Sahar S. Allam

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Monitor Telescope Pipeline

The photometric calibration of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is a multi-step process which involves data from three different telescopes: the 1.0-m telescope at the US Naval Observatory (USNO), Flagstaff Station, Arizona (which was used to establish the SDSS standard star network); the SDSS 0.5-m Photometric Telescope (PT) at the Apache Point Observatory (APO), New Mexico (which calculates nightly extinctions and calibrates secondary patch transfer fields); and the SDSS 2.5-m telescope at APO (which obtains the imaging data for the SDSS proper). In this paper, we describe the Monitor Telescope Pipeline, MTPIPE, the software pipeline used in processing the data from the single-CCD telescopes used in the photometric calibration of the SDSS (i.e., the USNO 1.0-m and the PT). We (a)

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 6800 A, including robust detections of fainter lines such as Hγ, [Sxa0II]λ6717,6732, and in one instance [Nexa0III]λ3869. SDSS J090122.37+181432.3 shows evidence for active galactic nucleus 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. Current lensing models for the Cosmic Horseshoe and the Clone allow us to correct the measured Hα luminosity and calculated star formation rate. Metallicities have been estimated with a variety of indicators, which span a range of values of 12+ log(O/H) = 8.3-8.8, between ~0.4 and ~1.5 of the solar oxygen abundance. Dynamical masses were computed from the Hα velocity dispersions and measured half-light radii of the reconstructed sources. A comparison of the Balmer lines enabled measurement of dust reddening coefficients. Variations in the line ratios between the different lensed images are also observed, indicating that the spectra are probing different regions of the lensed galaxies. In all respects, the lensed objects appear fairly typical of ultraviolet-selected star-forming galaxies at z ~ 2. The Clone occupies a position on the emission-line diagnostic diagram of [Oxa0III]/Hβ versus [Nxa0II]/Hα 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 [Sxa0II] line ratio, high electron densities (~1000 cm–3) are inferred compared to local galaxies, and [Oxa0III]/[Oxa0II] 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.

Loose Groups of Galaxies in the Las Campanas Redshift Survey

A friends-of-friends percolation algorithm has been used to extract a catalog of δn/n = 80 density enhancements (groups) from the six slices of the Las Campanas Redshift Survey (LCRS). The full catalog contains 1495 groups and includes 35% of the LCRS galaxy sample. A clean sample of 394 groups has been derived by culling groups from the full sample that either are too close to a slice edge, have a crossing time greater than a Hubble time, have a corrected velocity dispersion of zero, or contain a 55 orphan (a galaxy with a mock redshift that was excluded from the original LCRS redshift catalog due to its proximity to another galaxy—i.e., within 55). Median properties derived from the clean sample include a line-of-sight velocity dispersion σlos = 164 km s-1, crossing time tcr = 0.10 H, harmonic radius Rh = 0.58 h-1 Mpc, pairwise separation Rp = 0.64 h-1 Mpc, virial mass Mvir = 1.90 × 1013 h-1 M⊙, total group R-band luminosity Ltot = 1.30 × 1011 h-2 L⊙, and R-band mass-to-light ratio M/L = 171 h M⊙/L⊙; the median number of observed members in a group is three.

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), SDSS J120602.09+514229.5. This system, nicknamed the Clone, 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 8.2 m telescope on Mauna Kea and the Astrophysical Research Consortium 3.5 m 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 ?Ein = 3.82 ? 003 or 14.8 ? 0.1 h ?1 kpc at the lens redshift. The total projected mass enclosed within the Einstein radius is 2.10 ? 0.03 ? 1012 h ?1 M ?, and the magnification factor for the source galaxy is 27 ? 1. Combining the lens model with our gVriz photometry, we find a (unlensed) star formation rate (SFR) for the source galaxy of 32 h ?1 M ? yr?1, adopting a fiducial constant SFR model with an age of 100 Myr and E(B ? V) = 0.25. With an apparent magnitude of r = 19.8, 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.

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 oclock 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 arcs 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}{sub g}, {mu}{sub r}, {mu}{sub i}) = (23.3, 22.5, 22.3) mag arcsec{sup -2}, the 8 oclock arc is thrice as bright. The 8 oclock arc, which consists of three lensed images of the LBG, is 162{sup o}(9.6) long and has a length-to-width ratio of 6:1. A fourth image of the LBG--a counter-image--canmorexa0» 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 {theta}{sub Ein} = 2.91 {+-} 0.14, a total mass for the lensing LRG (within the 10.6 {+-} 0.5 h{sup -1} kpc enclosed by the lensed images) of 1.04 x 10{sup 12} h{sup -1} M{sub {circle_dot}}, and a magnification factor for the LBG of 12.3{sub -3.6}{sup +15}. The LBG itself is intrinsically quite luminous ({approx} 6 x L{sub *}) and shows indications of massive recent star formation, perhaps as high as 160 h{sup -1} M{sub {circle_dot}} yr{sup -1}.«xa0less

Spectroscopic needs for imaging dark energy experiments

Ongoing and near-future imaging-based dark energy experiments are critically dependent upon photometric redshifts (a.k.a. photo-zs): i.e., estimates of the redshifts of objects based only on flux information obtained through broad filters. Higher-quality, lower-scatter photo-zs will result in smaller random errors on cosmological parameters; while systematic errors in photometric redshift estimates, if not constrained, may dominate all other uncertainties from these experiments. The desired optimization and calibration is dependent upon spectroscopic measurements for secure redshift information; this is the key application of galaxy spectroscopy for imaging-based dark energy experiments. Hence, to achieve their full potential, imaging-based experiments will require large sets of objects with spectroscopically-determined redshifts, for two purposes: Training: Objects with known redshift are needed to map out the relationship between object color and z (or, equivalently, to determine empirically-calibrated templates describing the rest-frame spectra of the full range of galaxies, which may be used to predict the color-z relation). The ultimate goal of training is to minimize each moment of the distribution of differences between photometric redshift estimates and the true redshifts of objects, making the relationship between them as tight as possible. The larger and more complete our training set of spectroscopic redshifts is, the smaller the RMS photo-z errors should be, increasing the constraining power of imaging experiments. Requirements: Spectroscopic redshift measurements for similar to 30,000 objects over >similar to 15 widely-separated regions, each at least similar to 20 arcmin in diameter, and reaching the faintest objects used in a given experiment, will likely be necessary if photometric redshifts are to be trained and calibrated with conventional techniques. Larger, more complete samples (i.e., with longer exposure times) can improve photo-z algorithms and reduce scatter further, enhancing the science return from planned experiments greatly (increasing the Dark Energy Task Force figure of merit by up to similar to 50%). Options: This spectroscopy will most efficiently be done by covering as much of the optical and near-infrared spectrum as possible at modestly high spectral resolution (lambda/Delta lambda > similar to 3000), while maximizing the telescope collecting area, field of view on the sky, and multiplexing of simultaneous spectra. The most efficient instrument for this would likely be either the proposed GMACS/MANIFEST spectrograph for the Giant Magellan Telescope or the OPTIMOS spectrograph for the European Extremely Large Telescope, depending on actual properties when built. The PFS spectrograph at Subaru would be next best and available considerably earlier, c. 2018; the proposed ngCFHT and SSST telescopes would have similar capabilities but start later. Other key options, in order of increasing total time required, are the WFOS spectrograph at TMT, MOONS at the VLT, and DESI at the Mayall 4 m telescope (or the similar 4MOST and WEAVE projects); of these, only DESI, MOONS, and PFS are expected to be available before 2020. Table 2-3 of this white paper summarizes the observation time required at each facility for strawman training samples. To attain secure redshift measurements for a high fraction of targeted objects and cover the full redshift span of future experiments, additional near-infrared spectroscopy will also be required; this is best done from space, particularly with WFIRST-2.4 and JWST. Calibration: The first several moments of redshift distributions (the mean, RMS redshift dispersion, etc.), must be known to high accuracy for cosmological constraints not to be systematics-dominated (equivalently, the moments of the distribution of differences between photometric and true redshifts could be determined instead). The ultimate goal of calibration is to characterize these moments for every subsample used in analyses - i.e., to minimize the uncertainty in their mean redshift, RMS dispersion, etc. - rather than to make the moments themselves small. Calibration may be done with the same spectroscopic dataset used for training if that dataset is extremely high in redshift completeness (i.e., no populations of galaxies to be used in analyses are systematically missed). Accurate photo-z calibration is necessary for all imaging experiments. Requirements: If extremely low levels of systematic incompleteness (<similar to 0.1%) are attained in training samples, the same datasets described above should be sufficient for calibration. However, existing deep spectroscopic surveys have failed to yield secure redshifts for 30-60% of targets, so that would require very large improvements over past experience. This incompleteness would be a limiting factor for training, but catastrophic for calibration. If <similar to 0.1% incompleteness is not attainable, the best known option for calibration of photometric redshifts is to utilize cross-correlation statistics in some form. The most direct method for this uses cross-correlations between positions on the sky of bright objects of known spectroscopic redshift with the sample of objects that we wish to calibrate the redshift distribution for, measured as a function of spectroscopic z. For such a calibration, redshifts of similar to 100,000 objects over at least several hundred square degrees, spanning the full redshift range of the samples used for dark energy, would be necessary. Options: The proposed BAO experiment eBOSS would provide sufficient spectroscopy for basic calibrations, particularly for ongoing and near-future imaging experiments. The planned DESI experiment would provide excellent calibration with redundant cross-checks, but will start after the conclusion of some imaging projects. An extension of DESI to the Southern hemisphere would provide the best possible calibration from cross-correlation methods for DES and LSST. We thus anticipate that our two primary needs for spectroscopy - training and calibration of photometric redshifts - will require two separate solutions. For ongoing and future projects to reach their full potential, new spectroscopic samples of faint objects will be needed for training; those new samples may be suitable for calibration, but the latter possibility is uncertain. In contrast, wide-area samples of bright objects are poorly suited for training, but can provide high-precision calibrations via cross-correlation techniques. Additional training/calibration redshifts and/or host galaxy spectroscopy would enhance the use of supernovae and galaxy clusters for cosmology. We also summarize additional work on photometric redshift techniques that will be needed to prepare for data from ongoing and future dark energy experiments

THE SLOAN BRIGHT ARCS SURVEY: FOUR STRONGLY LENSED GALAXIES WITH REDSHIFT > 2

We report the discovery of four very bright, strongly lensed galaxies found via systematic searches for arcs in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 and 6. These were followed up with spectroscopy and imaging data from the Astrophysical Research Consortium 3.5 m telescope at Apache Point Observatory and found to have redshift z > 2.0. With isophotal magnitudes r = 19.2-20.4 and 3 diameter magnitudes r = 20.0-20.6, these systems are some of the brightest and highest surface brightness lensed galaxies known in this redshift range. In addition to the magnitudes and redshifts, we present estimates of the Einstein radii, which range from 50 to 127, and use those to derive the enclosed masses of the lensing galaxies.

A Systematic Search for High Surface Brightness Giant Arcs in a Sloan Digital Sky Survey Cluster Sample

We present the results of a search for gravitationally lensed giant arcs conducted on a sample of 825 SDSS galaxy clusters. Both a visual inspection of the images and an automated search were performed, and no arcs were found. This result is used to set an upper limit on the arc probability per cluster. We present selection functions for our survey, in the form of arc detection efficiency curves plotted as functions of arc parameters, for both the visual inspection and the automated search. The selection function is such that we are sensitive only to long, high surface brightness arcs with g-band surface brightness μg ≤ 24.8 and length-to-width ratio l/w ≥ 10. Our upper limits on the arc probability are compatible with previous arc searches. Finally, we report on a serendipitous discovery of a giant arc in the SDSS data, known inside the SDSS Collaboration as Halls arc.

VDES J2325−5229 a z = 2.7 gravitationally lensed quasar discovered using morphology-independent supervised machine learning

FO is supported jointly by CAPES (the Science without Borders programme) and the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust. RGM, CAL, MWA, MB, SLR acknowledge the support of UK Science and Technology Research Council (STFC). AJC acknowledges the support of a Raymond and Beverly Sackler visiting fellowship at the Institute of Astronomy.nFor further information regarding funding please visit the publishers website.

The Sloan Bright Arcs Survey : Six Strongly Lensed Galaxies at z=0.4-1.4

We present new results of our program to systematically search for strongly lensed galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging data. In this study six strong lens systems are presented which we have confirmed with followup spectroscopy and imaging using the 3.5m telescope at the Apache Point Observatory. Preliminary mass models indicate that the lenses are group-scale systems with velocity dispersions ranging from 466?878 km s{sup -1} at z = 0.17-0.45 which are strongly lensing source galaxies at z = 0.4-1.4. Galaxy groups are a relatively new mass scale just beginning to be probed with strong lensing. Our sample of lenses roughly doubles the confirmed number of group-scale lenses in the SDSS and complements ongoing strong lens searches in other imaging surveys such as the CFHTLS (Cabanac et al. 2007). As our arcs were discovered in the SDSS imaging data they are all bright (r {approx_equal} 22), making them ideally suited for detailed follow-up studies.