift. In particular, the precise measurement of the galaxy power spectrum, combined with the cosmic microwave background experiments, allows us to obtain stringent constraints on or even determine absolute mass scales of the Big-Bang relic neutrinos as the neutrinos imprint characteristic scale- and redshift-dependent modifications onto the galaxy power spectrum shape. Here we describe the basic concept of how the galaxy clustering measurement can be used to explore the neutrino masses, with particular emphasis on advantages of the WFMOS survey over the existing low-redshift surveys such as SDSS

Update on the SDSS-III MARVELS data pipeline development

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Rui; Ge, J.; Thomas, N. B.; Petersen, E.; Wang, J.; Ma, B.; Sithajan, S.; Shi, J.; Ouyang, Y.; Chen, Y.

2014-01-01

MARVELS (Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey), as one of the four surveys in the SDSS-III program, has monitored over 3,300 stars during 2008-2012, with each being visited an average of 26 times over a 2-year window. Although the early data pipeline was able to detect over 20 brown dwarf candidates and several hundreds of binaries, no giant planet candidates have been reliably identified due to its large systematic errors. Learning from past data pipeline lessons, we re-designed the entire pipeline to handle various types of systematic effects caused by the instrument (such as trace, slant, distortion, drifts and dispersion) and observation condition changes (such as illumination profile and continuum). We also introduced several advanced methods to precisely extract the RV signals. To date, we have achieved a long term RMS RV measurement error of 14 m/s for HIP-14810 (one of our reference stars) after removal of the known planet signal based on previous HIRES RV measurement. This new 1-D data pipeline has been used to robustly identify four giant planet candidates within the small fraction of the survey data that has been processed (Thomas et al. this meeting). The team is currently working hard to optimize the pipeline, especially the 2-D interference-fringe RV extraction, where early results show a 1.5 times improvement over the 1-D data pipeline. We are quickly approaching the survey baseline performance requirement of 10-35 m/s RMS for 8-12 solar type stars. With this fine-tuned pipeline and the soon to be processed plates of data, we expect to discover many more giant planet candidates and make a large statistical impact to the exoplanet study.

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE SUPERNOVA LEGACY SURVEY SAMPLE WITH ΛCDM AND THE Rh=ct UNIVERSE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei, Jun-Jie; Wu, Xue-Feng; Melia, Fulvio; Maier, Robert S.

2015-01-01

The use of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) has thus far produced the most reliable measurement of the expansion history of the universe, suggesting that ΛCDM offers the best explanation for the redshift–luminosity distribution observed in these events. However, analysis of other kinds of sources, such as cosmic chronometers, gamma-ray bursts, and high-z quasars, conflicts with this conclusion, indicating instead that the constant expansion rate implied by the R h = ct universe is a better fit to the data. The central difficulty with the use of SNe Ia as standard candles is that one must optimize three or four nuisance parameters characterizing supernova (SN) luminosities simultaneously with the parameters of an expansion model. Hence, in comparing competing models, one must reduce the data independently for each. We carry out such a comparison of ΛCDM and the R h = ct universe using the SN Legacy Survey sample of 252 SN events, and show that each model fits its individually reduced data very well. However, since R h = ct has only one free parameter (the Hubble constant), it follows from a standard model selection technique that it is to be preferred over ΛCDM, the minimalist version of which has three (the Hubble constant, the scaled matter density, and either the spatial curvature constant or the dark energy equation-of-state parameter). We estimate using the Bayes Information Criterion that in a pairwise comparison, the likelihood of R h = ct is ∼90%, compared with only ∼10% for a minimalist form of ΛCDM, in which dark energy is simply a cosmological constant. Compared to R h = ct, versions of the standard model with more elaborate parametrizations of dark energy are judged to be even less likely

Testing the single degenerate channel for supernova Ia

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, Steven

2014-10-01

The progenitors of supernova Ia are close binaries containing white dwarfs. Of crucial importance to the evolution of these systems is how much material the white dwarf can stably accrete and hence grow in mass. This occurs during a short-lived intense phase of mass transfer known as the super soft source (SSS) phase. The short duration of this phase and large extinction to soft X-rays means that only a handful are known in our Galaxy. Far more can be learned from the underlying SSS progenitor population of close white dwarf plus FGK type binaries. Unfortunately, these systems are hard to find since the main-sequence stars completely outshine the white dwarfs at optical wavelengths. Because of this, there are currently no known close white dwarf binaries with F, G or early K type companions, making it impossible to determine the contribution of the single degenerate channel towards supernova Ia. Using the GALEX and RAVE surveys we have now identified the first large sample of FGK stars with UV excesses, a fraction of which are these illusive, close systems. Following an intense ground based spectroscopic investigation of these systems, we have identified 5 definite close binaries, with periods of less than a few days. Here we apply for COS spectroscopic observations to measure the mass and temperature of the white dwarfs in order to determine the future evolution of these systems. This will provide a crucial test for the single degenerate channel towards supernova Ia.

Exploring the SDSS Data Set with Linked Scatter Plots. I. EMP, CEMP, and CV Stars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carbon, Duane F.; Henze, Christopher; Nelson, Bron C., E-mail: Duane.F.Carbon@nasa.gov [NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Advanced Supercomputing Facility, Moffett Field, CA, 94035-1000 (United States)

2017-02-01

We present the results of a search for extremely metal-poor (EMP), carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP), and cataclysmic variable (CV) stars using a new exploration tool based on linked scatter plots (LSPs). Our approach is especially designed to work with very large spectrum data sets such as the SDSS, LAMOST, RAVE, and Gaia data sets, and it can be applied to stellar, galaxy, and quasar spectra. As a demonstration, we conduct our search using the SDSS DR10 data set. We first created a 3326-dimensional phase space containing nearly 2 billion measures of the strengths of over 1600 spectral features in 569,738 SDSS stars. These measures capture essentially all the stellar atomic and molecular species visible at the resolution of SDSS spectra. We show how LSPs can be used to quickly isolate and examine interesting portions of this phase space. To illustrate, we use LSPs coupled with cuts in selected portions of phase space to extract EMP stars, CEMP stars, and CV stars. We present identifications for 59 previously unrecognized candidate EMP stars and 11 previously unrecognized candidate CEMP stars. We also call attention to 2 candidate He ii emission CV stars found by the LSP approach that have not yet been discussed in the literature.

PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFT PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS FOR GALAXIES IN THE SDSS DR8

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheldon, Erin S.; Cunha, Carlos E.; Mandelbaum, Rachel; Brinkmann, J.; Weaver, Benjamin A.

2012-01-01

We present redshift probability distributions for galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 8 imaging data. We used the nearest-neighbor weighting algorithm to derive the ensemble redshift distribution N(z), and individual redshift probability distributions P(z) for galaxies with r < 21.8 and u < 29.0. As part of this technique, we calculated weights for a set of training galaxies with known redshifts such that their density distribution in five-dimensional color-magnitude space was proportional to that of the photometry-only sample, producing a nearly fair sample in that space. We estimated the ensemble N(z) of the photometric sample by constructing a weighted histogram of the training-set redshifts. We derived P(z)'s for individual objects by using training-set objects from the local color-magnitude space around each photometric object. Using the P(z) for each galaxy can reduce the statistical error in measurements that depend on the redshifts of individual galaxies. The spectroscopic training sample is substantially larger than that used for the DR7 release. The newly added PRIMUS catalog is now the most important training set used in this analysis by a wide margin. We expect the primary sources of error in the N(z) reconstruction to be sample variance and spectroscopic failures: The training sets are drawn from relatively small volumes of space, and some samples have large incompleteness. Using simulations we estimated the uncertainty in N(z) due to sample variance at a given redshift to be ∼10%-15%. The uncertainty on calculations incorporating N(z) or P(z) depends on how they are used; we discuss the case of weak lensing measurements. The P(z) catalog is publicly available from the SDSS Web site.

Young supernova remnants and INTEGRAL: "4"4Ti lines and non-thermal emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renaud, M.

2006-10-01

This thesis deals with the search for and the study of young galactic supernova remnants using the observations performed by IBIS/ISGRI, one of the two main coded-mask instruments onboard the european gamma-ray satellite INTEGRAL. This research is based on i) the study of gamma-ray lines coming from the radioactive decay of "4"4Ti, a short-lived nucleus (τ∼ 86 y) exclusively produced during the first stages of stellar explosions, and ii) the study of the nonthermal continuum mechanisms which take place inside the young supernova remnants. I separate the manuscript in four main parts. The first one presents an overview of supernovae from an observational and theoretical point of view. The second part describes the INTEGRAL satellite with its instruments, the techniques used for analyzing the data collected by IBIS/ISGRI, and my personal investigations concerning different developments such as: the spectral calibration of the IBIS/ISGRI instrument, the correction of noisy pixels on the camera, the creation of background maps, and the development of an alternative pipeline useful for dealing with a large amount of data. I also present a method for imaging extended sources with a coded-mask instrument such as IBIS/ISGRI, and its first application on the Coma Cluster. The results obtained on historical supernova remnants like Cas A, Tycho, RXJ0852-4622 (Vela Junior) are presented in the third part. The first chapter of the last part is devoted to the study of the detectability of supernovae in the optical domain with a model of the interstellar extinction. The second chapter reports on the search for missing and hidden young supernova remnants in the Milky Way with the IBIS/ISGRI galactic plane survey through the "4"4Sc gamma-ray lines as well as with a multi-wavelength approach, from the radio domain (VLA) to the new observational window at TeV energies (HESS). I also discuss the constraints on the supernova rate and the "4"4Ti production in core-collapse supernovae

Detection of supernova neutrinos at spallation neutron sources

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Ming-Yang; Guo, Xin-Heng; Young, Bing-Lin

2016-07-01

After considering supernova shock effects, Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effects, neutrino collective effects, and Earth matter effects, the detection of supernova neutrinos at the China Spallation Neutron Source is studied and the expected numbers of different flavor supernova neutrinos observed through various reaction channels are calculated with the neutrino energy spectra described by the Fermi-Dirac distribution and the “beta fit” distribution respectively. Furthermore, the numerical calculation method of supernova neutrino detection on Earth is applied to some other spallation neutron sources, and the total expected numbers of supernova neutrinos observed through different reactions channels are given. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (11205185, 11175020, 11275025, 11575023)

Supernovae and neutrinos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

John F. Beacom

2002-01-01

A long-standing problem in supernova physics is how to measure the total energy and temperature of ν μ , ν τ , (bar ν) μ , and (bar ν) τ . While of the highest importance, this is very difficult because these flavors only have neutral-current detector interactions. We propose that neutrino-proton elastic scattering, ν + p → ν + p, can be used for the detection of supernova neutrinos in scintillator detectors. It should be emphasized immediately that the dominant signal is on free protons. Though the proton recoil kinetic energy spectrum is soft, with T p ≅ 2E ν 2 /M p , and the scintillation light output from slow, heavily ionizing protons is quenched, the yield above a realistic threshold is nearly as large as that from (bar ν) e + p → e + + n. In addition, the measured proton spectrum is related to the incident neutrino spectrum. The ability to detect this signal would give detectors like KamLAND and Borexino a crucial and unique role in the quest to detect supernova neutrinos

We’re Working On It: Transferring the Sloan Digital Sky Survey from Laboratory to Library

OpenAIRE

Sands, Ashley E.; Borgman, Christine L.; Traweek, Sharon; Wynholds, Laura A.

2014-01-01

This article reports on the transfer of a massive scientific dataset from a national laboratory to a university library, and from one kind of workforce to another. We use the transfer of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) archive to examine the emergence of a new workforce for scientific research data management. Many individuals with diverse educational backgrounds and domain experience are involved in SDSS data management: domain scientists, computer scientists, software and systems engin...

THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY QUASAR LENS SEARCH. V. FINAL CATALOG FROM THE SEVENTH DATA RELEASE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inada, Naohisa; Oguri, Masamune; Kayo, Issha; Fukugita, Masataka; Shin, Min-Su; Strauss, Michael A.; Bahcall, Neta A.; Morokuma, Tomoki; Rusu, Cristian E.; Kochanek, Christopher S.; Richards, Gordon T.; Schneider, Donald P.; York, Donald G.; Frieman, Joshua A.; Hall, Patrick B.; White, Richard L.

2012-01-01

We present the final statistical sample of lensed quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Lens Search (SQLS). The well-defined statistical lens sample consists of 26 lensed quasars brighter than i = 19.1 and in the redshift range of 0.6 < z < 2.2 selected from 50,826 spectroscopically confirmed quasars in the SDSS Data Release 7 (DR7), where we restrict the image separation range to 1'' < θ < 20'' and the i-band magnitude differences in two images to be smaller than 1.25 mag. The SDSS DR7 quasar catalog also contains 36 additional lenses identified with various techniques. In addition to these lensed quasars, we have identified 81 pairs of quasars from follow-up spectroscopy, 26 of which are physically associated binary quasars. The statistical lens sample covers a wide range of image separations, redshifts, and magnitudes, and therefore is suitable for systematic studies of cosmological parameters and surveys of the structure and evolution of galaxies and quasars.

Supernova ejecta with a relativistic wind from a central compact object: a unified picture for extraordinary supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Akihiro; Maeda, Keiichi

2017-04-01

The hydrodynamical interaction between freely expanding supernova ejecta and a relativistic wind injected from the central region is studied in analytic and numerical ways. As a result of the collision between the ejecta and the wind, a geometrically thin shell surrounding a hot bubble forms and expands in the ejecta. We use a self-similar solution to describe the early dynamical evolution of the shell and carry out a two-dimensional special relativistic hydrodynamic simulation to follow further evolution. The Rayleigh-Taylor instability inevitably develops at the contact surface separating the shocked wind and ejecta, leading to the complete destruction of the shell and the leakage of hot gas from the hot bubble. The leaking hot materials immediately catch up with the outermost layer of the supernova ejecta and thus different layers of the ejecta are mixed. We present the spatial profiles of hydrodynamical variables and the kinetic energy distributions of the ejecta. We stop the energy injection when a total energy of 1052 erg, which is 10 times larger than the initial kinetic energy of the supernova ejecta, is deposited into the ejecta and follow the subsequent evolution. From the results of our simulations, we consider expected emission from supernova ejecta powered by the energy injection at the centre and discuss the possibility that superluminous supernovae and broad-lined Ic supernovae could be produced by similar mechanisms.

The All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) Light Curve Server v1.0

Science.gov (United States)

Kochanek, C. S.; Shappee, B. J.; Stanek, K. Z.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Thompson, Todd A.; Prieto, J. L.; Dong, Subo; Shields, J. V.; Will, D.; Britt, C.; Perzanowski, D.; Pojmański, G.

2017-10-01

The All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) is working toward imaging the entire visible sky every night to a depth of V˜ 17 mag. The present data covers the sky and spans ˜2-5 years with ˜100-400 epochs of observation. The data should contain some ˜1 million variable sources, and the ultimate goal is to have a database of these observations publicly accessible. We describe here a first step, a simple but unprecedented web interface https://asas-sn.osu.edu/ that provides an up to date aperture photometry light curve for any user-selected sky coordinate. The V band photometry is obtained using a two-pixel (16.″0) radius aperture and is calibrated against the APASS catalog. Because the light curves are produced in real time, this web tool is relatively slow and can only be used for small samples of objects. However, it also imposes no selection bias on the part of the ASAS-SN team, allowing the user to obtain a light curve for any point on the celestial sphere. We present the tool, describe its capabilities, limitations, and known issues, and provide a few illustrative examples.

Density and energy of supernova remnants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Canto, J [Manchester Univ. (UK). Dept. of Astronomy

1977-12-01

The effects of an interstellar magnetic field on the gas flow behind a strong shock front are considered. The ambient density and energy of supernova remnants are estimated from the intensity ratio of sulphur lines I(6717)/I(6731). It is found that, on average, the ambient density around galactic supernova remnants is 4 cm/sup -3/. The total energy appears to be the same for all supernova remnants (to within a factor = approximately 5). A mean value of 4 10/sup 51/ erg is found.

Chiral transport of neutrinos in supernovae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yamamoto Naoki

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The conventional neutrino transport theory for core-collapse supernovae misses one key property of neutrinos: the left-handedness. The chirality of neutrinos modifies the hydrodynamic behavior at the macroscopic scale and leads to topological transport phenomena. We argue that such transport phenomena should play important roles in the evolution of core-collapse supernovae, and, in particular, lead to a tendency toward the inverse energy cascade from small to larger scales, which may be relevant to the origin of the supernova explosion.

GALAXY ZOO MORPHOLOGY AND PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFTS IN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Way, M. J.

2011-01-01

It has recently been demonstrated that one can accurately derive galaxy morphology from particular primary and secondary isophotal shape estimates in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging catalog. This was accomplished by applying Machine Learning techniques to the Galaxy Zoo morphology catalog. Using the broad bandpass photometry of the SDSS in combination with precise knowledge of galaxy morphology should help in estimating more accurate photometric redshifts for galaxies. Using the Galaxy Zoo separation for spirals and ellipticals in combination with SDSS photometry we attempt to calculate photometric redshifts. In the best case we find that the root-mean-square error for luminous red galaxies classified as ellipticals is as low as 0.0118. Given these promising results we believe better photometric redshift estimates for all galaxies in the SDSS (∼350 million) will be feasible if researchers can also leverage their derived morphologies via Machine Learning. These initial results look to be promising for those interested in estimating weak lensing, baryonic acoustic oscillation, and other fields dependent upon accurate photometric redshifts.

The fall of the Northern Unicorn: tangential motions in the Galactic anticentre with SDSS and Gaia

Science.gov (United States)

de Boer, T. J. L.; Belokurov, V.; Koposov, S. E.

2018-01-01

We present the first detailed study of the behaviour of the stellar proper motion across the entire Galactic anticentre area visible in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data. We use recalibrated SDSS astrometry in combination with positions from Gaia DR1 to provide tangential motion measurements with a systematic uncertainty <5 km s-1 for the Main Sequence stars at the distance of the Monoceros Ring. We demonstrate that Monoceros members rotate around the Galaxy with azimuthal speeds of ∼230 km s-1, only slightly lower than that of the Sun. Additionally, both vertical and azimuthal components of their motion are shown to vary considerably but gradually as a function of Galactic longitude and latitude. The stellar overdensity in the anti-centre region can be split into two components, the narrow, stream-like ACS and the smooth Ring. According to our analysis, these two structures show very similar but clearly distinct kinematic trends, which can be summarized as follows: the amplitude of the velocity variation in vϕ and vz in the ACS is higher compared to the Ring, whose velocity gradients appear to be flatter. Currently, no model available can explain the entirety of the data in this area of the sky. However, the new accurate kinematic map introduced here should provide strong constraints on the genesis of the Monoceros Ring and the associated substructure.

Neutron Stars in Supernova Remnants and Beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Gvaramadze, V. V.

We discuss a concept of off-centred cavity supernova explosion as applied to neutron star/supernova remnant associations and show how this concept could be used to preclude the anti-humane decapitating the Duck (G5.4-1.2 + G5.27-0.9) and dismembering the Swan (Cygnus Loop), as well as to search for a stellar remnant associated with the supernova remnant RCW86.

Neutron Stars in Supernova Remnants and Beyond

OpenAIRE

Gvaramadze, V. V.

2002-01-01

We discuss a concept of off-centred cavity supernova explosion as applied to neutron star/supernova remnant associations and show how this concept could be used to preclude the anti-humane decapitating the Duck (G5.4-1.2 + G5.27-0.9) and dismembering the Swan (Cygnus Loop), as well as to search for a stellar remnant associated with the supernova remnant RCW86.

Discovery of an Unusual Optical Transient with the Hubble Space Telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Supernova Cosmology Project; Barbary, Kyle; Dawson, Kyle S.; Tokita, Kouichi; Aldering, Greg; Amanullah, Rahman; Connolly, Natalia V.; Doi, Mamoru; Faccioli, Lorenzo; Fadeyev, Vitaliy; Fruchter, Andrew S.; Goldhaber, Gerson; Goobar, Ariel; Gude, Alexander; Huang, Xiaosheng; Ihara, Yutaka; Konishi, Kohki; Kowalski, Marek; Lidman, Chris; Meyers, Josh; Morokuma, Tomoki; Nugent, Peter; Perlmutter, Saul; Rubin, David; Schlegel, David; Spadafora, Anthony L.; Suzuki, Nao; Swift, Hannah K.; Takanashi, Naohiro; Thomas, Rollin C.; Yasuda, Naoki

2008-09-08

We present observations of SCP 06F6, an unusual optical transient discovered during the Hubble Space Telescope Cluster Supernova Survey. The transient brightened over a period of ~;;100 days, reached a peak magnitude of ~;;21.0 in both i_775 and z_850, and then declined over a similar timescale. There is no host galaxy or progenitor star detected at the location of the transient to a 3 sigma upper limit of i_775 = 26.4 and z_850 = 26.1, giving a corresponding lower limit on the flux increase of a factor of ~;;120. Multiple spectra show five broad absorption bands between 4100 AA and 6500 AA and a mostly featureless continuum longward of 6500 AA. The shape of the lightcurve is inconsistent with microlensing. The transient's spectrum, in addition to being inconsistent with all known supernova types, is not matched to any spectrum in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database. We suggest that the transient may be one of a new class.

Space Density Of Optically-Selected Type II Quasars From The SDSS

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes, Reinabelle; Zakamska, N. L.; Strauss, M. A.; Green, J.; Krolik, J. H.; Shen, Y.; Richards, G. T.

2007-12-01

Type II quasars are luminous Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) whose central regions are obscured by large amounts of gas and dust. In this poster, we present a catalog of 887 type II quasars with redshifts z<0.83 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), selected based on their emission lines, and derive the 1/Vmax [OIII] 5007 luminosity function from this sample. Since some objects may not be included in the sample because they lack strong emission lines, the derived luminosity function is only a lower limit. We also derive the [OIII] 5007 luminosity function for a sample of type I (broad-line) quasars in the same redshift range. Taking [OIII] 5007 luminosity as a tracer of intrinsic luminosity in both type I and type II quasars, we obtain lower limits to the type II quasar fraction as a function of [OIII] 5007 luminosity, from L[OIII] = 108.3 to 1010 Lsun, which roughly correspond to bolometric luminosities of 1044 to 1046 erg/s.

Modelling the interaction of thermonuclear supernova remnants with circumstellar structures: the case of Tycho's supernova remnant

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chiotellis, A.; Kosenko, D.; Schure, K.M.; Vink, J.; Kaastra, J.S.

2013-01-01

The well-established Type Ia remnant of Tycho's supernova (SN 1572) reveals discrepant ambient medium-density estimates based on either the measured dynamics or the X-ray emission properties. This discrepancy can potentially be solved by assuming that the supernova remnant (SNR) shock initially

Supernova brightening from chameleon-photon mixing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burrage, C.

2008-01-01

Measurements of standard candles and measurements of standard rulers give an inconsistent picture of the history of the universe. This discrepancy can be explained if photon number is not conserved as computations of the luminosity distance must be modified. I show that photon number is not conserved when photons mix with chameleons in the presence of a magnetic field. The strong magnetic fields in a supernova mean that the probability of a photon converting into a chameleon in the interior of the supernova is high, this results in a large flux of chameleons at the surface of the supernova. Chameleons and photons also mix as a result of the intergalactic magnetic field. These two effects combined cause the image of the supernova to be brightened resulting in a model which fits both observations of standard candles and observations of standard rulers

A CROSS-MATCH OF 2MASS AND SDSS. II. PECULIAR L DWARFS, UNRESOLVED BINARIES, AND THE SPACE DENSITY OF T DWARF SECONDARIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geissler, Kerstin; Metchev, Stanimir; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Berriman, G. Bruce; Looper, Dagny

2011-01-01

We present the completion of a program to cross-correlate the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 1 (SDSS DR1) and Two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) Point Source Catalog in search for extremely red L and T dwarfs. The program was initiated by Metchev and collaborators, who presented the findings on all newly identified T dwarfs in SDSS DR1 and estimated the space density of isolated T0-T8 dwarfs in the solar neighborhood. In the current work, we present most of the L dwarf discoveries. Our red-sensitive (z - J ≥ 2.75 mag) cross-match proves to be efficient in detecting peculiarly red L dwarfs, adding two new ones, including one of the reddest known L dwarfs. Our search also nets a new peculiarly blue L7 dwarf and, surprisingly, two M8 dwarfs. We further broaden our analysis to detect unresolved binary L or T dwarfs through spectral template fitting to all L and T dwarfs presented here and in the earlier work by Metchev and collaborators. We identify nine probable binaries, six of which are new and eight harbor likely T dwarf secondaries. We combine this result with current knowledge of the mass ratio distribution and frequency of substellar companions to estimate an overall space density of 0.005-0.05 pc -3 for individual T0-T8 dwarfs.

Precious metals in SDSS quasar spectra. II. Tracking the evolution of strong, 0.4 < z < 2.3 Mg II absorbers with thousands of systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seyffert, Eduardo N.; Simcoe, Robert A.; Cooksey, Kathy L.; O'Meara, John M.; Kao, Melodie M.; Prochaska, J. Xavier

2013-01-01

We have performed an analysis of over 34,000 Mg II doublets at 0.36 < z < 2.29 in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 quasar spectra; the catalog, advanced data products, and tools for analysis are publicly available. The catalog was divided into 14 small redshift bins with roughly 2500 doublets in each and from Monte Carlo simulations, we estimate 50% completeness at rest equivalent width W r ≈ 0.8 Å. The equivalent width frequency distribution is described well by an exponential model at all redshifts, and the distribution becomes flatter with increasing redshift, i.e., there are more strong systems relative to weak ones. Direct comparison with previous SDSS Mg II surveys reveals that we recover at least 70% of the doublets in these other catalogs, in addition to detecting thousands of new systems. We discuss how these surveys came by their different results, which qualitatively agree but because of the very small uncertainties, differ by a statistically significant amount. The estimated physical cross section of Mg II-absorbing galaxy halos increased approximately threefold from z = 0.4 to z = 2.3, while the W r ≥ 1 Å absorber line density, dN MgII /dX, grew by roughly 45%. Finally, we explore the different evolution of various absorber populations—damped Lyα absorbers, Lyman limit systems, strong C IV absorbers, and strong and weaker Mg II systems—across cosmic time (0 < z < 6).

The Sloan Lens ACS Survey. I. A large spectroscopically selected sample of massive early-type lens galaxies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bolton, AS; Burles, S; Koopmans, LVE; Treu, T; Moustakas, LA

2006-01-01

The Sloan Lens ACS (SLACS) Survey is an efficient Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Snapshot imaging survey for new galaxy-scale strong gravitational lenses. The targeted lens candidates are selected spectroscopically from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database of galaxy spectra for having multiple

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE DETECTION OF THE YOUNG SUPERNOVA REMNANT TYCHO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giordano, F.; Naumann-Godo, M.; Ballet, J.; Bechtol, K.; Funk, S.; Lande, J.; Tanaka, T.; Uchiyama, Y.; Mazziotta, M. N.; Rainò, S.; Tibolla, O.

2012-01-01

After almost three years of data taking in sky-survey mode, the Fermi Large Area Telescope has detected γ-ray emission toward Tycho's supernova remnant (SNR). The Tycho SNR is among the youngest remnants in the Galaxy, originating from a Type Ia Supernova in AD 1572. The γ-ray integral flux from 400 MeV up to 100 GeV has been measured to be (3.5 ± 1.1 stat ± 0.7 syst )× 10 –9 cm –2 s –1 with a photon index of 2.3 ± 0.2 stat ± 0.1 syst . A simple model consistent with TeV, X-ray, and radio data is sufficient to explain the observed emission as originating from π 0 decays as a result of cosmic-ray acceleration and interaction with the ambient medium.

Multi-fractal analysis and lacunarity spectrum of the dark matter haloes in the SDSS-DR7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chacón-Cardona, C.A.; Casas-Miranda, R.A.; Muñoz-Cuartas, J.C.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • We analysed the dark matter in Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. • From the initial sample with 412,468 galaxies, 339,505 dark matter haloes were used. • We found the multifractal and the lacunarity spectrum as radial distance function. • The dark matter set did not achieve at the physical dimension of the space. - Abstract: The dark matter halo distribution of the nearby universe is used to study the fractal behaviour in the proximate universe. The data, which is based on four volume-limited galaxy samples was obtained by Muñoz-Cuartas and Mueller (2012) from the Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-DR7). In order to know the fractal behaviour of the observed universe, from the initial sample which contains 412,468 galaxies and 339,505 dark matter haloes were used as input for the fractal calculations. Using this data we use the sliding-window technique for the dark matter distribution and compute the multi-fractal dimension and the lacunarity spectrum and use it to study its dependence on radial distance in every sample. The transition to homogeneity is not observed in the dark matter halo distribution obtained from the SDSS-DR7 volume-limited galaxy samples; in its place the dark matter halo distribution exhibits a persistent multi-fractal behaviour where the measured dimension does not arrive at the value of the physical dimension of the space, for all structure parameter values of the analysed set, at least up to radial distances of the ordered from 165 Mpc/h from the available centres of each sample. Our results and their implications are discussed in the context of the formation of large-scale structures in the universe.

Detecting supernova neutrinos in Daya Bay Neutrino Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Mingyang; Guo Xinheng; Yang Binglin

2011-01-01

While detecting supernova neutrinos in the Daya Bay neutrino laboratory, several supernova neutrino effects need to be considered, including the supernova shock effects, the neutrino collective effects, the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) effects, and the Earth matter effects. The phenomena of neutrino oscillation is affected by the above effects. Using some ratios of the event numbers of different supernova neutrinos, we propose some possible methods to identify the mass hierarchy and acquire information about the neutrino mixing angle θ13 and neutrino masses. (authors)

A Gemini snapshot survey for double degenerates

Science.gov (United States)

Kilic, Mukremin; Brown, Warren R.; Gianninas, A.; Curd, Brandon; Bell, Keaton J.; Allende Prieto, Carlos

2017-11-01

We present the results from a Gemini snapshot radial-velocity survey of 44 low-mass white-dwarf candidates selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopy. To find sub-hour orbital period binary systems, our time-series spectroscopy had cadences of 2-8 min over a period of 20-30 min. Through follow-up observations at Gemini and the MMT, we identify four double-degenerate binary systems with periods ranging from 53 min to 7 h. The shortest period system, SDSS J123549.88+154319.3, was recently identified as a sub-hour period detached binary by Breedt and collaborators. Here, we refine the orbital and physical parameters of this system. High-speed and time-domain survey photometry observations do not reveal eclipses or other photometric effects in any of our targets. We compare the period distribution of these four systems with the orbital period distribution of known double white dwarfs; the median period decreases from 0.64 to 0.24 d for M = 0.3-0.5 M⊙ to M < 0.3 M⊙ white dwarfs. However, we do not find a statistically significant correlation between the orbital period and white-dwarf mass.

Supernova cooling in a dark matter smog

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Yue

2014-01-01

A light hidden gauge boson with kinetic mixing with the usual photon is a popular setup in theories of dark matter. The supernova cooling via radiating the hidden boson is known to put an important constraint on the mixing. I consider the possible role dark matter, which under reasonable assumptions naturally exists inside supernova, can play in the cooling picture. Because the interaction between the hidden gauge boson and DM is likely unsuppressed, even a small number of dark matter compared to protons inside the supernova could dramatically shorten the free streaming length of the hidden boson. A picture of a dark matter “smog” inside the supernova, which substantially relaxes the cooling constraint, is discussed in detail

Supernova cooling in a dark matter smog

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Yue [Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

2014-11-27

A light hidden gauge boson with kinetic mixing with the usual photon is a popular setup in theories of dark matter. The supernova cooling via radiating the hidden boson is known to put an important constraint on the mixing. I consider the possible role dark matter, which under reasonable assumptions naturally exists inside supernova, can play in the cooling picture. Because the interaction between the hidden gauge boson and DM is likely unsuppressed, even a small number of dark matter compared to protons inside the supernova could dramatically shorten the free streaming length of the hidden boson. A picture of a dark matter “smog” inside the supernova, which substantially relaxes the cooling constraint, is discussed in detail.

KEGS Discovery of 28 Supernova Candidates in the K2 Campaign 17 Field with DECam

Science.gov (United States)

Narayan, G.; Rest, A.; Strampelli, G. M.; Zenteno, A.; James, D. J.; Smith, R. C.; Tucker, B. E.; Garnavich, P.; Margheim, S.; Kasen, D.; Olling, R.; Shaya, E.; Buron, F. Forster; Villar, V. A.

2018-05-01

The Kepler Extra-Galactic Survey (KEGS, see http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/kegs/ ) reports the discovery of 28 supernova candidates with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam, NOAO 2017B-0285) on the 4m Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO).

Pulsar Wind Bubble Blowout from a Supernova

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blondin, John M. [Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8202 (United States); Chevalier, Roger A., E-mail: blondin@ncsu.edu [Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400325, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325 (United States)

2017-08-20

For pulsars born in supernovae, the expansion of the shocked pulsar wind nebula is initially in the freely expanding ejecta of the supernova. While the nebula is in the inner flat part of the ejecta density profile, the swept-up, accelerating shell is subject to the Rayleigh–Taylor instability. We carried out two- and three-dimensional simulations showing that the instability gives rise to filamentary structure during this initial phase but does not greatly change the dynamics of the expanding shell. The flow is effectively self-similar. If the shell is powered into the outer steep part of the density profile, the shell is subject to a robust Rayleigh–Taylor instability in which the shell is fragmented and the shocked pulsar wind breaks out through the shell. The flow is not self-similar in this phase. For a wind nebula to reach this phase requires that the deposited pulsar energy be greater than the supernova energy, or that the initial pulsar period be in the ms range for a typical 10{sup 51} erg supernova. These conditions are satisfied by some magnetar models for Type I superluminous supernovae. We also consider the Crab Nebula, which may be associated with a low energy supernova for which this scenario applies.

Core-Collapse Supernovae, Neutrinos, and Gravitational Waves

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ott, C.D. [TAPIR, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California (United States); Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, Kashiwa, Chiba (Japan); O' Connor, E.P. [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Gossan, S.; Abdikamalov, E.; Gamma, U.C.T. [TAPIR, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California (United States); Drasco, S. [Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa (United States); TAPIR, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California (United States)

2013-02-15

Core-collapse supernovae are among the most energetic cosmic cataclysms. They are prodigious emitters of neutrinos and quite likely strong galactic sources of gravitational waves. Observation of both neutrinos and gravitational waves from the next galactic or near extragalactic core-collapse supernova will yield a wealth of information on the explosion mechanism, but also on the structure and angular momentum of the progenitor star, and on aspects of fundamental physics such as the equation of state of nuclear matter at high densities and low entropies. In this contribution to the proceedings of the Neutrino 2012 conference, we summarize recent progress made in the theoretical understanding and modeling of core-collapse supernovae. In this, our emphasis is on multi-dimensional processes involved in the explosion mechanism such as neutrino-driven convection and the standing accretion shock instability. As an example of how supernova neutrinos can be used to probe fundamental physics, we discuss how the rise time of the electron antineutrino flux observed in detectors can be used to probe the neutrino mass hierarchy. Finally, we lay out aspects of the neutrino and gravitational-wave signature of core-collapse supernovae and discuss the power of combined analysis of neutrino and gravitational wave data from the next galactic core-collapse supernova.

Core-Collapse Supernovae, Neutrinos, and Gravitational Waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ott, C.D.; O'Connor, E.P.; Gossan, S.; Abdikamalov, E.; Gamma, U.C.T.; Drasco, S.

2013-01-01

Core-collapse supernovae are among the most energetic cosmic cataclysms. They are prodigious emitters of neutrinos and quite likely strong galactic sources of gravitational waves. Observation of both neutrinos and gravitational waves from the next galactic or near extragalactic core-collapse supernova will yield a wealth of information on the explosion mechanism, but also on the structure and angular momentum of the progenitor star, and on aspects of fundamental physics such as the equation of state of nuclear matter at high densities and low entropies. In this contribution to the proceedings of the Neutrino 2012 conference, we summarize recent progress made in the theoretical understanding and modeling of core-collapse supernovae. In this, our emphasis is on multi-dimensional processes involved in the explosion mechanism such as neutrino-driven convection and the standing accretion shock instability. As an example of how supernova neutrinos can be used to probe fundamental physics, we discuss how the rise time of the electron antineutrino flux observed in detectors can be used to probe the neutrino mass hierarchy. Finally, we lay out aspects of the neutrino and gravitational-wave signature of core-collapse supernovae and discuss the power of combined analysis of neutrino and gravitational wave data from the next galactic core-collapse supernova

Physical processes in collapse driven supernova

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mayle, R.W.

1985-11-01

A model of the supernova explosion is discussed. The method of neutrino transport is discussed, since the explosive mechanism depends on neutrino heating of the material behind the accretion shock. The core region of these exploding stars becomes unstable to convective motions during the supernova evolution. Convective mixing allows more neutrinos to escape from under the neutrinosphere, and thus increases the amount of heating by neutrinos. An approximate method of incorporating convection is described, and some results of including convection in a computer model is presented. Another phenomena is seen in computer simulations of supernova, oscillations in the neutrino luminosity and mass accretion rate onto the protoneutron star. The last topic discussed in this thesis describes the attempt to understand this oscillation by perturbation of the steady state solution to equations approximating the complex physical processes occurring in the late time supernova. 42 refs., 31 figs

Physical processes in collapse driven supernova

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mayle, R.W.

1985-11-01

A model of the supernova explosion is discussed. The method of neutrino transport is discussed, since the explosive mechanism depends on neutrino heating of the material behind the accretion shock. The core region of these exploding stars becomes unstable to convective motions during the supernova evolution. Convective mixing allows more neutrinos to escape from under the neutrinosphere, and thus increases the amount of heating by neutrinos. An approximate method of incorporating convection is described, and some results of including convection in a computer model is presented. Another phenomena is seen in computer simulations of supernova, oscillations in the neutrino luminosity and mass accretion rate onto the protoneutron star. The last topic discussed in this thesis describes the attempt to understand this oscillation by perturbation of the steady state solution to equations approximating the complex physical processes occurring in the late time supernova. 42 refs., 31 figs.

Supernova will continue to glow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1987-01-01

On the night of 23/24 February 1987 a new supernova called SN 1987A, was discovered. Within a few hours of the announcement of the discovery, the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) began a series of observations. In this article, the importance of supernovae-exploding stars, and what the SAAO has discovered so far from SN 1987A are discussed

Neutrinos in supernovae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooperstein, J.

1986-10-01

The role of neutrinos in Type II supernovae is discussed. An overall view of the neutrino luminosity as expected theoretically is presented. The different weak interactions involved are assessed from the standpoint of how they exchange energy, momentum, and lepton number. Particular attention is paid to entropy generation and the path to thermal and chemical equilibration, and to the phenomenon of trapping. Various methods used to calculate the neutrino flows are considered. These include trapping and leakage schemes, distribution-averaged transfer, and multi-energy group methods. The information obtained from the neutrinos caught from Supernova 1987a is briefly evaluated. 55 refs., 7 figs

HUBBLE SPIES MOST DISTANT SUPERNOVA EVER SEEN

Science.gov (United States)

2002-01-01

Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers pinpointed a blaze of light from the farthest supernova ever seen, a dying star that exploded 10 billion years ago. The detection and analysis of this supernova, called 1997ff, is greatly bolstering the case for the existence of a mysterious form of dark energy pervading the cosmos, making galaxies hurl ever faster away from each other. The supernova also offers the first glimpse of the universe slowing down soon after the Big Bang, before it began speeding up. This panel of images, taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, shows the supernova's cosmic neighborhood; its home galaxy; and the dying star itself. Astronomers found this supernova in 1997 during a second look at the northern Hubble Deep Field [top panel], a tiny region of sky first explored by the Hubble telescope in 1995. The image shows the myriad of galaxies Hubble spied when it peered across more than 10 billion years of time and space. The white box marks the area where the supernova dwells. The photo at bottom left is a close-up view of that region. The white arrow points to the exploding star's home galaxy, a faint elliptical. Its redness is due to the billions of old stars residing there. The picture at bottom right shows the supernova itself, distinguished by the white dot in the center. Although this stellar explosion is among the brightest beacons in the universe, it could not be seen directly in the Hubble images. The stellar blast is so distant from Earth that its light is buried in the glow of its host galaxy. To find the supernova, astronomers compared two pictures of the 'deep field' taken two years apart. One image was of the original Hubble Deep Field; the other, the follow-up deep-field picture taken in 1997. Using special computer software, astronomers then measured the light from the galaxies in both images. Noting any changes in light output between the two pictures, the computer identified a blob of light in the 1997 picture

CLUSTER LENSING PROFILES DERIVED FROM A REDSHIFT ENHANCEMENT OF MAGNIFIED BOSS-SURVEY GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coupon, Jean; Umetsu, Keiichi; Broadhurst, Tom

2013-01-01

We report the first detection of a redshift-depth enhancement of background galaxies magnified by foreground clusters. Using 300,000 BOSS survey galaxies with accurate spectroscopic redshifts, we measure their mean redshift depth behind four large samples of optically selected clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) surveys, totaling 5000-15,000 clusters. A clear trend of increasing mean redshift toward the cluster centers is found, averaged over each of the four cluster samples. In addition, we find similar but noisier behavior for an independent X-ray sample of 158 clusters lying in the foreground of the current BOSS sky area. By adopting the mass-richness relationships appropriate for each survey, we compare our results with theoretical predictions for each of the four SDSS cluster catalogs. The radial form of this redshift enhancement is well fitted by a richness-to-mass weighted composite Navarro-Frenk-White profile with an effective mass ranging between M 200 ∼ 1.4-1.8 × 10 14 M ☉ for the optically detected cluster samples, and M 200 ∼ 5.0 × 10 14 M ☉ for the X-ray sample. This lensing detection helps to establish the credibility of these SDSS cluster surveys, and provides a normalization for their respective mass-richness relations. In the context of the upcoming bigBOSS, Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph, and EUCLID-NISP spectroscopic surveys, this method represents an independent means of deriving the masses of cluster samples for examining the cosmological evolution, and provides a relatively clean consistency check of weak-lensing measurements, free from the systematic limitations of shear calibration

A Multi-Survey Approach to White Dwarf Discovery

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-01

LSPM-North), the Two Micron All Sky Survey ( 2MASS ), and the USNO-B1.0 catalog, we use a succession of methods to isolate white dwarf (WD) candidates...including SDSS, the Two Micron All Sky Survey ( 2MASS ; Skrutskie et al. 2006), USNO-B1.0 (Monet et al. 2003), and the proper motion survey of Lépine & Shara...Shara Proper Motion North Catalog (LSPM-North), the Two Micron All Sky Survey ( 2MASS ), and the USNO-B1.0 catalog, we use a succession of methods to

redMaPPer. I. Algorithm and SDSS DR8 catalog

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rykoff, E. S.; Rozo, E.; Reddick, R.; Wechsler, R. H. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Busha, M. T. [Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Zürich, 8057 Zürich (Switzerland); Cunha, C. E. [Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94305 (United States); Finoguenov, A. [Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki (Finland); Evrard, A.; Koester, B. P. [Physics Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Hao, J.; Nord, B. [Center for Particle Astrophysics, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Leauthaud, A. [Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8583 (Japan); Pierre, M.; Sadibekova, T. [Service d' Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex (France); Sheldon, E. S. [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973 (United States)

2014-04-20

We describe redMaPPer, a new red sequence cluster finder specifically designed to make optimal use of ongoing and near-future large photometric surveys. The algorithm has multiple attractive features: (1) it can iteratively self-train the red sequence model based on a minimal spectroscopic training sample, an important feature for high-redshift surveys. (2) It can handle complex masks with varying depth. (3) It produces cluster-appropriate random points to enable large-scale structure studies. (4) All clusters are assigned a full redshift probability distribution P(z). (5) Similarly, clusters can have multiple candidate central galaxies, each with corresponding centering probabilities. (6) The algorithm is parallel and numerically efficient: it can run a Dark Energy Survey-like catalog in ∼500 CPU hours. (7) The algorithm exhibits excellent photometric redshift performance, the richness estimates are tightly correlated with external mass proxies, and the completeness and purity of the corresponding catalogs are superb. We apply the redMaPPer algorithm to ∼10, 000 deg{sup 2} of SDSS DR8 data and present the resulting catalog of ∼25,000 clusters over the redshift range z in [0.08, 0.55]. The redMaPPer photometric redshifts are nearly Gaussian, with a scatter σ {sub z} ≈ 0.006 at z ≈ 0.1, increasing to σ {sub z} ≈ 0.02 at z ≈ 0.5 due to increased photometric noise near the survey limit. The median value for |Δz|/(1 + z) for the full sample is 0.006. The incidence of projection effects is low (≤5%). Detailed performance comparisons of the redMaPPer DR8 cluster catalog to X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich catalogs are presented in a companion paper.

Supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae and their interaction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Swaluw, E. van der

2001-01-01

A supernova explosion marks the end of the evolution of a massive star. What remains of the exploded star is a high density neutron star or a black hole. The material which has been ejected by the supernova explosion will manifest itself as a supernova remnant: a hot bubble of gas expanding in the

Supernova neutrinos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

John Beacom

2003-01-01

We propose that neutrino-proton elastic scattering, ν + p → ν + p, can be used for the detection of supernova neutrinos. Though the proton recoil kinetic energy spectrum is soft, with T p ≅ 2E ν 2 /M p , and the scintillation light output from slow, heavily ionizing protons is quenched, the yield above a realistic threshold is nearly as large as that from (bar ν) e + p → e + + n. In addition, the measured proton spectrum is related to the incident neutrino spectrum, which solves a long-standing problem of how to separately measure the total energy release and temperature of ν μ , ν τ , (bar ν) μ , and (bar ν) τ . The ability to detect this signal would give detectors like KamLAND and Borexino a crucial and unique role in the quest to detect supernova neutrinos