- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/719/1672
- Title:
- SDSS binary quasars at high redshift. I.
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/719/1672
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The clustering of quasars on small scales yields fundamental constraints on models of quasar evolution and the buildup of supermassive black holes. This paper describes the first systematic survey to discover high-redshift binary quasars. Using color-selection and photometric redshift techniques, we searched 8142deg^2^ of Sloan Digital Sky Survey imaging data for binary quasar candidates, and confirmed them with follow-up spectroscopy. Our sample of 27 high-redshift binaries (24 of them new discoveries) at redshifts 2.9<z<4.3 with proper transverse separations 10kpc<R_T_<650kpc increases the number of such objects known by an order of magnitude. Eight members of this sample are very close pairs with R_T_<100kpc, and of these close systems four are at z>3.5. The completeness and efficiency of our well-defined selection algorithm are quantified using simulated photometry and we find that our sample is ~50% complete.
Number of results to display per page
Search Results
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/126/2125
- Title:
- SDSS candidate type II quasars
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/126/2125
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Type II quasars are the long-sought luminous analogs of type 2 (narrow emission line) Seyfert galaxies, suggested by unification models of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and postulated to account for an appreciable fraction of the cosmic hard X-ray background. We present a sample of 291 type II AGNs at redshifts 0.3<z<0.83 from the spectroscopic data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. These objects have narrow (FWHM<2000km/s), high equivalent width emission lines with high-ionization line ratios. We describe the selection procedure and discuss the optical properties of the sample. About 50% of the objects have [O III] {lambda}5008 line luminosities in the range 3x10^8^-10^10^L_{sun}_, comparable to those of luminous (-27<M_B_<-23) quasars; this, along with other evidence, suggests that the objects in the luminous subsample are type II quasars.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/167/40
- Title:
- SDSS4 confirmed white dwarfs catalog
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/167/40
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a catalog of 9316 spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4. We have selected the stars through photometric cuts and spectroscopic modeling, backed up by a set of visual inspections. About 6000 of the stars are new discoveries, roughly doubling the number of spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs. We analyze the stars by performing temperature and surface gravity fits to grids of pure hydrogen and helium atmospheres. Among the rare outliers are a set of presumed helium-core DA white dwarfs with estimated masses below 0.3M_{sun}_, including two candidates that may be the lowest-mass yet found. We also present a list of 928 hot subdwarfs.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/869/122
- Title:
- SDSS-DR14 and LAMOST DR6 spectra in GD-1 stream
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/869/122
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Combining data from Gaia DR2, SDSS DR14, and LAMOST DR6, we update the fit to model of the properties of the stellar stream GD-1 and find that it has an age of ~13Gyr, [Fe/H] of -2.2+/-0.12, and a distance from the Sun of ~8kpc. We tabulate six-dimensional (6D) phase-space fiducial points along the GD-1 stream orbit over a 90{deg} arc. The fitted orbit shows that the stream has an eccentricity e~0.3, perigalacticon of 14.2kpc, apogalacticon of 27.0kpc, and inclination i~40{deg}. There is evidence along the arc for four candidate stellar overdensities, one candidate gap, two candidate stellar underdensities, and that the stream is cut off at {phi}_1_~2{deg} (in the stream-aligned ({phi}_1_, {phi}_2_) coordinate system of Koposov+ 2010ApJ...712..260K). The spur originating at {phi}_1_~-40{deg} implies stars were pulled away from the stream trace by an encounter (potentially a dark matter subhalo). The narrowest place (FWHM~44.6pc) of the GD-1 trace is at ({phi}_1_, {phi}2^c^)~(-14{deg}, 0.15{deg}), which is ~(178.18{deg}, 52.19{deg}) in (RA, DE), where the progenitor is possibly located. We also find six blue horizontal branch and 10 blue stragglers spectroscopic stars in the GD-1 stream.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/738/79
- Title:
- SDSS-DR8 BHB stars in the Milky Way's halo
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/738/79
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present and analyze the positions, distances, and radial velocities for over 4000 blue horizontal-branch (BHB) stars in the Milky Way's halo, drawn from SDSS DR8. We search for position-velocity substructure in these data, a signature of the hierarchical assembly of the stellar halo. Using a cumulative "close pair distribution" as a statistic in the four-dimensional space of sky position, distance, and velocity, we quantify the presence of position-velocity substructure at high statistical significance among the BHB stars: pairs of BHB stars that are close in position on the sky tend to have more similar distances and radial velocities compared to a random sampling of these overall distributions. We make analogous mock observations of 11 numerical halo formation simulations, in which the stellar halo is entirely composed of disrupted satellite debris, and find a level of substructure comparable to that seen in the actually observed BHB star sample. This result quantitatively confirms the hierarchical build-up of the stellar halo through a signature in phase (position-velocity) space. In detail, the structure present in the BHB stars is somewhat less prominent than that seen in most simulated halos, quite possibly because BHB stars represent an older sub-population. BHB stars located beyond 20kpc from the Galactic center exhibit stronger substructure than at r_gc_<20kpc.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/450/3893
- Title:
- SDSS DR10 catalogue of candidate quasars
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/450/3893
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We discuss whether modern machine learning methods can be used to characterize the physical nature of the large number of objects sampled by the modern multi-band digital surveys. In particular, we applied the MLPQNA (Multi Layer Perceptron with Quasi Newton Algorithm) method to the optical data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey - Data Release 10, investigating whether photometric data alone suffice to disentangle different classes of objects as they are defined in the SDSS spectroscopic classification. We discuss three groups of classification problems: (i) the simultaneous classification of galaxies, quasars and stars; (ii) the separation of stars from quasars; (iii) the separation of galaxies with normal spectral energy distribution from those with peculiar spectra, such as starburst or starforming galaxies and AGN. While confirming the difficulty of disentangling AGN from normal galaxies on a photometric basis only, MLPQNA proved to be quite effective in the three-class separation. In disentangling quasars from stars and galaxies, our method achieved an overall efficiency of 91.31% and a QSO class purity of ~95%. The resulting catalogue of candidate quasars/AGNs consists of ~3.6 million objects, of which about half a million are also flagged as robust candidates.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/220/3
- Title:
- SDSS-DR7 isolated galaxy morphologies
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/220/3
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Isolated galaxies in low-density regions are significant in the sense that they are least affected by the hierarchical pattern of galaxy growth and interactions with perturbers, at least for the last few gigayears. To form a comprehensive picture of the star-formation history of isolated galaxies, we constructed a catalog of isolated galaxies and their comparison sample in relatively denser environments. The galaxies are drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 in the redshift range of 0.025<z<0.044. We performed a visual inspection and classified their morphology following the Hubble classification scheme. For the spectroscopic study, we make use of the catalog provided by Oh et al. (2011ApJS..195...13O). We confirm most of the earlier understanding on isolated galaxies. The most remarkable additional results are as follows. Isolated galaxies are dominantly late type with the morphology distribution (E:S0:S:Irr)=(9.9:11.3:77.6:1.2)%. The frequency of elliptical galaxies among isolated galaxies is only a third of that of the comparison sample. Most of the photometric and spectroscopic properties are surprisingly similar between the isolated and comparison samples. However, early-type isolated galaxies are less massive by 50% and younger (by H{beta}) by 20% than their counterparts in the comparison sample. This can be explained as a result of different merger and star-formation histories for differing environments in the hierarchical merger paradigm.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/135/785
- Title:
- SDSS-DR5 low-mass star spectroscopic sample
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/135/785
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a spectroscopic analysis of over 38000 low-mass stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 5 (DR5). Analysis of this unprecedentedly large sample confirms the previously detected decrease in the fraction of magnetically active stars (as traced by H{alpha} emission) as a function of vertical distance from the Galactic Plane. The magnitude and slope of this effect varies as a function of spectral type. Using simple 1-D dynamical models, we demonstrate that the drop in activity fraction can be explained by thin disk dynamical heating and a rapid decrease in magnetic activity. The timescale for this rapid activity decrease changes according to the spectral type. By comparing our data to the simulations, we calibrate the age-activity relation at each M dwarf spectral type. We also present evidence for a possible decrease in the metallicity as a function of height above the Galactic Plane. In addition to our activity analysis, we provide line measurements, molecular band indices, colors, radial velocities, 3-D space motions and mean properties as a function of spectral type for the SDSS DR5 low-mass star sample.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/VII/252
- Title:
- SDSS-DR5 quasar catalog
- Short Name:
- VII/252
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The fourth edition of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Catalog, made from the SDSS Fifth Data Release, contains 77,429 objects; this is an increase of over 30,000 entries since the previous edition (Schneider et al., Cat. <VII/243>). The catalog consists of the objects in the SDSS Fifth Data Release that have luminosities larger than M_i_=-22.0 (in a cosmology with Ho=70km.s-1.Mpc-1, {Omega}_M_=0.3, and {Omega}_{Lambda}_=0.7), have at least one emission line with FWHM larger than 1000km.s-1 or have interesting or complex absorption features, are fainter than i~15.0, and have highly reliable redshifts. The area covered by the catalog is about 5740deg^2^. The quasar redshifts range from 0.08 to 5.41, with a median value of 1.48; the catalog includes 891 quasars at redshifts greater than 4, of which 36 are at redshifts greater than 5. Approximately half of the catalog quasars have i<19; nearly all have i<21. For each object the catalog presents positions accurate to better than 0.2" rms per coordinate, five-band (ugriz) CCD-based photometry with typical accuracy of 0.03mag, and information on the morphology and selection method. The catalog also contains basic radio, near-infrared, and X-ray emission properties of the quasars, when available, from other large-area surveys. The calibrated digital spectra cover the wavelength region 3800-9200{AA} at a spectral resolution of about 2000; the spectra can be retrieved from the public database using the information provided in the catalog. The average SDSS colors of quasars as a function of redshift, derived from the catalog entries, are presented in tabular form. Approximately 96% of the objects in the catalog were discovered by the SDSS.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/204/5
- Title:
- SDSS DR7 white dwarf catalog
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/204/5
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a new catalog of spectroscopically confirmed white dwarf stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 spectroscopic catalog. We find 20407 white dwarf spectra, representing 19712 stars, and provide atmospheric model fits to 14120 DA and 1011 DB white dwarf spectra from 12843 and 923 stars, respectively. These numbers represent more than a factor of two increase in the total number of white dwarf stars from the previous SDSS white dwarf catalogs based on DR4 data. Our distribution of subtypes varies from previous catalogs due to our more conservative, manual classifications of each star in our catalog, supplementing our automatic fits. In particular, we find a large number of magnetic white dwarf stars whose small Zeeman splittings mimic increased Stark broadening that would otherwise result in an overestimated logg if fit as a non-magnetic white dwarf. We calculate mean DA and DB masses for our clean, non-magnetic sample and find the DB mean mass is statistically larger than that for the DAs.