arXiv subjects

Francisco J. Castander

Publications and source records attributed to Francisco J. Castander.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2007

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Lens Search. III. Constraints on Dark Energy from the Third Data Release Quasar Lens Catalog

We present cosmological results from the statistics of lensed quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Lens Search. By taking proper account of the selection function, we compute the expected number of quasars lensed by early-type galaxies and their image separation distribution assuming a flat universe, which is then compared with 7 lenses found in the SDSS Data Release 3 to derive constraints on dark energy under strictly controlled criteria. For a cosmological constant model (w=-1) we obtain Ω_Λ=0.74^{+0.11}_{-0.15}(stat.)^{+0.13}_{-0.06}(syst.). Allowing w to be a free parameter we find Ω_M=0.26^{+0.07}_{-0.06}(stat.)^{+0.03}_{-0.05}(syst.) and w=-1.1\pm0.6(stat.)^{+0.3}_{-0.5}(syst.) when combined with the constraint from the measurement of baryon acoustic oscillations in the SDSS luminous red galaxy sample. Our results are in good agreement with earlier lensing constraints obtained using radio lenses, and provide additional confirmation of the presence of dark energy consistent with a cosmological constant, derived independently of type Ia supernovae.

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arXiv2007

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog IV. Fifth Data Release

We present the fourth edition of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Catalog. The catalog contains 77,429 objects; this is an increase of over 30,000 entries since the previous edition. 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 H_0 = 70 km/s/Mpc, Omega_M = 0.3, and Omega_Lambda = 0.7) have at least one emission line with FWHM larger than 1000 km/s, or have interesting/complex absorption features, are fainter than i=15.0, and have highly reliable redshifts. The area covered by the catalog is 5740 sq. deg. 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 four, of which 36 are at redshifts greater than five. 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 arcsec. rms per coordinate, five-band (ugriz) CCD-based photometry with typical accuracy of 0.03 mag, 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--9200A at a spectral resolution of ~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.

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arXiv2006

The Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile (MUSYC): Deep Near-Infrared Imaging and the Selection of Distant Galaxies

We present deep near-infrared JHK imaging of four 10'x10' fields. The observations were carried out as part of the Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile (MUSYC) with ISPI on the CTIO 4m telescope. The typical point source limiting depths are J~22.5, H~21.5, and K~21 (5sigma; Vega). The effective seeing in the final images is ~1.0". We combine these data with MUSYC UBVRIz imaging to create K-selected catalogs that are unique for their uniform size, depth, filter coverage, and image quality. We investigate the rest-frame optical colors and photometric redshifts of galaxies that are selected using common color selection techniques, including distant red galaxies (DRGs), star-forming and passive BzKs, and the rest-frame UV-selected BM, BX, and Lyman break galaxies (LBGs). These techniques are effective at isolating large samples of high redshift galaxies, but none provide complete or uniform samples across the targeted redshift ranges. The DRG and BM/BX/LBG criteria identify populations of red and blue galaxies, respectively, as they were designed to do. The star-forming BzKs have a very wide redshift distribution, a wide range of colors, and may include galaxies with very low specific star formation rates. In comparison, the passive BzKs are fewer in number, have a different distribution of K magnitudes, and have a somewhat different redshift distribution. By combining these color selection criteria, it appears possible to define a reasonably complete sample of galaxies to our flux limit over specific redshift ranges. However, the redshift dependence of both the completeness and sampled range of rest-frame colors poses an ultimate limit to the usefulness of these techniques.

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arXiv2006

The Physical Nature of Lyman Alpha Emitting Galaxies at z=3.1

We selected 40 candidate Lyman Alpha Emitting galaxies (LAEs) at z ~=3.1 with observed frame equivalent widths >150A and inferred emission line fluxes >2.5x10^-17 ergs/cm^2/s from deep narrow-band and broad-band MUSYC images of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South. Covering 992 sq. arcmin, this is the largest ``blank field'' surveyed for LAEs at z ~3, allowing an improved estimate of the space density of this population of 3+-1x10^-4 h_70^3/Mpc^3. Spectroscopic follow-up of 23 candidates yielded 18 redshifts, all at z ~=3.1. Over 80% of the LAEs are dimmer in continuum magnitude than the typical Lyman break galaxy spectroscopic limit of R= 25.5 (AB), with a median continuum magnitude R ~=27 and very blue continuum colors, (V-z) ~=0. Over 80% of the LAEs have the right UVR colors to be selected as Lyman break galaxies, but only 10% also have R<=25.5. Stacking the UBVRIzJK fluxes reveals that LAEs have stellar masses ~=5x10^8 h_70^-2 M_sun and minimal dust extinction, A_V < ~ 0.1. Inferred star formation rates are ~=6 h_70^-2 M_sun/yr, yielding a cosmic star formation rate density of 2x10^-3 h_70 M_sun/yr/Mpc^3. None of our LAE candidates show evidence for rest-frame emission line equivalent widths EW_rest>240A which might imply a non-standard IMF. One candidate is detected by Chandra, implying an AGN fraction of 2+-2% for LAE candidate samples. In summary, LAEs at z ~ 3 have rapid star formation, low stellar mass, little dust obscuration and no evidence for a substantial AGN component.

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arXiv2005

Dark Energy Studies: Challenges to Computational Cosmology

The ability to test the nature of dark mass-energy components in the universe through large-scale structure studies hinges on accurate predictions of sky survey expectations within a given world model. Numerical simulations predict key survey signatures with varying degrees of confidence, limited mainly by the complex astrophysics of galaxy formation. As surveys grow in size and scale, systematic uncertainties in theoretical modeling can become dominant. Dark energy studies will challenge the computational cosmology community to critically assess current techniques, develop new approaches to maximize accuracy, and establish new tools and practices to efficiently employ globally networked computing resources.

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arXiv2005

Constraining Dark Energy with the Dark Energy Survey: Theoretical Challenges

The Dark Energy Survey (DES) will use a new imaging camera on the Blanco 4-m telescope at CTIO to image 5000 square degrees of sky in the South Galactic Cap in four optical bands, and to carry out repeat imaging over a smaller area to identify and measure lightcurves of Type Ia supernovae. The main imaging area overlaps the planned Sunyaev-Zel'dovich survey of the South Pole Telescope. The idea behind DES is to use four distinct and largely independent methods to probe the properties of dark energy: baryon oscillations of the power spectrum, abundance and spatial distribution of clusters, weak gravitational lensing, and Type Ia supernovae. This white paper outlines, in broad terms, some of the theoretical issues associated with the first three of these probes (the issues for supernovae are mostly different in character), and with the general task of characterizing dark energy and distinguishing it from alternative explanations for cosmic acceleration. A companion white paper discusses the kind of numerical simulations and other theoretical tools that will be needed to address the these issues and to create mock catalogs that allow end-to-end tests of analysis procedures. Although we have been thinking about these problems in the specific context of DES, many of them are also relevant to other planned dark energy studies.

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arXiv2005

SDSS J0246-0825: A New Gravitationally Lensed Quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We report the discovery of a new two-image gravitationally lensed quasar, SDSS J024634.11-082536.2 (SDSS J0246-0825). This object was selected as a lensed quasar candidate from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) by the same algorithm that was used to discover other SDSS lensed quasars (e.g., SDSS J0924+0219). Multicolor imaging with the Magellan Consortium's Walter Baade 6.5-m telescope and the spectroscopic observations using the W. M. Keck Observatory's Keck II telescope confirm that SDSS J0246-0825 consists of two lensed images ($Δθ=$1\farcs04) of a source quasar at z=1.68. Imaging observations with the Keck telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope reveal an extended object between the two quasar components, which is likely to be a lensing galaxy of this system. From the absorption lines in the spectra of quasar components and the apparent magnitude of the galaxy, combined with the expected absolute magnitude from the Faber-Jackson relation, we estimate the redshift of the lensing galaxy to be z=0.724. A highly distorted ring is visible in the Hubble Space Telescope images, which is likely to be the lensed host galaxy of the source quasar. Simple mass modeling predicts the possibility that there is a small (faint) lensing object near the primary lensing galaxy.

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arXiv2005

The ALHAMBRA Survey: For a systematic Study of Cosmic Evolution

ALHAMBRA is a project to gather data to sample a fraction of the Universe with enough precision to follow the evolution of its content and properties with z, a kind of Cosmic Tomography. It is defined as a 4 square degrees photometric survey with 20 contiguous, equal width, medium band filters covering from 3500 to 9700 A, plus the JHKs NIR bands. It was optimized to get (for a fixed observing time) the maximum number of objects with accurate classification and redshift and to be sensitive to relatively faint emission features. The observations will be carried out with the 3.5m telescope in Calar Alto (Spain). We intend to reach the limit AB=25 in all the optical filters from the bluest to 8300 A, and from 24.7 to 23.4 for the remainder. The expected limit in the NIR is fixed at Ks=20, H=21, J=22. The homogeneous and contiguous spectral coverage will result in several hundred thousand objects with accurate SED identification and z-values. The accuracy of the survey will allow to make detailed studies, including galactic, without the need for any further follow-up. Indeed, it will provide exciting targets for large telescopes, the GTC in particular.

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arXiv2005

Discovery of a Fifth Image of the Large Separation Gravitationally Lensed Quasar SDSS J1004+4112

We report the discovery of a fifth image in the large separation lensed quasar system SDSS J1004+4112. A faint point source located 0.2'' from the center of the brightest galaxy in the lensing cluster is detected in images taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) on the Hubble Space Telescope. The flux ratio between the point source and the brightest lensed component in the ACS image is similar to that in the NICMOS image. The location and brightness of the point source are consistent with lens model predictions for a lensed image. We therefore conclude that the point source is likely to be a fifth image of the source quasar. In addition, the NICMOS image reveals the lensed host galaxy of the source quasar, which can strongly constrain the structure of the lensing critical curves and thereby the mass distribution of the lensing cluster.

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arXiv2004

Discovery of Two Gravitationally Lensed Quasars with Image Separations of 3 Arcseconds from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We report the discovery of two doubly-imaged quasars, SDSS J100128.61+502756.9 and SDSS J120629.65+433217.6, at redshifts of 1.838 and 1.789 and with image separations of 2.86'' and 2.90'', respectively. The objects were selected as lens candidates from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Based on the identical nature of the spectra of the two quasars in each pair and the identification of the lens galaxies, we conclude that the objects are gravitational lenses. The lenses are complicated; in both systems there are several galaxies in the fields very close to the quasars, in addition to the lens galaxies themselves. The lens modeling implies that these nearby galaxies contribute significantly to the lens potentials. On larger scales, we have detected an enhancement in the galaxy density near SDSS J100128.61+502756.9. The number of lenses with image separation of ~3'' in the SDSS already exceeds the prediction of simple theoretical models based on the standard Lambda-dominated cosmology and observed velocity function of galaxies.

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arXiv2004

SDSS J1335+0118: A New Two-Image Gravitational Lens

We report the discovery of the two-image gravitationally lensed quasar SDSS J1335+0118. The object was selected as a lens candidate from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The imaging and spectroscopic follow-up observations confirm that the system exhibits two gravitationally lensed images of a quasar at z=1.57. The image separation is 1.56''. We also detect an extended component between the two quasar images, likely the lensing galaxy. Preliminary mass modeling predicts the differential time delay Δt ~ 30 h^{-1} day assuming the redshift of the lens galaxy is 0.5.

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arXiv2003

An X-ray Selected AGN at z=4.6 Discovered by the CYDER Survey

We present the discovery of a high redshift, X-ray selected AGN by the Calan-Yale Deep Extragalactic Research (CYDER) survey: CXOCY J033716.7-050153, located at $z=4.61$, the second high redshift AGN discovered by this survey. Here, we present its optical, near-IR and X-ray properties and compare it with other optical and X-ray selected high redshift AGN. The optical luminosity of this object is significantly lower than most optically selected high redshift quasars. It also has a lower rest frame UV to X-ray emission ratio than most known quasars at this redshift. This mild deviation can be explained either by dust obscuring the UV radiation of a normal radio quiet AGN emitting at 10% of its Eddington luminosity or because this is intrinsically a low luminosity radio loud AGN, with a super-massive Black Hole of $\sim 10^8M_\sun$ emitting at 1% of its Eddington luminosity. Deep radio observations can discriminate between these two hypotheses.

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arXiv2003

Cross-correlating the Microwave Sky with Galaxy Surveys

We present results for the cross-correlation between the WMAP 1st-year cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy data and optical galaxy surveys: the APM and SDSS DR1 catalogs. Our measurement of a positive CMB-galaxy correlation on large angles (θ> 4 deg) yields significant detections of the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect and provides a new estimate of dark-energy in the universe, Ω_Λ=0.69-0.86 (2 σrange). In addition, the correlated signal on small angles (θ<1 deg) reveals the imprint left by hot intra-cluster gas in the CMB photons: the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect

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arXiv2003

SDSS J092455.87+021924.9: an Interesting Gravitationally Lensed Quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We report the discovery of a new gravitationally lensed quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, SDSS J092455.87+021924.9 (SDSS J0924+0219). This object was selected from among known SDSS quasars by an algorithm that was designed to select another known SDSS lensed quasar (SDSS 1226-0006A,B). Five separate components, three of which are unresolved, are identified in photometric follow-up observations obtained with the Magellan Consortium's 6.5m Walter Baade telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. Two of the unresolved components (designated A and B) are confirmed to be quasars with z=1.524; the velocity difference is less than 100 km sec^{-1} according to spectra taken with the W. M. Keck Observatory's Keck II telescope on Mauna Kea. A third stellar component, designated C, has the colors of a quasar with redshift similar to components A and B. The maximum separation of the point sources is 1.78". The other two sources, designated G and D, are resolved. Component G appears to be the best candidate for the lensing galaxy. Although component D is near the expected position of the fourth lensed component in a four image lens system, its properties are not consistent with being the image of a quasar at z~1.5. Nevertheless, the identical redshifts of components A and B and the presence of component C strongly suggest that this object is a gravitational lens. Our observations support the idea that a foreground object reddens the fourth lensed component and that another unmodeled effect (such as micro- or milli-lensing) demagnificates it, but we cannot rule out the possibility that SDSS0924+0219 is an example of the relatively rare class of ``three component'' lens systems.

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arXiv2003

Hdelta-Selected Galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey I: The Catalog

[Abridged] We present here a new and homogeneous sample of 3340 galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) based solely on the observed strength of their Hdelta absorption line. These galaxies are commonly known as ``post-starburst'' or ``E+A'' galaxies, and the study of these galaxies has been severely hampered by the lack of a large, statistical sample of such galaxies. In this paper, we rectify this problem by selecting a sample of galaxies which possess an absorption Hdelta equivalent width of EW(Hdelta_max) - Delta EW(Hdelta_max) > 4A from 106682 galaxies in the SDSS. We have performed extensive tests on our catalog including comparing different methodologies of measuring the Hdelta absorption and studying the effects of stellar absorption, dust extinction, emission-filling and measurement error. The measured abundance of our Hdelta-selected (HDS) galaxies is 2.6 +/- 0.1% of all galaxies within a volume-limited sample of 0.05<z<0.1 and M(r*)<-20.5, which is consistent with previous studies of such galaxies in the literature. We find that only 25 of our HDS galaxies in this volume-limited sample (3.5+/-0.7%) show no evidence for OII and Halpha emission, thus indicating that true E+A (or k+a) galaxies are extremely rare objects at low redshift, i.e., only 0.09+/-0.02% of all galaxies in this volume-limited sample are true E+A galaxies. In contrast, 89+/-5% of our HDS galaxies in the volume-limited sample have significant detections of the OII and Halpha emission lines. We find 27 galaxies in our volume-limited HDS sample that possess no detectable OII emission, but do however possess detectable Halpha emission. These galaxies may be dusty star-forming galaxies. We provide the community with this new catalog of Hdelta-selected galaxies to aid in the understanding of these galaxies.

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arXiv2001

Detecting Clusters of Galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey I : Monte Carlo Comparison of Cluster Detection Algorithms

We present a comparison of three cluster finding algorithms from imaging data using Monte Carlo simulations of clusters embedded in a 25 deg^2 region of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging data: the Matched Filter (MF; Postman et al. 1996), the Adaptive Matched Filter (AMF; Kepner et al. 1999) and a color-magnitude filtered Voronoi Tessellation Technique (VTT). Among the two matched filters, we find that the MF is more efficient in detecting faint clusters, whereas the AMF evaluates the redshifts and richnesses more accurately, therefore suggesting a hybrid method (HMF) that combines the two. The HMF outperforms the VTT when using a background that is uniform, but it is more sensitive to the presence of a non-uniform galaxy background than is the VTT; this is due to the assumption of a uniform background in the HMF model. We thus find that for the detection thresholds we determine to be appropriate for the SDSS data, the performance of both algorithms are similar; we present the selection function for each method evaluated with these thresholds as a function of redshift and richness. For simulated clusters generated with a Schechter luminosity function (M_r^* = -21.5 and alpha = -1.1) both algorithms are complete for Abell richness >= 1 clusters up to z ~ 0.4 for a sample magnitude limited to r = 21. While the cluster parameter evaluation shows a mild correlation with the local background density, the detection efficiency is not significantly affected by the background fluctuations, unlike previous shallower surveys.

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arXiv2001

The First Hour of Extra-galactic Data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Spectroscopic Commissioning: The Coma Cluster

On 26 May 1999, one of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) fiber-fed spectrographs saw astronomical first light. This was followed by the first spectroscopic commissioning run during the dark period of June 1999. We present here the first hour of extra-galactic spectroscopy taken during these early commissioning stages: an observation of the Coma cluster of galaxies. Our data samples the Southern part of this cluster, out to a radius of 1.5degrees and thus fully covers the NGC 4839 group. We outline in this paper the main characteristics of the SDSS spectroscopic systems and provide redshifts and spectral classifications for 196 Coma galaxies, of which 45 redshifts are new. For the 151 galaxies in common with the literature, we find excellent agreement between our redshift determinations and the published values. As part of our analysis, we have investigated four different spectral classification algorithms: spectral line strengths, a principal component decomposition, a wavelet analysis and the fitting of spectral synthesis models to the data. We find that a significant fraction (25%) of our observed Coma galaxies show signs of recent star-formation activity and that the velocity dispersion of these active galaxies (emission-line and post-starburst galaxies) is 30% larger than the absorption-line galaxies. We also find no active galaxies within the central (projected) 200 h-1 Kpc of the cluster. The spatial distribution of our Coma active galaxies is consistent with that found at higher redshift for the CNOC1 cluster survey. Beyond the core region, the fraction of bright active galaxies appears to rise slowly out to the virial radius and are randomly distributed within the cluster with no apparent correlation with the potential merger of the NGC 4839 group. [ABRIDGED]

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arXiv1999

The GRB/SN Connection: An Improved Spectral Flux Distribution for the Supernova Candidate Associated with GRB 970228

We better determine the spectral flux distribution of the supernova candidate associated with GRB 970228 by modeling the spectral flux distribution of the host galaxy of this burst, fitting this model to measurements of the host galaxy, and using the fitted model to better subtract out the contribution of the host galaxy to measurements of the afterglow of this burst.

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