By selecting astrometric and photometric data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS, II/306), the Lepine & Shara Proper Motion North Catalog (LSPM-North, I/298), the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS, II/246), and the USNO-B1.0 (I/284) catalog, we use a succession of methods to isolate white dwarf (WD) candidates for follow-up spectroscopy. Our methods include reduced proper motion diagram cuts, color cuts, and atmospheric model adherence. We present spectroscopy of 26 WDs obtained from the CTIO 4m and APO 3.5m telescopes. Additionally, we confirm 28 WDs with spectra available in the SDSS-DR7 database but unpublished elsewhere, presenting a total of 54 WDs. We label one of these as a recovered WD while the remaining 53 are new discoveries. We determine physical parameters and estimate distances based on atmospheric model analyses. Three new WDs are modeled to lie within 25 pc. Two additional WDs are confirmed to be metal-polluted (DAZ). Follow-up time series photometry confirms another object to be a pulsating ZZ Ceti WD.
We report the discovery of 9088 new spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs and subdwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 10. We obtain T_eff_, logg and mass for hydrogen atmosphere white dwarf stars (DAs) and helium atmosphere white dwarf stars (DBs), and estimate the calcium/helium abundances for the white dwarf stars with metallic lines (DZs) and carbon/helium for carbon-dominated spectra DQs. We found 1 central star of a planetary nebula, 2 new oxygen spectra on helium atmosphere white dwarfs, 71 DQs, 42 hot DO/PG1159s, 171 white dwarf+main-sequence star binaries, 206 magnetic DAHs, 327 continuum-dominated DCs, 397 metal-polluted white dwarfs, 450 helium-dominated white dwarfs, 647 subdwarfs and 6887 new hydrogen-dominated white dwarf stars.
We aim to obtain a complete sample of redshift z>=3.6 radio quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty cm survey (FIRST) sources (S_1.4GHz_>1mJy) having star-like counterparts in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 5 (DR5) photometric survey (r_AB_<=20.2). Our starting sample of 8665 FIRST-DR5 pairs includes 4250 objects with spectra in DR5, 52 of these being z>=3.6 QSOs. We found that simple supervised neural networks, trained on the sources with DR5 spectra, and using optical photometry and radio data, are very effective for identifying high-z QSOs in a sample without spectra. For the sources with DR5 spectra the technique yields a completeness (fraction of actual high-z QSOs classified as such by the neural network) of 96 per cent, and an efficiency (fraction of objects selected by the neural network as high-z QSOs that actually are high-z QSOs) of 62 per cent. Applying the trained networks to the 4415 sources without DR5 spectra we found 58 z>=3.6 QSO candidates. We obtained spectra of 27 of them, and 17 are confirmed as high-z QSOs. Spectra of 13 additional candidates from the literature and from SDSS Data Release 6 (DR6) revealed seven more z>=3.6 QSOs, giving an overall efficiency of 60 per cent (24/40).
The identification of quasars at intermediate redshifts (2.2<z<3.5) has been inefficient in most previous quasar surveys since the optical colors of quasars are similar to those of stars. The near-IR K-band excess technique has been suggested to overcome this difficulty. Our recent study also proposed to use optical/near-IR colors for selecting z<4 quasars. To verify the effectiveness of this method, we selected a list of 105 unidentified bright targets with i<=18.5 from the quasar candidates of SDSS DR6 with both SDSS ugriz optical and UKIDSS YJHK near-IR photometric data, which satisfy our proposed Y-K/g-z criterion and have photometric redshifts between 2.2 and 3.5 estimated from the nine-band SDSS-UKIDSS data. We observed 43 targets with the BFOSC instrument on the 2.16m optical telescope at Xinglong station of the National Astronomical Observatory of China in the spring of 2012. We spectroscopically identified 36 targets as quasars with redshifts between 2.1 and 3.4. The high success rate of discovering these quasars in the SDSS spectroscopic surveyed area further demonstrates the robustness of both the Y-K/g-z selection criterion and the photometric redshift estimation technique. We also used the above criterion to investigate the possible stellar contamination rate among the quasar candidates of SDSS DR6, and found that the rate is much higher when selecting 3<z<3.5 quasar candidates than when selecting lower redshift candidates (z<2.2). The significant improvement in the photometric redshift estimation when using the nine-band SDSS-UKIDSS data over the five-band SDSS data is demonstrated and a catalog of 7727 unidentified quasar candidates in SDSS DR6 selected with optical/near-IR colors and having photometric redshifts between 2.2 and 3.5 is provided. We also tested the Y-K/g-z selection criterion with the recently released SDSS-III/DR9 quasar catalog and found that 96.2% of 17999 DR9 quasars with UKIDSS Y- and K-band data satisfy our criterion. With some available samples of red quasars and type II quasars, we find that 88% and 96.5% of these objects can be selected by the Y-K/g-z criterion, respectively, which supports our claim that using the Y-K/g-z criterion efficiently selects both unobscured and obscured quasars. We discuss the implications of our results on the ongoing and upcoming large optical and near-IR sky surveys.
We present a study of variable stars in globular cluster NGC 6401. The cluster is only 5.3{deg} away from the Galactic Centre and suffers from strong differential reddening. The photometric precision afforded us by difference image analysis resulted in improved sensitivity to variability in formerly inaccessible interior regions of the cluster. We find 23 RRab and 11 RRc stars within one cluster radius (2.4-arcmin), for which we provide coordinates, finder-charts and time series photometry. Through Fourier decomposition of the RR Lyrae star light curves we derive a mean metallicity of [Fe/H]UVES=-1.13+/-0.06 ([Fe/H]ZW=-1.25+/-0.06), and a distance of d~6.35+/-0.81kpc. Using the RR Lyrae population, we also determine that NGC 6401 is an Oosterhoff type I cluster.
In order to obtain clean members of the open cluster NGC 6819, the proper motions and radial velocities of 1691 stars are used to construct a three-dimensional (3D) velocity space. Based on the DBSCAN clustering algorithm, 537 3D cluster members are obtained. From the 537 3D cluster members, the average radial velocity and absolute proper motion of the cluster are Vr=+2.30+/-0.04km/s and (PMRA, PMDE)=(-2.5+/-0.5, -4.3+/-0.5)mas/yr, respectively. The proper motions, radial velocities, spatial positions and color-magnitude diagram of the 537 3D members indicate that our membership determination is effective. Among the 537 3D cluster members, 15 red clump giants can be easily identified by eye and are used as reliable standard candles for the distance estimate of the cluster. The distance modulus of the cluster is determined to be (m-M)0=11.86+/-0.05mag (2355+/-54pc), which is quite consistent with published values. The uncertainty of our distance modulus is dominated by the intrinsic dispersion in the luminosities of red clump giants (~0.04mag).
This paper presents Gemini-gri' high-quality photometry for cluster candidates in the field of NGC 1316 (Fornax A) as part of a study that also includes GMOS spectroscopy. A preliminary discussion of the photometric data indicates the presence of four stellar cluster populations with distinctive features in terms of age, chemical abundance and spatial distribution. Two of them seem to be the usually old (metal poor and metal rich) populations typically found in elliptical galaxies. In turn, an intermediate-age (5 Gyr) globular cluster population is the dominant component of the sample (as reported by previous papers). We also find a younger cluster population with a tentative age of ~=1Gyr.
Groups are the most common association of galaxies in the Universe and they are found in different configuration states, such as loose, compact, and fossil groups. We studied the galaxy group MKW 4s, dominated by the giant early-type galaxy NGC 4104 at z=0.0282, with the aim of understanding the evolutionary stage of this group and to place it within the framework of the standard {Lambda}CDM cosmological scenario. We obtained deep optical data with CFHT/Megacam (g and r bands) and we applied both the galfit 2D image fitting program and the IRAF/ellipse 1D radial method to model the brightest group galaxy (BGG) and its extended stellar envelope. We also analysed the publicly available XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray data. From N-body simulations of dry-mergers with different mass ratios of the infalling galaxy, we were able to constrain the dynamical stage of this system. Our results show a stellar shell system feature in NGC 4104 and an extended envelope that was reproduced by our numerical simulations of a collision with a satellite galaxy taking place about 4-6Gyr ago. The initial pair of galaxies had a mass ratio of at least 1:3. Taking into account the stellar envelope contribution to the total r band magnitude and the X-ray luminosity, MKW 4s falls into the category of a fossil group. Our results show that we are witnessing a rare case of a shell elliptical galaxy in a forming fossil group.
Analysis of the globular cluster (GC) system of the giant elliptical (E3) galaxy NGC 4365, from eight Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys pointings and a wide-field Subaru/Suprime-Cam image, is presented. Using magnitude, colour and size criteria, we obtain a catalogue of GC candidates. We also measure the photometric properties of the galaxy starlight, including a new measure of the effective radius.
This paper presents further results from our spectroscopic study of the globular cluster (GC) system of the group elliptical NGC 3923. From observations made with the GMOS instrument on the Gemini South Telescope, an additional 50 GC and ultra-compact dwarf (UCD) candidates have been spectroscopically confirmed as members of the NGC 3923 system. When the recessional velocities of these GCs are combined with the 29 GC velocities reported previously, a total sample of 79 GC/UCD velocities is produced. This sample extends to over 6-arcmin (>6Re~30kpc) from the centre of NGC 3923 and is used to study the dynamics of the GC system and the dark matter content of NGC 3923.
