K. Reil

The RedMaPPer Galaxy Cluster Catalog From DES Science Verification Data

We describe updates to the redMaPPer algorithm, a photometric red-sequence cluster finder specifically designed for large photometric surveys. The updated algorithm is applied to 150 deg(2) of Science Verification (SV) data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), and to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR8 photometric data set. The DES SV catalog is locally volume limited and contains 786 clusters with richness lambda > 20 (roughly equivalent to M500c greater than or similar to 10(14) h(70)(-1)M(circle dot)) and 0.2 < z < 0.9. The DR8 catalog consists of 26,311 clusters with 0.08 < z < 0.6, with a sharply increasing richness threshold as a function of redshift for z greater than or similar to 0.35. The photometric redshift performance of both catalogs is shown to be excellent, with photometric redshift uncertainties controlled at the sigma(z)/(1+ z) similar to 0.01 level for z greater than or similar to 0.7, rising to similar to 0.02 at z similar to 0.9 in DES SV. We make use of Chandra and XMM X-ray and South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zeldovich data to show that the centering performance and mass-richness scatter are consistent with expectations based on prior runs of redMaPPer on SDSS data. We also show how the redMaPPer photo-z and richness estimates are relatively insensitive to imperfect star/galaxy separation and small-scale star masks.

Mass and galaxy distributions of four massive galaxy clusters from Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data

We measure the weak-lensing masses and galaxy distributions of four massive galaxy clusters observed during the Science Verification phase of the Dark Energy Survey. This pathfinder study is meant to 1) validate the DECam imager for the task of measuring weak-lensing shapes, and 2) utilize DECams large field of view to map out the clusters and their environments over 90 arcmin. We conduct a series of rigorous tests on astrometry, photometry, image quality, PSF modeling, and shear measurement accuracy to single out flaws in the data and also to identify the optimal data processing steps and parameters. We find Science Verification data from DECam to be suitable for the lensing analysis described in this paper. The PSF is generally well-behaved, but the modeling is rendered difficult by a flux-dependent PSF width and ellipticity. We employ photometric redshifts to distinguish between foreground and background galaxies, and a red-sequence cluster finder to provide cluster richness estimates and cluster-galaxy distributions. By fitting NFW profiles to the clusters in this study, we determine weak-lensing masses that are in agreement with previous work. For Abell 3261, we provide the first estimates of redshift, weak-lensing mass, and richness. In addition, the cluster-galaxy distributions indicate the presence of filamentary structures attached to 1E 0657-56 and RXC J2248.7-4431, stretching out as far as 1 degree (approximately 20 Mpc), showcasing the potential of DECam and DES for detailed studies of degree-scale features on the sky.

Discovery of two gravitationally lensed quasars in the Dark Energy Survey

We present spectroscopic confirmation of two new gravitationally lensed quasars, discovered in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) based on their multiband photometry and extended morphology in DES images. Images of DES J0115-5244 show a red galaxy with two blue point sources at either side, which are images of the same quasar at zs = 1.64 as obtained by our long-slit spectroscopic data. The Einstein radius estimated from the DES images is 0.51 arcsec. DES J2146-0047 is in the area of overlap between DES and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Two blue components are visible in the DES and SDSS images. The SDSS fibre spectrum shows a quasar component at zs = 2.38 and absorption by Mg II and Fe II at zl = 0.799, which we tentatively associate with the foreground lens galaxy. Our long-slit spectra show that the blue components are resolved images of the same quasar. The Einstein radius is 0.68 arcsec, corresponding to an enclosed mass of 1.6 × 1011 Ms. Three other candidates were observed and rejected, two being low-redshift pairs of starburst galaxies, and one being a quasar behind a blue star. These first confirmation results provide an important empirical validation of the data mining and model-based selection that is being applied to the entire DES data set.

The Dark Energy Survey and operations: Year 1

The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is a next generation optical survey aimed at understanding the accelerating expansion of the universe using four complementary methods: weak gravitational lensing, galaxy cluster counts, baryon acoustic oscillations, and Type Ia supernovae. To perform the 5000 sq-degree wide field and 30 sq-degree supernova surveys, the DES Collaboration built the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), a 3 square-degree, 570-Megapixel CCD camera that was installed at the prime focus of the Blanco 4-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). DES started its first observing season on August 31, 2013 and observed for 105 nights through mid-February 2014. This paper describes DES “Year 1” (Y1), the strategy and goals for the first years data, provides an outline of the operations procedures, lists the efficiency of survey operations and the causes of lost observing time, provides details about the quality of the first years data, and hints at the “Year 2” plan and outlook.

Mapping and simulating systematics due to spatially varying observing conditions in DES Science Verification data

Spatially varying depth and the characteristics of observing conditions, such as seeing, airmass, or sky background, are major sources of systematic uncertainties in modern galaxy survey analyses, particularly in deep multi-epoch surveys. We present a framework to extract and project these sources of systematics onto the sky, and apply it to the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to map the observing conditions of the Science Verification (SV) data. The resulting distributions and maps of sources of systematics are used in several analyses of DES–SV to perform detailed null tests with the data, and also to incorporate systematics in survey simulations. We illustrate the complementary nature of these two approaches by comparing the SV data with BCC-UFig, a synthetic sky catalog generated by forward-modeling of the DES–SV images. We analyze the BCC-UFig simulation to construct galaxy samples mimicking those used in SV galaxy clustering studies. We show that the spatially varying survey depth imprinted in the observed galaxy densities and the redshift distributions of the SV data are successfully reproduced by the simulation and are well-captured by the maps of observing conditions. The combined use of the maps, the SV data, and the BCC-UFig simulation allows us to quantify the impact of spatial systematics on N(z), the redshift distributions inferred using photometric redshifts. We conclude that spatial systematics in the SV data are mainly due to seeing fluctuations and are under control in current clustering and weak-lensing analyses. However, they will need to be carefully characterized in upcoming phases of DES in order to avoid biasing the inferred cosmological results. The framework presented here is relevant to all multi-epoch surveys and will be essential for exploiting future surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which will require detailed null tests and realistic end-to-end image simulations to correctly interpret the deep, high-cadence observations of the sky.

THE DIFFERENCE IMAGING PIPELINE FOR THE TRANSIENT SEARCH IN THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY

We describe the operation and performance of the difference imaging pipeline (DiffImg) used to detect transients in deep images from the Dark Energy Survey Supernova program (DES-SN) in its first observing season from 2013 August through 2014 February. DES-SN is a search for transients in which ten 3 deg2 fields are repeatedly observed in the g, r, i, z passbands with a cadence of about 1 week. The observing strategy has been optimized to measure high-quality light curves and redshifts for thousands of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) with the goal of measuring dark energy parameters. The essential DiffImg functions are to align each search image to a deep reference image, do a pixel-by-pixel subtraction, and then examine the subtracted image for significant positive detections of point-source objects. The vast majority of detections are subtraction artifacts, but after selection requirements and image filtering with an automated scanning program, there are ˜130 detections per deg2 per observation in each band, of which only ˜25% are artifacts. Of the ˜7500 transients discovered by DES-SN in its first observing season, each requiring a detection on at least two separate nights, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations predict that 27% are expected to be SNe Ia or core-collapse SNe. Another ˜30% of the transients are artifacts in which a small number of observations satisfy the selection criteria for a single-epoch detection. Spectroscopic analysis shows that most of the remaining transients are AGNs and variable stars. Fake SNe Ia are overlaid onto the images to rigorously evaluate detection efficiencies and to understand the DiffImg performance. The DiffImg efficiency measured with fake SNe agrees well with expectations from a MC simulation that uses analytical calculations of the fluxes and their uncertainties. In our 8 ``shallow fields with single-epoch 50% completeness depth ˜23.5, the SN Ia efficiency falls to 1/2 at redshift z ≈ 0.7; in our 2 ``deep fields with mag-depth ˜24.5, the efficiency falls to 1/2 at z ≈ 1.1. A remaining performance issue is that the measured fluxes have additional scatter (beyond Poisson fluctuations) that increases with the host galaxy surface brightness at the transient location. This bright-galaxy issue has minimal impact on the SNe Ia program, but it may lower the efficiency for finding fainter transients on bright galaxies.

No Galaxy Left Behind: Accurate Measurements with the Faintest Objects in the Dark Energy Survey

Accurate statistical measurement with large imaging surveys has traditionally required throwing away a sizable fraction of the data. This is because most measurements have have relied on selecting nearly complete samples, where variations in the composition of the galaxy population with seeing, depth, or other survey characteristics are small. We introduce a new measurement method that aims to minimize this wastage, allowing precision measurement for any class of stars or galaxies detectable in an imaging survey. We have implemented our proposal in Balrog, a software package which embeds fake objects in real imaging in order to accurately characterize measurement biases. We also demonstrate this technique with an angular clustering measurement using Dark Energy Survey (DES) data. We first show that recovery of our injected galaxies depends on a wide variety of survey characteristics in the same way as the real data. We then construct a flux-limited sample of the faintest galaxies in DES, chosen specifically for their sensitivity to depth and seeing variations. Using the synthetic galaxies as randoms in the standard LandySzalay correlation function estimator suppresses the effects of variable survey selection by at least two orders of magnitude. Now our measured angular clustering is found to be inmorexa0» excellent agreement with that of a matched sample drawn from much deeper, higherresolution space-based COSMOS imaging; over angular scales of 0.004° < θ < 0.2 ° , we find a best-fit scaling amplitude between the DES and COSMOS measurements of 1.00 ± 0.09. We expect this methodology to be broadly useful for extending the statistical reach of measurements in a wide variety of coming imaging surveys.«xa0less

Discovery of a stellar overdensity in Eridanus-Phoenix in the Dark Energy Survey

We report the discovery of an excess of main-sequence turnoff stars in the direction of the constellations of Eridanus and Phoenix from the first-year data of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The Eridanus-Phoenix (EriPhe) overdensity is centered around l˜ 285^circ and b˜ -60^circ and spans at least 30° in longitude and 10° in latitude. The Poisson significance of the detection is at least 9sigma . The stellar population in the overdense region is similar in brightness and color to that of the nearby globular cluster NGC 1261, indicating that the heliocentric distance of EriPhe is about d˜ 16 {{kpc}}. The extent of EriPhe in projection is therefore at least ˜4 kpc by ˜3 kpc. On the sky, this overdensity is located between NGC 1261 and a new stellar stream discovered by DES at a similar heliocentric distance, the so-called Phoenix Stream. Given their similar distance and proximity to each other, it is possible that these three structures may be kinematically associated. Alternatively, the EriPhe overdensity is morphologically similar to the Virgo overdensity and the Hercules-Aquila cloud, which also lie at a similar Galactocentric distance. These three overdensities lie along a polar plane separated by ˜120° and may share a common origin. Spectroscopic follow-up observations of the stars in EriPhe are required to fully understand the nature of this overdensity.

SDSS-IV eBOSS emission-line galaxy pilot survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV extended Baryonic Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (SDSS-IV/eBOSS) will observe 195 000 emission-line galaxies (ELGs) to measure the baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) standard ruler at redshift 0.9. To test different ELG selection algorithms, 9000 spectra were observed with the SDSS spectrograph as a pilot survey based on data from several imaging surveys. First, using visual inspection and redshift quality flags, we show that the automated spectroscopic redshifts assigned by the pipeline meet the quality requirements for a reliable BAO measurement. We also show the correlations between sky emission, signal-to-noise ratio in the emission lines, and redshift error. Then we provide a detailed description of each target selection algorithm we tested and compare them with the requirements of the eBOSS experiment. As a result, we provide reliable redshift distributions for the different target selection schemes we tested. Finally, we determine an target selection algorithms that is best suited to be applied on DECam photometry because they fulfill the eBOSS survey efficiency requirements.

Wavefront sensing and the active optics system of the dark energy camera

Wavefront sensing and the Active Optics System (AOS) of the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) at the CTIO 4-meter Blanco telescope are described. DECam utilizes four pairs of intra/extra-focal CCDs located on the edge of the focal plane for wavefront sensing. Out-of-focus stars are selected, individually fit to a pupil plane Zernike expansion and then collectively analyzed in the time between exposures. The AOS uses this information to control the prime-focus camera’s five degrees of freedom. The AOS is now in routine use, operating with unsupervised control of the focus and camera alignment, both for the Dark Energy Survey and community observing. The design, commissioning and operation of the AOS along with results from the wavefront measurements are described. In particular, wavefront measurements of the complete optical system, including primary mirror aberrations, are shown. Lastly, preliminary results using these wavefront measurements to model the DECam point spread function are presented.