USNO-B1.0 (Cat. I/284) and 2MASS (Cat. II/246) are the most widely used full-sky surveys. However, 2MASS has no proper motions at all, and USNO-B1.0 published only relative, not absolute (i.e. on ICRS) proper motions. We performed a new determination of mean positions and proper motions on the ICRS system by combining USNO-B1.0 and 2MASS astrometry. This catalog is called PPMXL, and it aims to be complete from the brightest stars down to about V=20 full-sky. PPMXL contains about 900 million objects, some 410 million with 2MASS photometry, and is the largest collection of ICRS proper motions at present. As representative for the ICRS we chose PPMX. The recently released UCAC3 (Cat. I/315) could not be used because we found plate-dependent distortions in its proper motion system north of -20{deg} declination. UCAC3 served as an intermediate system for {demta}<-20{deg}. The resulting typical individual mean errors of the proper motions range from 4mas/yr to more than 10mas/yr depending on observational history. The mean errors of positions at epoch 2000.0 are 80 to 120 mas, if 2MASS astrometry could be used, 150 to 300 mas else. We also give correction tables to convert USNO-B1.0 observations of e.g. minor planets to the ICRS system.
The SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), a five-year spectroscopic survey of 10000deg^2^, achieved first light in late 2009. One of the key goals of BOSS is to measure the signature of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) in the distribution of Ly{alpha} absorption from the spectra of a sample of ~150000 z>2.2 quasars. Along with measuring the angular diameter distance at z~2.5, BOSS will provide the first direct measurement of the expansion rate of the universe at z>2. One of the biggest challenges in achieving this goal is an efficient target selection algorithm for quasars in the redshift range 2.2<z<3.5, where their colors tend to overlap those of the far more numerous stars. During the first year of the BOSS survey, quasar target selection (QTS) methods were developed and tested to meet the requirement of delivering at least 15 quasars/deg^2^ in this redshift range, with a goal of 20 out of 40 targets/deg^2^ allocated to the quasar survey. To achieve these surface densities, the magnitude limit of the quasar targets was set at g<=22.0 or r<=21.85. We have defined a uniformly selected subsample of 20 targets/deg^2^, for which the selection efficiency is just over 50% (~10 z>2.20 quasars/deg^2^). This "CORE" subsample will be fixed for Years Two through Five of the survey. In this paper, we describe the evolution and implementation of the BOSS QTS algorithms during the first two years of BOSS operations (through 2011 July), in support of the science investigations based on these data, and we analyze the spectra obtained during the first year. During this year, 11263 new z>2.20 quasars were spectroscopically confirmed by BOSS, roughly double the number of previously known quasars with z>2.20. Our current algorithms select an average of 15 z>2.20 quasars/deg^2^ from 40 targets/deg^2^ using single-epoch SDSS imaging.
We investigate the orbital motion of the Quintuplet cluster near the Galactic center with the aim of constraining formation scenarios of young, massive star clusters in nuclear environments. Three epochs of adaptive optics high-angular resolution imaging with the Keck/NIRC2 and Very Large Telescope/NAOS-CONICA systems were obtained over a time baseline of 5.8 yr, delivering an astrometric accuracy of 0.5-1 mas/yr. Proper motions were derived in the cluster reference frame and were used to distinguish cluster members from the majority of the dense field star population toward the inner bulge. Fitting the cluster and field proper motion distributions with two-dimensional (2D) Gaussian models, we derive the orbital motion of the cluster for the first time. The Quintuplet is moving with a 2D velocity of 132+/-15 km/s with respect to the field along the Galactic plane, which yields a three-dimensional orbital velocity of 167+/-15 km/s when combined with the previously known radial velocity. From a sample of 119 stars measured in three epochs, we derive an upper limit to the velocity dispersion of {sigma}_1D_< 10 km/s in the core of the Quintuplet cluster. Knowledge of the three velocity components of the Quintuplet allows us to model the cluster orbit in the potential of the inner Galaxy. Under the assumption that the Quintuplet is located in the central 200 pc at the present time, these simulations exclude the possibility that the cluster is moving on a circular orbit. Comparing the Quintuplet's orbit with our earlier measurements of the Arches' orbit, we discuss the possibility that both clusters originated in the same area of the central molecular zone (CMZ). According to the model of Binney et al., two families of stable cloud orbits are located along the major and minor axes of the Galactic bar, named x1 and x2 orbits, respectively. The formation locus of these clusters is consistent with the outermost x2 orbit and might hint at cloud collisions at the transition region between the x1 and x2 orbital families located at the tip of the minor axis of the Galactic bar. The formation of young, massive star clusters in circumnuclear rings is discussed in the framework of the channeling in of dense gas by the bar potential. We conclude that the existence of a large-scale bar plays a major role in supporting ongoing star and cluster formation, not only in nearby spiral galaxies with circumnuclear rings, but also in the Milky Way's CMZ.
The catalog (RAFGL) contains the results of extensive verification and photometric studies of AFGL sources performed since the publication of "The AFGL Four Color Infrared Sky Survey: Catalog of Observations at 4.2, 11.0, 19.8, and 27.4 micrometers" (AFGL, Price and Walker 1976) as well as recent survey measurements with larger instruments. Improved positions and more extensive photometry have been provided by ground-based searches for the RAFGL objects and questions about unconfirmed sources from early investigations of the AFCRL Infrared Sky Survey (Walker and Price 1975) have, for the most part, been resolved. Many of the spurious sources were eliminated from the AFGL catalog in the reanalysis by including a rescan confirmation criterion in addition to the signal-to-noise gate used for the AFCRL catalog. The RAFGL is a revision of AFGL to include more accurate information and to provide identifications and improved positions for unidentified AFGL sources.
We present an analysis of the early, rising light curves of 18 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory and the La Silla-QUEST variability survey. We fit these early data flux using a simple power law (f(t)={alpha}xt^n^) to determine the time of first light (t_0_), and hence the rise time (t_rise_) from first light to peak luminosity, and the exponent of the power-law rise (n). We find a mean uncorrected rise time of 18.98+/-0.54 d, with individual supernova (SN) rise times ranging from 15.98 to 24.7 d. The exponent n shows significant departures from the simple `fireball model' of n=2 (or f(t){prop.to}t^2^) usually assumed in the literature. With a mean value of n=2.44+/-0.13, our data also show significant diversity from event to event. This deviation has implications for the distribution of ^56^Ni throughout the SN ejecta, with a higher index suggesting a lesser degree of ^56^Ni mixing. The range of n found also confirms that the ^56^Ni distribution is not standard throughout the population of SNe Ia, in agreement with earlier work measuring such abundances through spectral modelling. We also show that the duration of the very early light curve, before the luminosity has reached half of its maximal value, does not correlate with the light-curve shape or stretch used to standardize SNe Ia in cosmological applications. This has implications for the cosmological fitting of SN Ia light curves.
The Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) Redshift Survey was started two decades ago with the goal of mapping the three-dimensional distribution of an all-sky flux-limited (Ks<11.75mag) sample of ~45000 galaxies. Our first data release presented an unprecedented uniform coverage for most of the celestial sphere, with redshifts for ~98% of our sample. However, we were missing redshifts for ~18% of the catalog entries that were located within the "Zone of Avoidance" (|b|<10{deg})-an important region of the sky for studies of the large-scale structure and cosmic flows. In this second and final data release, we present redshifts for all 1041 2MRS galaxies that previously lacked this information, as well as updated measurements for 27 others.
The Roma-BZCAT is now at the 5th Edition which contains coordinates and multi-frequency data of 3561 sources, about 30% more than in the 1st edition, either confirmed blazars or exhibiting characteristics close to this type of sources. With respect to the previous editions, this new edition has relevant changes in the sources' classification and has a new format for the notes in the tables. We emphasize that all the sources in the Roma-BZCAT have a detection in the radio band. Moreover, a complete spectroscopic information is published and could be accessed by us for all of them, with the exception of BL Lac candidates. Consequently, peculiar sources as the so called "radio quiet BL Lacs", which are reported in some other catalogues, are not included here because of possible contamination with hot stars and other extragalactic objects.
We use V-band time-series data to analyze the RR Lyrae (RRL) population of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 6101. Using template fitting, we have discovered seven new RRL stars and confirmed 10 candidates. We find unusually long mean periods for the RRL of <P_ab_>=0.803 days and <P_c_>=0.393 days, and an atypically high ratio of n(c)/n(ab+c)=0.82. Based on our derived mean properties of the RRL, NGC 6101 is Oosterhoff type II, consistent with the cluster metallicity but intriguing with respect to its kinematics.
We report the results of a study of archival SuperWASP light curves for stars in Scorpius-Centaurus (Sco-Cen), the nearest OB association. We use SuperWASP time-series photometry to extract rotation periods for 189 candidate members of the Sco-Cen complex and verify that 162 of those are members of the classic Sco-Cen subgroups of Upper Scorpius (US), Upper Centaurus-Lupus (UCL), and Lower Centaurus-Crux (LCC). This study provides the first measurements of rotation periods explicitly for large samples of pre-main-sequence (pre-MS) stars spanning the UCL and LCC subgroups. Our final sample of 157 well-characterized pre-MS stars spans ages of ~10-20Myr, spectral types of ~F3-M0, and masses of M~=0.3-1.5 M_{sun}_^N^. For this sample, we find a distribution of stellar rotation periods with a median of P_rot_~=2.4-days, an overall range of 0.2<P_rot_<8-days, and a fairly well-defined mass-dependent upper envelope of rotation periods. This distribution of periods is consistent with recently developed stellar angular momentum evolution models. These data are significant because they represent an undersampled age range and the number of measurable rotation periods is large compared to recent studies of other regions. We also search for new examples of eclipsing disk or ring systems analogous to 1SWASP J140747.93-394542.6 (J1407), but find none. Our survey yielded five eclipsing binaries, but only one appears to be physically associated with the Sco-Cen complex. V2394 Oph is a heavily reddened (A_V_~=5mag) massive contact binary in the LDN 1689 cloud whose Gaia astrometry is clearly consistent with kinematic membership with the Ophiuchus star-forming region.
We present the fifth edition of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Catalog, which is based upon the SDSS Seventh Data Release. The catalog, which contains 105783 spectroscopically confirmed quasars, represents the conclusion of the SDSS-I and SDSS-II quasar survey. The catalog consists of the SDSS objects that have luminosities larger than M_i_=-22.0 (in a cosmology with H_0_=70km/s/Mpc, {Omega}_M_=0.3, and {Omega}_{Lambda}=0.7), have at least one emission line with FWHM larger than 1000km/s or have interesting/complex absorption features, are fainter than i~15.0, and have highly reliable redshifts. The catalog covers an area of ~9380deg^2^. The quasar redshifts range from 0.065 to 5.46, with a median value of 1.49; the catalog includes 1248 quasars at redshifts greater than 4, of which 56 are at redshifts greater than 5. The catalog contains 9210 quasars with i<18; slightly over half of the entries have i<19. For each object the catalog presents positions accurate to better than 0.1"rms per coordinate, five-band (ugriz) CCD-based photometry with typical accuracy of 0.03mag, and information on the morphology and selection method. The catalog also contains radio, near-infrared, and X-ray emission properties of the quasars, when available, from other large-area surveys. The calibrated digital spectra cover the wavelength region 3800-9200{AA} at a spectral resolution of ~2000; the spectra can be retrieved from the SDSS public database using the information provided in the catalog. Over 96% of the objects in the catalog were discovered by the SDSS. We also include a supplemental list of an additional 207 quasars with SDSS spectra whose archive photometric information is incomplete.
