arXiv subjects

A. Cortesi

Publications and source records attributed to A. Cortesi.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

J-PAS: Measuring emission lines with artificial neural networks

Throughout this paper we present a new method to detect and measure emission lines in J-PAS up to $z = 0.35$. J-PAS will observe $8000$~deg$^2$ of the northern sky in the upcoming years with 56 photometric bands. The release of such amount of data brings us the opportunity to employ machine learning methods in order to overcome the difficulties associated with photometric data. We used Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) trained and tested with synthetic J-PAS photometry from CALIFA, MaNGA, and SDSS spectra. We carry out two tasks: firstly, we cluster galaxies in two groups according to the values of the equivalent width (EW) of $Hα$, $Hβ$, $[NII]{λ6584}$, and $ [OIII]{λ5007}$ lines measured in the spectra. Then, we train an ANN to assign to each galaxy a group. We are able to classify them with the uncertainties typical of the photometric redshift measurable in J-PAS. Secondly, we utilize another ANN to determine the values of those EWs. Subsequently, we obtain the $[NII]/Hα$, $[OIII]/Hβ$, and \ion{O}{3}\ion{N}{2} ratios recovering the BPT diagram . We study the performance of the ANN in two training samples: one is only composed of synthetic J-PAS photo-spectra (J-spectra) from MaNGA and CALIFA (CALMa set) and the other one is composed of SDSS galaxies. We can reproduce properly the main sequence of star forming galaxies from the determination of the EWs. With the CALMa training set we reach a precision of 0.093 and 0.081 dex for the $[NII]/Hα$ and $[OIII]/Hβ$ ratios in the SDSS testing sample. Nevertheless, we find an underestimation of those ratios at high values in galaxies hosting an AGN. We also show the importance of the dataset used for both training and testing the model. ANNs are extremely useful to overcome the limitations previously expected concerning the detection and measurements of the emission lines in surveys like J-PAS.

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arXiv2020

Inverted metallicity gradients in two Virgo cluster star-forming dwarf galaxies: evidence of recent merging?

We present integral field spectroscopy observations of two star-forming dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster (VCC135 and VCC324) obtained with PMAS/PPak at the Calar Alto 3.5 meter telescope. We derive metallicity maps using the N2 empirical calibrator. The galaxies show positive gas metallicity gradients, contrarily to what is usually found in other dwarfs or in spiral galaxies. We measure gradient slopes of 0.20 $\pm$ 0.06 and 0.15 $\pm$ 0.03 dex/$R_e$ for VCC135 and VCC324, respectively. Such a trend has been only observed in few, very isolated galaxies, or at higher redshifts ($z >$ 1). It is thought to be associated with accretion of metal-poor gas from the intergalactic medium, a mechanism that would be less likely to occur in a high-density environment like Virgo. We combine emission line observations with deep optical images to investigate the origin of the peculiar metallicity gradient. The presence of weak underlying substructures in both galaxies and the analysis of morphological diagnostics and of ionised gas kinematics suggest that the inflow of metal-poor gas to the central regions of the dwarfs may be related to a recent merging event with a gas-rich companion.

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arXiv2020

The halo of M105 and its group environment as traced by planetary nebula populations: I. Wide-field photometric survey of planetary nebulae in the Leo I group

M105 (NGC 3379) is an early-type galaxy in the Leo I group. This group is the nearest group that contains all main galaxy types and can thus be used as a benchmark to study the properties of the intra-group light (IGL) in low-mass groups. We use PNe as discrete stellar tracers of the diffuse light around M105. PNe were identified on the basis of their bright [OIII]5007 AA emission and the absence of a broad-band continuum. We compare the PN number density profile with the galaxy surface-brightness profile decomposed into metallicity components using published HST photometry in two halo fields. We identify 226 PNe candidates within a limiting magnitude of mlim = 28.1 from our Subaru-SuprimeCam imaging, covering 67.6 kpc along the major axis of M105 and the halos of NGC 3384 and NGC 3398. We find an excess of PNe at large radii compared to the stellar surface brightness profile from broad-band surveys. This excess is related to a variation in the luminosity-specific PN number $α$ with radius. The $α$-parameter value of the extended halo is more than 7 times higher than that of the inner halo. We also measure an increase in the slope of the PN luminosity function at fainter magnitudes with radius. We infer that the radial variation of the PN population properties is due to a diffuse population of metal-poor stars ([M/H] < -1.0) following an exponential profile, in addition to the M105 halo. The spatial coincidence between the number density profile of these metal-poor stars and the increase in the $α$-parameter value with radius establishes the missing link between metallicity and the post-AGB phases of stellar evolution. We estimate that the total bolometric luminosity associated with the exponential IGL population is 2.04x10^9 Lsun as a lower limit, corresponding to an IGL fraction of 3.8%. This work sets the stage for kinematic studies of the IGL in low-mass groups.

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arXiv2020

The miniJPAS survey: a preview of the Universe in 56 colours

The Javalambre-Physics of the Accelerating Universe Astrophysical Survey (J-PAS) will soon start to scan thousands of square degrees of the northern extragalactic sky with a unique set of $56$ optical filters from a dedicated $2.55$m telescope, JST, at the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory. Before the arrival of the final instrument (a 1.2 Gpixels, 4.2deg$^2$ field-of-view camera), the JST was equipped with an interim camera (JPAS-Pathfinder), composed of one CCD with a 0.3deg$^2$ field-of-view and resolution of 0.23 arcsec pixel$^{-1}$. To demonstrate the scientific potential of J-PAS, with the JPAS-Pathfinder camera we carried out a survey on the AEGIS field (along the Extended Groth Strip), dubbed miniJPAS. We observed a total of $\sim 1$ deg$^2$, with the $56$ J-PAS filters, which include $54$ narrow band (NB, $\rm{FWHM} \sim 145$Angstrom) and two broader filters extending to the UV and the near-infrared, complemented by the $u,g,r,i$ SDSS broad band (BB) filters. In this paper we present the miniJPAS data set, the details of the catalogues and data access, and illustrate the scientific potential of our multi-band data. The data surpass the target depths originally planned for J-PAS, reaching $\rm{mag}_{\rm {AB}}$ between $\sim 22$ and $23.5$ for the NB filters and up to $24$ for the BB filters ($5σ$ in a $3$~arcsec aperture). The miniJPAS primary catalogue contains more than $64,000$ sources extracted in the $r$ detection band with forced photometry in all other bands. We estimate the catalogue to be complete up to $r=23.6$ for point-like sources and up to $r=22.7$ for extended sources. Photometric redshifts reach subpercent precision for all sources up to $r=22.5$, and a precision of $\sim 0.3$% for about half of the sample. (Abridged)

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arXiv2020

One hundred SMUDGes in S-PLUS: ultra-diffuse galaxies flourish in the field

We present the first systematic study of the stellar populations of ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in the field, integrating the large area search and characterization of UDGs by the SMUDGes survey with the twelve-band optical photometry of the S-PLUS survey. Based on Bayesian modeling of the optical colors of UDGs, we determine the ages, metallicities and stellar masses of 100 UDGs distributed in an area of $\sim 330$ deg$^2$ in the Stripe 82 region. We find that the stellar masses and metallicities of field UDGs are similar to those observed in clusters and follow the trends previously defined in studies of dwarf and giant galaxies. However, field UDGs have younger luminosity-weighted ages than do UDGs in clusters. We interpret this result to mean that field UDGs have more extended star formation histories, including some that continue to form stars at low levels to the present time. Finally, we examine stellar population scaling relations that show that UDGs are, as a population, similar to other low-surface brightness galaxies.

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arXiv2019

J-PLUS: Tools to identify compact planetary nebulae in the Javalambre and southern photometric local universe surveys

From the approximately $\sim$3,500 planetary nebulae (PNe) discovered in our Galaxy, only 14 are known to be members of the Galactic halo. Nevertheless, a systematic search for halo PNe has never been performed. In this study, we present new photometric diagnostic tools to identify compact PNe in the Galactic halo by making use of the novel 12-filter system projects, J-PLUS (Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey) and S-PLUS (Southern-Photometric Local Universe Survey). We reconstructed the IPHAS (Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) Photometric H$α$ Survey of the Northern Galactic Plane) diagnostic diagram and propose four new ones using i) the J-PLUS and S-PLUS synthetic photometry for a grid of photo-ionisation models of halo PNe, ii) several observed halo PNe, as well as iii) a number of other emission-line objects that resemble PNe. All colour-colour diagnostic diagrams are validated using two known halo PNe observed by J-PLUS during the scientific verification phase and the first data release (DR1) of S-PLUS and the DR1 of J-PLUS. By applying our criteria to the DR1s ($\sim$1,190 deg$^2$), we identified one PN candidate. However, optical follow-up spectroscopy proved it to be a H II region belonging to the UGC 5272 galaxy. Here, we also discuss the PN and two H II galaxies recovered by these selection criteria. Finally, the cross-matching with the most updated PNe catalogue (HASH) helped us to highlight the potential of these surveys, since we recover all the known PNe in the observed area. The tools here proposed to identify PNe and separate them from their emission-line contaminants proved to be very efficient thanks to the combination of many colours, even when applied -like in the present work- to an automatic photometric search that is limited to compact PNe.

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arXiv2019

The S-PLUS: a star/galaxy classification based on a Machine Learning approach

We present a star/galaxy classification for the Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS), based on a Machine Learning approach: the Random Forest algorithm. We train the algorithm using the S-PLUS optical photometry up to $r$=21, matched to SDSS/DR13, and morphological parameters. The metric of importance is defined as the relative decrease of the initial accuracy when all correlations related to a certain feature is vanished. In general, the broad photometric bands presented higher importance when compared to narrow ones. The influence of the morphological parameters has been evaluated training the RF with and without the inclusion of morphological parameters, presenting accuracy values of 95.0\% and 88.1\%, respectively. Particularly, the morphological parameter {\rm FWHM/PSF} performed the highest importance over all features to distinguish between stars and galaxies, indicating that it is crucial to classify objects into stars and galaxies. We investigate the misclassification of stars and galaxies in the broad-band colour-colour diagram $(g-r)$ versus $(r-i)$. The morphology can notably improve the classification of objects at regions in the diagram where the misclassification was relatively high. Consequently, it provides cleaner samples for statistical studies. The expected contamination rate of red galaxies as a function of the redshift is estimated, providing corrections for red galaxy samples. The classification of QSOs as extragalactic objects is slightly better using photometric-only case. An extragalactic point-source catalogue is provided using the classification without any morphology feature (only the SED information) with additional constraints on photometric redshifts and {\rm FWHM/PSF} values.

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arXiv2019

The Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS): improved SEDs, morphologies and redshifts with 12 optical filters

The Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS) is imaging ~9300 deg^2 of the celestial sphere in twelve optical bands using a dedicated 0.8 m robotic telescope, the T80-South, at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile. The telescope is equipped with a 9.2k by 9.2k e2v detector with 10 um pixels, resulting in a field-of-view of 2 deg^2 with a plate scale of 0.55"/pixel. The survey consists of four main subfields, which include two non-contiguous fields at high Galactic latitudes (8000 deg^2 at |b| > 30 deg) and two areas of the Galactic plane and bulge (for an additional 1300 deg^2). S-PLUS uses the Javalambre 12-band magnitude system, which includes the 5 u, g, r, i, z broad-band filters and 7 narrow-band filters centered on prominent stellar spectral features: the Balmer jump/[OII], Ca H+K, H-delta, G-band, Mg b triplet, H-alpha, and the Ca triplet. S-PLUS delivers accurate photometric redshifts (delta_z/(1+z) = 0.02 or better) for galaxies with r < 20 AB mag and redshift < 0.5, thus producing a 3D map of the local Universe over a volume of more than 1 (Gpc/h)^3. The final S-PLUS catalogue will also enable the study of star formation and stellar populations in and around the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, as well as searches for quasars, variable sources, and low-metallicity stars. In this paper we introduce the main characteristics of the survey, illustrated with science verification data highlighting the unique capabilities of S-PLUS. We also present the first public data release of ~336 deg^2 of the Stripe-82 area, which is available at http://datalab.noao.edu/splus.

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arXiv2019

Assessing the photometric redshift precision of the S-PLUS survey: the Stripe-82 as a test-case

In this paper we present a thorough discussion about the photometric redshift (photo-z) performance of the Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS). This survey combines a 7 narrow + 5 broad passband filter system, with a typical photometric-depth of r$\sim$21 AB. For this exercise, we utilize the Data Release 1 (DR1), corresponding to 336 deg$^{2}$ from the Stripe-82 region. We rely on the \texttt{BPZ2} code to compute our estimates, using a new library of SED models, which includes additional templates for quiescent galaxies. When compared to a spectroscopic redshift control sample of $\sim$100k galaxies, we find a precision of $σ_{z}<$0.8\%, $<$2.0\% or $<$3.0\% for galaxies with magnitudes r$<$17, $<$19 and $<$21, respectively. A precision of 0.6\% is attained for galaxies with the highest \texttt{Odds} values. These estimates have a negligible bias and a fraction of catastrophic outliers inferior to 1\%. We identify a redshift window (i.e., 0.26$<z<$0.32) where our estimates double their precision, due to the simultaneous detection of two emission-lines in two distinct narrow-bands; representing a window opportunity to conduct statistical studies such as luminosity functions. We forecast a total of $\sim$2M, $\sim$16M and $\sim$32M galaxies in the S-PLUS survey with a photo-z precision of $σ_{z}<$1.0\%, $<$2.0\% and $<$2.5\% after observing 8000 $deg^{2}$. We also derive redshift Probability Density Functions, proving their reliability encoding redshift uncertainties and their potential recovering the $n(z)$ of galaxies at $z<0.4$, with an unprecedented precision for a photometric survey in the southern hemisphere.

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arXiv2018

Consequences of the external field effect for MOND disk galaxies in galaxy clusters

Galaxies within galaxy clusters are known to be subject to a wide variety of environmental effects, both gravitational and hydrodynamical. In this study, we examine the purely gravitational interaction of idealised galaxy models falling into a galaxy cluster in the context of Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND). This modification of gravity gives rise to an external field effect (EFE), where the internal dynamics of a system are affected by the presence of external gravitational fields. We examine the consequences of the EFE on low and high mass disk galaxies in time-evolving analytic background cluster potentials, considering orbits with weak and strong tidal fields. By varying the orbital plane of the galaxies we also test the effect of having the tidal interaction orthogonal or parallel to the disk. Furthermore, we consider as a control sample models where the EFE has been removed and they are only affected by tides. Our results suggest that MOND cluster galaxies should exhibit clear asymmetries in their isophotes, suffer increased mass loss and a reduction in their rotation curves due to the combined effect of cluster tides and the external field. In particular, low mass galaxies are hit hard by the EFE, becoming dominated by dispersion rather than rotation even in the absence of tides.

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arXiv2018

The extended Planetary Nebula Spectrograph (ePN.S) early-type galaxy survey. The kinematic diversity of stellar halos and the relation between halo transition scale and stellar mass

In the hierarchical two-phase formation scenario, the extended halos of early type galaxies (ETGs) are expected to have different physical properties from those of the galaxies' central regions. This work aims at characterizing the kinematic properties of ETG halos using planetary nebulae (PNe) as tracers, which allow us to overcome the limitations of absorption line spectroscopy of continuum at low surface brightness. We present two-dimensional velocity and velocity dispersion fields for 33 ETGs, including both fast (FRs) and slow rotators (SRs), making this the largest kinematic survey to-date of extragalactic PNe. The velocity fields extend out to a median 5.6 effective radii (Re), with a range [3Re-13Re] for the PN.S ETGs. We complemented the PN kinematics with absorption line data from the literature. We find that ETGs typically show a kinematic transition between inner regions and halo. Estimated transition radii in units of Re anticorrelate with stellar mass. SRs have increased but still modest rotational support at large radii, while most of the FRs show a decrease in rotation, due to the fading of the stellar disk in the outer, more slowly rotating spheroid. 30% of the FRs are dominated by rotation also at large radii. Most ETGs have flat or slightly falling halo velocity dispersion profiles, but 15% of the sample have steeply falling profiles. 40% of the FRs show kinematic twists, misalignments, or rotation along two axes, indicating that they turn from oblate at the center to triaxial in the halo, consistently with the distribution of isophote twists from extended photometry. ETGs have more diverse kinematic properties in their halos than in the central regions. The observed kinematic transition to the halo and its dependence on stellar mass is consistent with LambdaCDM simulations and supports a two-phase formation scenario. [abridged]

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arXiv2018

J-PLUS: On the identification of new cluster members in the double galaxy cluster A2589 & A2593 using PDFs

We aim to use multi-band imaging from the Phase-3 Verification Data of the J-PLUS survey to derive accurate photometric redshifts (photo-z) and look for potential new members in the surroundings of the nearby galaxy clusters A2589 (z=0.0414) & A2593 (z=0.0440), using redshift probability distribution functions. The ultimate goal is to demonstrate the usefulness of a 12-band filter system in the study of large-scale structure in the local universe. We present an optimized pipeline for the estimation of photo-z in clusters of galaxies. We tested our photo-z with a sample of 296 spectroscopically confirmed cluster members with a magnitude of = 16.6 and redshift =0.041. The combination of seven narrow and five broadband filters with a typical photometric-depth of r<21.5 provides dz/(1+z)=0.01 photo-z estimates. A precision of dz/(1+z)=0.005 is obtained for the 177 galaxies brighter than magnitude r<17. To foresee the precision beyond the spectroscopic sample, we designed a set of simulations in which real cluster galaxies are modeled and reinjected inside the images at different signal-to-noise. A precision of dz/(1+z)=0.02 and dz/(1+z)=0.03 is expected at = 18-22, respectively. Complementarily, we used SDSS/DR12 data to derive photo-z estimates for the same galaxy sample, demonstrating that the wavelength-resolution of the J-PLUS can double the precision achieved by SDSS for galaxies with a high S/N. We find as much as 170 new candidates across the entire field. The spatial distribution of these galaxies may suggest an overlap between the systems with no evidence of a clear filamentary structure connecting the clusters. These preliminary results show the potential of J-PLUS data to revisit membership of groups and clusters from nearby galaxies, important for the determination of luminosity and mass functions and environmental studies at the intermediate and low-mass regime.

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arXiv2018

J-PLUS: 2-D analysis of the stellar population in NGC 5473 and NGC 5485

The spatial variations of stellar population properties within a galaxy are intimately related to their formation process. Therefore, spatially resolved studies of galaxies are essential to uncover their formation and assembly. The Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS) is a dedicated multi-filter designed to observed ~8500 deg2 using twelve narrow-, intermediate- and broad-band filters in the optical range. In this study, we test the potential of the multi-filter observation carried out with J-PLUS to investigate the properties of spatially-resolved nearby galaxies. We present detailed 2D maps of stellar population properties (age, metallicity, extinction, and stellar mass surface density) for two early-type galaxies observed in both, J-PLUS and CALIFA surveys: NGC 5473 and NGC 5485. Radial structures are also compared and luminosity- and mass-weighted profiles are derived. We use MUFFIT to process the J-PLUS observations, and two different techniques (STARLIGHT and STECKMAP) to analyze IFU CALIFA data. We demonstrate that this novel technique delivers radial stellar population gradients in good agreement with the IFU technique CALIFA/STECKMAP although comparison of the absolute values reveals the existence of intrinsic systematic differences. Radial stellar population gradients differ when CALIFA/STARLIGHT methodology is used. Age and metallicity radial profiles derived from J-PLUS/MUFFIT are very similar when luminosity- or mass-weighted properties are used, suggesting that the contribution of a younger component is small. Comparison between the three methodologies reveals some discrepancies suggesting that the specific characteristics of each method causes important differences. We conclude that the ages, metallicities and extinction derived for individual galaxies not only depend on the chosen models but also depend on the method used.

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arXiv2018

J-PLUS: Morphological star/galaxy classification by PDF analysis

Our goal is to morphologically classify the sources identified in the images of the J-PLUS early data release (EDR) into compact (stars) or extended (galaxies) using a suited Bayesian classifier. J-PLUS sources exhibit two distinct populations in the r-band magnitude vs. concentration plane, corresponding to compact and extended sources. We modelled the two-population distribution with a skewed Gaussian for compact objects and a log-normal function for the extended ones. The derived model and the number density prior based on J-PLUS EDR data were used to estimate the Bayesian probability of a source to be star or galaxy. This procedure was applied pointing-by-pointing to account for varying observing conditions and sky position. Finally, we combined the morphological information from g, r, and i broad bands in order to improve the classification of low signal-to-noise sources. The derived probabilities are used to compute the pointing-by-pointing number counts of stars and galaxies. The former increases as we approach to the Milky Way disk, and the latter are similar across the probed area. The comparison with SDSS in the common regions is satisfactory up to r ~ 21, with consistent numbers of stars and galaxies, and consistent distributions in concentration and (g - i) colour spaces. We implement a morphological star/galaxy classifier based on PDF analysis, providing meaningful probabilities for J-PLUS sources to one magnitude deeper (r ~ 21) than a classical boolean classification. These probabilities are suited for the statistical study of 150k stars and 101k galaxies with 15 < r < 21 present in the 31.7 deg2 of the J-PLUS EDR. In a future version of the classifier, we will include J-PLUS colour information from twelve photometric bands.

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arXiv2018

J-PLUS: The Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey

J-PLUS is an ongoing 12-band photometric optical survey, observing thousands of square degrees of the Northern hemisphere from the dedicated JAST/T80 telescope at the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre. T80Cam is a 2 sq.deg field-of-view camera mounted on this 83cm-diameter telescope, and is equipped with a unique system of filters spanning the entire optical range. This filter system is a combination of broad, medium and narrow-band filters, optimally designed to extract the rest-frame spectral features (the 3700-4000Å Balmer break region, H$δ$, Ca H+K, the G-band, the Mgb and Ca triplets) that are key to both characterize stellar types and to deliver a low-resolution photo-spectrum for each pixel of the sky observed. With a typical depth of AB $\sim 21.25$ mag per band, this filter set thus allows for an indiscriminate and accurate characterization of the stellar population in our Galaxy, it provides an unprecedented 2D photo-spectral information for all resolved galaxies in the local universe, as well as accurate photo-z estimates ($Δ\,z\sim 0.01-0.03$) for moderately bright (up to $r\sim 20$ mag) extragalactic sources. While some narrow band filters are designed for the study of particular emission features ([OII]/$λ$3727, H$α$/$λ$6563) up to $z < 0.015$, they also provide well-defined windows for the analysis of other emission lines at higher redshifts. As a result, J-PLUS has the potential to contribute to a wide range of fields in Astrophysics, both in the nearby universe (Milky Way, 2D IFU-like studies, stellar populations of nearby and moderate redshift galaxies, clusters of galaxies) and at high redshifts (ELGs at $z\approx 0.77, 2.2$ and $4.4$, QSOs, etc). With this paper, we release $\sim 36$ sq.deg of J-PLUS data, containing about $1.5\times 10^5$ stars and $10^5$ galaxies at $r<21$ mag.

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arXiv2014

J-PAS: The Javalambre-Physics of the Accelerated Universe Astrophysical Survey

The Javalambre-Physics of the Accelerated Universe Astrophysical Survey (J-PAS) is a narrow band, very wide field Cosmological Survey to be carried out from the Javalambre Observatory in Spain with a purpose-built, dedicated 2.5m telescope and a 4.7 sq.deg. camera with 1.2Gpix. Starting in late 2015, J-PAS will observe 8500sq.deg. of Northern Sky and measure $0.003(1+z)$ photo-z for $9\times10^7$ LRG and ELG galaxies plus several million QSOs, sampling an effective volume of $\sim 14$ Gpc$^3$ up to $z=1.3$ and becoming the first radial BAO experiment to reach Stage IV. J-PAS will detect $7\times 10^5$ galaxy clusters and groups, setting constrains on Dark Energy which rival those obtained from its BAO measurements. Thanks to the superb characteristics of the site (seeing ~0.7 arcsec), J-PAS is expected to obtain a deep, sub-arcsec image of the Northern sky, which combined with its unique photo-z precision will produce one of the most powerful cosmological lensing surveys before the arrival of Euclid. J-PAS unprecedented spectral time domain information will enable a self-contained SN survey that, without the need for external spectroscopic follow-up, will detect, classify and measure $σ_z\sim 0.5\%$ redshifts for $\sim 4000$ SNeIa and $\sim 900$ core-collapse SNe. The key to the J-PAS potential is its innovative approach: a contiguous system of 54 filters with $145Å$ width, placed $100Å$ apart over a multi-degree FoV is a powerful "redshift machine", with the survey speed of a 4000 multiplexing low resolution spectrograph, but many times cheaper and much faster to build. The J-PAS camera is equivalent to a 4.7 sq.deg. "IFU" and it will produce a time-resolved, 3D image of the Northern Sky with a very wide range of Astrophysical applications in Galaxy Evolution, the nearby Universe and the study of resolved stellar populations.

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arXiv2013

The Nature of Faint Fuzzies from the Kinematics of NGC1023

Faint fuzzies are metal-rich apparently-old star clusters with unusually large radii (7-15 pc), found mostly in S0 galaxies, whose source remain obscure. To identify their origins, we compare planetary nebulae and neutral hydrogen with faint fuzzy positions and line-of-sight velocities in NGC1023. In this way, we rule out scenarios in which these objects are associated with an on-going merger or with a spheroid population in NGC1023. Their kinematics are indistinguishable from the stellar disk population in this galaxy, and we conclude that faint fuzzies are most likely just remnant open clusters. Their observed association with S0s then simply reflects the difficulty of identifying such objects in later-type disk galaxies.

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arXiv2013

Planetary Nebula Spectrograph survey of S0 galaxy kinematics. II. Clues to the origins of S0 galaxies

The stellar kinematics of the spheroids and discs of S0 galaxies contain clues to their formation histories. Unfortunately, it is difficult to disentangle the two components and to recover their stellar kinematics in the faint outer parts of the galaxies using conventional absorption line spectroscopy. This paper therefore presents the stellar kinematics of six S0 galaxies derived from observations of planetary nebulae (PNe), obtained using the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph. To separate the kinematics of the two components, we use a maximum-likelihood method that combines the discrete kinematic data with a photometric component decomposition. The results of this analysis reveal that: the discs of S0 galaxies are rotationally supported; however, the amount of random motion in these discs is systematically higher than in comparable spiral galaxies; and the S0s lie around one magnitude below the Tully--Fisher relation for spiral galaxies, while their spheroids lie nearly one magnitude above the Faber--Jackson relation for ellipticals. All of these findings are consistent with a scenario in which spirals are converted into S0s through a process of mild harassment or "pestering," with their discs somewhat heated and their spheroid somewhat enhanced by the conversion process. In such a scenario, one might expect the properties of S0s to depend on environment. We do not see such an effect in this fairly small sample, although any differences would be diluted by the fact that the current location does not necessarily reflect the environment in which the transformation occurred. Similar observations of larger samples probing a broader range of environments, coupled with more detailed modelling of the transformation process to match the wide range of parameters that we have shown can now be measured, should take us from these first steps to the definitive answer as to how S0 galaxies form.

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