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Judith Cohen

Publications and source records attributed to Judith Cohen.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2020

Focal ratio degradation for fiber positioner operation in astronomical spectrographs

Focal ratio degradation (FRD), the increase of light's focal ratio between the input into an optical fiber and the output, is important to characterize for astronomical spectrographs due to its effects on throughput and the point spread function. However, while FRD is a function of many fiber properties such as stresses, microbending, and surface imperfections, angular misalignments between the incoming light and the face of the fiber also affect the light profile and complicate this measurement. A compact experimental setup and a model separating FRD from angular misalignment was applied to a fiber subjected to varying stresses or angular misalignments to determine the magnitude of these effects. The FRD was then determined for a fiber in a fiber positioner that will be used in the Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS). The analysis we carried out for the PFS positioner suggests that effects of angular misalignment dominate and no significant FRD increase due to stress should occur.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2017

The Outer Halo of the Milky Way as Probed by RR Lyr Variables from the Palomar Transient Facility

RR Lyr stars are ideal massless tracers that can be used to study the total mass and dark matter content of the outer halo of the Milky Way. This is because they are easy to find in the light curve databases of large stellar surveys and their distances can be determined with only knowledge of the light curve. We present here a sample of 112 RR Lyr beyond 50 kpc in the outer halo of the Milky Way, excluding the Sgr streams, for which we have obtained moderate resolution spectra with Deimos on the Keck 2 Telescope. Four of these have distances exceeding 100 kpc. These were selected from a much larger set of 447 candidate RR Lyr which were datamined using machine learning techniques applied to the light curves of variable stars in the Palomar Transient Facility database. The observed radial velocities taken at the phase of the variable corresponding to the time of observation were converted to systemic radial velocities in the Galactic standard of rest. From our sample of 112 RR Lyr we determine the radial velocity dispersion in the outer halo of the Milky Way to be ~90 km/s at 50 kpc falling to about 65 km/s near 100 kpc once a small number of major outliers are removed. With reasonable estimates of the completeness of our sample of 447 candidates and assuming a spherical halo, we find that the stellar density in the outer halo declines as the -4 power of r.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2017

The Complete Calibration of the Color-Redshift Relation (C3R2) Survey: Survey Overview and Data Release 1

A key goal of the Stage IV dark energy experiments Euclid, LSST and WFIRST is to measure the growth of structure with cosmic time from weak lensing analysis over large regions of the sky. Weak lensing cosmology will be challenging: in addition to highly accurate galaxy shape measurements, statistically robust and accurate photometric redshift (photo-z) estimates for billions of faint galaxies will be needed in order to reconstruct the three-dimensional matter distribution. Here we present an overview of and initial results from the Complete Calibration of the Color-Redshift Relation (C3R2) survey, designed specifically to calibrate the empirical galaxy color-redshift relation to the Euclid depth. These redshifts will also be important for the calibrations of LSST and WFIRST. The C3R2 survey is obtaining multiplexed observations with Keck (DEIMOS, LRIS, and MOSFIRE), the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC; OSIRIS), and the Very Large Telescope (VLT; FORS2 and KMOS) of a targeted sample of galaxies most important for the redshift calibration. We focus spectroscopic efforts on under-sampled regions of galaxy color space identified in previous work in order to minimize the number of spectroscopic redshifts needed to map the color-redshift relation to the required accuracy. Here we present the C3R2 survey strategy and initial results, including the 1283 high confidence redshifts obtained in the 2016A semester and released as Data Release 1.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2013

Normal and Outlying Populations of the Milky Way Stellar Halo at [Fe/H] < -2

From detailed abundance analysis of >100 Hamburg/ESO candidate extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars we find 45 with [Fe/H] < -3.0 dex. We identify a heretofore unidentified group: Ca-deficient stars, with sub-solar [Ca/Fe] ratios and the lowest neutron-capture abundances; the Ca-deficient group comprises ~ 10% of the sample, excluding Carbon stars. Our radial velocity distribution shows that the carbon-enhanced stars with no s-process enhancements, CEMP-no, and which do not show C2 bands are not preferentially binary systems. Ignoring Carbon stars, approximately 15% of our sample are strong (> 5 sigma) outliers in one, or more, elements between Mg and Ni; this rises to ~19% if very strong (>10 sigma) outliers for Sr and Ba are included. Examples include: HE0305-0554 with the lowest [Ba/H] known; HE1012-1540 and HE2323-0256, two (non-velocity variable) C-rich stars with very strong [Mg,Al/Fe] enhancements; and HE1226-1149 an extremely r-process rich star.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2013

Extragalactic Science, Cosmology and Galactic Archaeology with the Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS)

The Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) is a massively-multiplexed fiber-fed optical and near-infrared 3-arm spectrograph (N_fiber=2400, 380<lambda<1260nm, 1.3 degree diameter FoV), offering unique opportunities in survey astronomy. Here we summarize the science case feasible for a survey of Subaru 300 nights. We describe plans to constrain the nature of dark energy via a survey of emission line galaxies spanning a comoving volume of 9.3 (Gpc/h)^3 in the redshift range 0.8<z<2.4. In each of 6 redshift bins, the cosmological distances will be measured to 3% precision via BAO, and redshift-space distortions will be used to constrain structure growth to 6% precision. In the GA program, radial velocities and chemical abundances of stars in the Milky Way and M31 will be used to infer the past assembly histories of spiral galaxies and the structure of their dark matter halos. Data will be secured for 10^6 stars in the Galactic thick-disk, halo and tidal streams as faint as V~22, including stars with V < 20 to complement the goals of the Gaia mission. A medium-resolution mode with R = 5000 to be implemented in the red arm will allow the measurement of multiple alpha-element abundances and more precise velocities for Galactic stars, elucidating the detailed chemo-dynamical structure and evolution of each of the main stellar components of the Milky Way Galaxy and of its dwarf spheroidal galaxies. For the extragalactic program, our simulations suggest the wide avelength range will be powerful in probing the galaxy population and its clustering over a wide redshift range. We propose to conduct a color-selected survey of 1<z<2 galaxies and AGN over 16 deg^2 to J~23.4, yielding a fair sample of galaxies with stellar masses above ~10^{10}Ms at z~2. A two-tiered survey of higher redshift LBGs and LAEs will quantify the properties of early systems close to the reionization epoch.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2011

The Peculiar Chemical Inventory of NGC 2419 -- An Extreme Outer Halo "Globular Cluster"

NGC 2419 is a massive outer halo Galactic globular cluster whose stars have previously been shown to have somewhat peculiar abundance patterns. We have observed seven luminous giants that are members of NGC 2419 with Keck/HIRES at reasonable SNR. One of these giants is very peculiar, with an extremely low [Mg/Fe] and high [K/Fe] but normal abundances of most other elements. The abundance pattern does not match the nucleosynthetic yields of any supernova model. The other six stars show abundance ratios typical of inner halo Galactic globular clusters, represented here by a sample of giants in the nearby globular cluster M30. Although our measurements show that NGC 2419 is unusual in some respects, its bulk properties do not provide compelling evidence for a difference between inner and outer halo globular clusters.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2006

The Not So Extraordinary Globular Cluster M31 037 - B327

A velocity dispersion has been measured for the luminous globular cluster M31 037 - B327, claimed to be the most massive star cluster in the Local Group and to be a young ``super star cluster'' that has survived to an old age. M31 037 - B327 has a mass comparable to that of M31 G1, but not significantly larger. Although near the upper end for the mass distribution of globular clusters, it is not an unprecedented extraordinary object.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2003

Pal 12 As A Part of the Sgr Stream; the Evidence From Abundance Ratios

We present a detailed abundance analysis for 21 elements based on high dispersion, high spectral resolution Keck spectra for four members of the outer halo ``young'' Galactic globular cluster Pal 12. All four stars show identical abundance distributions with no credible indication of any star-to-star scatter. However, the abundance ratios of the Pal 12 stars are very peculiar. There is no detected enhancement of the alpha-elements; the mean of [Si/Fe], [Ca/Fe] and [Ti/Fe] is -0.07\pm0.05 dex, O/Fe is also Solar, while Na is very deficient. The distribution among the heavy elements shows anomalies as well. These are inconsistent with those of almost all Galactic globular clusters or of field stars in the Galaxy. The peculiarities shown by the Pal 12 stars are, however, in good general agreement with the trends established by by Smecker-Hane & McWilliam and by Bonifacio et al for stars in the Sgr dSph galaxy evaluated at the [Fe/H] of Pal 12. This reinforces earlier suggestions that Pal 12 originally was a cluster in the Sgr dSph galaxy which during the process of accretion of this galaxy by our own was tidally stripped from the Sgr galaxy to become part of the extended Sgr stream.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2003

Star Formation and X-ray Emission in Distant Star Forming Galaxies

About 45% of the point sources detected in the 2 Ms Chandra exposure of the HDF-N can be matched with moderately bright galaxies with z<1.4 that have been studied by the Caltech Faint Galaxy Redshift Survey. Although the optical spectra of these galaxies appear normal, based on their X-ray properties ~20% of them appear to contain weak AGNs. More than 90% of the X-ray photons detected by Chandra from galaxies within the redshift regime 0.4 < z < 1.1 are powered by accretion onto massive black holes. For the sample of galaxies in common, we use their emitted luminosity in the 3727 A line of [OII] to estimate their star formation rate (SFR). The X-ray emitting galaxies are not those with the highest rest frame equivalent width in this emission line, but rather are among those with the highest SFR. With SFR corrected for inclination effects, the distant galaxies show a L(X) -- SFR relationship that is comparable to that of local galaxies. The HDF sample has a significantly higher median SFR and median SFR/galaxy stellar mass than does a sample of local star forming galaxies. We demonstrate that the observed SFR for most of the galaxies at z~1 in the HDF sample, if maintained as constant over their ages, suffices to produce the stellar mass observed in these galaxies. A rise in SFR at still earlier times is not required. We provide further evidence to support the conclusion that, once AGNs are eliminated, X-ray emission in these distantstar forming galaxies is related to the SFR through the same physical mechanisms that prevail locally.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2000

Caltech Faint Galaxy Redshift Survey X: A Redshift Survey in the Region of the Hubble Deep Field North

A redshift survey has been carried out in the region of the Hubble Deep Field North using the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrograph at the Keck Observatory. The resulting redshift catalog, which contains 671 entries, is a compendium of our own data together with published LRIS/Keck data. It is more than 92% complete for objects, irrespective of morphology, to $R = 24$ mag in the HDF itself and to $R = 23$ mag in the Flanking Fields within a diameter of 8 arcmin centered on the HDF, an unusually high completion for a magnitude limited survey performed with a large telescope. A median redshift $z = 1.0$ is reached at $R \sim 23.8$. Strong peaks in the redshift distribution, which arise when a group or poor cluster of galaxies intersect the area surveyed, can be identified to $z \sim 1.2$ in this dataset. More than 68% of the galaxies are members of these redshift peaks. In a few cases, closely spaced peaks in $z$ can be resolved into separate groups of galaxies that can be distinguished in both velocity and location on the sky. The radial separation of these peaks in the pencil-beam survey is consistent with a characteristic length scale for the their separation of $\approx$70 Mpc in our adopted cosmology ($h = 0.6, Ω_M = 0.3$, $Λ= 0$). Strong galaxy clustering is in evidence at all epochs back to $z \le 1.1$. (abstract abridged)

astro-ph↗