79 research outputs found
Measuring galaxy [OII] emission line doublet with future ground-based wide-field spectroscopic surveys
The next generation of wide-field spectroscopic redshift surveys will map the
large-scale galaxy distribution in the redshift range 0.7< z<2 to measure
baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO). The primary optical signature used in
this redshift range comes from the [OII] emission line doublet, which provides
a unique redshift identification that can minimize confusion with other single
emission lines. To derive the required spectrograph resolution for these
redshift surveys, we simulate observations of the [OII] (3727,3729) doublet for
various instrument resolutions, and line velocities. We foresee two strategies
about the choice of the resolution for future spectrographs for BAO surveys.
For bright [OII] emitter surveys ([OII] flux ~30.10^{-17} erg /cm2/s like
SDSS-IV/eBOSS), a resolution of R~3300 allows the separation of 90 percent of
the doublets. The impact of the sky lines on the completeness in redshift is
less than 6 percent. For faint [OII] emitter surveys ([OII] flux ~10.10^{-17}
erg /cm2/s like DESi), the detection improves continuously with resolution, so
we recommend the highest possible resolution, the limit being given by the
number of pixels (4k by 4k) on the detector and the number of spectroscopic
channels (2 or 3).Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur
The M31 Globular Cluster Luminosity Function
We combine our compilation of photometry of M31 globular cluster and probable
cluster candidates with new near-infrared photometry for 30 objects. Using
these data we determine the globular cluster luminosity function (GCLF) in
multiple filters for the M31 halo clusters. We find a GCLF peak and dispersion
of V_0^0=16.84 +/-0.11, sigma_t=0.93 +/- 0.13 (Gaussian sigma = 1.20 +/- 0.14),
consistent with previous results. The halo GCLF peak colors (e.g., B^0_0 -
V^0_0) are consistent with the average cluster colors. We also measure V-band
GCLF parameters for several other subsamples of the M31 globular cluster
population. The inner third of the clusters have a GCLF peak significantly
brigher than that of the outer clusters (delta V =~ 0.5mag). Dividing the
sample by both galacticentric distance and metallicity, we find that the GCLF
also varies with metallicity, as the metal-poor clusters are on average 0.36
mag fainter than the metal-rich clusters. Our modeling of the catalog selection
effects suggests that they are not the cause of the measured differences, but a
more complete, less-contaminated M31 cluster catalog is required for
confirmation. Our results imply that dynamical destruction is not the only
factor causing variation in the M31 GCLF: metallicity, age, and cluster initial
mass function may also be important.Comment: AJ, in press. 36 pages, including 7 figure
Correlated Supernova Systematics and Ground Based Surveys
Supernova distances provide a direct probe of cosmic acceleration,
constraining dark energy. This leverage increases with survey redshift depth at
a rate bounded by the systematic uncertainties. We investigate the impact of a
wavelength-dependent, global correlation model of systematics in comparison to
the standard local-redshift correlation model. This can arise from subclass
uncertainties as features in the supernova spectrum redshift out of the
observer photometric filters or spectral range. We explore the impact of such a
systematic on ground-based supernova surveys such as Dark Energy Survey and
LSST, finding distinctive implications. Extending the wavelength sensitivity to
1.05 microns through "extreme red" CCDs can improve the dark energy figure of
merit by up to a factor 2.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Stochastic bias of colour-selected BAO tracers by joint clustering-weak lensing analysis
The baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) feature in the two-point correlation
function of galaxies supplies a standard ruler to probe the expansion history
of the Universe. We study here several galaxy selection schemes, aiming at
building an emission-line galaxy (ELG) sample in the redshift range
, that would be suitable for future BAO studies, providing a highly
biased galaxy sample. We analyse the angular galaxy clustering of galaxy
selections at the redshifts 0.5, 0.7, 0.8, 1 and 1.2 and we combine this
analysis with a halo occupation distribution (HOD) model to derive the
properties of the haloes these galaxies inhabit, in particular the galaxy bias
on large scales. We also perform a weak lensing analysis (aperture statistics)
to extract the galaxy bias and the cross-correlation coefficient and compare to
the HOD prediction.
We apply this analysis on a data set composed of the photometry of the deep
co-addition on Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 (225 deg), of
Canda-France-Hawai Telescope/Stripe 82 deep \emph{i}-band weak lensing survey
and of the {\it Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer}infrared photometric band
W1.
The analysis on the SDSS-III/constant mass galaxies selection at is
in agreement with previous studies on the tracer, moreover we measure its
cross-correlation coefficient . For the higher redshift bins, we
confirm the trends that the brightest galaxy populations selected are strongly
biased (), but we are limited by current data sets depth to derive
precise values of the galaxy bias. A survey using such tracers of the mass
field will guarantee a high significance detection of the BAO.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures, submitted to MNRA
Calibrating the Star Formation Rate at z=1 from Optical Data
We present a star-formation rate calibration based on optical data that is
consistent with average observed rates in both the red and blue galaxy
populations at z~1. The motivation for this study is to calculate SFRs for
DEEP2 Redshift Survey galaxies in the 0.7<z<1.4 redshift range, but our results
are generally applicable to similar optically-selected galaxy samples without
requiring UV or IR data. Using SFRs fit from UV/optical SEDs in the AEGIS
survey, we explore the behavior of restframe B-band magnitude, observed [OII]
luminosity, and restframe (U-B) color with SED-fit SFR for both red sequence
and blue cloud galaxies. We find that a SFR calibration can be calculated for
all z~1 DEEP2 galaxies using a simultaneous fit in M_B and restframe colors
with residual errors that are within the SFR measurement error. The resulting
SFR calibration produces fit residual errors of 0.3 dex RMS scatter for the
full color-independent sample with minimal correlated residual error in L[OII]
or stellar mass. We then compare the calibrated z~1 SFRs to two diagnostics
that use L[OII] as a tracer in local galaxies and correct for dust extinction
at intermediate redshifts through either galaxy B-band luminosity or stellar
mass. We find that a L[OII] - M_B SFR calibration commonly used in the
literature agrees well with our calculated SFRs after correcting for the
average B-band luminosity evolution in L* galaxies. However, we find better
agreement with a local L[OII]-based SFR calibration that includes stellar mass
to correct for reddening effects, indicating that stellar mass is a better
tracer of dust extinction for all galaxy types and less affected by systematic
evolution than galaxy luminosity from z=1 to the current epoch.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, emulateapj format, to be submitted to Ap
Comparison of proton irradiated P-channel and N-channel CCDs
Charge transfer inefficiency and dark current effects are compared for e2v technologies plc. p-channel and n-channel CCDs, both irradiated with protons. The p-channel devices, prior to their irradiation, exhibited twice the dark current and considerable worse charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) than a typical n-channel. The radiation induced increase in dark current was found to be comparable with n-channel CCDs, and its temperature dependence suggest the divacancy is the dominant source of thermally generated dark current pre and post irradiation. The factor of improvement in tolerance to radiation induced CTI varied by between 15 and 25 for serial CTI and 8 and 3 for parallel CTI, between −70 °C and −110 °C respectively
Reducing Zero-point Systematics in Dark Energy Supernova Experiments
We study the effect of filter zero-point uncertainties on future supernova
dark energy missions. Fitting for calibration parameters using simultaneous
analysis of all Type Ia supernova standard candles achieves a significant
improvement over more traditional fit methods. This conclusion is robust under
diverse experimental configurations (number of observed supernovae, maximum
survey redshift, inclusion of additional systematics). This approach to
supernova fitting considerably eases otherwise stringent mission calibration
requirements. As an example we simulate a space-based mission based on the
proposed JDEM satellite; however the method and conclusions are general and
valid for any future supernova dark energy mission, ground or space-based.Comment: 30 pages,8 figures, 5 table, one reference added, submitted to
Astroparticle Physic
Weak Lensing from Space I: Instrumentation and Survey Strategy
A wide field space-based imaging telescope is necessary to fully exploit the
technique of observing dark matter via weak gravitational lensing. This first
paper in a three part series outlines the survey strategies and relevant
instrumental parameters for such a mission. As a concrete example of hardware
design, we consider the proposed Supernova/Acceleration Probe (SNAP). Using
SNAP engineering models, we quantify the major contributions to this
telescope's Point Spread Function (PSF). These PSF contributions are relevant
to any similar wide field space telescope. We further show that the PSF of SNAP
or a similar telescope will be smaller than current ground-based PSFs, and more
isotropic and stable over time than the PSF of the Hubble Space Telescope. We
outline survey strategies for two different regimes - a ``wide'' 300 square
degree survey and a ``deep'' 15 square degree survey that will accomplish
various weak lensing goals including statistical studies and dark matter
mapping.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, replaced with Published Versio
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