Abstract
We present measurements of the weak gravitational lensing shear power spectrum based on
$450 \deg ^2$
of imaging data from the Kilo Degree Survey. We employ a quadratic estimator in two and ...three redshift bins and extract band powers of redshift autocorrelation and cross-correlation spectra in the multipole range 76 ≤ ℓ ≤ 1310. The cosmological interpretation of the measured shear power spectra is performed in a Bayesian framework assuming a ΛCDM model with spatially flat geometry, while accounting for small residual uncertainties in the shear calibration and redshift distributions as well as marginalizing over intrinsic alignments, baryon feedback and an excess-noise power model. Moreover, massive neutrinos are included in the modelling. The cosmological main result is expressed in terms of the parameter combination
$S_8 \equiv \sigma _8 \sqrt{\Omega _{\rm m}/0.3}$
yielding S
8 = 0.651 ± 0.058 (three z-bins), confirming the recently reported tension in this parameter with constraints from Planck at 3.2σ (three z-bins). We cross-check the results of the three z-bin analysis with the weaker constraints from the two z-bin analysis and find them to be consistent. The high-level data products of this analysis, such as the band power measurements, covariance matrices, redshift distributions and likelihood evaluation chains are available at http://kids.strw.leidenuniv.nl.
Abstract
The halo masses Mhalo of low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies are critical measurements for understanding their formation processes. One promising method to estimate a galaxy’s Mhalo is to ...exploit the empirical scaling relation between Mhalo and the number of associated globular clusters (NGC). We use a Bayesian mixture model approach to measure NGC for 175 LSB 23 ≤ 〈μe,r〉 (mag arcsec−2) ≤ 28 galaxies in the Fornax cluster using the Fornax Deep Survey data; this is the largest sample of low-mass galaxies so-far analysed for this kind of study. The proximity of the Fornax cluster means that we can measure galaxies with much smaller physical sizes 0.3 ≤ re,r (kpc) ≤ 9.5 compared to previous studies of the GC systems of LSB galaxies, probing stellar masses down to M* ∼ 105 M⊙. The sample also includes 12 ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs), with projected r-band half-light radii greater than 1.5 kpc. Our results are consistent with an extrapolation of the M*−Mhalo relation predicted from abundance matching. In particular, our UDG measurements are consistent with dwarf-sized haloes, having typical masses between 1010 and 1011 M⊙. Overall, our UDG sample is statistically indistinguishable from smaller LSB galaxies in the same magnitude range. We do not find any candidates likely to be as rich as some of those found in the Coma cluster. We suggest that environment might play a role in producing GC-rich LSB galaxies.
We present a catalog of quasars with their corresponding redshifts derived from the photometric Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) Data Release 4. We achieved it by training machine learning (ML) models, ...using optical
u
g
ri
and near-infrared
Z
Y
J
H
K
s
bands, on objects known from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopy. We define inference subsets from the 45 million objects of the KiDS photometric data limited to 9-band detections, based on a feature space built from magnitudes and their combinations. We show that projections of the high-dimensional feature space on two dimensions can be successfully used, instead of the standard color-color plots, to investigate the photometric estimations, compare them with spectroscopic data, and efficiently support the process of building a catalog. The model selection and fine-tuning employs two subsets of objects: those randomly selected and the faintest ones, which allowed us to properly fit the bias versus variance trade-off. We tested three ML models: random forest (RF), XGBoost (XGB), and artificial neural network (ANN). We find that XGB is the most robust and straightforward model for classification, while ANN performs the best for combined classification and redshift. The ANN inference results are tested using number counts,
Gaia
parallaxes, and other quasar catalogs that are external to the training set. Based on these tests, we derived the minimum classification probability for quasar candidates which provides the best purity versus completeness trade-off:
p
(QSO
cand
) > 0.9 for
r
< 22 and
p
(QSO
cand
) > 0.98 for 22 <
r
< 23.5. We find 158 000 quasar candidates in the safe inference subset (
r
< 22) and an additional 185 000 candidates in the reliable extrapolation regime (22 <
r
< 23.5). Test-data purity equals 97% and completeness is 94%; the latter drops by 3% in the extrapolation to data fainter by one magnitude than the training set. The photometric redshifts were derived with ANN and modeled with Gaussian uncertainties. The test-data redshift error (mean and scatter) equals 0.009 ± 0.12 in the safe subset and −0.0004 ± 0.19 in the extrapolation, averaged over a redshift range of 0.14 <
z
< 3.63 (first and 99th percentiles). Our success of the extrapolation challenges the way that models are optimized and applied at the faint data end. The resulting catalog is ready for cosmology and active galactic nucleus (AGN) studies.
We present the results of our first year of quasar search in the ongoing ESO public Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) and VISTA Kilo-Degree Infrared Galaxy (VIKING) surveys. These surveys are among the ...deeper wide-field surveys that can be used to uncover large numbers of z ~ 6 quasars. This allows us to probe a more common population of z ~ 6 quasars that is fainter than the well-studied quasars from the main Sloan Digital Sky Survey. From this first set of combined survey catalogues covering ~250 deg... we selected point sources down to Z = 22 that had a very red i - Z (i - Z > 2.2) colour. After follow-up imaging and spectroscopy, we discovered four new quasars in the redshift range 5.8 < z < 6.0. The absolute magnitudes at a rest-frame wavelength of 1450 ... are between -26.6 < M... < -24.4, confirming that we can find quasars fainter than M*, which at z = 6 has been estimated to be between M* = -25.1 and M* = -27.6. The discovery of four quasars in 250 deg... of survey data is consistent with predictions based on the z ... 6 quasar luminosity function. We discuss various ways to push the candidate selection to fainter magnitudes and we expect to find about 30 new quasars down to an absolute magnitude of M... = -24. Studying this homogeneously selected faint quasar population will be important to gain insight into the onset of the co-evolution of the black holes and their stellar hosts. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
Upcoming surveys will map the growth of large-scale structure with unprecented precision, improving our understanding of the dark sector of the Universe. Unfortunately, much of the cosmological ...information is encoded on small scales, where the clustering of dark matter and the effects of astrophysical feedback processes are not fully understood. This can bias the estimates of cosmological parameters, which we study here for a joint analysis of mock
Euclid
cosmic shear and
Planck
cosmic microwave background data. We use different implementations for the modelling of the signal on small scales and find that they result in significantly different predictions. Moreover, the different non-linear corrections lead to biased parameter estimates, especially when the analysis is extended into the highly non-linear regime, with the Hubble constant,
H
0
, and the clustering amplitude,
σ
8
, affected the most. Improvements in the modelling of non-linear scales will therefore be needed if we are to resolve the current tension with more and better data. For a given prescription for the non-linear power spectrum, using different corrections for baryon physics does not significantly impact the precision of
Euclid
, but neglecting these correction does lead to large biases in the cosmological parameters. In order to extract precise and unbiased constraints on cosmological parameters from
Euclid
cosmic shear data, it is therefore essential to improve the accuracy of the recipes that account for non-linear structure formation, as well as the modelling of the impact of astrophysical processes that redistribute the baryons.
Context. The Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) is an ongoing optical wide-field imaging survey with the OmegaCAM camera at the VLT Survey Telescope, specifically designed for measuring weak gravitational ...lensing by galaxies and large-scale structure. When completed it will consist of 1350 square degrees imaged in four filters (ugri). Aims. Here we present the fourth public data release which more than doubles the area of sky covered by data release 3. We also include aperture-matched ZYJHKs photometry from our partner VIKING survey on the VISTA telescope in the photometry catalogue. We illustrate the data quality and describe the catalogue content. Methods. Two dedicated pipelines are used for the production of the optical data. The ASTRO-WISE information system is used for the production of co-added images in the four survey bands, while a separate reduction of the r-band images using the THELI pipeline is used to provide a source catalogue suitable for the core weak lensing science case. All data have been re-reduced for this data release using the latest versions of the pipelines. The VIKING photometry is obtained as forced photometry on the THELI sources, using a re-reduction of the VIKING data that starts from the VISTA pawprints. Modifications to the pipelines with respect to earlier releases are described in detail. The photometry is calibrated to the Gaia DR2 G band using stellar locus regression. Results. In this data release a total of 1006 square-degree survey tiles with stacked ugri images are made available, accompanied by weight maps, masks, and single-band source lists. We also provide a multi-band catalogue based on r-band detections, including homogenized photometry and photometric redshifts, for the whole dataset. Mean limiting magnitudes (5σ in a 2″ aperture) and the tile-to-tile rms scatter are 24.23 ± 0.12, 25.12 ± 0.14, 25.02 ± 0.13, 23.68 ± 0.27 in ugri, respectively, and the mean r-band seeing is 0.″70.
We present cosmological parameter constraints from a tomographic weak gravitational lensing analysis of ~450 deg super( 2) of imaging data from the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS). For a flat ... cold dark ...matter (...CDM) cosmology with a prior on H sub( 0) that encompasses the most recent direct measurements, we find S sub( 8) ... = 0.745 plus or minus 0.039. This result is in good agreement with other low-redshift probes of large-scale structure, including recent cosmic shear results, along with pre-Planck cosmic microwave background constraints. A 2.3... tension in S sub( 8) and 'substantial discordance' in the full parameter space is found with respect to the Planck 2015 results. We use shear measurements for nearly 15 million galaxies, determined with a new improved 'self-calibrating' version of lensfit validated using an extensive suite of image simulations. Four-band ugri photometric redshifts are calibrated directly with deep spectroscopic surveys. The redshift calibration is confirmed using two independent techniques based on angular cross-correlations and the properties of the photometric redshift probability distributions. Our covariance matrix is determined using an analytical approach, verified numerically with large mock galaxy catalogues. We account for uncertainties in the modelling of intrinsic galaxy alignments and the impact of baryon feedback on the shape of the non-linear matter power spectrum, in addition to the small residual uncertainties in the shear and redshift calibration. The cosmology analysis was performed blind. Our high-level data products, including shear correlation functions, covariance matrices, redshift distributions, and Monte Carlo Markov chains are available at http://kids.strw.leidenuniv.nl. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
Context. The search for minor bodies in the solar system promises insights into its formation history. Wide imaging surveys offer the opportunity to serendipitously discover and identify these traces ...of planetary formation and evolution. Aim. We aim to present a method to acquire position, photometry, and proper motion measurements of solar system objects (SSOs) in surveys using dithered image sequences. The application of this method on the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) is demonstrated. Methods. Optical images of 346 deg2 fields of the sky are searched in up to four filters using the AstrOmatic software suite to reduce the pixel to catalog data. The SSOs within the acquired sources are selected based on a set of criteria depending on their number of observation, motion, and size. The Virtual Observatory SkyBoT tool is used to identify known objects. Results. We observed 20 221 SSO candidates, with an estimated false-positive content of less than 0.05%. Of these SSO candidates, 53.4% are identified by SkyBoT. KiDS can detect previously unknown SSOs because of its depth and coverage at high ecliptic latitude, including parts of the Southern Hemisphere. Thus we expect the large fraction of the 46.6% of unidentified objects to be truly new SSOs. Conclusions. Our method is applicable to a variety of dithered surveys such as DES, LSST, and Euclid. It offers a quick and easy-to-implement search for SSOs. SkyBoT can then be used to estimate the completeness of the recovered sample.
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