We present the Sloan Low-mass Wide Pairs of Kinematically Equivalent Stars (SLoWPoKES)-II catalog of low-mass visual binaries identified from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) by matching photometric distances. The candidate pairs are vetted by comparing the stellar information. The candidate pairs are vetted by comparing the stellar density at their respective Galactic positions to Monte Carlo realizations of a simulated Milky Way. In this way, we are able to identify large numbers of bona fide wide binaries without the need for proper motions. Here, 105537 visual binaries with angular separations of ~1-20" were identified, each with a probability of chance alignment of {<=}5%. This is the largest catalog of bona fide wide binaries to date, and it contains a diversity of systems--in mass, mass ratios, binary separations, metallicity, and evolutionary states--that should facilitate follow-up studies to characterize the properties of M dwarfs and white dwarfs. There is a subtle but definitive suggestion of multiple populations in the physical separation distribution, supporting earlier findings. We suggest that wide binaries are composed of multiple populations, most likely representing different formation modes. There are 141 M7 or later wide binary candidates, representing a seven-fold increase over the number currently known. These binaries are too wide to have been formed via the ejection mechanism. Finally, we found that 6% of spectroscopically confirmed M dwarfs are not included in the SDSS STAR catalog; they are misclassified as extended sources due to the presence of a nearby or partially resolved companion. The SLoWPoKES-II catalog is publicly available to the entire community on the World Wide Web via the Filtergraph data visualization portal.
SLoWPoKES. II. Properties of wide, low-mass binaries
Short Name:
J/AJ/143/67
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We report the results from spectroscopic observations of 113 ultra-wide, low-mass binary systems, largely composed of M0-M3 dwarfs, from the SLoWPoKES catalog of common proper motion pairs identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Dhital et al., 2010, Cat. J/AJ/139/2566). Radial velocities of each binary member were used to confirm that they are comoving and, consequently, to further validate the high fidelity of the SLoWPoKES catalog. Ten stars appear to be spectroscopic binaries based on broad or split spectral features, supporting previous findings that wide binaries are likely to be hierarchical systems. We measured the H{alpha} equivalent width of the stars in our sample and found that components of 81% of the observed pairs have similar H{alpha} levels. The difference in H{alpha} equivalent width among components with similar masses was smaller than the range of H{alpha} variability for individual objects. We confirm that the Lepine et al. (2007ApJ...669.1235L) {zeta}-index traces iso-metallicity loci for most of our sample of M dwarfs. However, we find a small systematic bias in {zeta}, especially in the early-type M dwarfs. We use our sample to recalibrate the definition of {zeta}. While representing a small change in the definition, the new {zeta} is a significantly better predictor of iso-metallicity for the higher-mass M dwarfs.
We present RINGFINDER, a tool for finding galaxy-scale strong gravitational lenses in multi-band imaging data. By construction, the method is sensitive to configurations involving a massive foreground ETG and a faint, background, blue source. RINGFINDER detects the presence of blue residuals embedded in an otherwise smooth red light distribution by difference imaging in two bands. The method is automated for efficient application to current and future surveys, having originally been designed for the 150 deg^2^ Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS). We describe each of the steps of RINGFINDER. We then carry out extensive simulations to assess completeness and purity. For sources with magnification {mu}>4, RINGFINDER reaches 42% (25%) completeness and 29% (86%) purity before (after) visual inspection. The completeness of RINGFINDER is substantially improved in the particular range of Einstein radii 0.8"<=R_Ein_<=2.0" and lensed images brighter than g=22.5, where it can be as high as ~70%. RINGFINDER does not introduce any significant bias in the source or deflector population. We conclude by presenting the final catalog of RINGFINDER CFHTLS galaxy-scale strong lens candidates. Additional information obtained with Hubble Space Telescope and Keck adaptive optics high-resolution imaging, and with Keck and Very Large Telescope spectroscopy, is used to assess the validity of our classification and measure the redshift of the foreground and the background objects. From an initial sample of 640000 ETGs, RINGFINDER returns 2500 candidates, which we further reduce by visual inspection to 330 candidates. We confirm 33 new gravitational lenses from the main sample of candidates, plus an additional 16 systems taken from earlier versions of RINGFINDER. First applications are presented in the Strong Lensing Legacy Survey galaxy-scale lens sample paper series.
We present a spectrophotometric survey of 2522 extragalactic globular clusters (GCs) around 12 early-type galaxies, nine of which have not been published previously. Combining space-based and multicolour wide-field ground-based imaging, with spectra from the Keck/DEep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph (DEIMOS) instrument, we obtain an average of 160 GC radial velocities per galaxy, with a high-velocity precision of ~15km/s per GC. After studying the photometric properties of the GC systems, such as their spatial and colour distributions, we focus on the kinematics of metal-poor (blue) and metal-rich (red) GC subpopulations to an average distance of ~8 effective radii from the galaxy centre.
We present an investigation of the globular cluster (GC) systems of NGC 3607 and NGC 3608 as part of the ongoing SLUGGS (SAGES Legacy Unifying Globulars and GalaxieS) survey. We use wide-field imaging data from the Subaru telescope in the g, r and i filters to analyse the radial density, colour and azimuthal distributions of both GC systems. With the complementary kinematic data obtained from the Keck II telescope, we measure the radial velocities of a total of 81 GCs. Our results show that the GC systems of NGC 3607 and NGC 3608 have a detectable spatial extent of ~15 and 13 galaxy effective radii, respectively. Both GC systems show a clear bimodal colour distribution. We detect a significant radial colour gradient for the GC subpopulations in both galaxies. NGC 3607 exhibits an overabundance of red GCs on the galaxy minor axis and NGC 3608 shows a misalignment in the GC subpopulation position angles with respect to the galaxy stellar component. With the aid of literature data, we discuss several relationships between the properties of GC systems and their host galaxies. A one-to-one relation between the ellipticities of red GCs and the galaxy stellar light emphasizes the evolutionary similarities between them. In our sample of four slowly rotating galaxies with kinematically decoupled cores, we observe a higher ellipticity for the blue GC subpopulation than their red counterparts. Also, we notice the flattening of negative colour gradients for the blue GC subpopulations with increasing galaxy stellar mass. Finally, we discuss the formation scenarios associated with the blue GC subpopulation.
The La Silla/QUEST Variability Survey (LSQ) and the Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP II) are collaborating to discover and obtain photometric light curves for a large sample of low-redshift (z<0.1) Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). The supernovae are discovered in the LSQ survey using the 1m ESO Schmidt telescope at the La Silla Observatory with the 10 square degree QUEST camera. The follow-up photometric observations are carried out using the 1m Swope telescope and the 2.5m du Pont telescopes at the Las Campanas Observatory. This paper describes the survey, discusses the methods of analyzing the data, and presents the light curves for the first 31 SNe Ia obtained in the survey. The SALT 2.4 supernova light-curve fitter was used to analyze the photometric data, and the Hubble diagram for this first sample is presented. The measurement errors for these supernovae averaged 4%, and their intrinsic spread was 14%.
We present a joined photometric calibration for the SNLS and the SDSS supernova surveys. Our main delivery are catalogs of natural AB magnitudes for a large set of selected tertiary standard stars covering the science field of both surveys. Those catalogs are calibrated to the AB flux scale through observations of 5 primary spectrophotometric standard stars, for which HST-STIS spectra are available in the CALSPEC database. The estimate of the uncertainties associated to this calibration are delivered as a single covariance matrix. We also provide a model of the transmission efficiency of the SNLS photometric instrument MegaCam. Those transmission functions are required for the interpretation of MegaCam natural magnitudes in term of physical fluxes. Similar curves for the SDSS photometric instrument have been published in Doi et al. (2010AJ....139.1628D). Last, we release the measured magnitudes of the five CALSPEC standard stars in the magnitude system of the tertiary catalogs. This makes it possible to update the calibration of the tertiary catalogs if CALSPEC spectra for the primary standards are revised.
We present an analysis of ultraviolet (UV) to near-infrared observations of the fast-declining Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) 2007on and 2011iv, hosted by the Fornax cluster member NGC 1404. The B-band light curves of SN 2007on and SN 2011iv are characterised by {Delta}m15(B) decline-rate values of 1.96mag and 1.77mag, respectively. Although they have similar decline rates, their peak B- and H-band magnitudes differ by ~0.60mag and ~0.35mag, respectively. After correcting for the luminosity vs. decline rate and the luminosity vs. colour relations, the peak B-band and H-band light curves provide distances that differ by ~14% and ~9%, respectively. These findings serve as a cautionary tale for the use of transitional SNe Ia located in early-type hosts in the quest to measure cosmological parameters. Interestingly, even though SN 2011iv is brighter and bluer at early times, by three weeks past maximum and extending over several months, its B-V colour is 0.12mag redder than that of SN 2007on. To reconcile this unusual behaviour, we turn to guidance from a suite of spherical one-dimensional Chandrasekhar-mass delayed-detonation explosion models. In this context, ^56^Ni production depends on both the so-called transition density and the central density of the progenitor white dwarf. To first order, the transition density drives the luminosity-width relation, while the central density is an important second-order parameter. Within this context, the differences in the B-V colour evolution along the Lira regime suggest that the progenitor of SN 2011iv had a higher central density than SN 2007on.
Several studies have reported the presence of sodium excess objects having neutral atomic absorption lines at 5895{AA} (Na.D) and 8190{AA} that are deeper than expected based on stellar population models that match the stellar continuum. The origin of these lines is therefore hotly debated. van Dokkum & Conroy (2010Natur.468..940V) proposed that low-mass stars (<~0.3M_{sun}_) are more prevalent in massive early-type galaxies, which may lead to a strong Na I 8190 line strength. It is necessary to test this prediction, however, against other prominent optical line indices such as Na.D, Mg b, and Fe 5270, which can be measured with a significantly higher signal-to-noise ratio than Na I 8190. We identified a new sample of roughly 1000 Na.D excess objects (NEOs; ~8% of galaxies in the sample) based on Na.D line strength in the redshift range 0.00<=z<=0.08 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7 through detailed analysis of galaxy spectra. We explore the properties of these new objects here. The novelty of this work is that the galaxies were carefully identified through direct visual inspection of SDSS images, and we systematically compared the properties of NEOs and those of a control sample of galaxies with normal Na.D line strengths. We note that the majority of galaxies with high velocity dispersions ({sigma}_e_>250km/s) show Na.D excesses.
Using recent photometric calibrations, we develop greatly improved distance estimates for DA white dwarfs using multi-band synthetic photometry based on spectroscopic temperatures and gravities. Very good correlations are shown to exist between our spectroscopically based photometric distance estimates and those derived from trigonometric parallaxes. We investigate the uncertainties involved in our distance estimates, as well as discuss the circumstances where such techniques are most likely to fail. We apply our techniques to the large sample of Sloan Digital Sky Survey DA white dwarfs where automated fitting of HI Balmer profiles yields spectrometric temperatures and gravities. We determine simple empirical corrections to these temperatures and gravities with respect to published slit spectroscopy. After applying these T_eff_-logg corrections as well as appropriate interstellar extinction corrections, where necessary, we derive spectroscopically based photometric distances for 7062 DA stars from this sample.
