arXiv subjects

Scott Dahm

Publications and source records attributed to Scott Dahm.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

GOATS: The next generation software infrastructure for time-domain astronomy at Gemini/NOIRLab. Application to alerts from Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time

Time-domain and multimessenger astronomy (MMA/TDA) targets demand rapid-response follow-up observations. In many cases, it is the only way to make discoveries and advance our understanding of the astrophysical phenomena, for example, kilonovae accompanying gravitational waves from compact object mergers, shock breakout in supernovae, prompt emission from GRBs, etc. Presently the MMA/TDA follow-up workflow requires wrangling disparate software packages and user interfaces. We present an end-to-end software tool for the community, the Gemini Observation and Analysis of Targets System (GOATS), which unifies and simplifies the workflow, particularly for Gemini follow-up observations. GOATS achieves this by integrating services from Gemini Observatory and its parent organization, NSF NOIRLab. From a single platform, GOATS enables enhanced target selection via NOIRLab's ANTARES alert broker, triggering of Gemini (and other facilities within the Astronomical Event Observatory Network), automated data retrieval from the Gemini Observatory Archive, and interactive data reduction and analysis through Gemini's DRAGONS software and NOIRLab's Astro Data Lab science platform. GOATS was successfully deployed in an end-to-end demonstration of real-time follow-up of Rubin/LSST alerts with NOIRLab facilities. As part of this demonstration, we selected targets from the Rubin alert stream and triggered follow-up observations within minutes of the Rubin detections. We obtained spectra for several targets and classified them as supernova of various types (Ia, IIP, Ib/c) with redshifts ranging from 0.05 to 0.35. By eliminating the need to manually connect tools and automating repetitive tasks, GOATS lowers the entry barrier and allows users to focus on the scientific interpretation of the observation results.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

The Second and Third Data Releases from the UKIRT Hemisphere Survey

This paper describes the second and third data releases (DR2 and DR3, respectively) from the ongoing United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) Hemisphere Survey (UHS). DR2 is primarily comprised of the $K$-band portion of the UHS survey, and was released to the public on June 1, 2023. DR3 mainly includes the $H$-band portion of the survey, with a public release scheduled for September 2025. The $H$- and $K$-band data releases complement the previous $J$-band data release (DR1) from 2018. The survey covers approximately 12,700 square degrees between declinations of 0 degrees and $+$60 degrees and achieves median 5$\sigma$ point source sensitivities of 19.0 mag and 18.0 mag (Vega) for $H$ and $K$, respectively. The data releases include images and source catalogs which include $\sim$581 million $H$-band detections and $\sim$461 million $K$-band detections. DR2 and DR3 also include merged catalogs, created by combining $J$- and $K$-band detections (DR2) and $J$-, $H$-, and $K$-band detections (DR3). The DR2 merged catalog has a total of $\sim$513 million sources, while the DR3 merged catalog contains $\sim$560 million sources.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

Keck/NIRC2 Imaging of the Warped, Asymmetric Debris Disk around HD 32297

We present Keck/NIRC2 $K_{s}$ band high-contrast coronagraphic imaging of the luminous debris disk around the nearby, young A star HD 32297 resolved at a projected separation of $r$ = 0.3-2.5\arcsec{} ($\approx$ 35-280 AU). The disk is highly warped to the north and exhibits a complex, "wavy" surface brightness profile interior to $r$ $\approx$ 110 AU, where the peaks/plateaus in the profiles are shifted between the NE and SW disk lobes. The SW side of the disk is 50--100% brighter at $r$ = 35-80 AU, and the location of its peak brightness roughly coincides with the disk's mm emission peak. Spectral energy distribution modeling suggests that HD 32297 has at least two dust populations that may originate from two separate belts likely at different locations, possibly at distances coinciding with the surface brightness peaks. A disk model for a single dust belt including a phase function with two components and a 5-10 AU pericenter offset explains the disk's warped structure and reproduces some of the surface brightness profile's shape (e.g. the overall "wavy" profile, the SB peak/plateau shifts) but more poorly reproduces the disk's brightness asymmetry. Although there may be alternate explanations, agreement between the SW disk brightness peak and disk's peak mm emission is consistent with an overdensity of very small, sub-blowout-sized dust and large, 0.1-1 mm-sized grains at $\approx$ 45 AU tracing the same parent population of planetesimals. New near-IR and submm observations may be able to clarify whether even more complex grain scattering properties or dynamical sculpting by an unseen planet are required to explain HD 32297's disk structure.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2003

An HST/WFPC2 Survey for Brown Dwarf Binaries in the alpha Per and the Pleiades Open Clusters

We present the results of a high-resolution imaging survey for brown dwarf (BD) binaries in two open clusters. The observations were carried out with WFPC2 onboard HST. Our sample consists of 8 BD candidates in the alpha Per cluster and 25 BD candidates in the Pleiades. We have resolved 4 binaries in the Pleiades with separations in the range 0".094--0".058, corresponding to projected separations between 11.7~AU and 7.2~AU. No binaries were found among the alpha Per targets. Three of the binaries have proper motions consistent with cluster membership in the Pleiades cluster, and for one of them we report the detection of Halpha in emission and LiI absorption obtained from Keck~II/ESI spectroscopy. One of the binaries does not have a proper motion consistent with Pleiades membership. We estimate that BD binaries wider than 12~AU are less frequent than 9% in the alphaPer and Pleiades clusters. This is consistent with an extension to substellar masses of a trend observed among stellar binaries: the maximum semimajor axis of binary systems decreases with decreasing primary mass. We find a binary frequency of 2 binaries over 13 BDs with confirmed proper motion membership in the Pleiades, corresponding to a binary fraction of 15%(1 sigma error bar +15%/-5%). These binaries are limited to the separation range 7-12~AU and their mass ratios are larger than 0.7. The relatively high binary frequency (>10%), the bias to separations smaller than about 15 AU and the trend to high mass ratios (q>0.7) are fundamental properties of BDs. Current theories of BD formation do not appear to provide a good description of all these properties.

astro-ph↗