Abstract
We present a new 3D map of interstellar dust reddening, covering three quarters of the sky (declinations of δ ≳ −30°) out to a distance of several kiloparsecs. The map is based on ...high-quality stellar photometry of 800 million stars from Pan-STARRS 1 and 2MASS. We divide the sky into sightlines containing a few hundred stars each, and then infer stellar distances and types, along with the line-of-sight dust distribution. Our new map incorporates a more accurate average extinction law and an additional 1.5 yr of Pan-STARRS 1 data, tracing dust to greater extinctions and at higher angular resolutions than our previous map. Out of the plane of the Galaxy, our map agrees well with 2D reddening maps derived from far-infrared dust emission. After accounting for a 25 per cent difference in scale, we find a mean scatter of ∼10 per cent between our map and the Planck far-infrared emission-based dust map, out to a depth of 0.8 mag in E(gP1 − rP1), with the level of agreement varying over the sky. Our map can be downloaded at http://argonaut.skymaps.info, or from the Harvard Dataverse (Green 2017).
Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) that show strong rest-frame optical/UV variability in their blue continuum and broad line emission are classified as changing-look AGN, or at higher luminosities, ...changing-look quasars (CLQs). These surprisingly large and sometimes rapid transitions challenge accepted models of quasar physics and duty cycles, offer several new avenues for study of quasar host galaxies, and open a wider interpretation of the cause of differences between broad and narrow-line AGN. To better characterize extreme quasar variability, we present follow-up spectroscopy as part of a comprehensive search for CLQs across the full Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) footprint using spectroscopically confirmed quasars from the SDSS DR7 catalog. Our primary selection requires large-amplitude ( mag, mag) variability over any of the available time baselines probed by the SDSS and Pan-STARRS 1 surveys. We employ photometry from the Catalina Sky Survey to verify variability behavior in CLQ candidates where available, and confirm CLQs using optical spectroscopy from the William Herschel, MMT, Magellan, and Palomar telescopes. For our adopted signal-to-noise ratio threshold on variability of broad Hβ emission, we find 17 new CLQs, yielding a confirmation rate of 20%. These candidates are at lower Eddington ratio relative to the overall quasar population, which supports a disk-wind model for the broad line region. Based on our sample, the CLQ fraction increases from 10% to roughly half as the continuum flux ratio between repeat spectra at 3420 increases from 1.5 to 6. We release a catalog of more than 200 highly variable candidates to facilitate future CLQ searches.
ABSTRACT
Taking advantage of ∼4700 deg2 optical coverage of the Southern sky offered by the VST ATLAS survey, we construct a new catalogue of photometrically selected galaxy groups and clusters using ...the orca cluster detection algorithm. The catalogue contains ∼22 000 detections with N200 > 10 and ∼9000 with N200 > 20. We estimate the photometric redshifts of the clusters using machine learning and find the redshift distribution of the sample to extend to z ∼ 0.7, peaking at z ∼ 0.25. We calibrate the ATLAS cluster mass-richness scaling relation using masses from the MCXC, Planck, ACT DR5, and SDSS redMaPPer cluster samples. We estimate the ATLAS sample to be $\gt 95~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ complete and $\gt 85~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ pure at z < 0.35 and in the M200m>$1\times 10^{14}h^{-1}\, \mbox{M}_\odot$ mass range. At z < 0.35, we also find the ATLAS sample to be more complete than redMaPPer, recovering a $\sim 40~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ higher fraction of Abell clusters. This higher sample completeness places the amplitude of the z < 0.35 ATLAS cluster mass function closer to the predictions of a ΛCDM model with parameters based on the Planck CMB analyses, compared to the mass functions of the other cluster samples. However, strong tensions between the observed ATLAS mass functions and models remain. We shall present a detailed cosmological analysis of the ATLAS cluster mass functions in paper II. In the future, optical counterparts to X-ray-detected eROSITA clusters can be identified using the ATLAS sample. The catalogue is also well suited for auxiliary spectroscopic target selection in 4MOST. The ATLAS cluster catalogue is publicly available at http://astro.dur.ac.uk/cosmology/vstatlas/cluster_catalogue/.
Research on the place of digital collaborative learning in schools has established its extensive use for the provision of online courses (Stevens,
2007
), for learning within schools (Orech,
2009
) ...and as a means of promoting inter-cultural education (Austin,
2006
). Given that teachers' understanding and practice in collaborative learning is critical, the authors examine in this article teachers' perception of collaboration and collaborative learning in terms of a model for understanding different levels of engagement with digital collaboration. They also seek to explore the reasons for teachers' perceptions and how this may impact on their participation in online collaborative learning projects.
A THREE-DIMENSIONAL MAP OF MILKY WAY DUST Green, Gregory M.; Schlafly, Edward F.; Finkbeiner, Douglas P. ...
Astrophysical journal/The Astrophysical journal,
09/2015, Letnik:
810, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
ABSTRACT We present a three-dimensional map of interstellar dust reddening, covering three-quarters of the sky out to a distance of several kiloparsecs, based on Pan-STARRS 1 (PS1) and 2MASS ...photometry. The map reveals a wealth of detailed structure, from filaments to large cloud complexes. The map has a hybrid angular resolution, with most of the map at an angular resolution of - , and a maximum distance resolution of . The three-dimensional distribution of dust is determined in a fully probabilistic framework, yielding the uncertainty in the reddening distribution along each line of sight, as well as stellar distances, reddenings, and classifications for 800 million stars detected by PS1. We demonstrate the consistency of our reddening estimates with those of two-dimensional emission-based maps of dust reddening. In particular, we find agreement with the Planck -based reddening map to within in to a depth of , and explore systematics at reddenings less than . We validate our per-star reddening estimates by comparison with reddening estimates for stars with both Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometry and Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration spectral classifications, finding per-star agreement to within out to a stellar of 1 mag. We compare our map to two existing three-dimensional dust maps, by Marshall et al. and Lallement et al., demonstrating our finer angular resolution, and better distance resolution compared to the former within . The map can be queried or downloaded at http://argonaut.skymaps.info. We expect the three-dimensional reddening map presented here to find a wide range of uses, among them correcting for reddening and extinction for objects embedded in the plane of the Galaxy, studies of Galactic structure, calibration of future emission-based dust maps, and determining distances to objects of known reddening.
ABSTRACT
The integrated Sachs–Wolfe (ISW) effect probes the late-time expansion history of the Universe, offering direct constraints on dark energy. Here, we present our measurements of the ISW ...signal at redshifts of $\bar{z}=0.35$, 0.55, and 0.68, using the cross-correlation of the Planck cosmic microwave background temperature map with ∼0.5 million luminous red galaxies (LRGs) selected from the VST ATLAS survey. We then combine these with previous measurements based on WMAP and similar SDSS LRG samples, providing a total sample of ∼2.1 million LRGs covering ∼12 000 deg2 of sky. At $\bar{z}=0.35$ and $\bar{z}=0.55$, we detect the ISW signal at 1.2σ and 2.3σ (or 2.6σ combined), in agreement with the predictions of lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM). We verify these results by repeating the measurements using the BOSS LOWZ and CMASS, spectroscopically confirmed LRG samples. We also detect the ISW effect in three magnitude limited ATLAS + SDSS galaxy samples extending to z ≈ 0.4 at ∼2σ per sample. However, we do not detect the ISW signal at $\bar{z}=0.68$ when combining the ATLAS and SDSS results. Further tests using spectroscopically confirmed eBOSS LRGs at this redshift remain inconclusive due to the current low sky coverage of the survey. If the ISW signal is shown to be redshift dependent in a manner inconsistent with the predictions of ΛCDM, it could open the door to alternative theories such as modified gravity. It is therefore important to repeat the high-redshift ISW measurement using the completed eBOSS sample, as well as deeper upcoming surveys such as DESI and LSST.
We present the discovery of three new Milky Way satellites from our search for compact stellar overdensities in the photometric catalog of the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System 1 ...(Pan-STARRS 1, or PS1) 3π survey. The first satellite, Laevens 3, is located at a heliocentric distance of d = 67 ± 3 kpc. With a total magnitude of M{sub V} = −4.4 ± 0.3 and a half-light radius of r{sub h} = 7 ± 2 pc, its properties resemble those of outer halo globular clusters. The second system, Draco II/Laevens 4, is a closer and fainter satellite (d ∼ 20 kpc, M{sub V} = −2.9 ± 0.8), whose uncertain size (r{sub h}=19{sub −6}{sup +8} pc) renders its classification difficult without kinematic information; it could either be a faint and extended globular cluster or a faint and compact dwarf galaxy. The third satellite, Sagittarius II/Laevens 5 (Sgr II), has an ambiguous nature, as it is either the most compact dwarf galaxy or the most extended globular cluster in its luminosity range (r{sub h}=37{sub −8}{sup +9} pc and M{sub V} = −5.2 ± 0.4). At a heliocentric distance of 67 ± 5 kpc, this satellite lies intriguingly close to the expected location of the trailing arm of the Sagittarius stellar stream behind the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy (Sgr dSph). If confirmed through spectroscopic follow up, this connection would locate this part of the trailing arm of the Sagittarius stellar stream that has so far gone undetected. It would further suggest that Sgr II was brought into the Milky Way halo as a satellite of the Sgr dSph.
RR Lyrae stars may be the best practical tracers of Galactic halo (sub-)structure and kinematics. The PanSTARRS1 (PS1) 3 π survey offers multi-band, multi-epoch, precise photometry across much of the ...sky, but a robust identification of RR Lyrae stars in this data set poses a challenge, given PS1's sparse, asynchronous multi-band light curves ( 12 epochs in each of five bands, taken over a 4.5 year period). We present a novel template fitting technique that uses well-defined and physically motivated multi-band light curves of RR Lyrae stars, and demonstrate that we get accurate period estimates, precise to 2 s in > 80 % of cases. We augment these light-curve fits with other features from photometric time-series and provide them to progressively more detailed machine-learned classification models. From these models, we are able to select the widest (three-fourths of the sky) and deepest (reaching 120 kpc) sample of RR Lyrae stars to date. The PS1 sample of ∼45,000 RRab stars is pure (90%) and complete (80% at 80 kpc) at high galactic latitudes. It also provides distances that are precise to 3%, measured with newly derived period-luminosity relations for optical/near-infrared PS1 bands. With the addition of proper motions from Gaia and radial velocity measurements from multi-object spectroscopic surveys, we expect the PS1 sample of RR Lyrae stars to become the premier source for studying the structure, kinematics, and the gravitational potential of the Galactic halo. The techniques presented in this study should translate well to other sparse, multi-band data sets, such as those produced by the Dark Energy Survey and the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Galactic plane sub-survey.
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