In this study, we present results from a study of the photometric redshift performance of the Dark Energy Survey (DES), using the early data from a Science Verification period of observations in late ...2012 and early 2013 that provided science-quality images for almost 200 sq. deg. at the nominal depth of the survey. We assess the photometric redshift (photo-z) performance using about 15 000 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts available from other surveys. These galaxies are used, in different configurations, as a calibration sample, and photo-z's are obtained and studied using most of the existing photo-z codes. A weighting method in a multidimensional colour–magnitude space is applied to the spectroscopic sample in order to evaluate the photo-z performance with sets that mimic the full DES photometric sample, which is on average significantly deeper than the calibration sample due to the limited depth of spectroscopic surveys. In addition, empirical photo-z methods using, for instance, artificial neural networks or random forests, yield the best performance in the tests, achieving core photo-z resolutions σ68 ~ 0.08. Moreover, the results from most of the codes, including template-fitting methods, comfortably meet the DES requirements on photo-z performance, therefore, providing an excellent precedent for future DES data sets.
We present a new Bayesian hierarchical model (BHM) named Steve for performing type Ia supernova (SNIa) cosmology fits. This advances previous works by including an improved treatment of Malmquist ...bias, accounting for additional sources of systematic uncertainty, and increasing numerical efficiency. Given light curve fit parameters, redshifts, and host-galaxy masses, we fit Steve simultaneously for parameters describing cosmology, SNIa populations, and systematic uncertainties. Selection effects are characterised using Monte-Carlo simulations. We demonstrate its implementation by fitting realisations of SNIa datasets where the SNIa model closely follows that used in Steve. Next, we validate on more realistic SNANA simulations of SNIa samples from the Dark Energy Survey and low-redshift surveys. These simulated datasets contain more than \(60\,000\) SNeIa, which we use to evaluate biases in the recovery of cosmological parameters, specifically the equation-of-state of dark energy, \(w\). This is the most rigorous test of a BHM method applied to SNIa cosmology fitting, and reveals small \(w\)-biases that depend on the simulated SNIa properties, in particular the intrinsic SNIa scatter model. This \(w\)-bias is less than \(0.03\) on average, less than half the statistical uncertainty on \(w\).These simulation test results are a concern for BHM cosmology fitting applications on large upcoming surveys, and therefore future development will focus on minimising the sensitivity of Steve to the SNIa intrinsic scatter model.
We present DES14X3taz, a new hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova (SLSN-I) discovered by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) supernova program, with additional photometric data provided by the Survey Using ...DECam for Superluminous Supernovae. Spectra obtained using Optical System for Imaging and low-Intermediate-Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy on the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS show DES14X3taz is an SLSN-I at z = 0.608. Multi-color photometry reveals a double-peaked light curve: a blue and relatively bright initial peak that fades rapidly prior to the slower rise of the main light curve. Our multi-color photometry allows us, for the first time, to show that the initial peak cools from 22,000 to 8000 K over 15 rest-frame days, and is faster and brighter than any published core-collapse supernova, reaching 30% of the bolometric luminosity of the main peak. No physical Ni-56-powered model can fit this initial peak. We show that a shock-cooling model followed by a magnetar driving the second phase of the light curve can adequately explain the entire light curve of DES14X3taz. Models involving the shock-cooling of extended circumstellar material at a distance of similar or equal to 400 R-circle dot are preferred over the cooling of shock-heated surface layers of a stellar envelope. We compare DES14X3taz to the few double-peaked SLSN-I events in the literature. Although the rise. times and characteristics of these initial peaks differ, there exists the tantalizing possibility that they can be explained by one physical interpretation
We present a sample of galaxies with the Dark Energy Survey (DES) photometry that replicates the properties of the BOSS CMASS sample. The CMASS galaxy sample has been well characterized by the Sloan ...Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) collaboration and was used to obtain the most powerful redshift-space galaxy clustering measurements to date. A joint analysis of redshift-space distortions (such as those probed by CMASS from SDSS) and a galaxy-galaxy lensing measurement for an equivalent sample from DES can provide powerful cosmological constraints. Unfortunately, the DES and SDSS-BOSS footprints have only minimal overlap, primarily on the celestial equator near the SDSS Stripe 82 region. Using this overlap, we build a robust Bayesian model to select CMASS-like galaxies in the remainder of the DES footprint. The newly defined DES-CMASS (DMASS) sample consists of 117,293 effective galaxies covering \(1,244 {\rm deg}^2\). Through various validation tests, we show that the DMASS sample selected by this model matches well with the BOSS CMASS sample, specifically in the South Galactic cap (SGC) region that includes Stripe 82. Combining measurements of the angular correlation function and the clustering-z distribution of DMASS, we constrain the difference in mean galaxy bias and mean redshift between the BOSS CMASS and DMASS samples to be \(\Delta b = 0.010^{+0.045}_{-0.052}\) and \(\Delta z = \left( 3.46^{+5.48}_{-5.55} \right) \times 10^{-3}\) for the SGC portion of CMASS, and \(\Delta b = 0.044^{+0.044}_{-0.043} \) and \(\Delta z= ( 3.51^{+4.93}_{-5.91}) \times 10^{-3}\) for the full CMASS sample. These values indicate that the mean bias of galaxies and mean redshift in the DMASS sample is consistent with both CMASS samples within \(1\sigma\).
We present a spectroscopic study of the tidal tails and core of the Milky Way satellite Tucana III, collectively referred to as the Tucana III stream, using the 2dF+AAOmega spectrograph on the ...Anglo-Australian Telescope and the IMACS spectrograph on the Magellan/Baade Telescope. In addition to recovering the brightest 9 previously known member stars in the Tucana III core, we identify 22 members in the tidal tails. We observe strong evidence for a velocity gradient of 8.0 km/s/deg (or 18.3 km/s/kpc over at least 3\(^{\circ}\) (or 1.3 kpc) on the sky. Based on the continuity in velocity we confirm that the Tucana III tails are real tidal extensions of Tucana III. The large velocity gradient of the stream implies that Tucana III is likely on a radial orbit. We successfully obtain metallicities for 4 members in the core and 12 members in the tails. We find that members close to the ends of the stream tend to be more metal-poor than members in the core, indicating a possible metallicity gradient between the center of the progenitor halo and its edge. The spread in metallicity suggests that the progenitor of the Tucana III stream is a dwarf galaxy rather than a star cluster. Furthermore, we find that with the precise photometry of the Dark Energy Survey data, there is a discernible color offset between metal-rich disk stars and metal-poor stream members. This metallicity-dependent color offers a more efficient method to recognize metal-poor targets and will increase the selection efficiency of stream members for future spectroscopic follow-up programs on stellar streams.
A quantitative study of macrobenthos was carried out on three transects on the shelf and continental slope off Chile (22° to 42°S; from 100 to 2000 m water depth) within and beneath the oxygen ...minimum zone (OMZ). Macrobenthos mean densities ranged from 104 to 13 808 ind m−2, with highest values off Concepción (∼36°S), where highest chloroplastic pigment equivalents were also measured. Polychaetes were the numerically dominant group in all transects and depths, followed by peracarid crustaceans. Species richness and diversity correlated with observed changes in bottom-water oxygen concentrations and sediment-bound pigments. Our results show that the shelf macrobenthic communities were negatively affected by low oxygen. The non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) analysis evidenced depth-related station groups which may be related to the different environments provided by the water masses involved. Indeed, the depth ranges of stations groups with their specific species inventories coincide quite well with the boundaries of the three important water masses in the region, the Equatorial Subsurface Water (∼50 m to ∼400 m depth), the Antarctic Intermediate Water (∼400 to ∼1200 m depth), and the Pacific Deep Water (>1200 m depth).
Using \(\sim 100\) X-ray selected clusters in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data, we constrain the luminosity function (LF) of cluster red sequence galaxies as a function of redshift. ...This is the first homogeneous optical/X-ray sample large enough to constrain the evolution of the luminosity function simultaneously in redshift (\(0.1<z<1.05\)) and cluster mass (\(13.5 \le \rm{log_{10}}(M_{200crit}) \sim< 15.0\)). We pay particular attention to completeness issues and the detection limit of the galaxy sample. We then apply a hierarchical Bayesian model to fit the cluster galaxy LFs via a Schecter function, including its characteristic break (\(m^*\)) to a faint end power-law slope (\(\alpha\)). Our method enables us to avoid known issues in similar analyses based on stacking or binning the clusters. We find weak and statistically insignificant (\(\sim 1.9 \sigma\)) evolution in the faint end slope \(\alpha\) versus redshift. We also find no dependence in \(\alpha\) or \(m^*\) with the X-ray inferred cluster masses. However, the amplitude of the LF as a function of cluster mass is constrained to \(\sim 20\%\) precision. As a by-product of our algorithm, we utilize the correlation between the LF and cluster mass to provide an improved estimate of the individual cluster masses as well as the scatter in true mass given the X-ray inferred masses. This technique can be applied to a larger sample of X-ray or optically selected clusters from the Dark Energy Survey, significantly improving the sensitivity of the analysis.
Since first noticed by Shapley in 1939, a faint object coincident with the Fornax dwarf spheroidal has long been discussed as a possible sixth globular cluster system. However, debate has continued ...over whether this overdensity is a statistical artifact or a blended galaxy group. In this Letter we demonstrate, using deep DECam imaging data, that this object is well resolved into stars and is a bona fide star cluster. The stellar overdensity of this cluster is statistically significant at the level of ~ 6 - 6.7 sigma in several different photometric catalogs including Gaia. Therefore, it is highly unlikely to be caused by random fluctuation. We show that Fornax 6 is a star cluster with a peculiarly low surface brightness and irregular shape, which may indicate a strong tidal influence from its host galaxy. The Hess diagram of Fornax 6 is largely consistent with that of Fornax field stars, but it appears to be slightly bluer. However, it is still likely more metal-rich than most of the globular clusters in the system. Faint clusters like Fornax 6 that orbit and potentially get disrupted in the centers of dwarf galaxies can prove crucial for constraining the dark matter distribution in Milky Way satellites.
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