We compare the optical spectral types with the X-ray spectral properties for a uniformly selected (sources with fluxes greater than the 3{sigma} level and above a flux limit of f(2-8keV)>3.5x10^-15^erg/cm^2^/s), highly spectroscopically complete (>80% for f(2-8keV)>10^-14^erg/cm^2^/s and >60% below) 2-8keV X-ray sample observed in three Chandra fields (CLANS, CLASXS, and the CDF-N) that cover ~1.2deg^2^. For our sample of 645 spectroscopically observed sources, we confirm that there is significant overlap of the X-ray spectral properties, as determined by the effective photon indices, {Gamma}_eff_, obtained from the ratios of the 0.5-2keV to 2-8keV counts, for the different optical spectral types. Thus, one cannot use the X-ray spectral classifications and the optical spectral classifications equivalently. Since it is not understood how X-ray and optical classifications relate to the obscuration of the central engine, we strongly advise against a mixed classification scheme, as it can only complicate the interpretation of X-ray AGN samples.
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.
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.
We present the results from a damped Ly{alpha} survey of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Data Release 3 (Cat. <II/259>). We have discovered over 500 new damped Ly{alpha} systems at z>2.2, and the complete statistical sample for z>1.6 has more than 600 damped Ly{alpha} galaxies.
We present a catalog of 792 Fifth Data Release Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasars with optical spectra that have been observed serendipitously in the X-rays with the XMM-Newton. These quasars cover a redshift range of z=0.11-5.41 and a magnitude range of i=15.3-20.7. Substantial numbers of radio-loud (70) and broad absorption line (51) quasars exist within this sample. Significant X-ray detections at >=2{sigma} account for 87% of the sample (685 quasars), and 473 quasars are detected at >=6{sigma}, sufficient to allow X-ray spectral fits. For detected sources, ~60% have X-ray fluxes between F_2-10keV_=(1-10)x10^-14^erg/cm^2^/s. We fit a single power law, a fixed power law with intrinsic absorption left free to vary, and an absorbed power-law model to all quasars with X-ray signal-to-noise ratio >=6, resulting in a weighted mean photon index {Gamma}=1.91+/-0.08, with an intrinsic dispersion {sigma}_{Gamma}_=0.38.
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z ~ 0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z ~ 2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff_<5000K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SEGUE-2. The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the APOGEE along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in 2014 December.
The third generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III) took data from 2008 to 2014 using the original SDSS wide-field imager, the original and an upgraded multi-object fiber-fed optical spectrograph, a new near-infrared high-resolution spectrograph, and a novel optical interferometer. All of the data from SDSS-III are now made public. In particular, Alam+, 2015ApJS..219...12A paper describes Data Release 11 (DR11) including all data acquired through 2013 July, and DR12 adding data acquired through 2014 July (including all data included in previous data releases), marking the end of SDSS-III observing. Relative to our previous public release (DR10), DR12 adds one million new spectra of galaxies and quasars from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) over an additional 3000deg^2^ of sky, more than triples the number of H-band spectra of stars as part of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), and includes repeated accurate radial velocity measurements of 5500 stars from the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS). The APOGEE outputs now include the measured abundances of 15 different elements for each star. In total, SDSS-III added 5200deg^2^ of ugriz imaging. Since its first light in 1998, SDSS has imaged over 1/3 of the Celestial sphere in five bands and obtained over five million astronomical spectra.
We present a detailed characterization of the 849 broad-line quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping (SDSS-RM) project. Our quasar sample covers a redshift range of 0.1<z<4.5 and is flux-limited to i_PSF_<21.7 without any other cuts on quasar properties. The main sample characterization includes: (1) spectral measurements of the continuum and broad emission lines for individual objects from the coadded first-season spectroscopy in 2014, (2) identification of broad and narrow absorption lines in the spectra, and (3) optical variability properties for continuum and broad lines from multi-epoch spectroscopy. We provide improved systemic redshift estimates for all quasars and demonstrate the effects of the signal-to-noise ratio on the spectral measurements. We compile measured properties for all 849 quasars along with supplemental multi-wavelength data for subsets of our sample from other surveys. The SDSS-RM sample probes a diverse range in quasar properties and shows well-detected continuum and broad-line variability for many objects from first-season monitoring data. The compiled properties serve as the benchmark for follow-up work based on SDSS-RM data.
We present a catalog of sources detected above 50GeV by the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) in 80 months of data. The newly delivered Pass 8 event-level analysis allows the detection and characterization of sources in the 50GeV-2TeV energy range. In this energy band, Fermi-LAT has detected 360 sources, which constitute the second catalog of hard Fermi-LAT sources (2FHL). The improved angular resolution enables the precise localization of point sources (~1.7' radius at 68% C. L.) and the detection and characterization of spatially extended sources. We find that 86% of the sources can be associated with counterparts at other wavelengths, of which the majority (75%) are active galactic nuclei and the rest (11%) are Galactic sources. Only 25% of the 2FHL sources have been previously detected by Cherenkov telescopes, implying that the 2FHL provides a reservoir of candidates to be followed up at very high energies. This work closes the energy gap between the observations performed at GeV energies by Fermi-LAT on orbit and the observations performed at higher energies by Cherenkov telescopes from the ground.
We present the current photometric data set for the Sloan Lens ACS (SLACS) Survey, including Hubble Space Telescope (HST) photometry from Advanced Camera for Surveys, WFPC2, and NICMOS. These data have enabled the confirmation of an additional 15 grade "A" (certain) lens systems, bringing the number of SLACS grade "A" lenses to 85; including 13 grade "B" (likely) systems, SLACS has identified nearly 100 lenses and lens candidates. Approximately 80% of the grade "A" systems have elliptical morphologies while ~10% show spiral structure; the remaining lenses have lenticular morphologies. Spectroscopic redshifts for the lens and source are available for every system, making SLACS the largest homogeneous data set of galaxy-scale lenses to date. The ensemble properties of the SLACS lens galaxies, e.g., stellar masses and projected ellipticities, appear to be indistinguishable from other SDSS galaxies with similar stellar velocity dispersions. This further supports that SLACS lenses are representative of the overall population of massive early-type galaxies with M_*_>~10^11^M_{sun}_, and are therefore an ideal data set to investigate the kpc-scale distribution of luminous and dark matter in galaxies out to z~0.5.
