181 research outputs found
Project Overview of the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey
The Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey (BASS) is a wide-field two-band photometric
survey of the Northern Galactic Cap using the 90Prime imager on the 2.3 m Bok
telescope at Kitt Peak. It is a four-year collaboration between the National
Astronomical Observatory of China and Steward Observatory, the University of
Arizona, serving as one of the three imaging surveys to provide photometric
input catalogs for target selection of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
(DESI) project. BASS will take up to 240 dark/grey nights to cover an area of
about 5400 deg in the and bands. The 5 limiting AB
magnitudes for point sources in the two bands, corrected for the Galactic
extinction, are 24.0 and 23.4 mag, respectively. BASS, together with other DESI
imaging surveys, will provide unique science opportunities that cover a wide
range of topics in both Galactic and extragalactic astronomy.Comment: 10 pages, submitted to PAS
Think Outside the Color Box: Probabilistic Target Selection and the SDSS-XDQSO Quasar Targeting Catalog
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 <~ z <~ 3) where the stellar
contamination is significant. We build models of the distributions of stars and
quasars in flux space down to the flux limit by applying the
extreme-deconvolution method to estimate the underlying density. We convolve
this density with the flux uncertainties when evaluating the probability that
an object is a quasar. This approach results in a targeting algorithm that is
more principled, more efficient, and faster than other similar methods. We
apply the algorithm to derive low-redshift (z < 2.2), medium-redshift (2.2 <= z
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
Implementation of a Modelica library for simulation of electromechanical actuators for aircraft and helicopters
The goal of the A2015 library presented in this paper is to develop a Modelica based, tool-independent standard for electromechanical actuators (EMA). This will contribute to the establishment of a “common language” throughout the development of EMAs for aircraft and helicopters and through the supply chain. All stages of the design and validation process (conceptual design, specification, development and validation) are covered. The modeling approach addresses specific aspects of the EMA design process not covered by existing tools. The library scope, engineering need and implementation are described. Modeling of selected EMA components is discussed in more detail. An application example of the library is given (linear actuator, A320 aileron
The First Data Release of the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey
The Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey (BASS) is a new wide-field legacy imaging
survey in the northern Galactic cap using the 2.3m Bok telescope. The survey
will cover about 5400 deg in the and bands, and the expected
5 depths (corrected for the Galactic extinction) in the two bands are
24.0 and 23.4 mag, respectively. BASS started observations in January 2015, and
has completed about 41% of the whole area as of July 2016. The first data
release contains both calibrated images and photometric catalogs obtained in
2015 and 2016. The depths of single-epoch images in the two bands are 23.4 and
22.9 mag, and the full depths of three epochs are about 24.1 and 23.5 mag,
respectively.Comment: 16 pages, published by A
SDSS J094604.90+183541.8: A Gravitationally Lensed Quasar at z=4.8
We report the discovery of a gravitationally lensed quasar identified
serendipitously in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The object, SDSS
J094604.90+183541.8, was initially targeted for spectroscopy as a luminous red
galaxy, but the SDSS spectrum has the features of both a z=0.388 galaxy and a
z=4.8 quasar. We have obtained additional imaging that resolves the system into
two quasar images separated by 3.06 arcsec and a bright galaxy that is strongly
blended with one of the quasar images. We confirm spectroscopically that the
two quasar images represent a single lensed source at z=4.8 with a total
magnification of 3.2, and we derive a model for the lensing galaxy. This is the
highest redshift lensed quasar currently known. We examine the issues
surrounding the selection of such an unusual object from existing data and
briefly discuss implications for lensed quasar surveys.Comment: AJ accepted, 9 pages, 6 figures, referee suggestions include
An Empirical Characterization of Extended Cool Gas Around Galaxies Using MgII Absorption Features
We report results from a survey of MgII absorbers in the spectra of
background QSOs that are within close angular distances to a foreground galaxy
at z<0.5, using the Magellan Echellette Spectrograph. We have established a
spectroscopic sample of 94 galaxies at a median redshift of = 0.24 in
fields around 70 distant background QSOs (z_QSO>0.6), 71 of which are in an
'isolated' environment with no known companions and located at rho <~ 120 h^-1
kpc from the line of sight of a background QSO. The rest-frame absolute B-band
magnitudes span a range from M_B-5log h=-16.4 to M_B-5log h=-21.4 and
rest-frame B_AB-R_AB colors range from B_AB-R_AB~0 to B_AB-R_AB~1.5. Of these
'isolated' galaxies, we find that 47 have corresponding MgII absorbers in the
spectra of background QSOs and rest-frame absorption equivalent width
W_r(2796)=0.1-2.34 A, and 24 do not give rise to MgII absorption to sensitive
upper limits. Our analysis shows that (1) Wr(2796) declines with increasing
distance from 'isolated' galaxies but shows no clear trend in 'group'
environments; (2) more luminous galaxies possess more extended MgII absorbing
halos with the gaseous radius scaled by B-band luminosity according to
R_gas=75x(L_B/L_B*)^(0.35+/-0.03) h^{-1} kpc; (3) there is little dependence
between the observed absorber strength and galaxy intrinsic colors; and (4)
within R_gas, we find a mean covering fraction of ~70% for absorbers
of Wr(2796)>=0.3 A and ~80% for absorbers of Wr(2796)>=0.1 A. The
lack of correlation between Wr(2796) and galaxy colors suggests a lack of
physical connection between the origin of extended MgII halos and recent star
formation history of the galaxies. Finally, we discuss the total gas mass in
galactic halos as traced by MgII absorbers. We also compare our results with
previous studies.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures; to appear in the Astrophysical Journal 2010 May
10 issue; a version with higher resolution figures can be found at
http://lambda.uchicago.edu/public/tmp/mage_apj.pd
The complex radio and X-ray structure in the nuclear regions of the active galaxy NGC1365
We present a multiwavelength analysis of the prominent active galaxy NGC1365,
in particular looking at the radio and X-ray properties of the central regions
of the galaxy.
We analyse ROSAT observations of NGC1365, and discuss recent ASCA results. In
addition to a number of point sources in the vicinity of NGC1365, we find a
region of X-ray emission extending along the central bar of the galaxy,
combined with an emission peak near the centre of the galaxy. This X-ray
emission is centred on the optical/radio nucleus, but is spatially extended.
The X-ray spectrum can be well fitted by a thermal plasma model, with
kT=0.6-0.8keV and a low local absorbing column. The thermal spectrum is
suggestive of starburst emission rather than emission from a central
black-hole.
The ATCA radio observations show a number of hotspots, located in a ring
around a weak radio nucleus. Synchrotron emission from electrons accelerated by
supernovae and supernova remnants (SNRs) is the likely origin of these
hotspots. The radio nucleus has a steep spectrum, indicative perhaps of an AGN
or SNRs. The evidence for a jet emanating from the nucleus is at best marginal.
The extent of the radio ring is comparable to the extended central X-ray
source.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, to be published in MNRA
The Absolute Magnitude of RRc Variables From Statistical Parallax
We present the first definitive measurement of the absolute magnitude of RR
Lyrae c-type variable stars (RRc) determined purely from statistical parallax.
We use a sample of 247 RRc selected from the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS)
for which high-quality light curves, photometry and proper motions are
available. We obtain high-resolution echelle spectra for these objects to
determine radial velocities and abundances as part of the Carnegie RR Lyrae
Survey (CARRS). We find that M_(V,RRc) = 0.52 +/- 0.11 at a mean metallicity of
[Fe/H] = -1.59. This is to be compared with previous estimates for RRab stars
(M_(V,RRab) = 0.75 +/- 0.13 and the only direct measurement of an RRc absolute
magnitude (RZ Cephei, M_(V, RRc) = 0.27 +/- 0.17). We find the bulk velocity of
the halo to be (W_pi, W_theta, W_z) = (10.9,34.9,7.2) km/s in the radial,
rotational and vertical directions with dispersions (sigma_(W_pi),
sigma_(W_theta), sigma_(W_z)) = (154.7, 103.6, 93.8) km/s. For the disk, we
find (W_pi, W_theta, W_z) = (8.5, 213.2, -22.1) km/s with dispersions
(sigma_(W_pi), sigma_(W_theta), sigma_(W_z)) = (63.5, 49.6, 51.3) km/s.
Finally, we suggest that UCAC2 proper motion errors may be overestimated by
about 25%Comment: Submitted to ApJ. 11 pages including 6 figure
The clustering of intermediate redshift quasars as measured by the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
We measure the quasar two-point correlation function over the redshift range
2.2<z<2.8 using data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. We use a
homogeneous subset of the data consisting of 27,129 quasars with spectroscopic
redshifts---by far the largest such sample used for clustering measurements at
these redshifts to date. The sample covers 3,600 square degrees, corresponding
to a comoving volume of 9.7(Gpc/h)^3 assuming a fiducial LambdaCDM cosmology,
and it has a median absolute i-band magnitude of -26, k-corrected to z=2. After
accounting for redshift errors we find that the redshift space correlation
function is fit well by a power-law of slope -2 and amplitude s_0=(9.7\pm
0.5)Mpc/h over the range 3<s<25Mpc/h. The projected correlation function, which
integrates out the effects of peculiar velocities and redshift errors, is fit
well by a power-law of slope -1 and r_0=(8.4\pm 0.6)Mpc/h over the range
4<R<16Mpc/h. There is no evidence for strong luminosity or redshift dependence
to the clustering amplitude, in part because of the limited dynamic range in
our sample. Our results are consistent with, but more precise than, previous
measurements at similar redshifts. Our measurement of the quasar clustering
amplitude implies a bias factor of b~3.5 for our quasar sample. We compare the
data to models to constrain the manner in which quasars occupy dark matter
halos at z~2.4 and infer that such quasars inhabit halos with a characteristic
mass of ~10^{12}Msun/h with a duty cycle for the quasar activity of 1 per
cent.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figures. Minor modifications to match version accepted
by journa
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