We introduce xCOLD GASS, a legacy survey providing a census of molecular gas in the local universe. Building on the original COLD GASS survey, we present here the full sample of 532 galaxies with CO (1-0) measurements from the IRAM 30m telescope. The sample is mass-selected in the redshift interval 0.01<z<0.05 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and therefore representative of the local galaxy population with M_*_>10^9^M_{sun}_. The CO (1-0) flux measurements are complemented by observations of the CO (2-1) line with both the IRAM 30 m and APEX telescopes, HI observations from Arecibo, and photometry from SDSS, WISE, and GALEX. Combining the IRAM and APEX data, we find that the ratio of CO (2-1) to CO (1-0) luminosity for integrated measurements is r_21_=0.79+/- 0.03, with no systematic variations across the sample. The CO (1-0) luminosity function is constructed and best fit with a Schechter function with parameters L_CO_^* ^=(7.77+/-2.11)x10^9^K.(km/s).pc^2^, {phi}^*^=(9.84+/-5.41)x10^-4^Mpc^-3^, and {alpha}=-1.19+/-0.05. With the sample now complete down to stellar masses of 10^9^M_{sun}_, we are able to extend our study of gas scaling relations and confirm that both molecular gas fractions (f_H2_) and depletion timescale (t_dep_(H2)) vary with specific star formation rate (or offset from the star formation main sequence) much more strongly than they depend on stellar mass. Comparing the xCOLD GASS results with outputs from hydrodynamic and semianalytic models, we highlight the constraining power of cold gas scaling relations on models of galaxy formation.
Recent observational progress has enabled the detection of galaxy clusters and groups out to very high redshifts and for the first time allows detailed studies of galaxy population properties in these densest environments in what was formerly known as the "redshift desert" at z>1.5. We aim to investigate various galaxy population properties of the massive X-ray luminous galaxy cluster XDCP J0044.0-2033 at z=1.58, which constitutes the most extreme currently known matter-density peak at this redshift. We analyzed deep VLT/HAWK-I near-infrared data with an image quality of 0.5" and limiting Vega magnitudes (50% completeness) of 24.2 in J- and 22.8 in the Ks band, complemented by similarly deep Subaru imaging in i and V, Spitzer observations at 4.5um, and new spectroscopic observations with VLT/FORS 2.
We present the X-ray point-source catalog produced from the Chandra Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS-I) observations of the combined ~3.2deg^2^ DEEP2 (XDEEP2) survey fields, which consist of four ~0.7-1.1deg^2^ fields. The combined total exposures across all four XDEEP2 fields range from ~10ks to 1.1Ms. We detect X-ray point sources in both the individual ACIS-I observations and the overlapping regions in the merged (stacked) images. We find a total of 2976 unique X-ray sources within the survey area with an expected false-source contamination of ~30 sources (<~1%). Additionally, we present a Bayesian-style method for associating the X-ray sources with optical photometric counterparts in the DEEP2 catalog (complete to R_AB_<25.2) and find that 2126 (~71.4%+/-2.8%) of the 2976 X-ray sources presented here have a secure optical counterpart with a <~6% contamination fraction. We provide the DEEP2 optical source properties (e.g., magnitude, redshift) as part of the X-ray-optical counterpart catalog.
Photometric redshifts, which have become the cornerstone of several of the largest astronomical surveys like PanStarrs, DES, J-PAS and LSST, require precise measurements of galaxy photometry in different bands using a consistent physical aperture. This is not trivial, due to the variation in the shape and width of the point spread function (PSF) introduced by wavelength differences, instrument positions and atmospheric conditions. Current methods to correct for this effect rely on a detailed knowledge of PSF characteristics as a function of the survey coordinates, which can be difficult due to the relative paucity of stars tracking the PSF behaviour. Here we show that it is possible to measure accurate, consistent multicolour photometry without knowing the shape of the PSF. The Chebyshev-Fourier functions (CHEFs) can fit the observed profile of each object and produce high signal-to-noise integrated flux measurements unaffected by the PSF. These total fluxes, which encompass all the galaxy populations, are much more useful for galaxy evolution studies than aperture photometry. We compare the total magnitudes and colours obtained using our software to traditional photometry with SExtractor, using real data from the COSMOS survey and the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF). We also apply the CHEF technique to the recently published eXtreme Deep Field (XDF) and compare the results to those from ColorPro on the HUDF. We produce a photometric catalogue with 35732 sources (10823 with signal-to-noise ratio >=5), reaching a photometric redshift precision of 2 per cent due to the extraordinary depth and wavelength coverage of the eXtreme Deep Field images.
We present the extended GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey (xGASS), a gas fraction-limited census of the atomic hydrogen (HI) gas content of 1179 galaxies selected only by stellar mass (M*=10^9^-10^11.5^M_{sun}_) and redshift (0.01<z<0.05). This includes new Arecibo observations of 208 galaxies, for which we release catalogues and HI spectra. In addition to extending the GASS HI scaling relations by one decade in stellar mass, we quantify total (atomic+molecular) cold gas fractions and molecular-to-atomic gas mass ratios, Rmol, for the subset of 477 galaxies observed with the IRAM 30m telescope. We find that atomic gas fractions keep increasing with decreasing stellar mass, with no sign of a plateau down to logM*/M_{sun}_=9. Total gas reservoirs remain HI-dominated across our full stellar mass range, hence total gas fraction scaling relations closely resemble atomic ones, but with a scatter that strongly correlates with Rmol, especially at fixed specific star formation rate. On average, Rmol weakly increases with stellar mass and stellar surface density {mu}*, but individual values vary by almost two orders of magnitude at fixed M* or {mu}*. We show that, for galaxies on the star-forming sequence, variations of Rmol are mostly driven by changes of the HI reservoirs, with a clear dependence on {mu}*. Establishing if galaxy mass or structure plays the most important role in regulating the cold gas content of galaxies requires an accurate separation of bulge and disc components for the study of gas scaling relations
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) emit radiation over a wide range of wavelengths, with a peak of emission in the far-UV region of the electromagnetic spectrum, a spectral region that is historically difficult to observe. Using optical, GALEX UV, and XMM-Newton data we derive the spectral energy distribution (SED) from the optical/UV to X-ray regime of a sizeable sample of AGN. The principal motivation is to investigate the relationship between the optical/UV emission and the X-ray emission and provide bolometric corrections to the hard X-ray (2-10keV) energy range, k_bol_, the latter being a fundamental parameter in current physical cosmology.
We present the X-ray source catalogues for the XMM surveys of the 3-h and 14-h (also known as the Groth Strip) Canada-France Redshift Survey fields (0.5-10keV flux range ~2x10^-15^-10^-13^erg/cm^2^/s). We use a subset of the XMM sources, which have Chandra positions, to determine the best method of obtaining optical identifications of sources with only XMM positions. We find optical identifications for 79 per cent of the XMM sources for which there are deep optical images. The sources without optical identifications are likely to be optically fainter and have higher redshifts than the sources with identifications. We have estimated 'photometric redshifts' for the identified sources, calibrating our method using ~200 galaxies in the fields with spectroscopic redshifts. We find that the redshift distribution has a strong peak at z~0.7.
We present an X-ray study of our nearest starburst galaxy IC 10, based on XMM-Newton and Chandra observations. A list of 73 XMM-Newton and 28 Chandra detections of point-like X-ray sources in the field is provided; a substantial fraction of them are likely stellar objects in the Milky Way due to the low Galactic latitude location of IC 10.
We present a catalogue of X-ray selected galaxy clusters and groups as a first release of the 2XMMi/SDSS Galaxy Cluster Survey. The survey is a search for galaxy clusters detected serendipitously in observations with XMM-Newton in the footprint of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The main aims of the survey are to identify new X-ray galaxy clusters, investigate their X-ray scaling relations, identify distant cluster candidates, and study the correlation of the X-ray and optical properties. In this paper, we describe the basic strategy to identify and characterize the X-ray cluster candidates that currently comprise 1180 objects selected from the second XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue (2XMMi-DR3). Cross-correlation of the initial catalogue with recently published optically selected SDSS galaxy cluster catalogues yields photometric redshifts for 275 objects. Of these, 182 clusters have at least one member with a spectroscopic redshift from existing public data (SDSS-DR8). We developed an automated method to reprocess the XMM-Newton X-ray observations, determine the optimum source extraction radius, generate source and background spectra, and derive the temperatures and luminosities of the optically confirmed clusters. Here we present the X-ray properties of the first cluster sample, which comprises 175 clusters, among which 139 objects are new X-ray discoveries while the others were previously known as X-ray sources. For each cluster, the catalogue provides: two identifiers, coordinates, temperature, flux [0.5-2]keV, luminosity [0.5-2]keV extracted from an optimum aperture, bolometric luminosity L500, total mass M500, radius R500, and the optical properties of the counterpart. The first cluster sample from the survey covers a wide range of redshifts from 0.09 to 0.61, bolometric luminosities L500=1.9x10^42^-1.2x10^45^erg/s, and masses M500=2.3x10^13^-4.9x10^14^M_{sun}_. We extend the relation between the X-ray bolometric luminosity L500 and the X-ray temperature towards significantly lower T and L and still find that the slope of the linear L-T relation is consistent with values published for high luminosities.
We compile a sample of X-ray-selected galaxy groups and clusters from the XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue (2XMMi-DR3) with optical confirmation and redshift measurement from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The X-ray cluster candidates were selected from the 2XMMi-DR3 catalogue in the footprint of the SDSS-DR7. We developed a finding algorithm to search for overdensities of galaxies at the positions of the X-ray cluster candidates in the photometric redshift space and to measure the redshifts of the clusters from the SDSS data. The detection algorithm provides the photometric redshift of 530 galaxy clusters. Of these, 310 clusters have a spectroscopic redshift for at least one member galaxy. About 75 percent of the optically confirmed cluster sample are newly discovered X-ray clusters. Moreover, 301 systems are known as optically selected clusters in the literature while the remainder are new discoveries in X-ray and optical bands. The optically confirmed cluster sample spans a wide redshift range 0.03-0.70 (median z=0.32). In this paper, we present the catalogue of X-ray-selected galaxy groups and clusters from the 2XMMi/SDSS galaxy cluster survey. The catalogue has two subsamples: (i) a cluster sample comprising 345 objects with their X-ray spectroscopic temperature and flux from the spectral fitting, and (ii) a cluster sample consisting of 185 systems with their X-ray flux from the 2XMMi-DR3 catalogue, because their X-ray data are insufficient for spectral fitting. The updated L_X_-T relation of the current sample with X-ray spectroscopic parameters is presented. We see no evidence for evolution in the slope and intrinsic scatter of the L_X_-T relation with redshift when excluding the low-luminosity groups
