F-VIPGI: a new adapted version of VIPGI for FORS2 spectroscopy. Application to a sample of 16 X-ray selected galaxy clusters at 0.6 < z < 1.2

The goal of this paper is twofold. Firstly, we present F-VIPGI, a new version of the VIMOS Interactive Pipeline and Graphical Interface (VIPGI) adapted to handle FORS2 spectroscopic data. Secondly, we investigate the spectro-photometric properties of a sample of galaxies residing in distant X-ray selected galaxy clusters, the optical spectra of which were reduced with this new pipeline. We provide basic technical information about the innovations of the new software and, as a demonstration of the capabilities of the new pipeline, we show results obtained for 16 distant (0.65 < z < 1.25) X-ray luminous galaxy clusters selected within the XMM-Newton Distant Cluster Project. We performed a spectral indices analysis of the extracted optical spectra of their members, based on which we created a library of composite high signal-to-noise ratio spectra representative of passive and star-forming galaxies residing in distant galaxy clusters. The spectroscopic templates are provided to the community in electronic form. By comparing the spectro-photometric properties of our templates with the local and distant galaxy population residing in different environments, we find that passive galaxies in clusters appear to be well evolved already at z = 0.8 and even more so than the field galaxies at similar redshift. Even though these findings would point toward a significant acceleration of galaxy evolution in densest environments, we cannot exclude the importance of the mass as the main evolutionary driving element either. The latter effect may indeed be justified by the similarity of our composite passive spectrum with the luminous red galaxies template at intermediate redshift.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, in press on Astronomy and Astrophysic

Probing deviations from General Relativity with the Euclid spectroscopic survey

We discuss the ability of the planned Euclid mission to detect deviations from General Relativity using its extensive redshift survey of more than 50 Million galaxies. Constraints on the gravity theory are placed measuring the growth rate of structure within 14 redshift bins between z=0.7 and z=2. The growth rate is measured from redshift-space distortions, i.e. the anisotropy of the clustering pattern induced by coherent peculiar motions. This is performed in the overall context of the Euclid spectroscopic survey, which will simultaneously measure the expansion history of the universe, using the power spectrum and its baryonic features as a standard ruler, accounting for the relative degeneracies of expansion and growth parameters. The resulting expected errors on the growth rate in the different redshift bins, expressed through the quantity f\sigma_8, range between 1.3% and 4.4%. We discuss the optimisation of the survey configuration and investigate the important dependence on the growth parameterisation and the assumed cosmological model. We show how a specific parameterisation could actually drive the design towards artificially restricted regions of the parameter space. Finally, in the framework of the popular "\gamma -parameterisation", we show that the Euclid spectroscopic survey alone will already be able to provide substantial evidence (in Bayesian terms) if the growth index differs from the GR value \gamma=0.55 by at least \sim 0.13. This will combine with the comparable inference power provided by the Euclid weak lensing survey, resulting in Euclid's unique ability to provide a decisive test of modified gravity.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, accepted by MNRA

SIPGI: an interactive pipeline for spectroscopic data reduction

SIPGI is a spectroscopic pipeline for the data reduction of optical/near-infrared data acquired by slit-based spectrographs. SIPGI is a complete spectroscopic data reduction environment retaining the high level of flexibility and accuracy typical of the standard "by-hand" reduction methods but with a significantly higher level of efficiency. This is obtained exploiting three main concepts: 1) a built-in data organiser to classify the data, together with a graphical interface; 2) the instrument model (analytic description of the main calibration relations); 3) the design and flexibility of the reduction recipes: the number of tasks required to perform a complete reduction is minimised, preserving the possibility to verify the accuracy of the main stages of data-reduction process. The current version of SIPGI manages data from the MODS and LUCI spectrographs mounted at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) with the idea to extend SIPGI to support other through-slit spectrographs.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure, to appear in proceedings of the Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (ADASS) XXXII, virtual conference held 31 October - 4 November 202

Easylife: a Conceptual Framework for Semi-automatic Survey Management

Easylife is a conceptual framework aimed at the semi-automatic management of spectroscopic surveys. Conceived in 2012 (Garilli et al. 2012) as a tool to manage the VIPERS spectroscopic survey (Guzzo et al. 2014) and based on a prototype version of the FASE framework (Grosböl et al. 2012), it evolved into a survey-independent generalised framework following the MVC (Model-View-Controller) paradigm. Easylife has been deeply modified to exploit PNGS (Pandora Next Generation Software) APIs (Fumana et al. 2019) and FASE stable version, and is currently used to manage the ongoing VANDELS ESO public spectroscopic survey carried out using the VIMOS@VLT spectrograph

INTEGRAL @ INAF-IASF Milano: from Archives to Science

In this work, we give an overview of the INTEGRAL archival activities performed at INAF-IASF Milano, along with highlights of the scientific results obtained on High Mass X-ray Binaries. A few years after the launch of INTEGRAL, in order to increment and ease the exploitation of the data at INAF-IASF Milano, we prepared and maintained an INTEGRAL archive named ’GOLIA’. This gave us full control over what was being done and how, and enabled unexpected discoveries and systematic studies, stimulating new investigations and collaborations. Indeed, GOLIA allowed us to discover the (currently only) outburst periodicity from a Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient: IGRJ11215-5952. Starting from this discovery, and thanks to the population study approach offered by such an archive, we undertook a journey to understand Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients within the wider scenario of High Mass X-ray Binaries, tackling several long-term aspects: cumulative luminosity distributions, energy and temporal properties of bright flares, large-scale wind structures. Given the very productive outcome of such an approach, we decided to build a second generation archive in IASF Milano, named ANITA (A New InTegral Archive), with improved hardware and software performances

1.65 micron H-band Surface Photometry of Galaxies. X: Structural and Dynamical Properties of Elliptical Galaxies

We analyse the structural and dynamical properties of a sample of 324 nearby elliptical and dwarf elliptical galaxies observed during an extensive NIR survey in H-band (1.65 micron). The Fundamental Plane (FP) is determined and a significant tilt is assessed. The origins of such a tilt are investigated by means of a spherically symmetric, isotropic pressure supported dynamical model relying on the observed surface brightness profiles. The systematic variation of the shape coefficient converting the measured central velocity dispersion $sigma_0$ into the virial rms velocity $sigma_{rms}$ is found to be the main cause of the tilt, due to aperture effects. Moreover the ratio between the dynamical mass $M_{dyn}$ and the total H-band luminosity $L_H$ turns out to be roughly constant along the luminosity sequence of ellipticals: H-band luminosity is therefore a reliable and cheap estimator of the dynamical mass of the Es.Comment: 28 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication on Ap

The zCOSMOS 10k-Bright Spectroscopic Sample

We present spectroscopic redshifts of a large sample of galaxies with I_(AB) < 22.5 in the COSMOS field, measured from spectra of 10,644 objects that have been obtained in the first two years of observations in the zCOSMOS-bright redshift survey. These include a statistically complete subset of 10,109 objects. The average accuracy of individual redshifts is 110 km s^(–1), independent of redshift. The reliability of individual redshifts is described by a Confidence Class that has been empirically calibrated through repeat spectroscopic observations of over 600 galaxies. There is very good agreement between spectroscopic and photometric redshifts for the most secure Confidence Classes. For the less secure Confidence Classes, there is a good correspondence between the fraction of objects with a consistent photometric redshift and the spectroscopic repeatability, suggesting that the photometric redshifts can be used to indicate which of the less secure spectroscopic redshifts are likely right and which are probably wrong, and to give an indication of the nature of objects for which we failed to determine a redshift. Using this approach, we can construct a spectroscopic sample that is 99% reliable and which is 88% complete in the sample as a whole, and 95% complete in the redshift range 0.5 < z < 0.8. The luminosity and mass completeness levels of the zCOSMOS-bright sample of galaxies is also discussed

Pancreatic hyperamylasemia during acute gastroenteritis: incidence and clinical relevance

BACKGROUND: Many case reports of acute pancreatitis have been reported but, up to now, pancreatic abnormalities during acute gastroenteritis have not been studied prospectively. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the incidence and the clinical significance of hyperamylasemia in 507 consecutive adult patients with acute gastroenteritis. METHODS: The clinical significance of hyperamylasemia, related predisposing factors and severity of gastroenteritis were assessed. RESULTS: Hyperamylasemia was detected in 10.2 % of patients studied. Although amylasemia was found over four times the normal values in three cases, the clinical features of acute pancreatitis were recorded in only one case (0.1%). Hyperamylasemia was more likely (17%) where a microorganism could be identified in the stools (p < 0.01). Among patients with positive stool samples, Salmonella spp. and in particular S. enteritidis, was the microorganism most frequently associated with hyperamylasemia [17/84 (20.2 %) and 10/45 (22.2%), respectively], followed by Rotavirus, Clostridium difficile and Campylobacter spp. Patients with hyperamylasemia had more severe gastroenteritis with an increased incidence of fever (80 % vs 50.6 %, O.R. 3.0; P < 0.01), dehydration (18% vs 8.5%; O.R. 2.5; P < 0.05), and a higher mean number of evacuations per day (9.2 vs 7.5; P < 0.05) than those with amylasemia in the normal range. Hyperamylasemia was significantly associated with cholelithiasis, (30.0 % vs 10.7%, O.R. 3.5; P < 0.01) and chronic gastritis or duodenal ulceration (22.0 % vs 10.2%, O.R. 2.4, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Hyperamylasemia is relatively frequent, and is associated with severe gastroenteritis. However, acute pancreatitis in the setting of acute gastroenteritis, is a rare event