This paper presents new deep and wide narrow-band surveys undertaken with United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT), Subaru and the Very Large Telescope (VLT), a unique combined effort to select large, robust samples of H{alpha} star-forming galaxies at z = 0.40, 0.84, 1.47 and 2.23 (corresponding to look-back times of 4.2, 7.0, 9.2 and 10.6Gyr) in a uniform manner over ~2deg^2^ in the Cosmological Evolution Survey and Ultra Deep Survey fields. The deep multi-epoch H{alpha} surveys reach a matched 3{sigma} flux limit of ~3M_{sun}_/yr out to z=2.2 for the first time, while the wide area and the coverage over two independent fields allow us to greatly overcome cosmic variance and assemble by far the largest samples of H{alpha} emitters. Catalogues are presented for a total of 1742, 637, 515 and 807 H{alpha} emitters, robustly selected at z = 0.40, 0.84, 1.47 and 2.23, respectively, and used to determine the H{alpha} luminosity function and its evolution.
We present a phase-resolved spectroscopic study of the secondary star in the cataclysmic variable (CV) U Gem. We use our data to measure the radial velocity semi-amplitude, systemic velocity and rotational velocity of the secondary star. Combining this with literature data allows us to determine masses and radii for both the secondary star and white dwarf, which are independent of any assumptions about their structure. We use these to compare their properties to those of field stars and find that both components follow field mass-radius relationships. The secondary star has the mass, radius, luminosity and photometric temperature of an M2 star, but a spectroscopic temperature of M4. The latter may well be due to a high metallicity. There is a troubling inconsistency between the radius of the white dwarf inferred from its gravitational redshift and inclination and that inferred from its temperature, flux and astrometric distance.
Cluster faint low surface brightness galaxies (fLSBs) are difficult to observe. Consequently, their origin, physical properties and number density are not well known. After a first search for fLSBs in the highly substructured Coma cluster, we present here a search for fLSBs in the nearly relaxed Abell 496 cluster. Abell 496 appears to be a much more relaxed cluster than Coma, but still embedded in a large scale filament of galaxies. Our aim is to compare the properties of fLSBs in these two very different clusters, to search for environmental effects.
Investigation of period-color (PC) and amplitude-color (AC) relations at the maximum and minimum light can be used to probe the interaction of the hydrogen ionization front (HIF) with the photosphere and the radiation hydrodynamics of the outer envelopes of Cepheids and RR Lyraes. For example, theoretical calculations indicated that such interactions would occur at minimum light for RR Lyrae and result in a flatter PC relation. In the past, the PC and AC relations have been investigated by using either the (V-R)_MACHO_ or (V-I) colors. In this work, we extend previous work to other bands by analyzing the RR Lyraes in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82 Region. Multi-epoch data are available for RR Lyraes located within the footprint of the Stripe 82 Region in five (ugriz) bands. We present the PC and AC relations at maximum and minimum light in four colors: (u-g)_0_, (g-r)_0_, (r-i)_0_, and (i-z)_0_, after they are corrected for extinction. We found that the PC and AC relations for this sample of RR Lyraes show a complex nature in the form of flat, linear or quadratic relations. Furthermore, the PC relations at minimum light for fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars are separated according to the Oosterhoff type, especially in the (g-r)_0_ and (r-i)_0_ colors. If only considering the results from linear regressions, our results are quantitatively consistent with the theory of HIF-photosphere interaction for both fundamental and first overtone RR Lyraes.
We continue our series of papers describing the results of a photometric survey of open star clusters, primarily in the southern hemisphere, taken in the u'g'r'i'z' filter system. The entire observed sample covered more than 100 clusters, but here we present data only on NGC 188, which is one of the oldest open clusters known in the Milky Way. We fit the Padova theoretical isochrones to our data. Assuming a solar metallicity for NGC 188, we find a distance of 1700+/-100pc, an age of 7.5+/-0.7Gyr, and a reddening E(B-V) of 0.025+/-0.005. This yields a distance modulus of 11.23+/-0.14.
We present initial results of a photometric survey of open star clusters, primarily in the southern hemisphere, taken in the u'g'r'i'z' filter system. While our entire observed sample covers more than 100 clusters, here we present data for NGC 2548 (M48), which is a cluster characterized in the UBV and DDO photometric systems. We compare our results to the published values from other observers and to the Padova theoretical isochrones and metallicity curves. These observations demonstrate that the u'g'r'i'z' filters can play an important role in determining the metallicity of stars and clusters. We begin this series of papers with a study of NGC 2548 because we have obtained data on this cluster not only with our main program telescope, the CTIO Curtis Schmidt, but also with the US Naval Observatory (USNO) 1.0m telescope (the telescope used to define the u'g'r'i'z' system), and with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) 0.5m Photometric Telescope (the photometric monitoring telescope used to calibrate the SDSS 2.5m telescope imaging data). We have used the data from this study to validate our ability to transform measurements obtained on other telescopes to the standard USNO 1.0m u'g'r'i'z' system. This validation is particularly important for very red stars, for which the original u'g'r'i'z' standard star network is poorly constrained.
We present high-quality photometry in the five Sloan Digital Sky Survey filters, u', g', r', i', and z', for 2195 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts measured by the Las Campanas Redshift Survey. In addition, a polynomial photometric redshift estimator is derived, with an uncertainty of 0.035 out to z=0.25.
The catalog (table 5 of the paper) contains the measurements of 2262 sources, including 334 extended sources, 1915 point sources, and 13 known QSOs, in five passbands close to the u'g'r'i'z' passbands of SDSS (see the definition of the photometric system in Richards et al., 1997PASP..109...39R). Of these objects, over 1600 are measured in 15 fields covering 0.5deg^2^, with a limiting magnitude of r*<19.5, similar to the photometric limit of the SDSS spectroscopic survey.
Detection and photometry of sources in the U_n_, G, {R}, and K_s_ bands in a 9x9 arcmin^2^ region of the sky, centered on the Hubble Deep Field, are described. The data permit construction of complete photometric catalogs to roughly U_n_=25, G=26, {R}=25.5, K_s_=20 mag and significant photometric measurements somewhat fainter. Galaxy catalogs selected in the {R} and K_s_ bands are presented, containing 3607 and 488 sources in field areas of 74.8 and 59.4arcmin^2^, to {R}=25.5 and K_s_=20mag.
