We are introducing a value-added full-sky galaxy catalog with high completeness for identifying gravitational wave (GW) sources in order to support future electromagnetic (EM) follow-up projects of the LIGO/Virgo Collaboration. The catalog GLADE (Galaxy List for the Advanced Detector Era) has been constructed (combined and matched) from four existing galaxy catalogs: GWGC, 2MPZ, 2MASS XSC and HyperLEDA. It contains 1918147 galaxies, which is two orders of magnitude greater than the number of galaxies in the GWGC catalog alone (53312), which is currently in use by the collaboration. Furthermore we considered it as a crucial requirement towards the catalog to contain B-band magnitudes and distances for all entries. Therefore we have associated these properties for 548876 2MASS galaxies which lacked them with a regression algorithm teached on a subsample of the 2MPZ catalog. Our catalog is complete to 73Mpc and even at 300Mpc has a relatively high completeness (53%). Naturally, our catalog could be used in a broad range of various astrophysical projects besides EM follow-up efforts.We are introducing a value-added full-sky galaxy catalog with high completeness for identifying gravitational wave (GW) sources in order to support future electromagnetic (EM) follow-up projects of the LIGO/Virgo Collaboration. The catalog has been constructed (combined and matched) from four existing galaxy catalogs: GWGC, 2MPZ, 2MASS XSC and HyperLEDA. It contains 1918147 galaxies, which is two orders of magnitude greater than the number of galaxies in the GWGC catalog alone (53312), which is currently in use by the collaboration. Furthermore we considered it as a crucial requirement towards the catalog to contain B-band magnitudes and distances for all entries. Therefore we have associated these properties for 548,876 2MASS galaxies which lacked them with a regression algorithm teached on a subsample of the 2MPZ catalog. Our catalog is complete to 73 Mpc and even at 300 Mpc has a relatively high completeness (53%). Naturally, our catalog could be used in a broad range of various astrophysical projects besides EM follow-up efforts. For a brief overview of the GLADE project, check out the talk slides (http://aquarius.elte.hu/glade/GLADE_GDalya_LVC2015September.pdf) presented at the 2015 September LIGO-Virgo Collaboration Meeting in Budapest, Hungary. If you have any questions or suggestions about the catalog, please send us an email: dalyag@caesar.elte.hu
We introduce a value-added full-sky catalogue of galaxies, named as Galaxy List for the Advanced Detector Era, or GLADE. The purpose of this catalogue is to (i) help identifications of host candidates for gravitational-wave events, (ii) support target selections for electromagnetic follow-up observations of gravitational-wave candidates, (iii) provide input data on the matter distribution of the local Universe for astrophysical or cosmological simulations, and (iv) help identifications of host candidates for poorly localized electromagnetic transients, such as gamma-ray bursts observed with the InterPlanetary Network. Both being potential hosts of astrophysical sources of gravitational waves, GLADE includes inactive and active galaxies as well. GLADE was constructed by cross-matching and combining data from five separate (but not independent) astronomical catalogues: GWGC, 2MPZ, 2MASS XSC, HyperLEDA, and SDSS-DR12Q. GLADE is complete up to d_L_=37^+3^_-4_Mpc in terms of the cumulative B-band luminosity of galaxies within luminosity distance dL, and contains all of the brightest galaxies giving half of the total B-band luminosity up to d_L_=91Mpc. As B-band luminosity is expected to be a tracer of binary neutron star mergers (currently the prime targets of joint GW+EM detections), our completeness measures can be used as estimations of completeness for containing all binary neutron star merger hosts in the local Universe.
We present a strong and weak lensing reconstruction of the massive cluster Abell 2744, the first cluster for which deep Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) images and spectroscopy from the Grism Lens-Amplified Survey from Space (GLASS) are available. By performing a targeted search for emission lines in multiply imaged sources using the GLASS spectra, we obtain five high-confidence spectroscopic redshifts and two tentative ones. We confirm one strongly lensed system by detecting the same emission lines in all three multiple images. We also search for additional line emitters blindly and use the full GLASS spectroscopic catalog to test reliability of photometric redshifts for faint line emitters. We see a reasonable agreement between our photometric and spectroscopic redshift measurements, when including nebular emission in photometric redshift estimations. We introduce a stringent procedure to identify only secure multiple image sets based on colors, morphology, and spectroscopy. By combining 7 multiple image systems with secure spectroscopic redshifts (at 5 distinct redshift planes) with 18 multiple image systems with secure photometric redshifts, we reconstruct the gravitational potential of the cluster pixellated on an adaptive grid, using a total of 72 images. The resulting mass map is compared with a stellar mass map obtained from the deep Spitzer Frontier Fields data to study the relative distribution of stars and dark matter in the cluster. We find that the stellar to total mass ratio varies substantially across the cluster field, suggesting that stars do not trace exactly the total mass in this interacting system. The maps of convergence, shear, and magnification are made available in the standard HFF format.
Using deep Hubble Frontier Fields imaging and slitless spectroscopy from the Grism Survey from Space, we study 2200 cluster and 1748 field galaxies at 0.2<=z<=0.7 to determine the impact of environment on galaxy size and structure at stellar masses logM_*_/M_{sun}_>7.8, an unprecedented limit at these redshifts. Based on simple assumptions-r_e_=f(M_*_)-we find no significant differences in half-light radii (r_e_) between equal-mass cluster or field systems. More complex analyses --r_e_=f(M_*_,U-V,n,z,{Sigma})-- reveal local density ({Sigma}) to induce only a 7%+/-3% (95% confidence) reduction in r_e_ beyond what can be accounted for by U-V color, Sersic index (n), and redshift (z) effects. Almost any size difference between galaxies in high- and low-density regions is thus attributable to their different distributions in properties other than environment. Indeed, we find a clear color-r_e_ correlation in low-mass passive cluster galaxies (logM_*_/M_{sun}_<9.8) such that bluer systems have larger radii, with the bluest having sizes consistent with equal-mass star-forming galaxies. We take this as evidence that large-r_e_ low-mass passive cluster galaxies are recently acquired systems that have been environmentally quenched without significant structural transformation (e.g., by ram pressure stripping or starvation). Conversely, ~20% of small-r_e_ low-mass passive cluster galaxies appear to have been in place since z>~3. Given the consistency of the small-r_e_ galaxies' stellar surface densities (and even colors) with those of systems more than ten times as massive, our findings suggest that clusters mark places where galaxy evolution is accelerated for an ancient base population spanning most masses, with late-time additions quenched by environment-specific mechanisms mainly restricted to the lowest masses.
Exploiting the slitless spectroscopy taken as part of the Grism Lens-Amplified Survey from Space (GLASS), we present an extended analysis of the spatial distribution of star formation in 76 galaxies in 10 clusters at 0.3<z<0.7. We use 85 foreground and background galaxies in the same redshift range as a field sample. The samples are well matched in stellar mass (10^8^-10^11^M_{sun}_) and star formation rate (0.5-50M_{sun}_/yr). We visually classify galaxies in terms of broad band morphology, H{alpha} morphology, and likely physical process acting on the galaxy. Most H{alpha} emitters have a spiral morphology (41%+/-8% in clusters, 51%+/-8% in the field), followed by mergers/interactions (28%+/-8%, 31%+/-7%, respectively) and early-type galaxies (remarkably as high as 29%+/-8% in clusters and 15%+/-6% in the field). A diversity of H{alpha} morphologies is detected, suggesting a diversity of physical processes. In clusters, 30%+/-8% of the galaxies present a regular morphology, mostly consistent with star formation diffused uniformly across the stellar population (mostly in the disk component, when present). The second most common morphology (28%+/-8%) is asymmetric/jellyfish, consistent with ram-pressure stripping or other non-gravitational processes in 18%+/-8% of the cases. Ram-pressure stripping appears significantly less prominent in the field (2%+/-2%), where the most common morphology/mechanism appears to be consistent with minor gas-rich mergers or clump accretion. This work demonstrates that while environment-specific mechanisms affect galaxy evolution at this redshift, they are diverse and their effects are subtle. A full understanding of this complexity requires larger samples and detailed and spatially resolved physical models.
We present a model using both strong and weak gravitational lensing of the galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1-2403, constrained using spectroscopy from the Grism Lens-Amplified Survey from Space (GLASS) and Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) imaging data. We search for emission lines in known multiply imaged sources in the GLASS spectra, obtaining secure spectroscopic redshifts of 30 multiple images belonging to 15 distinct source galaxies. The GLASS spectra provide the first spectroscopic measurements for five of the source galaxies. The weak lensing signal is acquired from 884 galaxies in the F606W HFF image. By combining the weak lensing constraints with 15 multiple image systems with spectroscopic redshifts and nine multiple image systems with photometric redshifts, we reconstruct the gravitational potential of the cluster on an adaptive grid. The resulting map of total mass density is compared with a map of stellar mass density obtained from the deep Spitzer Frontier Fields imaging data to study the relative distribution of stellar and total mass in the cluster. We find that the projected stellar mass to total mass ratio, f*, varies considerably with the stellar surface mass density. The mean projected stellar mass to total mass ratio is <f*>=0.009+/-0.003 (stat.), but with a systematic error as large as 0.004-0.005, dominated by the choice of the initial mass function. We find agreement with several recent measurements of f* in massive cluster environments. The lensing maps of convergence, shear, and magnification are made available to the broader community in the standard HFF format.
This work makes available a further of the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) survey, covering half of the accessible galactic plane, across 20 frequency bands sampling 72-231MHz, with resolution 4-2arcmin. Unlike previous GLEAM data releases, we used multi-scale CLEAN to better deconvolve large-scale galactic structure. For the galactic longitude ranges 345{deg}<l<67{deg}, 180{deg}<l<240{deg}, we provide a compact source catalogue of 22037 components selected from a 60-MHz bandwidth image centred at 200MHz, with RMS noise ~-10-20mJy/beam and position accuracy better than 2-arcsec. The catalogue has a completeness of 50% at ~120mJy, and a reliability of 99.86%. It covers galactic latitudes 1{deg}<=|b|<=10{deg} towards the galactic centre and |b|<=10{deg} for other regions, and is available from Vizier; images covering |b|<=10{deg} for all longitudes are made available on the GLEAM Virtual Observatory (VO).server and SkyView.
We present the South Galactic Pole (SGP) data release from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) survey. These data combine both years of GLEAM observations at 72-231MHz conducted with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) and cover an area of 5,113 deg^2^ centred on the SGP at 20h40m<RA<05h04m and -48{deg}<Dec<-2{deg}. At 216MHz, the typical rms noise is ~5mJy/beam and the angular resolution ~2 arcmin. The source catalogue contains a total of 108851 components above 5{sigma}, of which 77 per cent have measured spectral indices between 72 and 231MHz. Improvements to the data reduction in this release include the use of the GLEAM Extragalactic catalogue as a sky model to calibrate the data, a more efficient and automated algorithm to deconvolve the snapshot images, and a more accurate primary beam model to correct the flux scale. This data release enables more sensitive large-scale studies of extragalactic source populations as well as spectral variability studies on a one-year timescale.
The GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) is a radio continuum survey at 76-227MHz of the entire southern sky (Declination <+30{deg}) with an angular resolution of ~2arcmin. In this paper, we combine GLEAM data with optical spectroscopy from the 6dF Galaxy Survey to construct a sample of 1,590 local (median z~0.064) radio sources with S_200MHz_>55mJy across an area of ~16700deg^2^. From the optical spectra, we identify the dominant physical process responsible for the radio emission from each galaxy: 73 per cent are fuelled by an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and 27 per cent by star formation. We present the local radio luminosity function for AGN and star-forming galaxies at 200MHz and characterise the typical radio spectra of these two populations between 76MHz and ~1GHz. For the AGN, the median spectral index between 200MHz and ~1GHz, {alpha}, is -0.600+/-0.010 (where S proportional to {nu}^{alpha}^) and the median spectral index within the GLEAM band, {alpha}_low_, is -0.704+/-0.011. For the star-forming galaxies, the median value of {alpha}_high_ is -0.650+/-0.010 and the median value of {alpha}_low_ is -0.596+/-0.015. Among the AGN population, flat-spectrum sources are more common at lower radio luminosity, suggesting the existence of a significant population of weak radio AGN that remain core-dominated even at low frequencies. However, around 4 per cent of local radio AGN have ultra-steep radio spectra at low frequencies ({alpha}_low_<-1.2). These ultra-steep-spectrum sources span a wide range in radio luminosity, and further work is needed to clarify their nature.
Nearly 200 hours of observing with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope during the Galactic and Extra-galactic All-sky MWA (GLEAM) survey were used to assemble images of ionospheric structure. These images cover a nearly 50 degree-wide area on the sky at a cadence of 10 minutes over many 5-7 hours-long observing runs. They are generated by tracking the apparent motions of ~200-800 cosmic radio sources caused by changes in the transverse gradient of the ionospheric total electron content. Spectral analysis of these images revealed that the dataset was dominated by three distinct signatures. The first is consistent with field-aligned structures within the topside ionosphere/lower plasmasphere previously imaged with the MWA. The second are structures that are relatively large and aligned nearly east/west. Regional weather data implies that these are preferentially detected when there is a noticeable shear within the sub- tropical jet stream, which passes near the MWA. This suggests that this signature may be related to gravity waves launched by jet stream shear. The final signature is consistent with the properties of so-call electro-buoyancy waves that are known to occur at midlatitudes at night. Detections of these were more common when regional sporadic-E was present, supporting a proposed connection between these waves and polarization electric fields that may arise within sporadic-E. We discuss the implications for future observations with the Square Kilometer Array.