arXiv subjects

M. Vaccari

Publications and source records attributed to M. Vaccari.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

A Spitzer survey of Deep Drilling Fields to be targeted by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will observe several Deep Drilling Fields (DDFs) to a greater depth and with a more rapid cadence than the main survey. In this paper, we describe the ``DeepDrill'' survey, which used the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) to observe three of the four currently defined DDFs in two bands, centered on 3.6 $μ$m and 4.5 $μ$m. These observations expand the area which was covered by an earlier set of observations in these three fields by the Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (SERVS). The combined DeepDrill and SERVS data cover the footprints of the LSST DDFs in the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South field (ECDFS), the ELAIS-S1 field (ES1), and the XMM Large-Scale Structure Survey field (XMM-LSS). The observations reach an approximate $5σ$ point-source depth of 2 $μ$Jy (corresponding to an AB magnitude of 23.1; sufficient to detect a 10$^{11} M_{\odot}$ galaxy out to $z\approx 5$) in each of the two bands over a total area of $\approx 29\,$deg$^2$. The dual-band catalogues contain a total of 2.35 million sources. In this paper we describe the observations and data products from the survey, and an overview of the properties of galaxies in the survey. We compare the source counts to predictions from the SHARK semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. We also identify a population of sources with extremely red ([3.6]$-$[4.5] $>1.2$) colours which we show mostly consists of highly-obscured active galactic nuclei.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

The bright end of the infrared luminosity functions and the abundance of hyperluminous infrared galaxies

We provide the most accurate estimate yet of the bright end of the infrared (IR) luminosity functions (LFs) and the abundance of hyperluminous IR galaxies (HLIRGs) with IR luminosities > 10^13 L_solar, thanks to the combination of the high sensitivity, angular resolution, and large area of the LOFAR Deep Fields, which probes an unprecedented dynamic range of luminosity and volume. We cross-match Herschel sources and LOFAR sources in Bootes (8.63 deg^2), Lockman Hole (10.28 deg^2), and ELAIS-N1 (6.74 deg^2) with rms sensitivities of around 32, 22, and 20 mJy per beam, respectively. We divide the matched samples into unique and multiple categories. For the multiple matches, we de-blend the Herschel fluxes using the LOFAR positions and the 150-MHz flux densities as priors. We perform spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting, combined with multi-wavelength counterpart identifications and photometric redshift estimates, to derive IR luminosities. The depth of the LOFAR data allows us to identify highly complete (around 92% completeness) samples of bright Herschel sources with a simple selection based on the 250 micron flux density (45, 40, and 35 mJy in Bootes, Lockman Hole, and ELAIS-N1, respectively). Most of the bright Herschel sources fall into the unique category (i.e. a single LOFAR counterpart). For the multiple matches, there is excellent correspondence between the radio emission and the far-IR emission. We find a good agreement in the IR LFs with a previous study out to z around 6 which used de-blended Herschel data. Our sample gives the strongest and cleanest indication to date that the population of HLIRGs has surface densities of around 5 to 18 / deg^2 (with variations due to a combination of the applied flux limit and cosmic variance) and an uncertainty of a factor of 2. In comparison, the GALFORM semi-analytic model significantly under-predicts the abundance of HLIRGs.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

A random forest-based selection of optically variable AGN in the VST-COSMOS field

The survey of the COSMOS field by the VLT Survey Telescope is an appealing testing ground for variability studies of active galactic nuclei (AGN). With 54 r-band visits over 3.3 yr and a single-visit depth of 24.6 r-band mag, the dataset is also particularly interesting in the context of performance forecasting for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). This work is the fifth in a series dedicated to the development of an automated, robust, and efficient methodology to identify optically variable AGN, aimed at deploying it on future LSST data. We test the performance of a random forest (RF) algorithm in selecting optically variable AGN candidates, investigating how the use of different AGN labeled sets (LSs) and features sets affects this performance. We define a heterogeneous AGN LS and choose a set of variability features and optical and near-infrared colors based on what can be extracted from LSST data. We find that an AGN LS that includes only Type I sources allows for the selection of a highly pure (91%) sample of AGN candidates, obtaining a completeness with respect to spectroscopically confirmed AGN of 69% (vs. 59% in our previous work). The addition of colors to variability features mildly improves the performance of the RF classifier, while colors alone prove less effective than variability in selecting AGN as they return contaminated samples of candidates and fail to identify most host-dominated AGN. We observe that a bright (r < 21 mag) AGN LS is able to retrieve candidate samples not affected by the magnitude cut, which is of great importance as faint AGN LSs for LSST-related studies will be hard to find and likely imbalanced. We estimate a sky density of 6.2 million AGN for the LSST main survey down to our current magnitude limit.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

The Evolution of the Low-Frequency Radio AGN Population to $z\simeq 1.5$ in the ELAIS N1 Field

We study the cosmic evolution of radio sources out to $z \simeq 1.5$ using a GMRT 610 MHz survey covering $\sim$1.86 deg$^2$ of the ELAIS N1 field with a minimum/median rms noise 7.1/19.5\,$μ$Jy / beam and an angular resolution of 6\,arcsec. We classify sources as star forming galaxies (SFGs), radio-quiet (RQ) and radio-loud (RL) Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) using a combination of multi-wavelength diagnostics and find evidence in support of the radio emission in SFGs and RQ AGN arising from star formation, rather than AGN-related processes. At high luminosities, however, both SFGs and RQ AGN display a radio excess when comparing radio and infrared star formation rates. The vast majority of our sample lie along the $\rm{SFR - M_{\star}}$ "main sequence" at all redshifts when using infrared star formation rates. We derive the 610 MHz radio luminosity function for the total AGN population, constraining its evolution via continuous models of pure density and pure luminosity evolution with $\rm{Φ^{\star}\,\propto\,(\,1+\,z)^{(2.25\pm0.38)-(0.63\pm0.35)z}}$ and $\rm{L_{610\,MHz}\,\propto\,(\,1+\,z)^{(3.45\pm0.53)-(0.55\pm0.29)z}}$ respectively. For our RQ and RL AGN, we find a fairly mild evolution with redshift best fitted by pure luminosity evolution with $\rm{L_{610\,MHz}\,\propto\,(\,1+\,z)^{(2.81\pm0.43)-(0.57\pm0.30)z}}$ for RQ AGN and $\rm{L_{610\,MHz}\,\propto\,(\,1+\,z)^{(3.58\pm0.54)-(0.56\pm0.29)z}}$ for RL AGN. The 610 MHz radio AGN population thus comprises two differently evolving populations whose radio emission is mostly SF-driven or AGN-driven respectively.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

Effect of the environment on star formation activity and stellar mass for star-forming galaxies in the COSMOS field

We investigate the relationship between environment and the galaxy main sequence (the relationship between stellar mass and star formation rate) and also the relationship between environment and radio luminosity (P$_{\rm 1.4GHz}$) to shed new light on the effects of the environments on galaxies. We use the VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz catalogue that consists of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) and quiescent galaxies (AGN) in three different environments (field, filament, cluster) and for three different galaxy types (satellite, central, isolated). We perform for the first time a comparative analysis of the distribution of SFGs with respect to the main sequence (MS) consensus region from the literature, taking into account galaxy environment and using radio observations at 0.1 $\leq$ z $\leq$ 1.2. Our results corroborate that SFR is declining with cosmic time which is consistent with the literature. We find that the slope of the MS for different $z$ and M$_{*}$ bins is shallower than the MS consensus with a gradual evolution towards higher redshift bins, irrespective of environments. We see no SFR trends on both environments and galaxy type given the large errors. In addition, we note that the environment does not seem to be the cause of the flattening of MS at high stellar masses for our sample.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

A Wide-area GMRT 610~MHz survey of ELAIS N1 field

In this paper we present a wide-area 610 MHz survey of the ELAIS\,N1 field with the GMRT, covering an area of 12.8 deg$^2$ at a resolution of 6 arcsec and with an rms noise of $\sim 40$ $μ$Jy beam$^{-1}$. This is equivalent to $\sim 20$ $μ$Jy beam$^{-1}$ rms noise at 1.4 GHz for a spectral index of $-0.75$. The primary goal of the survey was to study the polarised sky at sub-mJy flux densities at $<$ GHz frequencies. In addition, a range of other science goals, such as investigations in to the nature of the low-frequency $μ$Jy source populations and alignments of radio jets. A total of 6,400 sources were found in this region, the vast majority of them compact. The sample jointly detected by GMRT at 610 MHz and by VLA FIRST at 1.4\,GHz has a median spectral index of $-0.85 \pm 0.05$ and a median 610 MHz flux density of 4.5 mJy. This region has a wealth of ancillary data which is useful to characterize the detected sources. The multi-wavelength cross matching resulted optical/IR counterparts to $\sim 90$ per~cent of the radio sources, with a significant fraction having at least photometric redshift. Due to the improved sensitivity of this survey over preceding ones, we have discovered six giant radio sources (GRS), with three of them at $z \sim 1$ or higher. This implies that the population of GRS may be more abundant and common than known to date and if true this has implications for the luminosity function and the evolution of radio sources. We have also identified several candidate extended relic sources.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

SCUBA-2 overdensities associated with candidate protoclusters selected from Planck data

We measure the 850-$μ$m source densities of 46 candidate protoclusters selected from the Planck High-z catalogue (PHz) and the Planck Catalogue of Compact Sources (PCCS) that were followed up with Herschel-SPIRE and SCUBA-2. This paper aims to search for overdensities of 850-$μ$m sources in order to select the fields that are most likely to be genuine protoclusters. Of the 46 candidate protoclusters, 25 have significant overdensities ($>$5 times the field counts), 11 have intermediate overdensities (3--5 times the field counts) and 10 have no overdensity ($<$3 times the field counts) of 850-$μ$m sources. We find that the enhanced number densities are unlikely to be the result of sample variance. Compared with the number counts of another sample selected from Planck's compact source catalogues, this [PHz+PCCS]-selected sample has a higher fraction of candidate protoclusters with significant overdensities, though both samples show overdensities of 850-$μ$m sources above intermediate level. Based on the estimated star-formation rate densities (SFRDs), we suggest that both samples can efficiently select protoclusters with starbursting galaxies near the redshift at which the global field SFRD peaks ($2 < z < 3$). Based on the confirmation of overdensities found here, future follow-up observations on other PHz targets may greatly increase the number of genuine DSFG-rich clusters/protoclusters.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

Extending the variability selection of active galactic nuclei in the W-CDF-S and SERVS/SWIRE region

Variability has proven to be a powerful tool to detect active galactic nuclei (AGN) in multi-epoch surveys. The new-generation facilities expected to become operational in the next few years will mark a new era in time-domain astronomy and their wide-field multi-epoch campaigns will favor extensive variability studies. We present our analysis of AGN variability in the second half of the VST survey of the Wide Chandra Deep Field South (W-CDF-S), performed in the r band and covering a 2 sq. deg. area. The analysis complements a previous work, in which the first half of the area was investigated. We provide a reliable catalog of variable AGN candidates, which will be critical targets in future variability studies. We selected a sample of optically variable sources and made use of infrared data from the Spitzer mission to validate their nature by means of color-based diagnostics. We obtain a sample of 782 AGN candidates among which 12 are classified as supernovae, 54 as stars, and 232 as AGN. We estimate a contamination $\lesssim 20\%$ and a completeness $\sim 38\%$ with respect to mid-infrared selected samples.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS). Science case and survey design

The Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) is a synoptic, all-sky radio sky survey with a unique combination of high angular resolution ($\approx$2.5"), sensitivity (a 1$σ$ goal of 70 $μ$Jy/beam in the coadded data), full linear Stokes polarimetry, time domain coverage, and wide bandwidth (2-4 GHz). The first observations began in September 2017, and observing for the survey will finish in 2024. VLASS will use approximately 5500 hours of time on the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to cover the whole sky visible to the VLA (Declination $>-40^{\circ}$), a total of 33,885 deg$^2$. The data will be taken in three epochs to allow the discovery of variable and transient radio sources. The survey is designed to engage radio astronomy experts, multi-wavelength astronomers, and citizen scientists alike. By utilizing an "on the fly" interferometry mode, the observing overheads are much reduced compared to a conventional pointed survey. In this paper, we present the science case and observational strategy for the survey, and also results from early survey observations.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Cosmic evolution of star-forming galaxies to $z \simeq 1.8$ in the faint low-frequency radio source population

We study the properties of star-forming galaxies selected at 610 MHz with the GMRT in a survey covering $\sim$1.86 deg$^2$ down to a noise of $\sim$7.1\,$μ$Jy / beam. These were identified by combining multiple classification diagnostics: optical, X-ray, infrared and radio data. Of the 1685 SFGs from the GMRT sample, 496 have spectroscopic redshifts whereas 1189 have photometric redshifts. We find that the IRRC of star-forming galaxies, quantified by the infrared-to-1.4 GHz radio luminosity ratio $\rm{q_{IR}}$, decreases with increasing redshift: $\rm{q_{IR}\,=\,2.86\pm0.04(1\,+\,z)^{-0.20\pm0.02}}$ out to $z \sim 1.8$. We use the $\rm{V/V_{max}}$ statistic to quantify the evolution of the co-moving space density of the SFG sample. Averaged over luminosity our results indicate $\rm{\langle V/V_{max} \rangle}$ to be $\rm{0.51\,\pm\, 0.06}$, which is consistent with no evolution in overall space density. However we find $\rm V/V_{max}$ to be a function of radio luminosity, indicating strong luminosity evolution with redshift. We explore the evolution of the SFGs radio luminosity function by separating the source into five redshift bins and comparing to theoretical model predictions. We find a strong redshift trend that can be fitted with a pure luminosity evolution of the form $\rm{L_{610\,MHz}\,\propto\,(\,1+\,z)^{(2.95\pm0.19)-(0.50\pm0.15)z}}$. We calculate the cosmic SFR density since $\rm{z \sim 1.5}$ by integrating the parametric fits of the evolved 610\,MHz luminosity function. Our sample reproduces the expected steep decline in the star formation rate density since $\rm{z\,\sim\,1}$.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Automated Mining of the ALMA Archive in the COSMOS Field (A3COSMOS): I. Robust ALMA Continuum Photometry Catalogs and Stellar Mass and Star Formation Properties for ~700 Galaxies at z=0.5-6

The rich information on (sub)millimeter dust continuum emission from distant galaxies in the public Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) archive is contained in thousands of inhomogeneous observations from individual PI-led programs. To increase the usability of these data for studies deepening our understanding of galaxy evolution, we have developed automated mining pipelines for the ALMA archive in the COSMOS field (A3COSMOS) that efficiently exploit the available information for large numbers of galaxies across cosmic time and keep the data products in sync with the increasing public ALMA archive: (a) a dedicated ALMA continuum imaging pipeline, (b) two complementary photometry pipelines for both blind source extraction and prior source fitting, (c) a counterpart association pipeline utilizing the multiwavelength data available (including quality assessment based on machine-learning techniques), (d) an assessment of potential (sub)millimeter line contribution to the measured ALMA continuum, and (e) extensive simulations to provide statistical corrections to biases and uncertainties in the ALMA continuum measurements. Application of these tools yields photometry catalogs with ~1000 (sub)millimeter detections (spurious fraction ~8%-12%) from over 1500 individual ALMA continuum images. Combined with ancillary photometric and redshift catalogs and the above quality assessments, we provide robust information on redshift, stellar mass, and star formation rate for ~700 galaxies at redshifts 0.5-6 in the COSMOS field (with undetermined selection function). The ALMA photometric measurements and galaxy properties are released publicly within our blind extraction, prior fitting, and galaxy property catalogs, plus the images. These products will be updated on a regular basis in the future.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Deep GMRT 610 MHz Observations of the ELAIS N1 Field : Catalogue and Source Counts

This is the first of a series of papers based on sensitive 610 MHz observations of the ELAIS N1 field using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. We describe the observations, processing and source catalogue extraction from a deep image with area of 1.86\,deg$^{2}$ and minimum noise of $\sim$7.1\,$μ$Jy/beam. We compile a catalogue of 4290 sources with flux densities in the range 28.9\,$μ$Jy - 0.503\,Jy, and derive the Euclidean-normalized differential source counts for sources with flux densities brighter than $\rm{35.5\,μ\,Jy}$. Our counts show a flattening at 610 MHz flux densities below 1 mJy. Below the break the counts are higher than previous observations at this frequency, but generally consistent with recent models of the low-frequency source population. The radio catalogue is cross-matched against multi-wavelength data leading to identifications for 92\% and reliable redshifts for 72\% of our sample, with 19\% of the redshifts based on spectroscopy. For the sources with redshifts we use radio and X-ray luminosity, optical spectroscopy and mid-infrared colours to search for evidence of the presence of an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN). We compare our identifications to predictions of the flux density distributions of star forming galaxies (SFGs) and AGN, and find a good agreement assuming the majority of the sources without redshifts are SFGs. We derive spectral index distributions for a sub-sample. The majority of the sources are steep spectra, with a median spectral index that steepens with frequency; $\mathrm{α^{325}_{610}\,=\,-0.80\,\pm\,0.29}$, $\mathrm{α^{610}_{1400}\,=\,-0.83\,\pm\,0.31}$ and $\mathrm{α^{610}_{5000}\,=\,-1.12\,\pm\,0.15}$.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

SCUBA-2 observations of candidate starbursting protoclusters selected by Planck and Herschel-SPIRE

We present SCUBA-2 850-$μ$m observations of 13 candidate starbursting protoclusters selected using Planck and Herschel data. The cumulative number counts of the 850-$μ$m sources in 9/13 of these candidate protoclusters show significant overdensities compared to the field, with the probability $<$10$^{-2}$ assuming the sources are randomly distributed in the sky. Using the 250-, 350-, 500- and 850-$μ$m flux densities, we estimate the photometric redshifts of individual SCUBA-2 sources by fitting spectral energy distribution (SED) templates with an MCMC method. The photometric redshift distribution, peaking at $2 2$ protoclusters and the peak of the cosmic star-formation rate density (SFRD). We find that the 850-$μ$m sources in our candidate protoclusters have infrared luminosities of $L_{\mathrm{IR}}\gtrsim$10$^{12}L_{\odot}$ and star-formation rates of SFR=(500-1,500)$M_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$. By comparing with results in the literature considering only Herschel photometry, we conclude that our 13 candidate protoclusters can be categorised into four groups: six of them being high-redshift starbursting protoclusters, one being a lower-redshift cluster/protocluster, three being protoclusters that contain lensed DSFG(s) or are rich in 850-$μ$m sources, and three regions without significant Herschel or SCUBA-2 source overdensities. The total SFRs of the candidate protoclusters are found to be comparable or higher than those of known protoclusters, suggesting our sample contains some of the most extreme protocluster population. We infer that cross-matching Planck and Herschel data is a robust method for selecting candidate protoclusters with overdensities of 850-$μ$m sources.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

MAGPHYS+photo-z: Constraining the Physical Properties of Galaxies with Unknown Redshifts

We present an enhanced version of the multiwavelength spectral modeling code MAGPHYS that allows the estimation of galaxy photometric redshift and physical properties (e.g., stellar mass, star formation rate, dust attenuation) simultaneously, together with robust characterization of their uncertainties. The self-consistent modeling over ultraviolet to radio wavelengths in MAGPHYS+photo-z is unique compared to standard photometric redshift codes. The broader wavelength consideration is particularly useful for breaking certain degeneracies in color vs. redshift for dusty galaxies with limited observer-frame ultraviolet and optical data (or upper limits). We demonstrate the success of the code in estimating redshifts and physical properties for over 4,000 infrared-detected galaxies at 0.4<z<6.0 in the COSMOS field with robust spectroscopic redshifts. We achieve high photo-z precision ($σ_{Δz/(1+z_{spec})}\lesssim0.04$), high accuracy (i.e., minimal offset biases; median$(Δz/(1+z_{spec}))\lesssim0.02$), and low catastrophic failure rates ($η\simeq4\%$) over all redshifts. Interestingly, we find that a weak 2175A absorption feature in the attenuation curve models is required to remove a subtle systematic photo-z offset ($z_{phot}-z_{spec}\simeq-0.03$) that occurs when this feature is not included. As expected, the accuracy of derived physical properties in MAGPHYS+photo-z decreases strongly as redshift uncertainty increases. The all-in-one treatment of uncertainties afforded with this code is beneficial for accurately interpreting physical properties of galaxies in large photometric datasets. Finally, we emphasize that MAGPHYS+photo-z is not intended to replace existing photo-z codes, but rather offer flexibility to robustly interpret physical properties when spectroscopic redshifts are unavailable. The MAGPHYS+photo-z code is publicly available online.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Optically variable active galactic nuclei in the 3 yr VST survey of the COSMOS field

The analysis of the variability of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at different wavelengths and the study of possible correlations among different spectral windows are nowadays a major field of inquiry. Optical variability has been largely used to identify AGNs in multivisit surveys. The strength of a selection based on optical variability lies in the chance to analyze data from surveys of large sky areas by ground-based telescopes. However the effectiveness of optical variability selection, with respect to other multiwavelength techniques, has been poorly studied down to the depth expected from next generation surveys. Here we present the results of our r-band analysis of a sample of 299 optically variable AGN candidates in the VST survey of the COSMOS field, counting 54 visits spread over three observing seasons spanning > 3 yr. This dataset is > 3 times larger in size than the one presented in our previous analysis (De Cicco et al. 2015), and the observing baseline is ~8 times longer. We push towards deeper magnitudes (r(AB) ~23.5 mag) compared to past studies; we make wide use of ancillary multiwavelength catalogs in order to confirm the nature of our AGN candidates, and constrain the accuracy of the method based on spectroscopic and photometric diagnostics. We also perform tests aimed at assessing the relevance of dense sampling in view of future wide-field surveys. We demonstrate that the method allows the selection of high-purity (> 86%) samples. We take advantage of the longer observing baseline to achieve great improvement in the completeness of our sample with respect to X-ray and spectroscopically confirmed samples of AGNs (59%, vs. ~15% in our previous work), as well as in the completeness of unobscured and obscured AGNs. The effectiveness of the method confirms the importance to develop future, more refined techniques for the automated analysis of larger datasets.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

A Comparison of Photometric Redshift Techniques for Large Radio Surveys

Future radio surveys will generate catalogues of tens of millions of radio sources, for which redshift estimates will be essential to achieve many of the science goals. However, spectroscopic data will be available for only a small fraction of these sources, and in most cases even the optical and infrared photometry will be of limited quality. Furthermore, radio sources tend to be at higher redshift than most optical sources and so a significant fraction of radio sources hosts differ from those for which most photometric redshift templates are designed. We therefore need to develop new techniques for estimating the redshifts of radio sources. As a starting point in this process, we evaluate a number of machine-learning techniques for estimating redshift, together with a conventional template-fitting technique. We pay special attention to how the performance is affected by the incompleteness of the training sample and by sparseness of the parameter space or by limited availability of ancillary multi-wavelength data. As expected, we find that the quality of the photometric-redshift degrades as the quality of the photometry decreases, but that even with the limited quality of photometry available for all sky-surveys, useful redshift information is available for the majority of sources, particularly at low redshift. We find that a template-fitting technique performs best with high-quality and almost complete multi-band photometry, especially if radio sources that are also X-ray emitting are treated separately. When we reduced the quality of photometry to match that available for the EMU all-sky radio survey, the quality of the template-fitting degraded and became comparable to some of the machine learning methods. Machine learning techniques currently perform better at low redshift than at high redshift, because of incompleteness of the currently available training data at high redshifts.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Large Synoptic Survey Telescope White Paper; The Case for Matching U-band on Deep Drilling Fields

U-band observations with the LSST have yet to be fully optimized in cadence. The straw man survey design is a simple coverage of the medium-deep-fast survey. Here we argue that deep coverage of the four deep drilling fields (XMM-LSS, ECDFS, ELAIS-S1 and COSMOS) has a much higher scientific return, given that these are also the target of the Southern Hemisphere's Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder, the MeerKAT specifically, deep radio observations.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Spectroscopic confirmation and modelling of two lensed quadruple quasars in the Dark Energy Survey public footprint

Quadruply lensed quasars are extremely rare objects, but incredibly powerful cosmological tools. Only few dozen are known in the whole sky. Here we present the spectroscopic confirmation of two new quadruplets WG0214-2105 and WG2100-4452 discovered by Agnello & Spiniello (2018) within the Dark Energy Survey (DES) public footprints. We have conducted spectroscopic follow-up of these systems with the Southern African Large Telescope as part of a program that aims at confirming the largest possible number of optically selected strong gravitational lensing systems in the Equatorial and Southern Hemisphere. For both systems, we present the spectra for the sources and deflectors that allowed us to estimate the source redshifts and unambiguously confirm their lensing nature. For the brighter deflector (WG2100-4452), we measure the stellar velocity dispersion from the spectrum. We also obtain photometry for both lenses, directly from DES multi-band images, isolating the lens galaxies from the quasar images. One of the quadruplets, WG0214-2105, was also observed by Pan-STARRS, allowing us to estimate the apparent brightness of each quasar image at two different epochs, and thus to find evidence for flux variability. This result could suggest a microlensing event for the faintest components, although intrinsic variability cannot be excluded with only two epochs. Finally, we present simple lens models for both quadruplets, obtaining Einstein radii, SIE velocity dispersions, ellipticities, and position angles of the lens systems, as well as time delay predictions assuming a concordance cosmological model.

astro-ph.GA↗