Within a Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) Strongly lensed QUAsar Detection project (KiDS-SQuaD), we built a catalogue of bright extragalactic objects from the KiDS DR4, with the main objective to select the reliable gravitationally lensed quasar candidates. We used machine learning algorithm, trained on Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR14 data, to classify sources from subsample (r<22mag) of KiDS DR4 on three classes: stars, quasars and galaxies. Resulting KiDS Bright EXtraGalactic Objects catalogue (KiDS-BEXGO) contains ~6M galaxies and ~0.2M quasars. KiDS-BEXGO represents the first comprehensive identification of bright extragalactic objects in the KiDS DR4 data.
We present a catalog of quasars selected from broad-band photometric ugri data of the Kilo-Degree Survey Data Release 3 (KiDS DR3). The QSOs are identified by the random forest (RF) supervised machine learning model, trained on Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR14 spectroscopic data. We first cleaned the input KiDS data of entries with excessively noisy, missing or otherwise problematic measurements. Applying a feature importance analysis, we then tune the algorithm and identify in the KiDS multiband catalog the 17 most useful features for the classification, namely magnitudes, colors, magnitude ratios, and the stellarity index. We used the t-SNE algorithm to map the multidimensional photometric data onto 2D planes and compare the coverage of the training and inference sets. We limited the inference set to r<22 to avoid extrapolation beyond the feature space covered by training, as the SDSS spectroscopic sample is considerably shallower than KiDS. This gives 3.4 million objects in the final inference sample, from which the random forest identified 190,000 quasar candidates. Accuracy of 97% (percentage of correctly classified objects), purity of 91% (percentage of true quasars within the objects classified as such), and completeness of 87% (detection ratio of all true quasars), as derived from a test set extracted from SDSS and not used in the training, are confirmed by comparison with external spectroscopic and photometric QSO catalogs overlapping with the KiDS footprint. The robustness of our results is strengthened by number counts of the quasar candidates in the r band, as well as by their mid-infrared colors available from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). An analysis of parallaxes and proper motions of our QSO candidates found also in Gaia DR2 suggests that a probability cut of pQSO>0.8 is optimal for purity, whereas pQSO>0.7 is preferable for better completeness. Our study presents the first comprehensive quasar selection from deep high-quality KiDS data and will serve as the basis for versatile studies of the QSO population detected by this survey. We publicly release the resulting catalog at http://kids.strw.leidenuniv.nl/DR3/quasarcatalog.php, and the code at https://github.com/snakoneczny/kids-quasars
The Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) is an ongoing optical wide-field imaging survey with the OmegaCAM camera at the VLT Survey Telescope. It aims to image 1500 square degrees in four filters (ugri). The core science driver is mapping the large-scale matter distribution in the Universe, using weak lensing shear and photometric redshift measurements. Further science cases include galaxy evolution, Milky Way structure, detection of high-redshift clusters, and finding rare sources such as strong lenses and quasars. Here we present the third public data release (DR3) and several associated data products, adding further area, homogenized photometric calibration, photometric redshifts and weak lensing shear measurements to the first two releases. A dedicated pipeline embedded in the Astro-WISE information system is used for the production of the main release. Modifications with respect to earlier releases are described in detail. Photometric redshifts have been derived using both Bayesian template fitting, and machine-learning techniques. For the weak lensing measurements, optimized procedures based on the THELI data reduction and lensfit shear measurement packages are used. The multi-band catalogue, including homogenized photometry and photometric redshifts, covers the combined DR1, DR2 and DR3 footprint of 440 survey tiles (447deg^2^). Limiting magnitudes are typically 24.3, 25.1, 24.9, 23.8 (5 sigma in a 2 arcsec aperture) in ugri, respectively, and the typical r-band PSF size is less than 0.7 arcsec. The photometric homogenization scheme ensures accurate colors and an absolute calibration stable to ~2% for gri and ~3% in u. Separately released are a weak lensing shear catalogue and photometric redshifts based on two different machine-learning techniques.
The Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) is an optical wide-field imaging survey carried out with the VLT Survey Telescope and the OmegaCAM camera. KiDS will image 1500 square degrees in four filters (ugri), and together with its near-infrared counterpart VIKING will produce deep photometry in nine bands. Designed for weak lensing shape and photometric redshift measurements, its core science driver is mapping the large-scale matter distribution in the Universe back to a redshift of ~0.5. Secondary science cases include galaxy evolution, Milky Way structure, and the detection of high-redshift clusters and quasars.
Ultracompact massive galaxies (UCMGs), i.e., galaxies with stellar masses M_*_>8x10^10^M_{sun}_ and effective radii R_e_<1.5kpc, are very rare systems, in particular at low and intermediate redshifts. Their origin as well as their number density across cosmic time are still under scrutiny, especially because of the paucity of spectroscopically confirmed samples. We have started a systematic census of UCMG candidates within the ESO Kilo Degree Survey, together with a large spectroscopic follow-up campaign to build the largest possible sample of confirmed UCMGs. This is the third paper of the series and the second based on the spectroscopic follow-up program. Here, we present photometrical and structural parameters of 33 new candidates at redshifts 0.15<~z<~0.5 and confirm 19 of them as UCMGs, based on their nominal spectroscopically inferred M_*_ and R_e_. This corresponds to a success rate of ~58% , nicely consistent with our previous findings. The addition of these 19 newly confirmed objects allows us to fully assess the systematics on the system selection-and to finally reduce the number density uncertainties. Moreover, putting together the results from our current and past observational campaigns and some literature data, we build the largest sample of ucmgs ever collected, comprising 92 spectroscopically confirmed objects at 0.1<~z<~0.5. This number raises to 116, allowing for a 3{sigma} tolerance on the M_*_ and R_e_ thresholds for the ucmg definition. For all these galaxies, we have estimated the velocity dispersion values at the effective radii, which have been used to derive a preliminary mass-velocity dispersion correlation.
We present the curation and verification of a new combined optical and near infrared dataset for cosmology and astrophysics, derived by combining ugri-band imaging from the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) and ZYJHKs-band imaging from the VISTA Kilo degree Infrared Galaxy (VIKING) survey. This dataset is unrivaled in cosmological imaging surveys due to the combination of its area (458 deg2 before masking), depth (r<=25), and wavelength coverage (ugriZYJHKs). This combination of survey depth, area, and (most importantly) wavelength coverage allows significant reductions in systematic uncertainties (i.e. reductions of between 10% and 60% in bias, outlier rate, and scatter) in photometric-to-spectroscopic redshift comparisons, compared to the optical-only case at photo-z above 0.7. The complementarity between our optical and near infrared surveys means that over 80% of our sources, across all photo-z, have significant detections (i.e. not upper limits) in our eight reddest bands. We have derived photometry, photo-z, and stellar masses for all sources in the survey, and verified these data products against existing spectroscopic galaxy samples. We demonstrate the fidelity of our higher-level data products by constructing the survey stellar mass functions in eight volume-complete redshift bins. We find that these photometrically derived mass functions provide excellent agreement with previous mass evolution studies derived using spectroscopic surveys. The primary data products presented in this paper are made publicly available through the KiDS survey website.
We continue to study star formation in dwarf galaxies located in nearby clusters. Known physical and chemical relations outlining the formation and evolution of dwarfs is compared in different environments, including the Local Volume (LV) and some nearby clusters studied previously. We used the TNG telescope for four nights in 2010 to acquire deep near-infrared imaging in K' of 45 star forming dwarf galaxies located in the Abell 779, Abell 1367, Abell 1656 (Coma), and Abell 2151 (Hercules) clusters. Surface photometry was approached based on past experience by using the sech law to account for the outer old stellar contribution plus a Gaussian component to model the inner starburst, proving the blue compact dwarf (BCD) classification of most targets. Sech central surface brightness, semimajor axis, sech, and total apparent magnitude were measured, allowing to estimate size, absolute luminosity and mass for all targets. The physical correlations between size, central brightness, and NIR luminosity appear to hold, but previously known linear fits break above M_SK_=-19 for Abell 779, Abell 1367 and especially for Hercules, while the dwarf fundamental plane (FP) is probed by only half cluster members, suggesting harassment by the denser cluster environments. Nevertheless, the chemical relations between the oxygen abundance, luminosity, gas mass, baryonic mass, and gas fraction in a closed box model are probed by most members of the four studied clusters, and the starburst grows linearly with the K' luminosity.
We present a kinematic analysis of 152 low surface gravity M7-L8 dwarfs by adding 18 new parallaxes (including 10 for comparative field objects), 38 new radial velocities, and 19 new proper motions. We also add low- or moderate-resolution near-infrared spectra for 43 sources confirming their low surface gravity features. Among the full sample, we find 39 objects to be high-likelihood or new bona fide members of nearby moving groups, 92 objects to be ambiguous members and 21 objects that are non-members. Using this age-calibrated sample, we investigate trends in gravity classification, photometric color, absolute magnitude, color-magnitude, luminosity, and effective temperature.
We present a homogeneous kinematic analysis of red giant branch stars within 18 of the 28 Andromeda dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies, obtained using the Keck I/LRIS and Keck II/DEIMOS spectrographs. Based on their g-i colors (taken with the CFHT/MegaCam imager), physical positions on the sky, and radial velocities, we assign probabilities of dSph membership to each observed star. Using this information, the velocity dispersions, central masses, and central densities of the dark matter halos are calculated for these objects, and compared with the properties of the Milky Way dSph population. We also measure the average metallicity ([Fe/H]) from the co-added spectra of member stars for each M31 dSph and find that they are consistent with the trend of decreasing [Fe/H] with luminosity observed in the Milky Way population. We find that three of our studied M31 dSphs appear as significant outliers in terms of their central velocity dispersion, And XIX, XXI, and XXV, all of which have large half-light radii (>~700pc) and low velocity dispersions ({sigma}_v_<5km/s). In addition, And XXV has a mass-to-light ratio within its half-light radius of just [M/L]_half_=10.3_-6.7_^7.0^, making it consistent with a simple stellar system with no appreciable dark matter component within its 1{sigma} uncertainties. We suggest that the structure of the dark matter halos of these outliers have been significantly altered by tides.
We relate transitions in galaxy structure and gas content to refueling, here defined to include both the external gas accretion and the internal gas processing needed to renew reservoirs for star formation. We analyze two z=0 data sets: a high-quality ~200 galaxy sample (the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey, data release herein) and a volume-limited ~3000 galaxy sample with reprocessed archival data. Both reach down to baryonic masses ~10^9^M_{sun}_ and span void-to-cluster environments. Two mass-dependent transitions are evident: (1) below the "gas-richness threshold" scale (V~125km/s), gas-dominated quasi-bulgeless Sd-Im galaxies become numerically dominant; while (2) above the "bimodality" scale (V~200km/s), gas-starved E/S0s become the norm. Notwithstanding these transitions, galaxy mass (or V as its proxy) is a poor predictor of gas-to-stellar mass ratio M_gas_/M_*_. Instead, M_gas_/M_*_ correlates well with the ratio of a galaxy's stellar mass formed in the last Gyr to its preexisting stellar mass, such that the two ratios have numerically similar values. This striking correspondence between past-averaged star formation and current gas richness implies routine refueling of star-forming galaxies on Gyr timescales. We argue that this refueling underlies the tight M_gas_/M_*_ versus color correlations often used to measure "photometric gas fractions." Furthermore, the threshold and bimodality scale transitions reflect mass-dependent demographic shifts between three refueling regimes--accretion-dominated, processing-dominated, and quenched. In this picture, gas-dominated dwarfs are explained not by inefficient star formation but by overwhelming gas accretion, which fuels stellar mass doubling in <~1Gyr. Moreover, moderately gas-rich bulged disks such as the Milky Way are transitional, becoming abundant only in the narrow range between the threshold and bimodality scales.
