We present the Sloan Low-mass Wide Pairs of Kinematically Equivalent Stars (SLoWPoKES), a catalog of 1342 very-wide (projected separation >~500AU), low-mass (at least one mid-K to mid-M dwarf component) common proper motion pairs identified from astrometry, photometry, and proper motions in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. A Monte Carlo-based Galactic model is constructed to assess the probability of chance alignment for each pair; only pairs with a probability of chance alignment <=0.05 are included in the catalog.
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 Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging data and Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) near-infrared ground-based images for the final sample of 56 candidate galaxy-scale lenses uncovered in the CFHT Legacy Survey as part of the Strong Lensing in the Legacy Survey (SL2S) project. The new images are used to perform lens modeling, measure surface photometry, and estimate stellar masses of the deflector early-type galaxies (ETGs). Lens modeling is performed on the HST images (or CFHT when HST is not available) by fitting the spatially extended light distribution of the lensed features assuming a singular isothermal ellipsoid mass profile and by reconstructing the intrinsic source light distribution on a pixelized grid. Based on the analysis of systematic uncertainties and comparison with inference based on different methods, we estimate that our Einstein radii are accurate to ~3%. HST imaging provides a much higher success rate in confirming gravitational lenses and measuring their Einstein radii than CFHT imaging does. Lens modeling with ground-based images, however, when successful, yields Einstein radius measurements that are competitive with space-based images. Information from the lens models is used together with spectroscopic information from companion Paper IV (2013ApJ...777...98S) to classify the systems, resulting in a final sample of 39 confirmed (grade A) lenses and 17 promising candidates (grade B,C).
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.
SMARTS & Euler R-band monitoring of WFI J2033-4723
Short Name:
J/ApJ/869/106
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We present 13 seasons of R-band photometry of the quadruply lensed quasar WFI J2033-4723 from the 1.3m SMARTS telescope at CTIO and the 1.2m Euler Swiss Telescope at La Silla, in which we detect microlensing variability of ~0.2mag on a timescale of ~6yrs. Using a Bayesian Monte Carlo technique, we analyze the microlensing signal to obtain a measurement of the size of this system's accretion disk of log(r_s_/cm)=15.86_-0.27_^+0.25^ at {lambda}_rest_=2481{AA}, assuming a 60{deg} inclination angle. We confirm previous measurements of the BC and AB time delays, and we obtain a tentative measurement of the delay between the closely spaced A1 and A2 images of {Delta}t_A1A2_=t_A1_-t_A2_=-3.9_-2.2_^+3.4^d. We conclude with an update to the Quasar Accretion Disk Size-Black Hole Mass Relation, in which we confirm that the accretion disk size predictions from simple thin disk theory are too small.
High-excitation compact HII regions of the Magellanic Clouds are sites of recent massive star formation in low metallicity environments. Detailed study of these regions and their environments using high-spatial resolution observations is necessary to better understand massive star formation, which is still an unsolved problem. We aim at a detailed study of the Small Magellanic Cloud compact HII region N26, which is only ~4" in diameter. This study is based on high spatial resolution imaging (~0.1"-0.3") in JHKs and L' bands, using the VLT equipped with the NAOS adaptive optics system. A larger region (~50pcx76pc) was also imaged at medium spatial resolution, using the ESO 2.2m telescope in optical wavelengths. We also used the JHKs archival data from the IRSF survey and the Spitzer Space Telescope SAGE-SMC survey.
The evolution and structure of the Magellanic Clouds is currently under debate. The classical scenario in which both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC, SMC) are orbiting the Milky Way has been challenged by an alternative in which the LMC and SMC are in their first close passage to our Galaxy. The clouds are close enough to us to allow spatially resolved observation of their stars, and detailed studies of stellar populations in the galaxies are expected to be able to constrain the proposed scenarios. In particular, the west halo (WH) of the SMC was recently characterized with radial trends in age and metallicity that indicate tidal disruption. We intend to increase the sample of star clusters in the west halo of the SMC with homogeneous age, metallicity, and distance derivations to allow a better determination of age and metallicity gradients in this region. Distances and positions are compared with the orbital plane of the SMC depending on the scenario adopted. Comparisons of observed and synthetic V(B-V) colour-magnitude diagrams were used to derive age, metallicity, distance, and reddening for star clusters in the SMC west halo. Observations were carried out using the 4.1m SOAR telescope. Photometric completeness was determined through artificial star tests, and the members were selected by statistical comparison with a control field. We derived an age of 1.23+/-0.07Gyr and [Fe/H]=-0.87+/-0.07 for the reference cluster NGC 152, compatible with literature parameters. Age and metallicity gradients are confirmed in the WH: 2.6+/-0.6Gyr/{deg} and -0.19+/-0.09dex/{deg}, respectively. The age-metallicity relation for the WH has a low dispersion in metallicity and is compatible with a burst model of chemical enrichment. All WH clusters seem to follow the same stellar distribution predicted by dynamical models, with the exception of AM-3, which should belong to the counter-bridge. Bruck 6 is the youngest cluster in our sample. It is only 130+/-40Myr old and may have been formed during the tidal interaction of SMC-LMC that created the WH and the Magellanic bridge. We suggest that it is crucial to split the SMC cluster population into groups: main body, wing and bridge, counter-bridge, and WH. This is the way to analyse the complex star formation and dynamical history of our neighbour. In particular, we show that the WH has clear age and metallicity gradients and an age-metallicity relation that is also compatible with the dynamical model that claims a tidal influence of the LMC on the SMC.
