1,528 research outputs found
The 8 o'clock Arc: A Serendipitous Discovery of a Strongly Lensed Lyman Break Galaxy in the SDSS DR4 Imaging Data
We report on the serendipitous discovery of the brightest Lyman Break Galaxy
(LBG) currently known, a galaxy at z=2.73 that is being strongly lensed by the
z=0.38 Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) SDSS J002240.91+143110.4. The arc of this
gravitational lens system, which we have dubbed the "8 o'clock arc" due to its
time of discovery, was initially identified in the imaging data of the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4 (SDSS DR4); followup observations on the
Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC) 3.5m telescope at Apache Point
Observatory confirmed the lensing nature of this system and led to the
identification of the arc's spectrum as that of an LBG. The arc has a spectrum
and a redshift remarkably similar to those of the previous record-holder for
brightest LBG (MS 1512-cB58, a.k.a "cB58"), but, with an estimated total
magnitude of (g,r,i) = (20.0,19.2,19.0) and surface brightness of
(mu_g,mu_r,mu_i) = (23.3, 22.5, 22.3) mag/arcsec^2, the 8 o'clock arc is thrice
as bright. The 8 o'clock arc, which consists of three lensed images of the LBG,
is 162deg (9.6arcsec) long and has a length-to-width ratio of 6:1. A fourth
image of the LBG -- a counter-image -- can also be identified in the ARC 3.5m
g-band images. A simple lens model for the system assuming a singular
isothermal ellipsoid potential yields an Einstein radius of 2.91+/-0.14 arcsec,
a total mass for the lensing LRG (within the (10.6+/-0.5)/h kpc enclosed by the
lensed images) of 1.04x10^12/h Msun, and a magnification factor for the LBG of
12.3(+15/-3.6). The LBG itself is intrinsically quite luminous (approximately
6L*) and shows indications of massive recent star formation, perhaps as high as
160/h Msun/year.Comment: 4 pages 5 figures, submitted to ApJ Letter
Rb, Rc and Jet Distributions at the Tevatron in a Model with an extra vector boson
We show that the reported anomalies in and can be interpreted as
the effect of a heavy vector boson \zprime\ universally coupled to - and
-type quarks separately and nearly decoupled from leptons. This extra vector
boson could then also naturally explain the apparent excess of the jet rate at
large transverse momentum observed at CDF.Comment: 10 pages, latex, 4 eps figures. Revised version, including corrected
typos in figures and formulas, and addendum on low energy neutral current
data. To appear on Phys Lett
Rest-Frame Optical Spectra of Three Strongly Lensed Galaxies at z~2
We present Keck II NIRSPEC rest-frame optical spectra for three recently
discovered lensed galaxies: the Cosmic Horseshoe (z = 2.38), the Clone (z =
2.00), and SDSS J090122.37+181432.3 (z = 2.26). The boost in signal-to-noise
ratio (S/N) from gravitational lensing provides an unusually detailed view of
the physical conditions in these objects. A full complement of high S/N
rest-frame optical emission lines is measured, spanning from rest-frame 3600 to
6800AA, including robust detections of fainter lines such as H-gamma,
[SII]6717,6732, and in one instance [NeII]3869. SDSS J090122.37+181432.3 shows
evidence for AGN activity, and therefore we focus our analysis on star-forming
regions in the Cosmic Horseshoe and the Clone. For these two objects, we
estimate a wide range of physical properties, including star-formation rate
(SFR), metallicity, dynamical mass, and dust extinction. In all respects, the
lensed objects appear fairly typical of UV-selected star-forming galaxies at
z~2. The Clone occupies a position on the emission-line diagnostic diagram of
[OIII]/H-beta vs. [NII]/H-alpha that is offset from the locations of z~0
galaxies. Our new NIRSPEC measurements may provide quantitative insights into
why high-redshift objects display such properties. From the [SII] line ratio,
high electron densities (~1000 cm^(-3)) are inferred compared to local
galaxies, and [OIII]/[OII] line ratios indicate higher ionization parameters
compared to the local population. Building on previous similar results at z~2,
these measurements provide further evidence (at high S/N) that star-forming
regions are significantly different in high-redshift galaxies, compared to
their local counterparts (abridged).Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Discovery of A Very Bright, Strongly-Lensed z=2 Galaxy in the SDSS DR5
We report on the discovery of a very bright z = 2.00 star-forming galaxy that
is strongly lensed by a foreground z=0.422 luminous red galaxy (LRG). This
system was found in a systematic search for bright arcs lensed by LRGs and
brightest cluster galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5
sample. Follow-up observations on the Subaru 8.2m telescope on Mauna Kea and
the Astrophysical Research Consortium 3.5m telescope at Apache Point
Observatory confirmed the lensing nature of this system. A simple lens model
for the system, assuming a singular isothermal ellipsoid mass distribution,
yields an Einstein radius of 3.82 +/- 0.03 arcsec or 14.8 +/- 0.1 kpc/h at the
lens redshift. The total projected mass enclosed within the Einstein radius is
2.10 +/- 0.03 x 10^12 M_sun/h, and the magnification factor for the source
galaxy is 27 +/- 1. Combining the lens model with our gVriz photometry, we find
an (unlensed) star formation rate for the source galaxy of 32 M_sun/h / yr,
adopting a fiducial constant star formation rate model with an age of 100 Myr
and E(B-V) = 0.25. With an apparent magnitude of r = 19.9, this system is among
the very brightest lensed z >= 2 galaxies, and provides an excellent
opportunity to pursue detailed studies of the physical properties of an
individual high-redshift star-forming galaxy.Comment: 31 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables, submitted to Ap
DECam integration tests on telescope simulator
The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is a next generation optical survey aimed at
measuring the expansion history of the universe using four probes: weak
gravitational lensing, galaxy cluster counts, baryon acoustic oscillations, and
Type Ia supernovae. To perform the survey, the DES Collaboration is building
the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), a 3 square degree, 570 Megapixel CCD camera
which will be mounted at the Blanco 4-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo
Inter- American Observatory. DES will survey 5000 square degrees of the
southern galactic cap in 5 filters (g, r, i, z, Y). DECam will be comprised of
74 250 micron thick fully depleted CCDs: 62 2k x 4k CCDs for imaging and 12 2k
x 2k CCDs for guiding and focus. Construction of DECam is nearing completion.
In order to verify that the camera meets technical specifications for DES and
to reduce the time required to commission the instrument, we have constructed a
full sized telescope simulator and performed full system testing and
integration prior to shipping. To complete this comprehensive test phase we
have simulated a DES observing run in which we have collected 4 nights worth of
data. We report on the results of these unique tests performed for the DECam
and its impact on the experiments progress.Comment: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Technology and
Instrumentation in Particle Physics (TIPP 2011). To appear in Physics
Procedia. 8 pages, 3 figure
ProtoDESI: First On-Sky Technology Demonstration for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is under construction to
measure the expansion history of the universe using the baryon acoustic
oscillations technique. The spectra of 35 million galaxies and quasars over
14,000 square degrees will be measured during a 5-year survey. A new prime
focus corrector for the Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory will
deliver light to 5,000 individually targeted fiber-fed robotic positioners. The
fibers in turn feed ten broadband multi-object spectrographs. We describe the
ProtoDESI experiment, that was installed and commissioned on the 4-m Mayall
telescope from August 14 to September 30, 2016. ProtoDESI was an on-sky
technology demonstration with the goal to reduce technical risks associated
with aligning optical fibers with targets using robotic fiber positioners and
maintaining the stability required to operate DESI. The ProtoDESI prime focus
instrument, consisting of three fiber positioners, illuminated fiducials, and a
guide camera, was installed behind the existing Mosaic corrector on the Mayall
telescope. A Fiber View Camera was mounted in the Cassegrain cage of the
telescope and provided feedback metrology for positioning the fibers. ProtoDESI
also provided a platform for early integration of hardware with the DESI
Instrument Control System that controls the subsystems, provides communication
with the Telescope Control System, and collects instrument telemetry data.
Lacking a spectrograph, ProtoDESI monitored the output of the fibers using a
Fiber Photometry Camera mounted on the prime focus instrument. ProtoDESI was
successful in acquiring targets with the robotically positioned fibers and
demonstrated that the DESI guiding requirements can be met.Comment: Accepted versio
Dark energy with gravitational lens time delays
Strong lensing gravitational time delays are a powerful and cost effective
probe of dark energy. Recent studies have shown that a single lens can provide
a distance measurement with 6-7 % accuracy (including random and systematic
uncertainties), provided sufficient data are available to determine the time
delay and reconstruct the gravitational potential of the deflector.
Gravitational-time delays are a low redshift (z~0-2) probe and thus allow one
to break degeneracies in the interpretation of data from higher-redshift probes
like the cosmic microwave background in terms of the dark energy equation of
state. Current studies are limited by the size of the sample of known lensed
quasars, but this situation is about to change. Even in this decade, wide field
imaging surveys are likely to discover thousands of lensed quasars, enabling
the targeted study of ~100 of these systems and resulting in substantial gains
in the dark energy figure of merit. In the next decade, a further order of
magnitude improvement will be possible with the 10000 systems expected to be
detected and measured with LSST and Euclid. To fully exploit these gains, we
identify three priorities. First, support for the development of software
required for the analysis of the data. Second, in this decade, small robotic
telescopes (1-4m in diameter) dedicated to monitoring of lensed quasars will
transform the field by delivering accurate time delays for ~100 systems. Third,
in the 2020's, LSST will deliver 1000's of time delays; the bottleneck will
instead be the aquisition and analysis of high resolution imaging follow-up.
Thus, the top priority for the next decade is to support fast high resolution
imaging capabilities, such as those enabled by the James Webb Space Telescope
and next generation adaptive optics systems on large ground based telescopes.Comment: White paper submitted to SNOWMASS201
Physics at a Neutrino Factory
In response to the growing interest in building a Neutrino Factory to produce
high intensity beams of electron- and muon-neutrinos and antineutrinos, in
October 1999 the Fermilab Directorate initiated two six-month studies. The
first study, organized by N. Holtkamp and D. Finley, was to investigate the
technical feasibility of an intense neutrino source based on a muon storage
ring. This design study has produced a report in which the basic conclusion is
that a Neutrino Factory is technically feasible, although it requires an
aggressive R&D program. The second study, which is the subject of this report,
was to explore the physics potential of a Neutrino Factory as a function of the
muon beam energy and intensity, and for oscillation physics, the potential as a
function of baseline.Comment: 133 pages, 64 figures. Report to the Fermilab Directorate. Available
from http://www.fnal.gov/projects/muon_collider/ This version fixes some
printing problem
Dynamical classification of Trans-Neptunian Objects detected by the Dark Energy Survey
FINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOS - FINEPFUNDAÇÃO CARLOS CHAGAS FILHO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO - FAPERJCONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQThe outer solar system contains a large number of small bodies (known as trans-Neptunian objects or TNOs) that exhibit diverse types of dynamical behavior. The classification of bodies in this distant region into dynamical classes-subpopulations that expe1594113FINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOS - FINEPFUNDAÇÃO CARLOS CHAGAS FILHO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO - FAPERJCONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOS - FINEPFUNDAÇÃO CARLOS CHAGAS FILHO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO - FAPERJCONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQSem informaçãoSem informação465376/2014-2Funding for the DES Projects has been provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Ministry of Science and Education of Spain, the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom, the Higher Educati
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