- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/811/30
- Title:
- Machine learning metallicity predictions using SDSS
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/811/30
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars ([Fe/H]<=-3.0dex) provide a unique window into understanding the first generation of stars and early chemical enrichment of the universe. EMP stars are exceptionally rare, however, and the relatively small number of confirmed discoveries limits our ability to exploit these near-field probes of the first ~500Myr after the Big Bang. Here, a new method to photometrically estimate [Fe/H] from only broadband photometric colors is presented. I show that the method, which utilizes machine-learning algorithms and a training set of ~170000 stars with spectroscopically measured [Fe/H], produces a typical scatter of ~0.29dex. This performance is similar to what is achievable via low-resolution spectroscopy, and outperforms other photometric techniques, while also being more general. I further show that a slight alteration to the model, wherein synthetic EMP stars are added to the training set, yields the robust identification of EMP candidates. In particular, this synthetic-oversampling method recovers ~20% of the EMP stars in the training set, at a precision of ~0.05. Furthermore, ~65% of the false positives from the model are very metal-poor stars ([Fe/H]<=-2.0dex). The synthetic-oversampling method is biased toward the discovery of warm (~F-type) stars, a consequence of the targeting bias from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey/Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding survey. This EMP selection method represents a significant improvement over alternative broadband optical selection techniques. The models are applied to >12 million stars, with an expected yield of ~600 new EMP stars, which promises to open new avenues for exploring the early universe.
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Search Results
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/159/84
- Title:
- Machine-learning regression of extinction in Gaia DR2
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/159/84
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Machine learning has become a popular tool to help us make better decisions and predictions, based on experiences, observations, and analyzing patterns, within a given data set without explicit functions. In this paper, we describe an application of the supervised machine-learning algorithm to the extinction regression for the second Gaia data release, based on the combination of the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope, Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration, and the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment. The derived extinction in our training sample is consistent with other spectrum-based estimates, and its standard deviation of the cross-validations is 0.0127mag. A blind test is carried out using the RAdial Velocity Experiment catalog, and the standard deviation is 0.0372mag. Such a precise training sample enables us to regress the extinction, E(BP-RP), for 133 million stars in the second Gaia data release. Of these, 106 million stars have the uncertainties less than 0.1mag, which suffer less bias from the external regression. We also find that there are high deviations between the extinctions from photometry-based methods, and between spectrum- and photometry-based methods. This implies that the spectrum-based method could bring more signal to a regressing model than multiband photometry, and a higher signal-to-noise ratio would acquire a more reliable result.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/134/1963
- Title:
- MACHO r,b light curves of MC eclipsing binaries
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/134/1963
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a new sample of 4634 eclipsing binary stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), expanding on a previous sample of 611 objects and a new sample of 1509 eclipsing binary stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), that were identified in the light-curve database of the MACHO project. We perform a cross-correlation with the OGLE-II LMC sample, finding 1236 matches. A cross correlation with the OGLE-II SMC sample finds 698 matches. We then compare the LMC subsamples corresponding to the center and periphery of the LMC and find only minor differences between the two populations. These samples are sufficiently large and complete that statistical studies of the binary star populations are possible.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/240/33
- Title:
- MaDCoWS. I. Catalog of z~1 galaxy clusters
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/240/33
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS), a search for galaxy clusters at 0.7<=z<=1.5 based upon data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. MaDCoWS is the first cluster survey capable of discovering massive clusters at these redshifts over the full extragalactic sky. The search is divided into two regions-the region of the extragalactic sky covered by Pan-STARRS ({delta}{>}-30{deg}) and the remainder of the southern extragalactic sky at {delta}{<}-30{deg} for which shallower optical data from the SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey is available. In this paper, we describe the search algorithm, characterize the sample, and present the first MaDCoWS data release-catalogs of the 2433 highest amplitude detections in the WISE-Pan-STARRS region and the 250 highest amplitude detections in the WISE-SuperCOSMOS region. A total of 1723 of the detections from the WISE-Pan-STARRS sample have also been observed with the Spitzer Space Telescope, providing photometric redshifts and richnesses, and an additional 64 detections within the WISE-SuperCOSMOS region also have photometric redshifts and richnesses. Spectroscopic redshifts for 38 MaDCoWS clusters with IRAC photometry demonstrate that the photometric redshifts have an uncertainty of {sigma}z/(1+z)~0.036. Combining the richness measurements with Sunyaev-Zel'dovich observations of MaDCoWS clusters, we also present a preliminary mass-richness relation that can be used to infer the approximate mass distribution of the full sample. The estimated median mass for the WISE-Pan-STARRS catalog is M_500_=1.6_-0.8_^+0.7^x10^14^M_{sun}_, with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich data confirming that we detect clusters with masses up to M_500_~5x10^14^M_{sun}_ (_M200_~10^15^M_{sun}_).
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/115/1894
- Title:
- M31A eclipsing binaries and Cepheids
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/115/1894
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We have undertaken a long-term project, DIRECT, to obtain the direct distances to two important galaxies in the cosmological distance ladder, M31 and M33, using detached eclipsing binaries (DEBs) and Cepheids. While rare and difficult to detect, DEBs provide us with the potential to determine these distances with an accuracy better than 5%. The extensive photometry obtained in order to detect DEBs provides us with good light curves for the Cepheid variables. These are essential to the parallel project to derive direct Baade-Wesselink distances to Cepheids in M31 and M33. For both Cepheids and eclipsing binaries, the distance estimates will be free of any intermediate steps. As a first step in the DIRECT project, between 1996 September and 1997 January we obtained 36 full nights on the Michigan-Dartmouth-MIT Observatory 1.3m telescope and 45 full/partial nights on the F. L. Whipple Observatory 1.2m telescope to search for DEBs and new Cepheids in the M31 and M33 galaxies. In this paper, second in a series, we present the catalog of variable stars, most of them newly detected, found in the field M31A [({alpha},{delta})=(11.34{deg}, 41.73{deg}), J2000.0]. We have found 75 variable stars: 15 eclipsing binaries, 43 Cepheids, and 17 other periodic, possible long-period or nonperiodic variables. The catalog of variables, as well as their photometry and finding charts, is available via anonymous ftp and the World Wide Web. The CCD frames are available upon request.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/162/229
- Title:
- 13 Magellanic Clouds metal-poor stars
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/162/229
- Date:
- 15 Mar 2022
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The chemical abundances of a galaxy's metal-poor stellar population can be used to investigate the earliest stages of its formation and chemical evolution. The Magellanic Clouds are the most massive of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies and are thought to have evolved in isolation until their recent accretion by the Milky Way. Unlike the Milky Way's less massive satellites, little is known about the Magellanic Clouds' metal-poor stars. We have used the mid-infrared metal-poor star selection of Schlaufman & Casey and archival data to target nine LMC and four SMC giants for high-resolution Magellan/MIKE spectroscopy. These nine LMC giants with -2.4<~[Fe/H]<~-1.5 and four SMC giants with -2.6<~[Fe/H]<~-2.0 are the most metal-poor stars in the Magellanic Clouds yet subject to a comprehensive abundance analysis. While we find that at constant metallicity these stars are similar to Milky Way stars in their {alpha}, light, and iron-peak elemental abundances, both the LMC and SMC are enhanced relative to the Milky Way in the r-process element europium. These abundance offsets are highly significant, equivalent to 3.9{sigma} for the LMC, 2.7{sigma} for the SMC, and 5.0{sigma} for the complete Magellanic Cloud sample. We propose that the r-process enhancement of the Magellanic Clouds' metal-poor stellar population is a result of the Magellanic Clouds' isolated chemical evolution and long history of accretion from the cosmic web combined with r-process nucleosynthesis on a timescale longer than the core-collapse supernova timescale but shorter than or comparable to the thermonuclear (i.e., Type Ia) supernova timescale.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/128/1606
- Title:
- Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey: the LMC
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/128/1606
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present our catalog of U, B, V, and I stellar photometry of the central 64deg^2^ area of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Internal and external astrometric and photometric tests using existing optical photometry (U, B, and V from Massey's bright star catalog (Cat. <II/236>) and I from the near-infrared sky survey DENIS) are used to confirm our observational uncertainty estimates. We fit stellar atmosphere models to the optical data to check the consistency of the photometry for individual stars across the passbands and to estimate the line-of-sight extinction. Finally, we use the estimated line-of-sight extinctions to produce an extinction map across the Large Magellanic Cloud, confirm the variation of extinction as a function of stellar population, and produce a simple geometric model for the extinction as a function of stellar population.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/123/855
- Title:
- Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey: the SMC
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/123/855
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present our catalog of U, B, V, and I stellar photometry of the central 18{deg}^2^ area of the Small Magellanic Cloud. We combine our data with the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) and Deep Near-Infrared Southern Sky Survey (DENIS) catalogs to provide, when available, U through K_s_ data for stars. Internal and external astrometric and photometric tests using existing optical photometry (U, B, and V from Massey's (ApJS, in press) bright star catalog; B, V, and I from the microlensing database of OGLE; and I from the near-infrared sky survey DENIS) are used to determine the observational uncertainties and identify systematic errors. We fit stellar atmosphere models to the optical data to check the consistency of the photometry for individual stars across the passbands and to estimate the line-of-sight extinction. Finally, we use the estimated line-of-sight extinctions to produce an extinction map across the Small Magellanic Cloud, and we investigate the nature of extinction as a function of stellar population.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/746/27
- Title:
- Magellanic Quasars Survey. II. AGNs behind LMC
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/746/27
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We quadruple the number of quasars known behind the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) from 56 (42 in the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE)-III LMC fields) to 200 by spectroscopically confirming 169 (144 new) quasars from a sample of 845 observed candidates in four ~3 deg^2^ Anglo-Australian Telescope/AAOmega fields south of the LMC center. The candidates were selected based on their Spitzer mid-infrared colors, X-ray emission, and/or optical variability properties in the database of the OGLE microlensing survey. The contaminating sources can be divided into 115 young stellar objects (YSOs), 17 planetary nebulae (PNe), 39 Be and 24 blue stars, 68 red stars, and 12 objects classed as either YSO/PN or blue star/YSO. There are also 402 targets with either featureless spectra or too low signal-to-noise ratios for source classification. Our quasar sample is 50% (30%) complete at I = 18.6 mag (19.3 mag). The newly discovered active galactic nuclei (AGNs) provide many additional reference points for proper motion studies of the LMC, and the sample includes 10 bright AGNs (I < 18 mag) that are potentially suitable for absorption line studies. Their primary use, however, is for detailed studies of quasar variability, as they all have long-term, high cadence, continuously growing light curves from the microlensing surveys of the LMC. Completing the existing Magellanic Quasars Survey fields in the LMC and Small Magellanic Cloud should yield a sample of ~700 well-monitored AGNs, and expanding it to the larger regions covered by the OGLE-IV survey should yield a sample of ~3600 AGNs.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/883/11
- Title:
- Magellan/IMACS spectra of Crater II & Hercules
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/883/11
- Date:
- 21 Jan 2022 09:25:05
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We investigate the possibility that the dwarf galaxies Crater II and Hercules have previously been tidally stripped by the Milky Way. We present Magellan/IMACS spectra of candidate member stars in both objects. We identify 37 members of Crater II, 25 of which have velocity measurements in the literature, and we classify three stars within that subset as possible binaries. We find that including or removing these binary candidates does not change the derived velocity dispersion of Crater II. Excluding the binary candidates, we measure a velocity dispersion of {sigma}_Vlos_=2.7_-0.4_^+0.5^km/s, corresponding to M/L=47_-13_^+17^M_{sun}_/L_{sun}_. We measure a mean metallicity of [Fe/H]=-1.95_-0.05_^+0.06^, with a dispersion of {sigma}_[Fe/H]_=0.18_-0.08_^+0.06^. Our velocity dispersion and metallicity measurements agree with previous measurements for Crater II, and confirm that the galaxy resides in a kinematically cold dark-matter halo. We also search for spectroscopic members stripped from Hercules in the possible extratidal stellar overdensities surrounding the dwarf. For both galaxies, we calculate proper motions using Gaia DR2 astrometry, and use their full 6D phase space information to evaluate the probability that their orbits approach sufficiently close to the Milky Way to experience tidal stripping. Given the available kinematic data, we find a probability of ~40% that Hercules has suffered tidal stripping. The proper motion of Crater II makes it almost certain to be stripped.
