Closed inductively coupled plasma cell

DOEpatents

Manning, T.J.; Palmer, B.A.; Hof, D.E.

1990-11-06

A closed inductively coupled plasma cell generates a relatively high power, low noise plasma for use in spectroscopic studies is disclosed. A variety of gases can be selected to form the plasma to minimize spectroscopic interference and to provide a electron density and temperature range for the sample to be analyzed. Grounded conductors are placed at the tube ends and axially displaced from the inductive coil, whereby the resulting electromagnetic field acts to elongate the plasma in the tube. Sample materials can be injected in the plasma to be excited for spectroscopy. 1 fig.

Constraints on early-type galaxy structure from spectroscopically selected gravitational lenses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolton, Adam Stallard

2005-11-01

This thesis describes all aspects of a unique spectroscopic survey for strong galaxy-galaxy gravitational lenses: motivation, candidate selection, ground- based spectroscopic follow-up, Hubble Space Telescope imaging, data analysis, and results on the radial density profile of the lens galaxies. The lens candidates are selected from within the spectroscopic database of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) based on the appearance of two significantly different redshifts along the same line of sight, and lenses are confirmed within the candidate sample by follow-up imaging and spectroscopy. The sample of [approximate]20 early-type lenses presented in this thesis represents the largest single strong-lens galaxy sample discovered and published to date. These lenses probe the mass of the lens galaxies on scales roughly equal to one-half effective radius. We find a dynamical normalization between isothermal lens-model velocity dispersions and aperture-corrected SDSS stellar velocity dispersions of f = s lens /s stars = 0.95 +/- 0.03. By combining lens-model Einstein radii and de Vaucouleurs effective radii with stellar velocity dispersions through the Jeans equation, we find that the logarithmic slope [Special characters omitted.] of the density profile in our lens galaxies (r 0 ( [Special characters omitted.] ) is on average slightly steeper than isothermal ([Special characters omitted.] = 2) with a modest intrinsic scatter. Parameterizing the intrinsic distribution in [Special characters omitted.] as Gaussian, we find a maximum-likelihood mean of [Special characters omitted. ] and standard deviation of s[Special characters omitted.] = [Special characters omitted.] (68% confidence, for isotropic velocity-dispersion models). Our results rule out a single universal logarithmic density slope at >99.995% confidence. The success of this spectroscopic lens survey suggests that similar projects should be considered as an explicit science goal of future redshift surveys. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)

Anomaly detection for machine learning redshifts applied to SDSS galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoyle, Ben; Rau, Markus Michael; Paech, Kerstin; Bonnett, Christopher; Seitz, Stella; Weller, Jochen

2015-10-01

We present an analysis of anomaly detection for machine learning redshift estimation. Anomaly detection allows the removal of poor training examples, which can adversely influence redshift estimates. Anomalous training examples may be photometric galaxies with incorrect spectroscopic redshifts, or galaxies with one or more poorly measured photometric quantity. We select 2.5 million `clean' SDSS DR12 galaxies with reliable spectroscopic redshifts, and 6730 `anomalous' galaxies with spectroscopic redshift measurements which are flagged as unreliable. We contaminate the clean base galaxy sample with galaxies with unreliable redshifts and attempt to recover the contaminating galaxies using the Elliptical Envelope technique. We then train four machine learning architectures for redshift analysis on both the contaminated sample and on the preprocessed `anomaly-removed' sample and measure redshift statistics on a clean validation sample generated without any preprocessing. We find an improvement on all measured statistics of up to 80 per cent when training on the anomaly removed sample as compared with training on the contaminated sample for each of the machine learning routines explored. We further describe a method to estimate the contamination fraction of a base data sample.

The NuSTAR Serendipitous Survey: The 40-month Catalog and the Properties of the Distant High-energy X-Ray Source Population

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lansbury, G. B.; Stern, D.; Aird, J.; Alexander, D. M.; Fuentes, C.; Harrison, F. A.; Treister, E.; Bauer, F. E.; Tomsick, J. A.; Baloković, M.; Del Moro, A.; Gandhi, P.; Ajello, M.; Annuar, A.; Ballantyne, D. R.; Boggs, S. E.; Brandt, W. N.; Brightman, M.; Chen, C.-T. J.; Christensen, F. E.; Civano, F.; Comastri, A.; Craig, W. W.; Forster, K.; Grefenstette, B. W.; Hailey, C. J.; Hickox, R. C.; Jiang, B.; Jun, H. D.; Koss, M.; Marchesi, S.; Melo, A. D.; Mullaney, J. R.; Noirot, G.; Schulze, S.; Walton, D. J.; Zappacosta, L.; Zhang, W. W.

2017-02-01

We present the first full catalog and science results for the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) serendipitous survey. The catalog incorporates data taken during the first 40 months of NuSTAR operation, which provide ≈20 Ms of effective exposure time over 331 fields, with an areal coverage of 13 deg2, and 497 sources detected in total over the 3-24 keV energy range. There are 276 sources with spectroscopic redshifts and classifications, largely resulting from our extensive campaign of ground-based spectroscopic follow-up. We characterize the overall sample in terms of the X-ray, optical, and infrared source properties. The sample is primarily composed of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), detected over a large range in redshift from z = 0.002 to 3.4 (median of < z> =0.56), but also includes 16 spectroscopically confirmed Galactic sources. There is a large range in X-ray flux, from {log}({f}3-24{keV}/{erg} {{{s}}}-1 {{cm}}-2)≈ -14 to -11, and in rest-frame 10-40 keV luminosity, from {log}({L}10-40{keV}/{erg} {{{s}}}-1)≈ 39 to 46, with a median of 44.1. Approximately 79% of the NuSTAR sources have lower-energy (<10 keV) X-ray counterparts from XMM-Newton, Chandra, and Swift XRT. The mid-infrared (MIR) analysis, using WISE all-sky survey data, shows that MIR AGN color selections miss a large fraction of the NuSTAR-selected AGN population, from ≈15% at the highest luminosities ({L}{{X}}> {10}44 erg s-1) to ≈80% at the lowest luminosities ({L}{{X}}< {10}43 erg s-1). Our optical spectroscopic analysis finds that the observed fraction of optically obscured AGNs (I.e., the type 2 fraction) is {F}{Type2}={53}-15+14 % , for a well-defined subset of the 8-24 keV selected sample. This is higher, albeit at a low significance level, than the type 2 fraction measured for redshift- and luminosity-matched AGNs selected by <10 keV X-ray missions.

SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey data release 12: Galaxy target selection and large-scale structure catalogues

DOE PAGES

Reid, Beth; Ho, Shirley; Padmanabhan, Nikhil; ...

2015-11-17

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) III project, has provided the largest survey of galaxy redshifts available to date, in terms of both the number of galaxy redshifts measured by a single survey, and the effective cosmological volume covered. Key to analysing the clustering of these data to provide cosmological measurements is understanding the detailed properties of this sample. Potential issues include variations in the target catalogue caused by changes either in the targeting algorithm or properties of the data used, the pattern of spectroscopic observations, the spatial distribution of targets formore » which redshifts were not obtained, and variations in the target sky density due to observational systematics. We document here the target selection algorithms used to create the galaxy samples that comprise BOSS. We also present the algorithms used to create large-scale structure catalogues for the final Data Release (DR12) samples and the associated random catalogues that quantify the survey mask. The algorithms are an evolution of those used by the BOSS team to construct catalogues from earlier data, and have been designed to accurately quantify the galaxy sample. Furthermore, the code used, designated mksample, is released with this paper.« less

The selection function of the LAMOST Spectroscopic Survey of the Galactic Anti-centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, B.-Q.; Liu, X.-W.; Yuan, H.-B.; Xiang, M.-S.; Huang, Y.; Wang, C.; Zhang, H.-W.; Tian, Z.-J.

2018-05-01

We present a detailed analysis of the selection function of the LAMOST Spectroscopic Survey of the Galactic Anti-centre (LSS-GAC). LSS-GAC was designed to obtain low-resolution optical spectra for a sample of more than 3 million stars in the Galactic anti-centre. The second release of value-added catalogues of the LSS-GAC (LSS-GAC DR2) contains stellar parameters, including radial velocity, atmospheric parameters, elemental abundances, and absolute magnitudes deduced from 1.8 million spectra of 1.4 million unique stars targeted by the LSS-GAC between 2011 and 2014. For many studies using this data base, such as those investigating the chemodynamical structure of the Milky Way, a detailed understanding of the selection function of the survey is indispensable. In this paper, we describe how the selection function of the LSS-GAC can be evaluated to sufficient detail and provide selection function corrections for all spectroscopic measurements with reliable parameters released in LSS-GAC DR2. The results, to be released as new entries in the LSS-GAC value-added catalogues, can be used to correct the selection effects of the catalogue for scientific studies of various purposes.

THE SDSS-IV EXTENDED BARYON OSCILLATION SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY: QUASAR TARGET SELECTION

DOE PAGES

Myers, Adam D.; Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Prakash, Abhishek; ...

2015-12-01

As part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) IV the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) will improve measurements of the cosmological distance scale by applying the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) method to quasar samples. eBOSS will adopt two approaches to target quasars over 7500 deg 2 . First, a "CORE" quasar sample will combine the optical selection in ugriz using a likelihood-based routine called XDQSOz, with a mid-IR-optical color cut. eBOSS CORE selection (to g < 22 or r < 22) should return ~70 deg -2 quasars at redshifts 0.9 < z < 2.2 and ~7 deg -2more » z > 2.1 quasars. Second, a selection based on variability in multi-epoch imaging from the Palomar Transient Factory should recover an additional ~3-4 deg -2 z > 2.1 quasars to g < 22.5. A linear model of how imaging systematics affect target density recovers the angular distribution of eBOSS CORE quasars over 96.7% (76.7%) of the SDSS north (south) Galactic Cap area. The eBOSS CORE quasar sample should thus be sufficiently dense and homogeneous over 0.9 < z < 2.2 to yield the first few-percent-level BAO constraint near eBOSS quasars at z > 2.1 will be used to improve BAO measurements in the Lyα Forest. Beyond its key cosmological goals, eBOSS should be the next-generation quasar survey, comprising > 500,000 new quasars and > 500,000 uniformly selected spectroscopically confirmed 0.9 < z < 2.2 quasars. At the conclusion of eBOSS, the SDSS will have provided unique spectra for more than 800,000 quasars.« less

Photometric redshifts and clustering of emission line galaxies selected jointly by DES and eBOSS

DOE PAGES

Jouvel, S.; Delubac, T.; Comparat, J.; ...

2017-03-24

We present the results of the first test plates of the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. This paper focuses on the emission line galaxies (ELG) population targetted from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) photometry. We analyse the success rate, efficiency, redshift distribution, and clustering properties of the targets. From the 9000 spectroscopic redshifts targetted, 4600 have been selected from the DES photometry. The total success rate for redshifts between 0.6 and 1.2 is 71\\% and 68\\% respectively for a bright and faint, on average more distant, samples including redshifts measured from a single strong emission line. We find a meanmore » redshift of 0.8 and 0.87, with 15 and 13\\% of unknown redshifts respectively for the bright and faint samples. In the redshift range 0.6« less

Photometric redshifts and clustering of emission line galaxies selected jointly by DES and eBOSS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jouvel, S.; Delubac, T.; Comparat, J.

We present the results of the first test plates of the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. This paper focuses on the emission line galaxies (ELG) population targetted from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) photometry. We analyse the success rate, efficiency, redshift distribution, and clustering properties of the targets. From the 9000 spectroscopic redshifts targetted, 4600 have been selected from the DES photometry. The total success rate for redshifts between 0.6 and 1.2 is 71\\% and 68\\% respectively for a bright and faint, on average more distant, samples including redshifts measured from a single strong emission line. We find a meanmore » redshift of 0.8 and 0.87, with 15 and 13\\% of unknown redshifts respectively for the bright and faint samples. In the redshift range 0.6« less

THE REDSHIFT DISTRIBUTION OF DUSTY STAR-FORMING GALAXIES FROM THE SPT SURVEY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Strandet, M. L.; Weiss, A.; Vieira, J. D.

2016-05-10

We use the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Cycle 1 to determine spectroscopic redshifts of high-redshift dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) selected by their 1.4 mm continuum emission in the South Pole Telescope (SPT) survey. We present ALMA 3 mm spectral scans between 84 and 114 GHz for 15 galaxies and targeted ALMA 1 mm observations for an additional eight sources. Our observations yield 30 new line detections from CO, [C i], [N ii], H{sub 2}O and NH{sub 3}. We further present Atacama Pathfinder Experiment [C ii] and CO mid- J observations for seven sources for which only a singlemore » line was detected in spectral-scan data from ALMA Cycle 0 or Cycle 1. We combine the new observations with previously published and new millimeter/submillimeter line and photometric data of the SPT-selected DSFGs to study their redshift distribution. The combined data yield 39 spectroscopic redshifts from molecular lines, a success rate of >85%. Our sample represents the largest data set of its kind today and has the highest spectroscopic completeness among all redshift surveys of high- z DSFGs. The median of the redshift distribution is z = 3.9 ± 0.4, and the highest-redshift source in our sample is at z = 5.8. We discuss how the selection of our sources affects the redshift distribution, focusing on source brightness, selection wavelength, and strong gravitational lensing. We correct for the effect of gravitational lensing and find the redshift distribution for 1.4 mm selected sources with a median redshift of z = 3.1 ± 0.3. Comparing to redshift distributions selected at shorter wavelengths from the literature, we show that selection wavelength affects the shape of the redshift distribution.« less

The Redshift Distribution of Dusty Star-forming Galaxies from the SPT Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strandet, M. L.; Weiss, A.; Vieira, J. D.; de Breuck, C.; Aguirre, J. E.; Aravena, M.; Ashby, M. L. N.; Béthermin, M.; Bradford, C. M.; Carlstrom, J. E.; Chapman, S. C.; Crawford, T. M.; Everett, W.; Fassnacht, C. D.; Furstenau, R. M.; Gonzalez, A. H.; Greve, T. R.; Gullberg, B.; Hezaveh, Y.; Kamenetzky, J. R.; Litke, K.; Ma, J.; Malkan, M.; Marrone, D. P.; Menten, K. M.; Murphy, E. J.; Nadolski, A.; Rotermund, K. M.; Spilker, J. S.; Stark, A. A.; Welikala, N.

2016-05-01

We use the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Cycle 1 to determine spectroscopic redshifts of high-redshift dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) selected by their 1.4 mm continuum emission in the South Pole Telescope (SPT) survey. We present ALMA 3 mm spectral scans between 84 and 114 GHz for 15 galaxies and targeted ALMA 1 mm observations for an additional eight sources. Our observations yield 30 new line detections from CO, [C I], [N II], H2O and NH3. We further present Atacama Pathfinder Experiment [C II] and CO mid-J observations for seven sources for which only a single line was detected in spectral-scan data from ALMA Cycle 0 or Cycle 1. We combine the new observations with previously published and new millimeter/submillimeter line and photometric data of the SPT-selected DSFGs to study their redshift distribution. The combined data yield 39 spectroscopic redshifts from molecular lines, a success rate of >85%. Our sample represents the largest data set of its kind today and has the highest spectroscopic completeness among all redshift surveys of high-z DSFGs. The median of the redshift distribution is z = 3.9 ± 0.4, and the highest-redshift source in our sample is at z = 5.8. We discuss how the selection of our sources affects the redshift distribution, focusing on source brightness, selection wavelength, and strong gravitational lensing. We correct for the effect of gravitational lensing and find the redshift distribution for 1.4 mm selected sources with a median redshift of z = 3.1 ± 0.3. Comparing to redshift distributions selected at shorter wavelengths from the literature, we show that selection wavelength affects the shape of the redshift distribution.

Noise Spectroscopy Used in Biology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Žacik, Michal

This thesis contains glossary topic of spectroscopic measurement methods in broad bands of frequency. There is designed experimental measurement method for simple samples and biological samples measurements for noise spectroscopy in frequency range of 0.1 - 6 GHz, using broadband noise generator. There is realized the workplace and the measurement method is verified by measuring on selected samples. Measurements a displayed and analyzed.

A comparison of microscopic and spectroscopic identification methods for analysis of microplastics in environmental samples.

PubMed

Song, Young Kyoung; Hong, Sang Hee; Jang, Mi; Han, Gi Myung; Rani, Manviri; Lee, Jongmyoung; Shim, Won Joon

2015-04-15

The analysis of microplastics in various environmental samples requires the identification of microplastics from natural materials. The identification technique lacks a standardized protocol. Herein, stereomicroscope and Fourier transform infrared spectroscope (FT-IR) identification methods for microplastics (<1mm) were compared using the same samples from the sea surface microlayer (SML) and beach sand. Fragmented microplastics were significantly (p<0.05) underestimated and fiber was significantly overestimated using the stereomicroscope both in the SML and beach samples. The total abundance by FT-IR was higher than by microscope both in the SML and beach samples, but they were not significantly (p>0.05) different. Depending on the number of samples and the microplastic size range of interest, the appropriate identification method should be determined; selecting a suitable identification method for microplastics is crucial for evaluating microplastic pollution. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Galaxy Merger Candidates in High-redshift Cluster Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delahaye, A. G.; Webb, T. M. A.; Nantais, J.; DeGroot, A.; Wilson, G.; Muzzin, A.; Yee, H. K. C.; Foltz, R.; Noble, A. G.; Demarco, R.; Tudorica, A.; Cooper, M. C.; Lidman, C.; Perlmutter, S.; Hayden, B.; Boone, K.; Surace, J.

2017-07-01

We compile a sample of spectroscopically and photometrically selected cluster galaxies from four high-redshift galaxy clusters (1.59< z< 1.71) from the Spitzer Adaptation of the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey (SpARCS), and a comparison field sample selected from the UKIDSS Deep Survey. Using near-infrared imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope, we classify potential mergers involving massive ({M}* ≥slant 3× {10}10 {M}⊙ ) cluster members by eye, based on morphological properties such as tidal distortions, double nuclei, and projected near neighbors within 20 kpc. With a catalog of 23 spectroscopic and 32 photometric massive cluster members across the four clusters and 65 spectroscopic and 26 photometric comparable field galaxies, we find that after taking into account contamination from interlopers, {11.0}-5.6+7.0 % of the cluster members are involved in potential mergers, compared to {24.7}-4.6+5.3 % of the field galaxies. We see no evidence of merger enhancement in the central cluster environment with respect to the field, suggesting that galaxy-galaxy merging is not a stronger source of galaxy evolution in cluster environments compared to the field at these redshifts.

First Spectroscopic Confirmations of z ∼ 7.0 Ly α Emitting Galaxies in the LAGER Survey

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hu, Weida; Wang, Junxian; Kang, Wenyong

Narrowband imaging is a highly successful approach for finding large numbers of high-redshift Ly α emitting galaxies (LAEs) up to z ∼ 6.6. However, at z ≳ 7 there are as of yet only three narrowband selected LAEs with spectroscopic confirmations (two at z ∼ 6.9–7.0, one at z ∼ 7.3), which hinders extensive studies on cosmic reionization and galaxy evolution at this key epoch. We have selected 23 candidate z ∼ 6.9 LAEs in COSMOS field with the large area narrowband survey Lyman-Alpha Galaxies at the End of Reionization (LAGER). In this work, we present spectroscopic follow-up observations ofmore » 12 candidates using the Inamori Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph on Magellan. For nine of these, the observations are sufficiently deep to detect the expected lines. Ly α emission lines are identified in six sources (yielding a success rate of 2/3), including three luminous LAEs with Ly α luminosities of L {sub Lyα} ∼ 10{sup 43.5} erg s{sup −1}, the highest among known spectroscopically confirmed galaxies at ≳7.0. This triples the sample size of spectroscopically confirmed narrowband selected LAEs at z ≳ 7, and confirms the bright-end bump in the Ly α luminosity function we previously derived based on the photometric sample, supporting a patchy reionization scenario. Two luminous LAEs appear physically linked with a projected distance of 1.1 pMpc and velocity difference of ∼170 km s{sup −1}. They likely sit in a common ionized bubble produced by themselves or with close neighbors, which reduces the intergalactic medium attenuation of Ly α . A tentative narrow N v λ 1240 line is seen in one source, hinting at activity of a central massive black hole with metal-rich line-emitting gas.« less

Spectroscopic identification of type 2 quasars at z < 1 in SDSS-III/BOSS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Sihan; Strauss, Michael A.; Zakamska, Nadia L.

2016-10-01

The physics and demographics of type 2 quasars remain poorly understood, and new samples of such objects selected in a variety of ways can give insight into their physical properties, evolution, and relationship to their host galaxies. We present a sample of 2758 type 2 quasars at z ≲ 1 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III (SDSS-III)/Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) spectroscopic data base, selected on the basis of their emission-line properties. We probe the luminous end of the population by requiring the rest-frame equivalent width of [O III] to be >100 Å. We distinguish our objects from star-forming galaxies and type 1 quasars using line widths, standard emission line ratio diagnostic diagrams at z < 0.52 and detection of [Ne V]λ3426 Å at z > 0.52. The majority of our objects have [O III] luminosities in the range 1.2 × 1042-3.8 × 1043 erg s-1 and redshifts between 0.4 and 0.65. Our sample includes over 400 type 2 quasars with incorrectly measured redshifts in the BOSS data base; such objects often show kinematic substructure or outflows in the [O III] line. The majority of the sample has counterparts in the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer survey, with median infrared luminosity νLν[12 μm] = 4.2 × 1044 erg s- 1. Only 34 per cent of the newly identified type 2 quasars would be selected by infrared colour cuts designed to identify obscured active nuclei, highlighting the difficulty of identifying complete samples of type 2 quasars. We make public the multi-Gaussian decompositions of all [O III] profiles for the new sample and for 568 type 2 quasars from SDSS I/II, together with non-parametric measures of the [O III] line profile shapes. We also identify over 600 candidate double-peaked [O III] profiles.

Spatially Resolved Chemical Imaging for Biosignature Analysis: Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Examples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhartia, R.; Wanger, G.; Orphan, V. J.; Fries, M.; Rowe, A. R.; Nealson, K. H.; Abbey, W. J.; DeFlores, L. P.; Beegle, L. W.

2014-12-01

Detection of in situ biosignatures on terrestrial and planetary missions is becoming increasingly more important. Missions that target the Earth's deep biosphere, Mars, moons of Jupiter (including Europa), moons of Saturn (Titan and Enceladus), and small bodies such as asteroids or comets require methods that enable detection of materials for both in-situ analysis that preserve context and as a means to select high priority sample for return to Earth. In situ instrumentation for biosignature detection spans a wide range of analytical and spectroscopic methods that capitalize on amino acid distribution, chirality, lipid composition, isotopic fractionation, or textures that persist in the environment. Many of the existing analytical instruments are bulk analysis methods and while highly sensitive, these require sample acquisition and sample processing. However, by combining with triaging spectroscopic methods, biosignatures can be targeted on a surface and preserve spatial context (including mineralogy, textures, and organic distribution). To provide spatially correlated chemical analysis at multiple spatial scales (meters to microns) we have employed a dual spectroscopic approach that capitalizes on high sensitivity deep UV native fluorescence detection and high specificity deep UV Raman analysis.. Recently selected as a payload on the Mars 2020 mission, SHERLOC incorporates these optical methods for potential biosignatures detection on Mars. We present data from both Earth analogs that operate as our only examples known biosignatures and meteorite samples that provide an example of abiotic organic formation, and demonstrate how provenance effects the spatial distribution and composition of organics.

The Large Area KX Quasar Survey: Photometric Redshift Selection and the Complete Quasar Catalogue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maddox, Natasha; Hewett, P. C.; Peroux, C.

2013-01-01

We have completed a large area, ˜600 square degree, spectroscopic survey for luminous quasars flux-limited in the K-band. The survey utilises the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Large Area Survey (LAS) in regions of sky within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) footprint. We exploit the K-band excess (KX) of all quasars with respect to Galactic stars in combination with a custom-built photometric redshift/classification scheme to identify quasar candidates for spectroscopic follow-up observations. The survey is complete to K≤16.6, and includes >3200 known quasars from the SDSS, with more than 250 additional confirmed quasars from the KX-selection which eluded the SDSS quasar selection algorithm. The selection is >95% complete with respect to known SDSS quasars and >95% efficient, largely independent of redshift and magnitude. The KX-selected quasars will provide new constraints on the fraction of luminous quasars reddened by dust with E(B-V)≤0.5 mag. Several projects utilizing the KX quasars are ongoing, including a spectroscopic campaign searching for dusty quasar intervening absorption systems. The KX survey is a well-defined sample of quasars useful for investigating the properties of luminous quasars with intermediate levels of dust extinction either within their host galaxies or due to intervening absorption systems.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Compact groups of galaxies in SDSS DR7 (Mendel+, 2011)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mendel, J. T.; Ellison, S. L.; Simard, L.; Patton, D. R.; McConnachie, A. W.

2012-07-01

In Paper III (Cat. J/MNRAS/395/255) we describe the photometric selection of CGs from the SDSS Data Release 6 (Adelman-McCarthy et al., 2008, Cat. II/282/), which included imaging of the entire SDSS-II Legacy Survey area. Since that paper, SDSS Data Release 7 (DR7; Abazajian et al., 2009ApJS..182..543A) has provided an additional ~1200deg2 of spectroscopic data, completing spectroscopic observations of the SDSS-II Legacy Survey footprint. In what follows we use galaxy catalogues drawn from SDSS DR7 and, where available, supplement the CG samples in Paper III with updated spectroscopic information. (2 data files).

The DEIMOS 10K Spectroscopic Survey Catalog of the COSMOS Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasinger, G.; Capak, P.; Salvato, M.; Barger, A. J.; Cowie, L. L.; Faisst, A.; Hemmati, S.; Kakazu, Y.; Kartaltepe, J.; Masters, D.; Mobasher, B.; Nayyeri, H.; Sanders, D.; Scoville, N. Z.; Suh, H.; Steinhardt, C.; Yang, Fengwei

2018-05-01

We present a catalog of 10,718 objects in the COSMOS field, observed through multi-slit spectroscopy with the Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph (DEIMOS) on the Keck II telescope in the wavelength range ∼5500–9800 Å. The catalog contains 6617 objects with high-quality spectra (two or more spectral features), and 1798 objects with a single spectroscopic feature confirmed by the photometric redshift. For 2024 typically faint objects, we could not obtain reliable redshifts. The objects have been selected from a variety of input catalogs based on multi-wavelength observations in the field, and thus have a diverse selection function, which enables the study of the diversity in the galaxy population. The magnitude distribution of our objects is peaked at I AB ∼ 23 and K AB ∼ 21, with a secondary peak at K AB ∼ 24. We sample a broad redshift distribution in the range 0 < z < 6, with one peak at z ∼ 1, and another one around z ∼ 4. We have identified 13 redshift spikes at z > 0.65 with chance probabilities < 4 × 10‑4, some of which are clearly related to protocluster structures of sizes >10 Mpc. An object-to-object comparison with a multitude of other spectroscopic samples in the same field shows that our DEIMOS sample is among the best in terms of fraction of spectroscopic failures and relative redshift accuracy. We have determined the fraction of spectroscopic blends to about 0.8% in our sample. This is likely a lower limit and at any rate well below the most pessimistic expectations. Interestingly, we find evidence for strong lensing of Lyα background emitters within the slits of 12 of our target galaxies, increasing their apparent density by about a factor of 4. The data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

NARROW-LINE X-RAY-SELECTED GALAXIES IN THE CHANDRA -COSMOS FIELD. I. OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPIC CATALOG

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pons, E.; Watson, M. G.; Elvis, M.

2016-04-20

The COSMOS survey is a large and deep survey with multiwavelength observations of sources from X-rays to the UV, allowing an extensive study of their properties. The central 0.9 deg{sup 2} of the COSMOS field have been observed by Chandra with a sensitivity up to 1.9 × 10{sup −16} erg cm{sup −2} s{sup −1} in the full (0.5–10 keV) band. Photometric and spectroscopic identification of the Chandra -COSMOS (C-COSMOS) sources is available from several catalogs and campaigns. Despite the fact that the C-COSMOS galaxies have a reliable spectroscopic redshift in addition to a spectroscopic classification, the emission-line properties of thismore » sample have not yet been measured. We present here the creation of an emission-line catalog of 453 narrow-line sources from the C-COSMOS spectroscopic sample. We have performed spectral fitting for the more common lines in galaxies ([O ii] λ 3727, [Ne iii] λ 3869, H β , [O iii] λλ 4959, 5007, H α , and [N ii] λλ 6548, 6584). These data provide an optical classification for 151 (i.e., 33%) of the C-COSMOS narrow-line galaxies based on emission-line diagnostic diagrams.« less

The Cosmological Evolution of Radio Sources with CENSORS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brookes, Mairi; Best, Philip; Peacock, John; Dunlop, James; Rottgering, Huub

2006-01-01

The CENSORS survey, selected from the NVSS, has been followed up using EIS, K-band imaging and spectroscopic observations to produce a radio sample capable of probing the source density in the regime: z greater than 2.5. With a current spectroscopic completeness of 62%, CENSORS has been used in direct modeling of RLF evolution and in V/V(sub max) tests. There is evidence for a shallow decline in number density of source in the luminosity range 10(sup 26) - 10(sup 27)WHz(sup -1) at 1.4GHz.

Luminous Obscured AGN Unveiled in the Stripe 82 X-ray Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaMassa, Stephanie; Glikman, Eilat; Brusa, Marcella; Rigby, Jane; Tasnim Ananna, Tonima; Stern, Daniel; Lira, Paulina; Urry, Meg; Salvato, Mara; Alexandroff, Rachael; Allevato, Viola; Cardamone, Carolin; Civano, Francesca Maria; Coppi, Paolo; Farrah, Duncan; Komossa, S.; Lanzuisi, Giorgio; Marchesi, Stefano; Richards, Gordon; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Treister, Ezequiel

2018-01-01

Stripe 82X is a wide-area (30 deg2) X-ray survey overlapping the legacy Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 field, designed to uncover rare, high luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGN). We report on the results of an on-going near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic campaign to follow-up reddened AGN candidates with Palomar TripleSpec, Keck NIRSPEC, and Gemini GNIRS. We identified 8 AGN in our bright NIR sample (K < 16, Vega), selected to have red R-K colors (> 4, Vega); four of these sources had existing optical spectra in SDSS. We targeted four out of 34 obscured AGN candidates in our faint NIR sample (K > 17, Vega), all of which are undetected in the single-epoch SDSS imaging, making them the best candidates for the most obscured and/or the most distant reddend AGN in Stripe 82X. All twelve sources are Type 1 AGN, with the FWHM of at least one permitted emission line exceeding 1300 km/s. We find that our nearly complete bright NIR sample (12/13 obscured AGN candidates have spectroscopic redshifts) is more distant (z > 0.5) than a matched sample of blue Type 1 AGN from Stripe 82X; these AGN tend to be more luminous than their blue, unobscured counterparts. Results from our pilot program of faint NIR-selected obscured AGN candidates demonstrate that our selection recovers reddened quasars missed by SDSS.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: QSOs selection from SDSS and WISE (Richards+, 2015)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richards, G. T.; Myers, A. D.; Peters, C. M.; Krawczyk, C. M.; Chase, G.; Ross, N. P.; Fan, X.; Jiang, L.; Lacy, M.; McGreer, I. D.; Trump, J. R.; Riegel, R. N.

2015-10-01

We construct the master quasar catalog by gathering samples of spectroscopically confirmed quasars within the SDSS-I/II/III (York et al. 2000AJ....120.1579Y; Eisenstein et al. 2011AJ....142...72E) footprint. (2 data files).

Contrast enhanced spectroscopic optical coherence tomography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Xu, Chenyang (Inventor); Boppart, Stephen A. (Inventor)

2010-01-01

A method of forming an image of a sample includes performing SOCT on a sample. The sample may include a contrast agent, which may include an absorbing agent and/or a scattering agent. A method of forming an image of tissue may include selecting a contrast agent, delivering the contrast agent to the tissue, acquiring SOCT data from the tissue, and converting the SOCT data into an image. The contributions to the SOCT data of an absorbing agent and a scattering agent in a sample may be quantified separately.

SPECTROSCOPY OF HIGH-REDSHIFT SUPERNOVAE FROM THE ESSENCE PROJECT: THE FIRST FOUR YEARS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Foley, R. J.; Chornock, R.; Silverman, J. M.

We present the results of spectroscopic observations from the ESSENCE high-redshift supernova (SN) survey during its first four years of operation. This sample includes spectra of all SNe Ia whose light curves were presented by Miknaitis et al. and used in the cosmological analyses of Davis et al. and Wood-Vasey et al. The sample represents 273 hr of spectroscopic observations with 6.5-10 m class telescopes of objects detected and selected for spectroscopy by the ESSENCE team. We present 184 spectra of 156 objects. Combining this sample with that of Matheson et al., we have a total sample of 329 spectramore » of 274 objects. From this, we are able to spectroscopically classify 118 Type Ia SNe. As the survey has matured, the efficiency of classifying SNe Ia has remained constant while we have observed both higher-redshift SNe Ia and SNe Ia farther from maximum brightness. Examining the subsample of SNe Ia with host-galaxy redshifts shows that redshifts derived from only the SN Ia spectra are consistent with redshifts found from host-galaxy spectra. Moreover, the phases derived from only the SN Ia spectra are consistent with those derived from light-curve fits. By comparing our spectra to local templates, we find that the rate of objects similar to the overluminous SN 1991T and the underluminous SN 1991bg in our sample are consistent with that of the local sample. We do note, however, that we detect no object spectroscopically or photometrically similar to SN 1991bg. Although systematic effects could reduce the high-redshift rate we expect based on the low-redshift surveys, it is possible that SN 1991bg-like SNe Ia are less prevalent at high redshift.« less

Spectroscopic characterization of galaxy clusters in RCS-1: spectroscopic confirmation, redshift accuracy, and dynamical mass-richness relation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilbank, David G.; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Ellingson, Erica; Blindert, Kris; Yee, H. K. C.; Anguita, T.; Gladders, M. D.; Hall, P. B.; Hertling, G.; Infante, L.; Yan, R.; Carrasco, M.; Garcia-Vergara, Cristina; Dawson, K. S.; Lidman, C.; Morokuma, T.

2018-05-01

We present follow-up spectroscopic observations of galaxy clusters from the first Red-sequence Cluster Survey (RCS-1). This work focuses on two samples, a lower redshift sample of ˜30 clusters ranging in redshift from z ˜ 0.2-0.6 observed with multiobject spectroscopy (MOS) on 4-6.5-m class telescopes and a z ˜ 1 sample of ˜10 clusters 8-m class telescope observations. We examine the detection efficiency and redshift accuracy of the now widely used red-sequence technique for selecting clusters via overdensities of red-sequence galaxies. Using both these data and extended samples including previously published RCS-1 spectroscopy and spectroscopic redshifts from SDSS, we find that the red-sequence redshift using simple two-filter cluster photometric redshifts is accurate to σz ≈ 0.035(1 + z) in RCS-1. This accuracy can potentially be improved with better survey photometric calibration. For the lower redshift sample, ˜5 per cent of clusters show some (minor) contamination from secondary systems with the same red-sequence intruding into the measurement aperture of the original cluster. At z ˜ 1, the rate rises to ˜20 per cent. Approximately ten per cent of projections are expected to be serious, where the two components contribute significant numbers of their red-sequence galaxies to another cluster. Finally, we present a preliminary study of the mass-richness calibration using velocity dispersions to probe the dynamical masses of the clusters. We find a relation broadly consistent with that seen in the local universe from the WINGS sample at z ˜ 0.05.

Method and apparatus for differential spectroscopic atomic-imaging using scanning tunneling microscopy

DOEpatents

Kazmerski, Lawrence L.

1990-01-01

A Method and apparatus for differential spectroscopic atomic-imaging is disclosed for spatial resolution and imaging for display not only individual atoms on a sample surface, but also bonding and the specific atomic species in such bond. The apparatus includes a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) that is modified to include photon biasing, preferably a tuneable laser, modulating electronic surface biasing for the sample, and temperature biasing, preferably a vibration-free refrigerated sample mounting stage. Computer control and data processing and visual display components are also included. The method includes modulating the electronic bias voltage with and without selected photon wavelengths and frequency biasing under a stabilizing (usually cold) bias temperature to detect bonding and specific atomic species in the bonds as the STM rasters the sample. This data is processed along with atomic spatial topography data obtained from the STM raster scan to create a real-time visual image of the atoms on the sample surface.

A Spectroscopic Follow-up Program of Very Massive Galaxies at 3 < z < 4: Confirmation of Spectroscopic Redshifts, and a High Fraction of Powerful AGNs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marsan, Z. Cemile; Marchesini, Danilo; Brammer, Gabriel B.; Geier, Stefan; Kado-Fong, Erin; Labbé, Ivo; Muzzin, Adam; Stefanon, Mauro

2017-06-01

We present the analysis and results of a spectroscopic follow-up program of a mass-selected sample of six galaxies at 3< z< 4 using data from Keck-NIRPSEC and VLT-Xshooter. We confirm the z> 3 redshifts for half of the sample through the detection of strong nebular emission lines, and improve the z phot accuracy for the remainder of the sample through the combination of photometry and spectra. The modeling of the emission-line-corrected spectral energy distributions (SEDs) adopting improved redshifts confirms the very large stellar masses of the sample ({M}* ˜ 1.5{--}4× {10}11{M}⊙ ) in the first 2 Gyr of cosmic history, with a diverse range in stellar ages, star-formation rates, and dust content. From the analysis of emission-line luminosities and widths, and far-infrared (FIR) fluxes, we confirm that ≳ 80 % of the sample are hosts to luminous hidden active galactic nuclei (AGNs), with bolometric luminosities of ˜1044-46 erg s-1. We find that the MIPS 24 μm photometry is largely contaminated by AGN continuum, rendering the SFRs derived using only 24 μm photometry to be severely overestimated. By including the emission from the AGN in the modeling of the UV-to-FIR SEDs, we confirm that the presence of the AGN does not considerably bias the stellar masses (< 0.3 dex at 1σ). We show evidence for a rapid increase of the AGN fraction from ˜30% to ˜60%-100% over the 1 Gyr between z˜ 2 and z˜ 3. Although we cannot exclude some enhancement of the AGN fraction for our sample due to selection effects, the small measured [O III] contamination to the observed K-band fluxes suggests that our sample is not significantly biased toward massive galaxies hosting AGNs.

A spectroscopic survey of WISE-selected obscured quasars with the southern african large telescope

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hainline, Kevin N.; Hickox, Ryan C.; Carroll, Christopher M.

2014-11-10

We present the results of an optical spectroscopic survey of a sample of 40 candidate obscured quasars identified on the basis of their mid-infrared emission detected by the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Optical spectra for this survey were obtained using the Robert Stobie Spectrograph on the Southern African Large Telescope. Our sample was selected with WISE colors characteristic of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), as well as red optical to mid-IR colors indicating that the optical/UV AGN continuum is obscured by dust. We obtain secure redshifts for the majority of the objects that comprise our sample (35/40), and find thatmore » sources that are bright in the WISE W4 (22 μm) band are typically at moderate redshift ((z) = 0.35) while sources fainter in W4 are at higher redshifts ((z) = 0.73). The majority of the sources have narrow emission lines with optical colors and emission line ratios of our WISE-selected sources that are consistent with the locus of AGN on the rest-frame g – z color versus [Ne III] λ3869/[O II] λλ3726+3729 line ratio diagnostic diagram. We also use empirical AGN and galaxy templates to model the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for the objects in our sample, and find that while there is significant variation in the observed SEDs for these objects, the majority require a strong AGN component. Finally, we use the results from our analysis of the optical spectra and the SEDs to compare our selection criteria to alternate criteria presented in the literature. These results verify the efficacy of selecting luminous obscured AGNs based on their WISE colors.« less

Spectral analysis of tissues from patients with cancer using a portable spectroscopic diagnostic ratiometer unit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sordillo, Laura A.; Pu, Yang; Sordillo, Peter P.; Budansky, Yury; Alfano, R. R.

2014-05-01

Spectral profiles of tissues from patients with breast carcinoma, malignant carcinoid and non-small cell lung carcinoma were acquired using native fluorescence spectroscopy. A novel spectroscopic ratiometer device (S3-LED) with selective excitation wavelengths at 280 nm and 335 nm was used to produce the emission spectra of the key biomolecules, tryptophan and NADH, in the tissue samples. In each of the samples, analysis of emission intensity peaks from biomolecules showed increased 340 nm/440 nm and 340 nm/460 nm ratios in the malignant samples compared to their paired normal samples. This most likely represented increased tryptophan to NADH ratios in the malignant tissue samples compared to their paired normal samples. Among the non-small cell lung carcinoma and breast carcinomas, it appeared that tumors of very large size or poor differentiation had an even greater increase in the 340 nm/440 nm and 340 nm/460 nm ratios. In the samples of malignant carcinoid, which is known to be a highly metabolically active tumor, a marked increase in these ratios was also seen.

A VST and VISTA study of globular clusters in NGC 253

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cantiello, Michele; Grado, Aniello; Rejkuba, Marina; Arnaboldi, Magda; Capaccioli, Massimo; Greggio, Laura; Iodice, Enrica; Limatola, Luca

2018-03-01

Context. Globular clusters (GCs) are key to our understanding of the Universe, as laboratories of stellar evolution, fossil tracers of the past formation epoch of the host galaxy, and effective distance indicators from local to cosmological scales. Aim. We analyze the properties of the sources in the NGC 253 with the aim of defining an up to date catalog of GC candidates in the galaxy. Given the distance of the galaxy, GCs in NGC 253 are ideal targets for resolved color-magnitude diagram studies of extragalactic GCs with next-generation diffraction limited ground-based telescopes. Methods: Our analysis is based on the science verification data of two ESO survey telescopes, VST and VISTA. Using ugri photometry from VST and JKs from VISTA, GC candidates were selected using as reference the morpho-photometric and color properties of spectroscopically confirmed GCs available in the literature. The strength of the results was verified against available archival HST/ACS data from the GHOSTS survey: all but two of the selected GC candidates appear as star clusters in HST footprints. Results: The adopted GC selection leads to the definition of a sample of ˜350 GC candidates. At visual inspection, we find that 82 objects match all the requirements for selecting GC candidates and 155 are flagged as uncertain GC candidate; however, 110 are unlikely GCs, which are most likely background galaxies. Furthermore, our analysis shows that four of the previously spectroscopically confirmed GCs, i.e., ˜20% of the total spectroscopic sample, are more likely either background galaxies or high-velocity Milky Way stars. The radial density profile of the selected best candidates shows the typically observed r1/4-law radial profile. The analysis of the color distributions reveals only marginal evidence of the presence of color bimodality, which is normally observed in galaxies of similar luminosity. The GC luminosity function does not show the typical symmetry, mainly because of the lack of bright GCs. Part of the bright GCs missing might be at very large galactocentric distances or along the line of sight of the galaxy dusty disk. As an alternative possibility, we speculate that a fraction of low luminosity GC candidates might instead be metal-rich, intermediate age clusters, but fall in a similar color interval of old, metal-poor GCs. Conclusions: Defining a contaminant-free sample of GCs in extragalactic systems is not a straight forward exercise. Using optical and near-IR photometry we purged the list of GCs with spectroscopic membership and photometric GC candidates in NGC 253. Our results show that the use of either spectroscopic or photometric data only does not generally ensure a contaminant-free sample and a combination of both spectroscopy and photometry is preferred. Table 3 is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/611/A21This work is based on observations taken at the ESO La Silla Paranal Observatory within the VST Science Verification Programme ID 60.A-9286(A) and VISTA Science Verification Programme ID 60.A-9285(A).

An Hα-selected sample of cataclysmic variables - I. Observations of newly discovered systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pretorius, Magaretha L.; Knigge, Christian

2008-04-01

Strong selection effects are present in observational samples of cataclysmic variables (CVs), complicating comparisons to theoretical predictions. The selection criteria used to define most CV samples discriminate heavily against the discovery of short-period, intrinsically faint systems. The situation can be improved by selecting CVs for the presence of emission lines. For this reason, we have constructed a homogeneous sample of CVs selected on the basis of Hα emission. We present discovery observations of the 14 CVs and two additional CV candidates found in this search. The orbital periods of 11 of the new CVs were measured; all are above 3 h. There are two eclipsing systems in the sample, and one in which we observed a quasi-periodic modulation on a ~1000s time-scale. We also detect the secondary star in the spectrum of one system, and measure its spectral type. Several of the new CVs have the spectroscopic appearance of nova-like variables, and a few display what may be SW Sex star behaviour. In a companion paper, we discuss the implications of this new sample for CV evolution.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: GOODS-MUSIC catalog updated version (Santini+, 2009)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santini, P.; Fontana, A.; Grazian, A.; Salimbeni, S.; Fiore, F.; Fontanot, F.; Boutsia, K.; Castelllano, M.; Cristiani, S.; de Santis, C.; Gallozzi, S.; Giallongo, E.; Nonino, M.; Menci, N.; Paris, D.; Pentericci, L.; Vanzella, E.

2009-06-01

The GOODS-MUSIC multiwavelength catalog provides photometric and spectroscopic information for galaxies in the GOODS Southern field. It includes two U images obtained with the ESO 2.2m telescope and one U band image from VLT-VIMOS, the ACS-HST images in four optical (B,V,i,z) bands, the VLT-ISAAC J, H, and Ks bands as well as the Spitzer images at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8 micron (IRAC) and 24 micron (MIPS). Most of these images have been made publicly available in the coadded version by the GOODS team, while the U band data were retrieved in raw format and reduced by our team. We also collected all the available spectroscopic information from public spectroscopic surveys and cross-correlated the spectroscopic redshifts with our photometric catalog. For the unobserved fraction of the objects, we applied our photometric redshift code to obtain well-calibrated photometric redshifts. The final catalog is made up of 15208 objects, with 209 known stars and 61 AGNs. The major new feature of this updated release is the inclusion of 24 micron photometry. Further improvements concern a revised photometry in the four IRAC bands (mainly based on the use of new PSF-matching kernerls and on a revised procedure for estimating the background), the enlargement of the sample of galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts, the addition of objects selected on the IRAC 4.5 micron image and a more careful selection of AGN sources. (1 data file).

Recognizing ancient papyri by a combination of spectroscopic, diffractional and chromatographic analytical tools

PubMed Central

Łojewska, J.; Rabin, I.; Pawcenis, D.; Bagniuk, J.; Aksamit-Koperska, M. A.; Sitarz, M.; Missori, M.; Krutzsch, M.

2017-01-01

Ancient papyri are a written heritage of culture that flourished more than 3000 years ago in Egypt. One of the most significant collections in the world is housed in the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection in Berlin, from where the samples for our investigation come. The papyrologists, curators and conservators of such collections search intensely for the analytical detail that would allow ancient papyri to be distinguished from modern fabrications, in order to detect possible forgeries, assess papyrus deterioration state, and improve the design of storage conditions and conservation methods. This has become the aim of our investigation. The samples were studied by a number of methods, including spectroscopic (FTIR, fluorescent-FS, Raman) diffractional (XRD) and chromatographic (size exclusion chromatography-SEC), selected in order to determine degradation parameters: overall oxidation of lignocellulosic material, degree of polymerization and crystallinity of cellulose. The results were correlated with those obtained from carefully selected model samples including modern papyri and paper of different composition aged at elevated temperature in humid air. The methods were classified in the order SEC > FS > FTIR > XRD, based on their effectiveness in discriminating the state of papyri degradation. However, the most trustworthy evaluation of the age of papyri samples should rely on several methods. PMID:28382971

Recognizing ancient papyri by a combination of spectroscopic, diffractional and chromatographic analytical tools.

PubMed

Łojewska, J; Rabin, I; Pawcenis, D; Bagniuk, J; Aksamit-Koperska, M A; Sitarz, M; Missori, M; Krutzsch, M

2017-04-06

Ancient papyri are a written heritage of culture that flourished more than 3000 years ago in Egypt. One of the most significant collections in the world is housed in the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection in Berlin, from where the samples for our investigation come. The papyrologists, curators and conservators of such collections search intensely for the analytical detail that would allow ancient papyri to be distinguished from modern fabrications, in order to detect possible forgeries, assess papyrus deterioration state, and improve the design of storage conditions and conservation methods. This has become the aim of our investigation. The samples were studied by a number of methods, including spectroscopic (FTIR, fluorescent-FS, Raman) diffractional (XRD) and chromatographic (size exclusion chromatography-SEC), selected in order to determine degradation parameters: overall oxidation of lignocellulosic material, degree of polymerization and crystallinity of cellulose. The results were correlated with those obtained from carefully selected model samples including modern papyri and paper of different composition aged at elevated temperature in humid air. The methods were classified in the order SEC > FS > FTIR > XRD, based on their effectiveness in discriminating the state of papyri degradation. However, the most trustworthy evaluation of the age of papyri samples should rely on several methods.

The star formation rate cookbook at 1 < z < 3: Extinction-corrected relations for UV and [OII]λ3727 luminosities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Talia, M.; Cimatti, A.; Pozzetti, L.; Rodighiero, G.; Gruppioni, C.; Pozzi, F.; Daddi, E.; Maraston, C.; Mignoli, M.; Kurk, J.

2015-10-01

Aims: In this paper we use a well-controlled spectroscopic sample of galaxies at 1

An active learning representative subset selection method using net analyte signal.

PubMed

He, Zhonghai; Ma, Zhenhe; Luan, Jingmin; Cai, Xi

2018-05-05

To guarantee accurate predictions, representative samples are needed when building a calibration model for spectroscopic measurements. However, in general, it is not known whether a sample is representative prior to measuring its concentration, which is both time-consuming and expensive. In this paper, a method to determine whether a sample should be selected into a calibration set is presented. The selection is based on the difference of Euclidean norm of net analyte signal (NAS) vector between the candidate and existing samples. First, the concentrations and spectra of a group of samples are used to compute the projection matrix, NAS vector, and scalar values. Next, the NAS vectors of candidate samples are computed by multiplying projection matrix with spectra of samples. Scalar value of NAS is obtained by norm computation. The distance between the candidate set and the selected set is computed, and samples with the largest distance are added to selected set sequentially. Last, the concentration of the analyte is measured such that the sample can be used as a calibration sample. Using a validation test, it is shown that the presented method is more efficient than random selection. As a result, the amount of time and money spent on reference measurements is greatly reduced. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An active learning representative subset selection method using net analyte signal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Zhonghai; Ma, Zhenhe; Luan, Jingmin; Cai, Xi

2018-05-01

To guarantee accurate predictions, representative samples are needed when building a calibration model for spectroscopic measurements. However, in general, it is not known whether a sample is representative prior to measuring its concentration, which is both time-consuming and expensive. In this paper, a method to determine whether a sample should be selected into a calibration set is presented. The selection is based on the difference of Euclidean norm of net analyte signal (NAS) vector between the candidate and existing samples. First, the concentrations and spectra of a group of samples are used to compute the projection matrix, NAS vector, and scalar values. Next, the NAS vectors of candidate samples are computed by multiplying projection matrix with spectra of samples. Scalar value of NAS is obtained by norm computation. The distance between the candidate set and the selected set is computed, and samples with the largest distance are added to selected set sequentially. Last, the concentration of the analyte is measured such that the sample can be used as a calibration sample. Using a validation test, it is shown that the presented method is more efficient than random selection. As a result, the amount of time and money spent on reference measurements is greatly reduced.

The NuSTAR Serendipitous Survey: The 40-month Catalog and the Properties of the Distant High-Energy X-Ray Source Population

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lansbury, G. B.; Stern, D.; Aird, J.; Alexander, D. M.; Fuentes, C.; Harrison, F. A.; Treister, E.; Bauer, F. E.; Tomsick, J. A.; Balokovic, M.;

Confronting the Gaia and NLTE spectroscopic parallaxes for the FGK stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sitnova, Tatyana; Mashonkina, Lyudmila; Pakhomov, Yury

2018-04-01

The understanding of the chemical evolution of the Galaxy relies on the stellar chemical composition. Accurate atmospheric parameters is a prerequisite of determination of accurate chemical abundances. For late type stars with known distance, surface gravity (log g) can be calculated from well-known relation between stellar mass, T eff, and absolute bolometric magnitude. This method weakly depends on model atmospheres, and provides reliable log g. However, accurate distances are available for limited number of stars. Another way to determine log g for cool stars is based on ionisation equilibrium, i.e. consistent abundances from lines of neutral and ionised species. In this study we determine atmospheric parameters moving step-by-step from well-studied nearby dwarfs to ultra-metal poor (UMP) giants. In each sample, we select stars with the most reliable T eff based on photometry and the distance-based log g, and compare with spectroscopic gravity calculated taking into account deviations from local thermodinamic equilibrium (LTE). After that, we apply spectroscopic method of log g determination to other stars of the sample with unknown distances.

EVIDENCE FOR THE UNIVERSALITY OF PROPERTIES OF RED-SEQUENCE GALAXIES IN X-RAY- AND RED-SEQUENCE-SELECTED CLUSTERS AT z ∼ 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Foltz, R.; Wilson, G.; DeGroot, A.

We study the slope, intercept, and scatter of the color–magnitude and color–mass relations for a sample of 10 infrared red-sequence-selected clusters at z ∼ 1. The quiescent galaxies in these clusters formed the bulk of their stars above z ≳ 3 with an age spread Δt ≳ 1 Gyr. We compare UVJ color–color and spectroscopic-based galaxy selection techniques, and find a 15% difference in the galaxy populations classified as quiescent by these methods. We compare the color–magnitude relations from our red-sequence selected sample with X-ray- and photometric-redshift-selected cluster samples of similar mass and redshift. Within uncertainties, we are unable tomore » detect any difference in the ages and star formation histories of quiescent cluster members in clusters selected by different methods, suggesting that the dominant quenching mechanism is insensitive to cluster baryon partitioning at z ∼ 1.« less

Photometry of Southern Hemisphere red dwarf stars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weistrop, D.

1980-01-01

Results are presented for a photometric investigation of a spectroscopically selected sample of red dwarf stars in the Southern Hemisphere. Absolute magnitudes and distances for the stars are estimated from broadband red colors. Three stars which may be subluminous are identified, as are several stars which may be within 25 pc. The tangential velocity and velocity dispersion of the sample are similar to values found in other studies of nearby late-type stars.

The large area KX quasar catalogue - I. Analysis of the photometric redshift selection and the complete quasar catalogue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maddox, Natasha; Hewett, Paul C.; Péroux, Céline; Nestor, Daniel B.; Wisotzki, Lutz

2012-08-01

The results of a large area, ˜600 deg2, K-band flux-limited spectroscopic survey for luminous quasars are presented. The survey utilizes the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Large Area Survey (LAS) in regions of sky within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) footprint. The K-band excess (KX) of all quasars with respect to Galactic stars is exploited in combination with a photometric redshift/classification scheme to identify quasar candidates for spectroscopic follow-up observations. The data contained within this investigation will be able to provide new constraints on the fraction of luminous quasars reddened by dust with E(B - V) ≤ 0.5 mag. The spectroscopic sample is defined using the K-band, 14.0 ≤ K ≤ 16.6, and SDSS i-band limits of i = 19.5, 19.7 and 22.0 over sky areas of 287, 150 and 196 deg2, respectively. The survey includes >3200 known quasars from the SDSS and more than 250 additional confirmed quasars from the KX selection. A well-defined subsample of quasars in the redshift interval 1.0 ≤ z ≤ 3.5 includes 1152 objects from the SDSS and 172 additional KX-selected quasars. The quasar selection is >95 per cent complete with respect to known SDSS quasars and >95 per cent efficient, largely independent of redshift and i-band magnitude. The properties of the new KX-selected quasars confirm the known redshift-dependent effectiveness of the SDSS quasar selection and provide a sample of luminous quasars experiencing intermediate levels of extinction by dust. The catalogue represents an important step towards the assembly of a well-defined sample of luminous quasars that may be used to investigate the properties of quasars experiencing intermediate levels of dust extinction within their host galaxies or due intervening absorption line systems. †Based on observations made with ESO telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under programme IDs 083.A0360 and 085.A0359.‡Based on observations collected at the Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán (CAHA) at Calar Alto, operated jointly by the Max-Planck Institut für Astronomie and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC).

New Insights on the White Dwarf Luminosity and Mass Functions from the LSS-GAC Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rebassa-Mansergas, Alberto; Liu, Xiaowei; Cojocaru, Ruxandra; Torres, Santiago; García–Berro, Enrique; Yuan, Haibo; Huang, Yang; Xiang, Maosheng

2015-06-01

The white dwarf (WD) population observed in magnitude-limited surveys can be used to derive the luminosity function (LF) and mass function (MF), once the corresponding volume corrections are employed. However, the WD samples from which the observational LFs and MFs are built are the result of complicated target selection algorithms. Thus, it is difficult to quantify the effects of the observational biases on the observed functions. The LAMOST (Large sky Area Multi-Object fiber Spectroscopic Telescope) spectroscopic survey of the Galactic anti-center (LSS-GAC) has well-defined selection criteria. This is a noticeable advantage over previous surveys. Here we derive the WD LF and MF of the LSS-GAC, and use a Monte Carlo code to simulate the WD population in the Galactic anti-center. We apply the well-defined LSS-GAC selection criteria to the simulated populations, taking into account all observational biases, and perform the first meaningful comparison between the simulated WD LFs and MFs and the observed ones.

A Magellan M2FS Spectroscopic Survey of Galaxies at 5.5 < z < 6.8: Program Overview and a Sample of the Brightest Lyα Emitters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Linhua; Shen, Yue; Bian, Fuyan; Zheng, Zhen-Ya; Wu, Jin; Oyarzún, Grecco A.; Blanc, Guillermo A.; Fan, Xiaohui; Ho, Luis C.; Infante, Leopoldo; Wang, Ran; Wu, Xue-Bing; Mateo, Mario; Bailey, John I., III; Crane, Jeffrey D.; Olszewski, Edward W.; Shectman, Stephen; Thompson, Ian; Walker, Matthew G.

2017-09-01

We present a spectroscopic survey of high-redshift, luminous galaxies over four square degrees on the sky, aiming to build a large and homogeneous sample of Lyα emitters (LAEs) at z≈ 5.7 and 6.5, and Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at 5.5< z< 6.8. The fields that we choose to observe are well studied, such as by the Subaru XMM-Newton Deep Survey and COSMOS. They have deep optical imaging data in a series of broad and narrow bands, allowing for the efficient selection of galaxy candidates. Spectroscopic observations are being carried out using the multi-object spectrograph M2FS on the Magellan Clay telescope. M2FS is efficient enough to identify high-redshift galaxies, owing to its 256 optical fibers deployed over a circular field of view 30\\prime in diameter. We have observed ˜2.5 square degrees. When the program is completed, we expect to identify more than 400 bright LAEs at z≈ 5.7 and 6.5, and a substantial number of LBGs at z≥slant 6. This unique sample will be used to study a variety of galaxy properties and to search for large protoclusters. Furthermore, the statistical properties of these galaxies will be used to probe cosmic reionization. We describe the motivation, program design, target selection, and M2FS observations. We also outline our science goals, and present a sample of the brightest LAEs at z≈ 5.7 and 6.5. This sample contains 32 LAEs with Lyα luminosities higher than 1043 erg s-1. A few of them reach ≥3 × 1043 erg s-1, comparable to the two most luminous LAEs known at z≥slant 6, “CR7” and “COLA1.” These LAEs provide ideal targets to study extreme galaxies in the distant universe.

A Luminosity Function of Ly(alpha)-Emitting Galaxies at Z [Approx. Equal to] 4.5(Sup 1),(Sup 2)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dawson, Steve; Rhoads, James E.; Malhotra, Sangeeta; Stern, Daniel; Wang, JunXian; Dey, Arjun; Spinrad, Hyron; Jannuzi, Buell T.

2007-01-01

We present a catalog of 59 z [approx. equal to] 4:5 Ly(alpha)-emitting galaxies spectroscopically confirmed in a campaign of Keck DEIMOS follow-up observations to candidates selected in the Large Are (LALA) narrowband imaging survey.We targeted 97 candidates for spectroscopic follow-up; by accounting for the variety of conditions under which we performed spectroscopy, we estimate a selection reliability of approx.76%. Together with our previous sample of Keck LRIS confirmations, the 59 sources confirmed herein bring the total catalog to 73 spectroscopically confirmed z [approx. equal to] 4:5 Ly(alpha)- emitting galaxies in the [approx. equal to] 0.7 deg(exp 2) covered by the LALA imaging. As with the Keck LRIS sample, we find that a nonnegligible fraction of the co rest-frame equivalent widths (W(sub lambda)(sup rest)) that exceed the maximum predicted for normal stellar populations: 17%-31%(93%confidence) of the detected galaxies show (W(sub lambda)(sup rest)) 12%-27% (90% confidence) show (W(sub lambda)(sup rest)) > 240 A. We construct a luminosity function of z [approx. equal to] 4.5 Ly(alpha) emission lines for comparison to Ly(alpha) luminosity function < 6.6. We find no significant evidence for Ly(alpha) luminosity function evolution from z [approx. equal to] 3 to z [approx. equal to] 6. This result supports the conclusion that the intergalactic me largely reionized from the local universe out to z [approx. equal to] 6.5. It is somewhat at odds with the pronounced drop in the cosmic star formation rate density recently measured between z approx. 3 an z approx. 6 in continuum-selected Lyman-break galaxies, and therefore potentially sheds light on the relationship between the two populations.

Characterizing the WISE-selected heavily obscured quasar population with optical spectroscopy from the Southern African Large Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hviding, Raphael E.; Hickox, Ryan C.; Hainline, Kevin N.; Carroll, Christopher M.; DiPompeo, Michael A.; Yan, Wei; Jones, Mackenzie L.

2018-02-01

We present the results of an optical spectroscopic survey of 46 heavily obscured quasar candidates. Objects are selected using their mid-infrared (mid-IR) colours and magnitudes from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) anzd their optical magnitudes from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Candidate Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are selected to have mid-IR colours indicative of quasar activity and lie in a region of mid-IR colour space outside previously published X-ray based selection regions. We obtain optical spectra for our sample using the Robert Stobie Spectrograph on the Southern African Large Telescope. 30 objects (65 per cent) have identifiable emission lines, allowing for the determination of spectroscopic redshifts. Other than one object at z ˜ 2.6, candidates have moderate redshifts ranging from z = 0.1 to 0.8 with a median of 0.3. 21 (70 per cent) of our objects with identified redshift (46 per cent of the whole sample) are identified as AGNs through common optical diagnostics. We model the spectral energy distributions of our sample and found that all require a strong AGN component, with an average intrinsic AGN fraction at 8 μm of 0.91. Additionally, the fits require large extinction coefficients with an average E(B - V)AGN = 17.8 (average A(V)AGN = 53.4). By focusing on the area outside traditional mid-IR photometric cuts, we are able to capture and characterize a population of deeply buried quasars that were previously unattainable through X-ray surveys alone.

FT-Raman and NIR spectroscopy data fusion strategy for multivariate qualitative analysis of food fraud.

PubMed

Márquez, Cristina; López, M Isabel; Ruisánchez, Itziar; Callao, M Pilar

2016-12-01

Two data fusion strategies (high- and mid-level) combined with a multivariate classification approach (Soft Independent Modelling of Class Analogy, SIMCA) have been applied to take advantage of the synergistic effect of the information obtained from two spectroscopic techniques: FT-Raman and NIR. Mid-level data fusion consists of merging some of the previous selected variables from the spectra obtained from each spectroscopic technique and then applying the classification technique. High-level data fusion combines the SIMCA classification results obtained individually from each spectroscopic technique. Of the possible ways to make the necessary combinations, we decided to use fuzzy aggregation connective operators. As a case study, we considered the possible adulteration of hazelnut paste with almond. Using the two-class SIMCA approach, class 1 consisted of unadulterated hazelnut samples and class 2 of samples adulterated with almond. Models performance was also studied with samples adulterated with chickpea. The results show that data fusion is an effective strategy since the performance parameters are better than the individual ones: sensitivity and specificity values between 75% and 100% for the individual techniques and between 96-100% and 88-100% for the mid- and high-level data fusion strategies, respectively. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Clustering properties of g -selected galaxies at z ~ 0.8

DOE PAGES

Favole, Ginevra; Comparat, Johan; Prada, Francisco; ...

2016-06-21

In current and future large redshift surveys, as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (SDSS-IV/eBOSS) or the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), we will use emission-line galaxies (ELGs) to probe cosmological models by mapping the large-scale structure of the Universe in the redshift range 0.6 < z < 1.7. We explore the halo-galaxy connection, with current data and by measuring three clustering properties of g-selected ELGs as matter tracers in the redshift range 0.6 < z < 1: (i) the redshift-space two-point correlation function using spectroscopic redshifts from the BOSS ELG sample and VIPERS; (ii)more » the angular two-point correlation function on the footprint of the CFHT-LS; (iii) the galaxy-galaxy lensing signal around the ELGs using the CFHTLenS. Furthermore, we interpret these observations by mapping them on to the latest high-resolution MultiDark Planck N-body simulation, using a novel (Sub)Halo-Abundance Matching technique that accounts for the ELG incompleteness. ELGs at z ~ 0.8 live in haloes of (1 ± 0.5) × 10 12 h -1 M⊙ and 22.5 ± 2.5 per cent of them are satellites belonging to a larger halo. The halo occupation distribution of ELGs indicates that we are sampling the galaxies in which stars form in the most efficient way, according to their stellar-to-halo mass ratio.« less

Gemini Observations of Galaxies in Rich Early Environments (GOGREEN) I: survey description

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balogh, Michael L.; Gilbank, David G.; Muzzin, Adam; Rudnick, Gregory; Cooper, Michael C.; Lidman, Chris; Biviano, Andrea; Demarco, Ricardo; McGee, Sean L.; Nantais, Julie B.; Noble, Allison; Old, Lyndsay; Wilson, Gillian; Yee, Howard K. C.; Bellhouse, Callum; Cerulo, Pierluigi; Chan, Jeffrey; Pintos-Castro, Irene; Simpson, Rane; van der Burg, Remco F. J.; Zaritsky, Dennis; Ziparo, Felicia; Alonso, María Victoria; Bower, Richard G.; De Lucia, Gabriella; Finoguenov, Alexis; Lambas, Diego Garcia; Muriel, Hernan; Parker, Laura C.; Rettura, Alessandro; Valotto, Carlos; Wetzel, Andrew

2017-10-01

We describe a new Large Program in progress on the Gemini North and South telescopes: Gemini Observations of Galaxies in Rich Early Environments (GOGREEN). This is an imaging and deep spectroscopic survey of 21 galaxy systems at 1 < z < 1.5, selected to span a factor >10 in halo mass. The scientific objectives include measuring the role of environment in the evolution of low-mass galaxies, and measuring the dynamics and stellar contents of their host haloes. The targets are selected from the SpARCS, SPT, COSMOS, and SXDS surveys, to be the evolutionary counterparts of today's clusters and groups. The new red-sensitive Hamamatsu detectors on GMOS, coupled with the nod-and-shuffle sky subtraction, allow simultaneous wavelength coverage over λ ˜ 0.6-1.05 μm, and this enables a homogeneous and statistically complete redshift survey of galaxies of all types. The spectroscopic sample targets galaxies with AB magnitudes z΄ < 24.25 and [3.6] μm < 22.5, and is therefore statistically complete for stellar masses M* ≳ 1010.3 M⊙, for all galaxy types and over the entire redshift range. Deep, multiwavelength imaging has been acquired over larger fields for most systems, spanning u through K, in addition to deep IRAC imaging at 3.6 μm. The spectroscopy is ˜50 per cent complete as of semester 17A, and we anticipate a final sample of ˜500 new cluster members. Combined with existing spectroscopy on the brighter galaxies from GCLASS, SPT, and other sources, GOGREEN will be a large legacy cluster and field galaxy sample at this redshift that spectroscopically covers a wide range in stellar mass, halo mass, and clustercentric radius.

Capillary electrophoretic determination of selected phenolic compounds in humic substances of well waters and fertilizers.

PubMed

Chen, Mei-Ying; Chang, Yan-Zin; Lu, Fung-Jou; Chen, Jian-Lian

2010-01-01

Humic substances (HS) from well waters, fertilizers, and synthetic phenolic polymers were characterized by elemental and UV-VIS spectroscopic analyses. Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with UV absorption detection was used to analyze the lignin-derived phenolic distribution in the degradation residues after alkaline CuO oxidation of HS samples. Eleven phenols with p-acetyl, vanillyl and syringyl substituents were selected to optimize the CZE parameters. For well waters and fertilizers, the content of phenolic fragments was in agreement with the findings of the elemental and spectroscopic measurements. Additionally, parameters derived from the vanillic acid/vanilline, syringyl acid/syringaldehyde, p-hydroxyl/vanillyl and syringyl/vanillyl ratios matched analogous studies on dissolved organic matter from natural waters and on humic acids from terrestrial substances. The amount of phenolic monomer bonded within two synthetic HS polymers was found to be 25.9% protocatechuic acid and 71.3% gallic acid.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Iron abundance of Terzan 5 stars (Massari+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Massari, D.; Mucciarelli, A.; Ferraro, F. R.; Origlia, L.; Rich, R. M.; Lanzoni, B.; Dalessandro, E.; Valenti, E.; Ibata, R.; Lovisi, L.; Bellazzini, M.; Reitzel, D.

2017-05-01

This study is based on a sample of stars located within the tidal radius of Terzan 5 (rt~300''; Lanzoni et al. 2010ApJ...717..653L; Miocchi et al. 2013ApJ...774..151M) observed with two different instruments: FLAMES (Pasquini et al. 2002Msngr.110....1P) at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) VLT and DEIMOS (Faber et al. 2003SPIE.4841.1657F) at the Keck II Telescope. The spectroscopic targets have been selected from the optical photometric catalog of Terzan 5 described in Lanzoni et al. (2010ApJ...717..653L) along the brightest portion (I<17) of the red giant branch (RGB). In order to avoid contamination from other sources, we avoided stars with bright neighbors (Ineighbor

Photonic sensor devices for explosive detection.

PubMed

Willer, Ulrike; Schade, Wolfgang

2009-09-01

For the sensitive online and in situ detection of gaseous species, optical methods are ideally suited. In contrast to chemical analysis, no sample preparation is necessary and therefore spectroscopic methods should be favorable both in respect of a fast signal recovery and economically because no disposal is needed. However, spectroscopic methods are currently not widely used for security applications. We review photonic sensor devices for the detection of explosives in the gas phase as well as the condensed phase and the underlying spectroscopic techniques with respect to their adaptability for security applications, where high sensitivity, high selectivity, and a low false-alarm rate are of importance. The measurements have to be performed under ambient conditions and often remote handling or even operation in standoff configuration is needed. For handheld and portable equipment, special attention is focused on the miniaturization and examples for already-available sensor devices are given.

Spectroscopic Survey of Circumstellar Disks in Orion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Contreras, Maria; Hernandez, Jesus; Olguin, Lorenzo; Briceno, Cesar

2013-07-01

As a second stage of a project focused on characterizing candidate stars bearing a circumstellar disk in Orion, we present a spectroscopic follow-up of a set of about 170 bright stars. The present set of stars was selected by their optical (UBVRI) and infrared behavior in different color-color and color-magnitude diagrams. Observations were carried out at the Observatorio Astronomico Nacional located at the Sierra San Pedro Martir in B.C., Mexico and at the Observatorio Guillermo Haro in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico. Low-resolution spectra were obtained for all candidates in the sample. Using the SPTCLASS code, we have obtained spectral types and equivalent widths of the Li I 6707 and Halpha lines for each one of the stars. This project is a cornerstone of a large scale survey aimed to obtain stellar parameters in a homogeneous way using spectroscopic data. This work was partially supported by UNAM-PAPIIT grant IN-109311.

A photometrically and spectroscopically confirmed population of passive spiral galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fraser-McKelvie, Amelia; Brown, Michael J. I.; Pimbblet, Kevin A.; Dolley, Tim; Crossett, Jacob P.; Bonne, Nicolas J.

2016-10-01

We have identified a population of passive spiral galaxies from photometry and integral field spectroscopy. We selected z < 0.035 spiral galaxies that have WISE colours consistent with little mid-infrared emission from warm dust. Matched aperture photometry of 51 spiral galaxies in ultraviolet, optical and mid-infrared show these galaxies have colours consistent with passive galaxies. Six galaxies form a spectroscopic pilot study and were observed using the Wide-Field Spectrograph to check for signs of nebular emission from star formation. We see no evidence of substantial nebular emission found in previous red spiral samples. These six galaxies possess absorption-line spectra with 4000 Å breaks consistent with an average luminosity-weighted age of 2.3 Gyr. Our photometric and integral field spectroscopic observations confirm the existence of a population of local passive spiral galaxies, implying that transformation into early-type morphologies is not required for the quenching of star formation.

Spectroscopic and Photometric Properties of Carbon Stars in the Disk of the Andromeda Galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guhathakurta, Puragra; Toloba, E.; Guha, S.; Rushing, C.; Dorman, C.; PHAT Collaboration; SPLASH Collaboration

2013-01-01

We explore the spectroscopic properties of a couple hundred carbon stars discovered in the disk of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) in the course of the Spectroscopic and Photometric Landscape of Andromeda's Stellar Halo (SPLASH) survey. The spectra were obtained using the DEIMOS spectrograph on the Keck II 10-meter telescope. About 5000 stars were targeted for spectroscopy during observing runs in 2010 and 2011 using DEIMOS's 1200 lines/mm grating with a spectral resolving power of R ~ 5000 to 6000 and spectral coverage from 6500-9000 Angstrom. In September 2012, another 5000 stars were observed this time with the 600 lines/mm grating and R ~ 2500 and spectral coverage from 4500-9000 Angstrom. For both types of spectroscopic observations, targets were selected from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) multi-cycle treasury program with the Hubble Space Telescope. Six-filter photometry in the ultraviolet (F275W, F336W), optical (F439W, F814W), and near infrared (F110W, F160W) is available for most targets. These carbon star samples are used to constrain the intermediage-age population in M31's disk. They are also compared to spectra of previously known carbon samples in the dwarf elliptical satellites of M31, NGC 147, NGC 185, and NGC 205. The authors thank the National Science Foundation, NASA/STScI, and UCSC's Summer Internship Program for support.

Cross-correlation redshift calibration without spectroscopic calibration samples in DES Science Verification Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, C.; Rozo, E.; Roodman, A.; Alarcon, A.; Cawthon, R.; Gatti, M.; Lin, H.; Miquel, R.; Rykoff, E. S.; Troxel, M. A.; Vielzeuf, P.; Abbott, T. M. C.; Abdalla, F. B.; Allam, S.; Annis, J.; Bechtol, K.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Bertin, E.; Brooks, D.; Buckley-Geer, E.; Burke, D. L.; Carnero Rosell, A.; Carrasco Kind, M.; Carretero, J.; Castander, F. J.; Crocce, M.; Cunha, C. E.; D'Andrea, C. B.; da Costa, L. N.; Desai, S.; Diehl, H. T.; Doel, P.; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Fausti Neto, A.; Flaugher, B.; Fosalba, P.; Frieman, J.; García-Bellido, J.; Gaztanaga, E.; Gerdes, D. W.; Giannantonio, T.; Gruen, D.; Gruendl, R. A.; Gutierrez, G.; Honscheid, K.; Jain, B.; James, D. J.; Jeltema, T.; Krause, E.; Kuehn, K.; Kuhlmann, S.; Kuropatkin, N.; Lahav, O.; Li, T. S.; Lima, M.; March, M.; Marshall, J. L.; Martini, P.; Melchior, P.; Ogando, R. L. C.; Plazas, A. A.; Romer, A. K.; Sanchez, E.; Scarpine, V.; Schindler, R.; Schubnell, M.; Sevilla-Noarbe, I.; Smith, M.; Soares-Santos, M.; Sobreira, F.; Suchyta, E.; Swanson, M. E. C.; Tarle, G.; Thomas, D.; Vikram, V.; Walker, A. R.; Wechsler, R. H.

2018-06-01

Galaxy cross-correlations with high-fidelity redshift samples hold the potential to precisely calibrate systematic photometric redshift uncertainties arising from the unavailability of complete and representative training and validation samples of galaxies. However, application of this technique in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) is hampered by the relatively low number density, small area, and modest redshift overlap between photometric and spectroscopic samples. We propose instead using photometric catalogues with reliable photometric redshifts for photo-z calibration via cross-correlations. We verify the viability of our proposal using redMaPPer clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to successfully recover the redshift distribution of SDSS spectroscopic galaxies. We demonstrate how to combine photo-z with cross-correlation data to calibrate photometric redshift biases while marginalizing over possible clustering bias evolution in either the calibration or unknown photometric samples. We apply our method to DES Science Verification (DES SV) data in order to constrain the photometric redshift distribution of a galaxy sample selected for weak lensing studies, constraining the mean of the tomographic redshift distributions to a statistical uncertainty of Δz ˜ ±0.01. We forecast that our proposal can, in principle, control photometric redshift uncertainties in DES weak lensing experiments at a level near the intrinsic statistical noise of the experiment over the range of redshifts where redMaPPer clusters are available. Our results provide strong motivation to launch a programme to fully characterize the systematic errors from bias evolution and photo-z shapes in our calibration procedure.

Cross-correlation redshift calibration without spectroscopic calibration samples in DES Science Verification Data

DOE PAGES

Davis, C.; Rozo, E.; Roodman, A.; ...

2018-03-26

Galaxy cross-correlations with high-fidelity redshift samples hold the potential to precisely calibrate systematic photometric redshift uncertainties arising from the unavailability of complete and representative training and validation samples of galaxies. However, application of this technique in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) is hampered by the relatively low number density, small area, and modest redshift overlap between photometric and spectroscopic samples. We propose instead using photometric catalogs with reliable photometric redshifts for photo-z calibration via cross-correlations. We verify the viability of our proposal using redMaPPer clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to successfully recover the redshift distribution of SDSS spectroscopic galaxies. We demonstrate how to combine photo-z with cross-correlation data to calibrate photometric redshift biases while marginalizing over possible clustering bias evolution in either the calibration or unknown photometric samples. We apply our method to DES Science Verification (DES SV) data in order to constrain the photometric redshift distribution of a galaxy sample selected for weak lensing studies, constraining the mean of the tomographic redshift distributions to a statistical uncertainty ofmore » $$\\Delta z \\sim \\pm 0.01$$. We forecast that our proposal can in principle control photometric redshift uncertainties in DES weak lensing experiments at a level near the intrinsic statistical noise of the experiment over the range of redshifts where redMaPPer clusters are available. Here, our results provide strong motivation to launch a program to fully characterize the systematic errors from bias evolution and photo-z shapes in our calibration procedure.« less

Cross-correlation redshift calibration without spectroscopic calibration samples in DES Science Verification Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davis, C.; Rozo, E.; Roodman, A.

Galaxy cross-correlations with high-fidelity redshift samples hold the potential to precisely calibrate systematic photometric redshift uncertainties arising from the unavailability of complete and representative training and validation samples of galaxies. However, application of this technique in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) is hampered by the relatively low number density, small area, and modest redshift overlap between photometric and spectroscopic samples. We propose instead using photometric catalogs with reliable photometric redshifts for photo-z calibration via cross-correlations. We verify the viability of our proposal using redMaPPer clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to successfully recover the redshift distribution of SDSS spectroscopic galaxies. We demonstrate how to combine photo-z with cross-correlation data to calibrate photometric redshift biases while marginalizing over possible clustering bias evolution in either the calibration or unknown photometric samples. We apply our method to DES Science Verification (DES SV) data in order to constrain the photometric redshift distribution of a galaxy sample selected for weak lensing studies, constraining the mean of the tomographic redshift distributions to a statistical uncertainty ofmore » $$\\Delta z \\sim \\pm 0.01$$. We forecast that our proposal can in principle control photometric redshift uncertainties in DES weak lensing experiments at a level near the intrinsic statistical noise of the experiment over the range of redshifts where redMaPPer clusters are available. Here, our results provide strong motivation to launch a program to fully characterize the systematic errors from bias evolution and photo-z shapes in our calibration procedure.« less

Clustering on very small scales from a large, complete sample of confirmed quasar pairs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eftekharzadeh, Sarah; Myers, Adam D.; Djorgovski, Stanislav G.; Graham, Matthew J.; Hennawi, Joseph F.; Mahabal, Ashish A.; Richards, Gordon T.

2016-06-01

We present by far the largest sample of spectroscopically confirmed binaryquasars with proper transverse separations of 17.0 ≤ Rprop ≤ 36.6 h-1 kpc. Our sample, whichis an order-of-magnitude larger than previous samples, is selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging over an area corresponding to the SDSS 6th data release (DR6). Our quasars are targeted using a Kernel Density Estimation technique (KDE), and confirmed using long-slit spectroscopy on a range of facilities.Our most complete sub-sample of 44 binary quasars with g<20.85, extends across angular scales of 2.9" < Δθ < 6.3", and is targeted from a parent sample that would be equivalent to a full spectroscopic survey of nearly 300,000 quasars.We determine the projected correlation function of quasars (\\bar Wp) over proper transverse scales of 17.0 ≤ Rprop ≤ 36.6 h-1 kpc, and also in 4 bins of scale within this complete range.To investigate the redshift evolution of quasar clustering on small scales, we make the first self-consistent measurement of the projected quasar correlation function in 4 bins of redshift over 0.4 ≤ z ≤ 2.3.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Galaxy Zoo 2: new classification (Hart+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hart, R. E.; Bamford, S. P.; Willett, K. W.; Masters, K. L.; Cardamone, C.; Lintott, C. J.; Mackay, R. J.; Nichol, R. C.; Rosslowe, C. K.; Simmons, B. D.; Smethurst, R. J.

2017-11-01

We make use of morphological information from the public data release of Galaxy Zoo 2. The galaxies classified by GZ2 were taken from the SDSS Data Release 7 (DR7; Abazajian et al. 2009ApJS..182..543A). The SDSS main galaxy sample is an r-band selected sample of galaxies in the legacy imaging area targeted for spectroscopic follow-up (Strauss et al., 2002AJ....124.1810S) The GZ2 sample contains essentially all well-resolved galaxies in DR7 down to a limiting absolute magnitude of mr<=17, supplemented by additional sets of galaxies in Stripe 82 for which deeper, co-added imaging exists (see W13 (Willett et al., 2013MNRAS.435.2835W, Cat. J/MNRAS/435/2835) for details). In this paper, we only consider galaxies with mr<=17 that were classified in normal-depth SDSS imaging and which have DR7 spectroscopic redshifts. We refer to this as our full sample, containing 228201 galaxies, to which the debiasing procedure described in Section 3.3 is applied. (1 data file).

An ALMA Survey of Submillimeter Galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: Spectroscopic Redshifts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Danielson, A. L. R.; Swinbank, A. M.; Smail, Ian; Simpson, J. M.; Casey, C. M.; Chapman, S. C.; da Cunha, E.; Hodge, J. A.; Walter, F.; Wardlow, J. L.; Alexander, D. M.; Brandt, W. N.; de Breuck, C.; Coppin, K. E. K.; Dannerbauer, H.; Dickinson, M.; Edge, A. C.; Gawiser, E.; Ivison, R. J.; Karim, A.; Kovacs, A.; Lutz, D.; Menten, K.; Schinnerer, E.; Weiß, A.; van der Werf, P.

2017-05-01

We present spectroscopic redshifts of {\\text{}}{S}870μ {{m}} ≳ 2 mJy submillimeter galaxies (SMGs), which have been identified from the ALMA follow-up observations of 870 μm detected sources in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (the ALMA-LESS survey). We derive spectroscopic redshifts for 52 SMGs, with a median of z = 2.4 ± 0.1. However, the distribution features a high-redshift tail, with ˜23% of the SMGs at z≥slant 3. Spectral diagnostics suggest that the SMGs are young starbursts, and the velocity offsets between the nebular emission and UV ISM absorption lines suggest that many are driving winds, with velocity offsets of up to 2000 km s-1. Using the spectroscopic redshifts and the extensive UV-to-radio photometry in this field, we produce optimized spectral energy distributions (SEDs) using Magphys, and use the SEDs to infer a median stellar mass of {M}\\star = (6 ± 1)× 1010 M {}⊙ for our SMGs with spectroscopic redshift. By combining these stellar masses with the star formation rates (measured from the far-infrared SEDs), we show that SMGs (on average) lie a factor of ˜5 above the so-called “main sequence” at z˜ 2. We provide this library of 52 template fits with robust and uniquely well-sampled SEDs as a resource for future studies of SMGs, and also release the spectroscopic catalog of ˜2000 (mostly infrared-selected) galaxies targeted as part of the spectroscopic campaign.

Catalog of candidates for quasars at 3 < z < 5.5 selected among X-Ray sources from the 3XMM-DR4 survey of the XMM-Newton observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khorunzhev, G. A.; Burenin, R. A.; Meshcheryakov, A. V.; Sazonov, S. Yu.

2016-05-01

We have compiled a catalog of 903 candidates for type 1 quasars at redshifts 3 < z < 5.5 selected among the X-ray sources of the "serendipitous" XMM-Newton survey presented in the 3XMMDR4 catalog (the median X-ray flux is ≈5 × 10-15 erg s-1 cm-2 in the 0.5-2 keV energy band) and located at high Galactic latitudes | b| > 20° in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) fields with a total area of about 300 deg2. Photometric SDSS data as well infrared 2MASS and WISE data were used to select the objects. We selected the point sources from the photometric SDSS catalog with a magnitude error δ mz' < 0.2 and a color i' - z' < 0.6 (to first eliminate the M-type stars). For the selected sources, we have calculated the dependences χ2( z) for various spectral templates from the library that we compiled for these purposes using the EAZY software. Based on these data, we have rejected the objects whose spectral energy distributions are better described by the templates of stars at z = 0 and obtained a sample of quasars with photometric redshift estimates 2.75 < z phot < 5.5. The selection completeness of known quasars at z spec > 3 in the investigated fields is shown to be about 80%. The normalized median absolute deviation (Δ z = | z spec - z phot|) is σ Δ z /(1+ z spec) = 0.07, while the outlier fraction is η = 9% when Δ z/(1 + z cпek.) > 0.2. The number of objects per unit area in our sample exceeds the number of quasars in the spectroscopic SDSS sample at the same redshifts approximately by a factor of 1.5. The subsequent spectroscopic testing of the redshifts of our selected candidates for quasars at 3 < z < 5.5 will allow the purity of this sample to be estimated more accurately.

THE REDSHIFT DISTRIBUTION OF GIANT ARCS IN THE SLOAN GIANT ARCS SURVEY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bayliss, Matthew B.; Gladders, Michael D.; Koester, Benjamin P.

2011-01-20

We measure the redshift distribution of a sample of 28 giant arcs discovered as a part of the Sloan Giant Arcs Survey. Gemini/GMOS-North spectroscopy provides precise redshifts for 24 arcs, and 'redshift desert' constrains for the remaining 4 arcs. This is a direct measurement of the redshift distribution of a uniformly selected sample of bright giant arcs, which is an observable that can be used to inform efforts to predict giant arc statistics. Our primary giant arc sample has a median redshift z = 1.821 and nearly two-thirds of the arcs, 64%, are sources at z {approx}> 1.4, indicating thatmore » the population of background sources that are strongly lensed into bright giant arcs resides primarily at high redshift. We also analyze the distribution of redshifts for 19 secondary strongly lensed background sources that are not visually apparent in Sloan Digital Sky Survey imaging, but were identified in deeper follow-up imaging of the lensing cluster fields. Our redshift sample for the secondary sources is not spectroscopically complete, but combining it with our primary giant arc sample suggests that a large fraction of all background galaxies that are strongly lensed by foreground clusters reside at z {approx}> 1.4. Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests indicate that our well-selected, spectroscopically complete primary giant arc redshift sample can be reproduced with a model distribution that is constructed from a combination of results from studies of strong-lensing clusters in numerical simulations and observational constraints on the galaxy luminosity function.« less

The WEAVE-LOFAR Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, D. J. B.; Best, P. N.; Duncan, K. J.; Hatch, N. A.; Jarvis, M. J.; Röttgering, H. J. A.; Simpson, C. J.; Stott, J. P.; Cochrane, R. K.; Coppin, K. E.; Dannerbauer, H.; Davis, T. A.; Geach, J. E.; Hale, C. L.; Hardcastle, M. J.; Hatfield, P. W.; Houghton, R. C. W.; Maddox, N.; McGee, S. L.; Morabito, L.; Nisbet, D.; Pandey-Pommier, M.; Prandoni, I.; Saxena, A.; Shimwell, T. W.; Tarr, M.; van Bemmel, I.; Verma, A.; White, G. J.; Williams, W. L.

2016-12-01

In these proceedings we highlight the primary scientific goals and design of the WEAVE-LOFAR survey, which will use the new WEAVE spectrograph on the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope to provide the primary source of spectroscopic information for the LOFAR Surveys Key Science Project. Beginning in 2018, WEAVE-LOFAR will generate more than 10^6 R=5000 365-960nm spectra of low-frequency selected radio sources, across three tiers designed to efficiently sample the redshift-luminosity plane, and produce a data set of enormous legacy value. The radio frequency selection, combined with the high multiplex and throughput of the WEAVE spectrograph, make obtaining redshifts in this way very efficient, and we expect that the redshift success rate will approach 100 per cent at z < 1. This unprecedented spectroscopic sample - which will be complemented by an integral field component - will be transformational in key areas, including studying the star formation history of the Universe, the role of accretion and AGN-driven feedback, properties of the epoch of reionisation, cosmology, cluster haloes and relics, as well as the nature of radio galaxies and protoclusters. Each topic will be addressed in unprecedented detail, and with the most reliable source classifications and redshift information in existence.

Spectroscopic characterization of biological agents using FTIR, normal Raman and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luna-Pineda, Tatiana; Soto-Feliciano, Kristina; De La Cruz-Montoya, Edwin; Pacheco Londoño, Leonardo C.; Ríos-Velázquez, Carlos; Hernández-Rivera, Samuel P.

2007-04-01

FTIR, Raman spectroscopy and Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) requires a minimum of sample allows fast identification of microorganisms. The use of this technique for characterizing the spectroscopic signatures of these agents and their stimulants has recently gained considerable attention due to the fact that these techniques can be easily adapted for standoff detection from considerable distances. The techniques also show high sensitivity and selectivity and offer near real time detection duty cycles. This research focuses in laying the grounds for the spectroscopic differentiation of Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus spp., Salmonella spp., Enterobacter aerogenes, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and E. coli, together with identification of their subspecies. In order to achieve the proponed objective, protocols to handle, cultivate and analyze the strains have been developed. Spectroscopic similarities and marked differences have been found for Spontaneous or Normal Raman spectra and for SERS using silver nanoparticles have been found. The use of principal component analysis (PCA), discriminate factor analysis (DFA) and a cluster analysis were used to evaluate the efficacy of identifying potential threat bacterial from their spectra collected on single bacteria. The DFA from the bacteria Raman spectra show a little discrimination between the diverse bacterial species however the results obtained from the SERS demonstrate to be high discrimination technique. The spectroscopic study will be extended to examine the spores produced by selected strains since these are more prone to be used as Biological Warfare Agents due to their increased mobility and possibility of airborne transport. Micro infrared spectroscopy as well as fiber coupled FTIR will also be used as possible sensors of target compounds.

Variability-selected active galactic nuclei from supernova search in the Chandra deep field south

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trevese, D.; Boutsia, K.; Vagnetti, F.; Cappellaro, E.; Puccetti, S.

2008-09-01

Context: Variability is a property shared by virtually all active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and was adopted as a criterion for their selection using data from multi epoch surveys. Low Luminosity AGNs (LLAGNs) are contaminated by the light of their host galaxies, and cannot therefore be detected by the usual colour techniques. For this reason, their evolution in cosmic time is poorly known. Consistency with the evolution derived from X-ray detected samples has not been clearly established so far, also because the low luminosity population consists of a mixture of different object types. LLAGNs can be detected by the nuclear optical variability of extended objects. Aims: Several variability surveys have been, or are being, conducted for the detection of supernovae (SNe). We propose to re-analyse these SNe data using a variability criterion optimised for AGN detection, to select a new AGN sample and study its properties. Methods: We analysed images acquired with the wide field imager at the 2.2 m ESO/MPI telescope, in the framework of the STRESS supernova survey. We selected the AXAF field centred on the Chandra Deep Field South where, besides the deep X-ray survey, various optical data exist, originating in the EIS and COMBO-17 photometric surveys and the spectroscopic database of GOODS. Results: We obtained a catalogue of 132 variable AGN candidates. Several of the candidates are X-ray sources. We compare our results with an HST variability study of X-ray and IR detected AGNs, finding consistent results. The relatively high fraction of confirmed AGNs in our sample (60%) allowed us to extract a list of reliable AGN candidates for spectroscopic follow-up observations. Table [see full text] is only available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

The High AV Quasar Survey: Reddened Quasi-Stellar Objects Selected from Optical/Near-Infrared Photometry—II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krogager, J.-K.; Geier, S.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Venemans, B. P.; Ledoux, C.; Møller, P.; Noterdaeme, P.; Vestergaard, M.; Kangas, T.; Pursimo, T.; Saturni, F. G.; Smirnova, O.

2015-03-01

Quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) whose spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are reddened by dust either in their host galaxies or in intervening absorber galaxies are to a large degree missed by optical color selection criteria like the ones used by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). To overcome this bias against red QSOs, we employ a combined optical and near-infrared (near-IR) color selection. In this paper, we present a spectroscopic follow-up campaign of a sample of red candidate QSOs which were selected from the SDSS and the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS). The spectroscopic data and SDSS/UKIDSS photometry are supplemented by mid-infrared photometry from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. In our sample of 159 candidates, 154 (97%) are confirmed to be QSOs. We use a statistical algorithm to identify sightlines with plausible intervening absorption systems and identify nine such cases assuming dust in the absorber similar to Large Magellanic Cloud sightlines. We find absorption systems toward 30 QSOs, 2 of which are consistent with the best-fit absorber redshift from the statistical modeling. Furthermore, we observe a broad range in SED properties of the QSOs as probed by the rest-frame 2 μm flux. We find QSOs with a strong excess as well as QSOs with a large deficit at rest-frame 2 μm relative to a QSO template. Potential solutions to these discrepancies are discussed. Overall, our study demonstrates the high efficiency of the optical/near-IR selection of red QSOs.

Radiative transfer and spectroscopic databases: A line-sampling Monte Carlo approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galtier, Mathieu; Blanco, Stéphane; Dauchet, Jérémi; El Hafi, Mouna; Eymet, Vincent; Fournier, Richard; Roger, Maxime; Spiesser, Christophe; Terrée, Guillaume

2016-03-01

Dealing with molecular-state transitions for radiative transfer purposes involves two successive steps that both reach the complexity level at which physicists start thinking about statistical approaches: (1) constructing line-shaped absorption spectra as the result of very numerous state-transitions, (2) integrating over optical-path domains. For the first time, we show here how these steps can be addressed simultaneously using the null-collision concept. This opens the door to the design of Monte Carlo codes directly estimating radiative transfer observables from spectroscopic databases. The intermediate step of producing accurate high-resolution absorption spectra is no longer required. A Monte Carlo algorithm is proposed and applied to six one-dimensional test cases. It allows the computation of spectrally integrated intensities (over 25 cm-1 bands or the full IR range) in a few seconds, regardless of the retained database and line model. But free parameters need to be selected and they impact the convergence. A first possible selection is provided in full detail. We observe that this selection is highly satisfactory for quite distinct atmospheric and combustion configurations, but a more systematic exploration is still in progress.

Wavelength selection method with standard deviation: application to pulse oximetry.

PubMed

Vazquez-Jaccaud, Camille; Paez, Gonzalo; Strojnik, Marija

2011-07-01

Near-infrared spectroscopy provides useful biological information after the radiation has penetrated through the tissue, within the therapeutic window. One of the significant shortcomings of the current applications of spectroscopic techniques to a live subject is that the subject may be uncooperative and the sample undergoes significant temporal variations, due to his health status that, from radiometric point of view, introduce measurement noise. We describe a novel wavelength selection method for monitoring, based on a standard deviation map, that allows low-noise sensitivity. It may be used with spectral transillumination, transmission, or reflection signals, including those corrupted by noise and unavoidable temporal effects. We apply it to the selection of two wavelengths for the case of pulse oximetry. Using spectroscopic data, we generate a map of standard deviation that we propose as a figure-of-merit in the presence of the noise introduced by the living subject. Even in the presence of diverse sources of noise, we identify four wavelength domains with standard deviation, minimally sensitive to temporal noise, and two wavelengths domains with low sensitivity to temporal noise.

Spectroscopic survey of southern hemisphere white dwarfs. II. Spectroscopic data for forty-one southern white dwarfs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wegner, G.

New spectroscopic data on 41 southern white dwarfs are presented. Most of these stars have not teen previously observed spectroscopically. Spectral types, as well as equivalent widths and line profiles for a few selected lines, are given. (auth)

Histological staining can enhance the performance of spectroscopic microscopy on sensing nanoarchitectural alterations of biological cells (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Di; Cherkezyan, Lusik; Li, Yue; Capoglu, Ilker; Subramanian, Hariharan; Taflove, Allen; Backman, Vadim

2017-02-01

Our group had previously established that nanoscale three-dimensional refractive index (RI) fluctuations of a linear, dielectric, label-free medium can be sensed in the far field through spectroscopic microscopy, regardless of the diffraction limit of optical microscopy. Adopting this technique, Partial Wave Spectroscopic (PWS) Microscopy was able to sense nanoarchitectural alterations in early-stage cancers. With the success of PWS on detecting cancer from healthy clinical samples, we further investigated whether and how histological staining can enhance the performance of PWS by both finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations and experiments. In this investigation, the dispersion models of hematoxylin and eosin were extracted from the absorption spectra of H and E stained cells. Using these models, the effect of staining were studied via FDTD simulations of unstained versus stained samples with various nanostructures. We observed that, the spectral variance was increased and the spectral variance difference between two samples with distinct nanostructures was enhanced in stained samples by over 200%. Furthermore, we investigated with FDTD whether molecule-specific staining can be used to enhance signals from a medium composing of the desired molecule. Samples with two mixed random media were created and the desired medium was either stained or unstained. Our results showed that the difference between the nanostructures of only the desired medium was enhanced in stained samples. We concluded that, with molecule-specific staining, PWS can selectively target the nanoarchitecture of a desired molecule. Lastly, these results were validated by experiments using human buccal cells from healthy or lung cancer patients. This study has significant impact in improving the performance of PWS on quantifying nanoarchitectural alterations during cancer.

The 2-degree Field Lensing Survey: design and clustering measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blake, Chris; Amon, Alexandra; Childress, Michael; Erben, Thomas; Glazebrook, Karl; Harnois-Deraps, Joachim; Heymans, Catherine; Hildebrandt, Hendrik; Hinton, Samuel R.; Janssens, Steven; Johnson, Andrew; Joudaki, Shahab; Klaes, Dominik; Kuijken, Konrad; Lidman, Chris; Marin, Felipe A.; Parkinson, David; Poole, Gregory B.; Wolf, Christian

2016-11-01

We present the 2-degree Field Lensing Survey (2dFLenS), a new galaxy redshift survey performed at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. 2dFLenS is the first wide-area spectroscopic survey specifically targeting the area mapped by deep-imaging gravitational lensing fields, in this case the Kilo-Degree Survey. 2dFLenS obtained 70 079 redshifts in the range z < 0.9 over an area of 731 deg2, and is designed to extend the data sets available for testing gravitational physics and promote the development of relevant algorithms for joint imaging and spectroscopic analysis. The redshift sample consists first of 40 531 Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs), which enable analyses of galaxy-galaxy lensing, redshift-space distortion, and the overlapping source redshift distribution by cross-correlation. An additional 28 269 redshifts form a magnitude-limited (r < 19.5) nearly complete subsample, allowing direct source classification and photometric-redshift calibration. In this paper, we describe the motivation, target selection, spectroscopic observations, and clustering analysis of 2dFLenS. We use power spectrum multipole measurements to fit the redshift-space distortion parameter of the LRG sample in two redshift ranges 0.15 < z < 0.43 and 0.43 < z < 0.7 as β = 0.49 ± 0.15 and β = 0.26 ± 0.09, respectively. These values are consistent with those obtained from LRGs in the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. 2dFLenS data products will be released via our website http://2dflens.swin.edu.au.

redMaGiC: Selecting luminous red galaxies from the DES Science Verification data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rozo, E.; Rykoff, E. S.; Abate, A.

Here, we introduce redMaGiC, an automated algorithm for selecting luminous red galaxies (LRGs). The algorithm was specifically developed to minimize photometric redshift uncertainties in photometric large-scale structure studies. redMaGiC achieves this by self-training the colour cuts necessary to produce a luminosity-thresholded LRG sample of constant comoving density. We demonstrate that redMaGiC photo-zs are very nearly as accurate as the best machine learning-based methods, yet they require minimal spectroscopic training, do not suffer from extrapolation biases, and are very nearly Gaussian. We apply our algorithm to Dark Energy Survey (DES) Science Verification (SV) data to produce a redMaGiC catalogue sampling themore » redshift range z ϵ [0.2, 0.8]. Our fiducial sample has a comoving space density of 10 –3 (h –1 Mpc) –3, and a median photo-z bias (zspec – zphoto) and scatter (σz/(1 + z)) of 0.005 and 0.017, respectively. The corresponding 5σ outlier fraction is 1.4 per cent. We also test our algorithm with Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 8 and Stripe 82 data, and discuss how spectroscopic training can be used to control photo-z biases at the 0.1 per cent level.« less

redMaGiC: Selecting luminous red galaxies from the DES Science Verification data

DOE PAGES

Rozo, E.; Rykoff, E. S.; Abate, A.; ...

2016-05-30

Here, we introduce redMaGiC, an automated algorithm for selecting luminous red galaxies (LRGs). The algorithm was specifically developed to minimize photometric redshift uncertainties in photometric large-scale structure studies. redMaGiC achieves this by self-training the colour cuts necessary to produce a luminosity-thresholded LRG sample of constant comoving density. We demonstrate that redMaGiC photo-zs are very nearly as accurate as the best machine learning-based methods, yet they require minimal spectroscopic training, do not suffer from extrapolation biases, and are very nearly Gaussian. We apply our algorithm to Dark Energy Survey (DES) Science Verification (SV) data to produce a redMaGiC catalogue sampling themore » redshift range z ϵ [0.2, 0.8]. Our fiducial sample has a comoving space density of 10 –3 (h –1 Mpc) –3, and a median photo-z bias (zspec – zphoto) and scatter (σz/(1 + z)) of 0.005 and 0.017, respectively. The corresponding 5σ outlier fraction is 1.4 per cent. We also test our algorithm with Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 8 and Stripe 82 data, and discuss how spectroscopic training can be used to control photo-z biases at the 0.1 per cent level.« less

The Rest-frame Ultraviolet Spectra of UV-selected Active Galactic Nuclei at z ~ 2-3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hainline, Kevin N.; Shapley, Alice E.; Greene, Jenny E.; Steidel, Charles C.

2011-05-01

We present new results for a sample of 33 narrow-lined UV-selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs), identified in the course of a spectroscopic survey for star-forming galaxies at z ~ 2-3. The rest-frame UV composite spectrum for our AGN sample shows several emission lines characteristic of AGNs, as well as interstellar absorption features detected in star-forming Lyman break galaxies (LBGs). We report a detection of N IV] λ1486, which has been observed in high-redshift radio galaxies, as well as in rare optically selected quasars. The UV continuum slope of the composite spectrum is significantly redder than that of a sample of non-AGN UV-selected star-forming galaxies. Blueshifted Si IV absorption provides evidence for outflowing highly ionized gas in these objects at speeds of ~103 km s-1, quantitatively different from what is seen in the outflows of non-AGN LBGs. Grouping the individual AGNs by parameters such as the Lyα equivalent width, redshift, and UV continuum magnitude allows for an analysis of the major spectroscopic trends within the sample. Stronger Lyα emission is coupled with weaker low-ionization absorption, which is similar to what is seen in the non-AGN LBGs, and highlights the role that cool interstellar gas plays in the escape of Lyα photons. However, the AGN composite does not show the same trends between Lyα strength and extinction seen in the non-AGN LBGs. These results represent the first such comparison at high redshift between star-forming galaxies and similar galaxies that host AGN activity. Based, in part, on data obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

Spectroscopic Confirmation of Two Massive Red-sequence-selected Galaxy Clusters at Z Approximately Equal to 1.2 in the Sparcs-North Cluster Survey

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Muzzin, Adam; Wilson, Gillian; Yee, H.K.C.; Hoekstra, Henk; Gilbank, David; Surace, Jason; Lacy, Mark; Blindert, Kris; Majumdar, Subhabrata; Demarco, Ricardo;

Real-time spectroscopic sensing using a widely tunable external cavity-QCL with MOEMS diffraction grating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ostendorf, Ralf; Butschek, Lorenz; Merten, André; Grahmann, Jan; Jarvis, Jan; Hugger, Stefan; Fuchs, Frank; Wagner, Joachim

2016-02-01

We present spectroscopic measurements performed with an EC-QCL combining a broadly tunable quantum cascade laser chip with a tuning range of more than 300 cm-1 and a resonantly driven MOEMS scanner with an integrated diffraction grating for wavelength selection in Littrow configuration. The grating geometry was optimized to provide high diffraction efficiency over the wide tuning range of the QCL, thus assuring high power density and high spectral resolution in the MIR range. The MOEMS scanner has a resonance frequency of 1 kHz, hence allowing for two full wavelength scans, one up and the other downwards, within 1 ms. The capability for real-time spectroscopic sensing based on MOEMS EC-QCLs is demonstrated by transmission measurements performed on polystyrene reference absorber sheets as well as on gaseous samples of carbon monoxide. For the latter one, a large portion of the characteristic CO absorption band containing several absorption lines in the range of 2070 cm-1 to 2280 cm-1 can be monitored in real-time.

Spectroscopic Terahertz Imaging at Room Temperature Employing Microbolometer Terahertz Sensors and Its Application to the Study of Carcinoma Tissues

PubMed Central

Kašalynas, Irmantas; Venckevičius, Rimvydas; Minkevičius, Linas; Sešek, Aleksander; Wahaia, Faustino; Tamošiūnas, Vincas; Voisiat, Bogdan; Seliuta, Dalius; Valušis, Gintaras; Švigelj, Andrej; Trontelj, Janez

2016-01-01

A terahertz (THz) imaging system based on narrow band microbolometer sensors (NBMS) and a novel diffractive lens was developed for spectroscopic microscopy applications. The frequency response characteristics of the THz antenna-coupled NBMS were determined employing Fourier transform spectroscopy. The NBMS was found to be a very sensitive frequency selective sensor which was used to develop a compact all-electronic system for multispectral THz measurements. This system was successfully applied for principal components analysis of optically opaque packed samples. A thin diffractive lens with a numerical aperture of 0.62 was proposed for the reduction of system dimensions. The THz imaging system enhanced with novel optics was used to image for the first time non-neoplastic and neoplastic human colon tissues with close to wavelength-limited spatial resolution at 584 GHz frequency. The results demonstrated the new potential of compact RT THz imaging systems in the fields of spectroscopic analysis of materials and medical diagnostics. PMID:27023551

Development and Testing of an LED-Based Near-Infrared Sensor for Human Kidney Tumor Diagnostics

PubMed Central

Zabarylo, Urszula; Kirsanov, Dmitry; Belikova, Valeria; Ageev, Vladimir; Usenov, Iskander; Galyanin, Vladislav; Minet, Olaf; Sakharova, Tatiana; Danielyan, Georgy; Feliksberger, Elena; Artyushenko, Viacheslav

2017-01-01

Optical spectroscopy is increasingly used for cancer diagnostics. Tumor detection feasibility in human kidney samples using mid- and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy has been reported (Artyushenko et al., Spectral fiber sensors for cancer diagnostics in vitro. In Proceedings of the European Conference on Biomedical Optics, Munich, Germany, 21–25 June 2015). In the present work, a simplification of the NIR spectroscopic analysis for cancer diagnostics was studied. The conventional high-resolution NIR spectroscopic method of kidney tumor diagnostics was replaced by a compact optical sensing device constructively represented by a set of four light-emitting diodes (LEDs) at selected wavelengths and one detecting photodiode. Two sensor prototypes were tested using 14 in vitro clinical samples of 7 different patients. Statistical data evaluation using principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) confirmed the general applicability of the LED-based sensing approach to kidney tumor detection. An additional validation of the results was performed by means of sample permutation. PMID:28825612

A Spectroscopic Survey of Redshift 1.4<~z<~3.0 Galaxies in the GOODS-North Field: Survey Description, Catalogs, and Properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reddy, Naveen A.; Steidel, Charles C.; Erb, Dawn K.; Shapley, Alice E.; Pettini, Max

2006-12-01

We present the results of a spectroscopic survey with LRIS-B on Keck of more than 280 star-forming galaxies and AGNs at redshifts 1.4<~z<~3.0 in the GOODS-N field. Candidates are selected by their UnGR colors using the ``BM/BX'' criteria to target redshift 1.4<~z<~2.5 galaxies and the LBG criteria to target redshift z~3 galaxies; combined these samples account for ~25%-30% of the R and Ks band counts to R=25.5 and Ks(AB)=24.4, respectively. The 212 BM/BX galaxies and 74 LBGs constitute the largest spectroscopic sample of galaxies at z>1.4 in GOODS-N. Extensive multiwavelength data allow us to investigate the stellar populations, stellar masses, bolometric luminosities (Lbol), and extinction of z~2 galaxies. Deep Chandra and Spitzer data indicate that the sample includes galaxies with a wide range in Lbol (~=1010 to >1012 Lsolar) and 4 orders of magnitude in dust obscuration (Lbol/LUV). The sample includes galaxies with a large dynamic range in evolutionary state, from very young galaxies (ages ~=50 Myr) with small stellar masses (M*~=109 Msolar) to evolved galaxies with stellar masses comparable to the most massive galaxies at these redshifts (M*>1011 Msolar). Spitzer data indicate that the optical sample includes some fraction of the obscured AGN population at high redshifts: at least 3 of 11 AGNs in the z>1.4 sample are undetected in the deep X-ray data but exhibit power-law SEDs longward of ~2 μm (rest frame) indicative of obscured AGNs. The results of our survey indicate that rest-frame UV selection and spectroscopy presently constitute the most timewise efficient method of culling large samples of high-redshift galaxies with a wide range in intrinsic properties, and the data presented here will add significantly to the multiwavelength legacy of GOODS. Based on data obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Coma clusters and filaments galaxies FIR survey (Fuller+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuller, C.; Davies, J. I.; Smith, M. W. L.; Valiante, E.; Eales, S.; Bourne, N.; Dunne, L.; Dye, S.; Furlanetto, C.; Ibar, E.; Ivison, R.; Maddox, S.; Sansom, A.; Michalowski, M. J.; Davis, T.

2017-05-01

We have undertaken a Herschel FIR survey of the Coma cluster and the galaxy filament it resides within. Our survey covers an area of ~150 deg2 observed in five bands at 100, 160, 250, 350 and 500um. We have used the SDSS spectroscopic survey to define an area and redshift selected sample of 744 Coma cluster galaxies - the CCC. For comparison, we also define in a similar way a sample of 951 galaxies in the connecting filament - the CFC. (2 data files).

Subaru Weak-Lensing Survey II: Multi-Object Spectroscopy and Cluster Masses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamana, Takashi; Miyazaki, Satoshi; Kashikawa, Nobunari; Ellis, Richard S.; Massey, Richard J.; Refregier, Alexandre; Taylor, James E.

2009-08-01

We present the first results of a multi-object spectroscopic campaign to follow up cluster candidates located via weak lensing. Our main goals are to search for spatial concentrations of galaxies that are plausible optical counterparts of the weak-lensing signals, and to determine the cluster redshifts from those of member galaxies. Around each of 36 targeted cluster candidates, we obtained 15-32 galaxy redshifts. For 28 of these targets, we confirmed a secure cluster identification, with more than five spectroscopic galaxies within a velocity of ±3000km s-1. This includes three cases where two clusters at different redshifts are projected along the same line-of-sight. In 6 of the 8 unconfirmed targets, we found multiple small galaxy concentrations at different redshifts, each containing at least three spectroscopic galaxies. The weak-lensing signal around those systems was thus probably created by the projection of groups or small clusters along the same line-of-sight. In both of the remaining two targets, a single small galaxy concentration was found. In some candidate super-cluster systems, we found additional evidence of filaments connecting the main density peak to an additional nearby structure. For a subsample of our most cleanly measured clusters, we investigated the statistical relation between their weak-lensing mass (MNFW, σSIS) and the velocity dispersion of their member galaxies (σv), comparing our sample with optically and X-ray selected samples from the literature. Our lensing-selected clusters are consistent with σv = σSIS, with a similar scatter to that of optically and X-ray selected clusters. We also derived an empirical relation between the cluster mass and the galaxy velocity dispersion, M200E(z) = 11.0 × 1014 × (σv/1000km s-1)3.0 h-1 Modot, which is in reasonable agreement with predictions of N-body simulations in the Λ CDM cosmology.

Non-Uniformly Sampled MR Correlated Spectroscopic Imaging in Breast Cancer and Nonlinear Reconstruction

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-10-01

AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-16-1-0524 TITLE: Non-Uniformly Sampled MR Correlated Spectroscopic Imaging in Breast Cancer and Nonlinear Reconstruction...author(s) and should not be construed as an official Department of the Army position, policy or decision unless so designated by other...COVERED 30 Sep 2016 - 29 Sep 2017 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Non-Uniformly Sampled MR Correlated Spectroscopic Imaging in Breast

The [O III] Profiles of Infrared-selected Active Galactic Nuclei: More Powerful Outflows in the Obscured Population

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DiPompeo, M. A.; Hickox, R. C.; Carroll, C. M.; Runnoe, J. C.; Mullaney, J. R.; Fischer, T. C.

2018-03-01

We explore the kinematics of ionized gas via the [O III] λ5007 emission lines in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) selected on the basis of their mid-infrared (IR) emission, and split into obscured and unobscured populations based on their optical‑IR colors. After correcting for differences in redshift distributions, we provide composite spectra of spectroscopically and photometrically defined obscured/Type 2 and unobscured/Type 1 AGNs from 3500 to 7000 Å. The IR-selected obscured sources contain a mixture of narrow-lined Type 2 AGNs and intermediate sources that have broad Hα emission and significantly narrower Hβ. Using both [O III] luminosities and AGN luminosities derived from optical‑IR spectral energy distribution fitting, we find evidence for enhanced large-scale obscuration in the obscured sources. In matched bins of luminosity we find that the obscured population typically has broader, more blueshifted [O III] emission than in the unobscured sample, suggestive of more powerful AGN-driven outflows. This trend is not seen in spectroscopically classified samples, and is unlikely to be entirely explained by orientation effects. In addition, outflow velocities increase from small to moderate AGN E(B ‑ V) values, before flattening out (as traced by FWHM) and even decreasing (as traced by blueshift). While difficult to fully interpret in a single physical model, due to both the averaging over populations and the spatially averaged spectra, these results agree with previous findings that simple geometric unification models are insufficient for the IR-selected AGN population, and may fit into an evolutionary model for obscured and unobscured AGNs.

Spectroscopic follow-up of variability-selected active galactic nuclei in the Chandra Deep Field South

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boutsia, K.; Leibundgut, B.; Trevese, D.; Vagnetti, F.

2009-04-01

Context: Supermassive black holes with masses of 10^5-109 M⊙ are believed to inhabit most, if not all, nuclear regions of galaxies, and both observational evidence and theoretical models suggest a scenario where galaxy and black hole evolution are tightly related. Luminous AGNs are usually selected by their non-stellar colours or their X-ray emission. Colour selection cannot be used to select low-luminosity AGNs, since their emission is dominated by the host galaxy. Objects with low X-ray to optical ratio escape even the deepest X-ray surveys performed so far. In a previous study we presented a sample of candidates selected through optical variability in the Chandra Deep Field South, where repeated optical observations were performed in the framework of the STRESS supernova survey. Aims: The analysis is devoted to breaking down the sample in AGNs, starburst galaxies, and low-ionisation narrow-emission line objects, to providing new information about the possible dependence of the emission mechanisms on nuclear luminosity and black-hole mass, and eventually studying the evolution in cosmic time of the different populations. Methods: We obtained new optical spectroscopy for a sample of variability selected candidates with the ESO NTT telescope. We analysed the new spectra, together with those existing in the literature and studied the distribution of the objects in U-B and B-V colours, optical and X-ray luminosity, and variability amplitude. Results: A large fraction (17/27) of the observed candidates are broad-line luminous AGNs, confirming the efficiency of variability in detecting quasars. We detect: i) extended objects which would have escaped the colour selection and ii) objects of very low X-ray to optical ratio, in a few cases without any X-ray detection at all. Several objects resulted to be narrow-emission line galaxies where variability indicates nuclear activity, while no emission lines were detected in others. Some of these galaxies have variability and X-ray to optical ratio close to active galactic nuclei, while others have much lower variability and X-ray to optical ratio. This result can be explained by the dilution of the nuclear light due to the host galaxy. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of supernova search programmes to detect large samples of low-luminosity AGNs. A sizable fraction of the AGN in our variability sample had escaped X-ray detection (5/47) and/or colour selection (9/48). Spectroscopic follow-up to fainter flux limits is strongly encouraged. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile, 080.B-0187(A).

DA white dwarfs from the LSS-GAC survey DR1: the preliminary luminosity and mass functions and formation rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rebassa-Mansergas, A.; Liu, X.-W.; Cojocaru, R.; Yuan, H.-B.; Torres, S.; García-Berro, E.; Xiang, M.-X.; Huang, Y.; Koester, D.; Hou, Y.; Li, G.; Zhang, Y.

2015-06-01

Modern large-scale surveys have allowed the identification of large numbers of white dwarfs. However, these surveys are subject to complicated target selection algorithms, which make it almost impossible to quantify to what extent the observational biases affect the observed populations. The LAMOST (Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope) Spectroscopic Survey of the Galactic anticentre (LSS-GAC) follows a well-defined set of criteria for selecting targets for observations. This advantage over previous surveys has been fully exploited here to identify a small yet well-characterized magnitude-limited sample of hydrogen-rich (DA) white dwarfs. We derive preliminary LSS-GAC DA white dwarf luminosity and mass functions. The space density and average formation rate of DA white dwarfs we derive are 0.83 ± 0.16 × 10-3 pc-3 and 5.42 ± 0.08 × 10-13 pc-3 yr-1, respectively. Additionally, using an existing Monte Carlo population synthesis code we simulate the population of single DA white dwarfs in the Galactic anticentre, under various assumptions. The synthetic populations are passed through the LSS-GAC selection criteria, taking into account all possible observational biases. This allows us to perform a meaningful comparison of the observed and simulated distributions. We find that the LSS-GAC set of criteria is highly efficient in selecting white dwarfs for spectroscopic observations (80-85 per cent) and that, overall, our simulations reproduce well the observed luminosity function. However, they fail at reproducing an excess of massive white dwarfs present in the observed mass function. A plausible explanation for this is that a sizable fraction of massive white dwarfs in the Galaxy are the product of white dwarf-white dwarf mergers.

CLASH-VLT: A highly precise strong lensing model of the galaxy cluster RXC J2248.7-4431 (Abell S1063) and prospects for cosmography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caminha, G. B.; Grillo, C.; Rosati, P.; Balestra, I.; Karman, W.; Lombardi, M.; Mercurio, A.; Nonino, M.; Tozzi, P.; Zitrin, A.; Biviano, A.; Girardi, M.; Koekemoer, A. M.; Melchior, P.; Meneghetti, M.; Munari, E.; Suyu, S. H.; Umetsu, K.; Annunziatella, M.; Borgani, S.; Broadhurst, T.; Caputi, K. I.; Coe, D.; Delgado-Correal, C.; Ettori, S.; Fritz, A.; Frye, B.; Gobat, R.; Maier, C.; Monna, A.; Postman, M.; Sartoris, B.; Seitz, S.; Vanzella, E.; Ziegler, B.

2016-03-01

Aims: We perform a comprehensive study of the total mass distribution of the galaxy cluster RXC J2248.7-4431 (z = 0.348) with a set of high-precision strong lensing models, which take advantage of extensive spectroscopic information on many multiply lensed systems. In the effort to understand and quantify inherent systematics in parametric strong lensing modelling, we explore a collection of 22 models in which we use different samples of multiple image families, different parametrizations of the mass distribution and cosmological parameters. Methods: As input information for the strong lensing models, we use the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) imaging data and spectroscopic follow-up observations, with the VIsible Multi-Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) and Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT), to identify and characterize bona fide multiple image families and measure their redshifts down to mF814W ≃ 26. A total of 16 background sources, over the redshift range 1.0-6.1, are multiply lensed into 47 images, 24 of which are spectroscopically confirmed and belong to ten individual sources. These also include a multiply lensed Lyman-α blob at z = 3.118. The cluster total mass distribution and underlying cosmology in the models are optimized by matching the observed positions of the multiple images on the lens plane. Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques are used to quantify errors and covariances of the best-fit parameters. Results: We show that with a careful selection of a large sample of spectroscopically confirmed multiple images, the best-fit model can reproduce their observed positions with a rms scatter of 0.̋3 in a fixed flat ΛCDM cosmology, whereas the lack of spectroscopic information or the use of inaccurate photometric redshifts can lead to biases in the values of the model parameters. We find that the best-fit parametrization for the cluster total mass distribution is composed of an elliptical pseudo-isothermal mass distribution with a significant core for the overall cluster halo and truncated pseudo-isothermal mass profiles for the cluster galaxies. We show that by adding bona fide photometric-selected multiple images to the sample of spectroscopic families, one can slightly improve constraints on the model parameters. In particular, we find that the degeneracy between the lens total mass distribution and the underlying geometry of the Universe, which is probed via angular diameter distance ratios between the lens and sources and the observer and sources, can be partially removed. Allowing cosmological parameters to vary together with the cluster parameters, we find (at 68% confidence level) Ωm = 0.25+ 0.13-0.16 and w = -1.07+ 0.16-0.42 for a flat ΛCDM model, and Ωm = 0.31+ 0.12-0.13 and ΩΛ = 0.38+ 0.38-0.27 for a Universe with w = -1 and free curvature. Finally, using toy models mimicking the overall configuration of multiple images and cluster total mass distribution, we estimate the impact of the line-of-sight mass structure on the positional rms to be 0.̋3 ± 0. We argue that the apparent sensitivity of our lensing model to cosmography is due to the combination of the regular potential shape of RXC J2248, a large number of bona fide multiple images out to z = 6.1, and a relatively modest presence of intervening large-scale structure, as revealed by our spectroscopic survey.

Investigating the Spectroscopic Variability of Magentically Active M Dwarfs In SDSS.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ventura, Jean-Paul; Schmidt, Sarah J.; Cruz, Kelle; Rice, Emily; Cid, Aurora

2018-01-01

Magnetic activity, a wide range of observable phenomena produced in the outer atmospheres of stars is, currently, not well understood for M dwarfs. In higher mass stars, magnetic activity is powered by a dynamo process involving the differential rotation of a star’s inner regions. This process generates a magnetic field, heats up regions in the chromosphere and produces Hα emission line radiation from collisional excitation. Using spectroscopic data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), I compare Hα emission line strengths for a subsample of 12,000 photometric variability selected M dwarfs from Pan-STARRS1 with those of a known non-variable sample. Presumably, the photometric variability originates from the occurrence of star spots at the stellar surface, which are the result of an intense magnetic field and associated chromospheric heating. We proceed with this work in order to test whether the photometric variability of the sample correlates with chromospheric Hα emission features. If not, we explore alternate reasons for that photometric variability (e.g. binarity or transiting planetary companions)

redMaGiC: selecting luminous red galaxies from the DES Science Verification data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rozo, E.

We introduce redMaGiC, an automated algorithm for selecting Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs). The algorithm was developed to minimize photometric redshift uncertainties in photometric large-scale structure studies. redMaGiC achieves this by self-training the color-cuts necessary to produce a luminosity-thresholded LRG sam- ple of constant comoving density. Additionally, we demonstrate that redMaGiC photo-zs are very nearly as accurate as the best machine-learning based methods, yet they require minimal spectroscopic training, do not suffer from extrapolation biases, and are very nearly Gaussian. We apply our algorithm to Dark Energy Survey (DES) Science Verification (SV) data to produce a redMaGiC catalog sampling the redshiftmore » range z ϵ [0.2,0.8]. Our fiducial sample has a comoving space density of 10 -3 (h -1Mpc) -3, and a median photo-z bias (z spec z photo) and scatter (σ z=(1 + z)) of 0.005 and 0.017 respectively.The corresponding 5σ outlier fraction is 1.4%. We also test our algorithm with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 8 (DR8) and Stripe 82 data, and discuss how spectroscopic training can be used to control photo-z biases at the 0.1% level.« less

An effective selection method for low-mass active black holes and first spectroscopic identification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morokuma, Tomoki; Tominaga, Nozomu; Tanaka, Masaomi; Yasuda, Naoki; Furusawa, Hisanori; Taniguchi, Yuki; Kato, Takahiro; Jiang, Ji-an; Nagao, Tohru; Kuncarayakti, Hanindyo; Morokuma-Matsui, Kana; Ikeda, Hiroyuki; Blinnikov, Sergei; Nomoto, Ken'ichi; Kokubo, Mitsuru; Doi, Mamoru

2016-06-01

We present a new method for effectively selecting objects which may be low-mass active black holes (BHs) at galaxy centers using high-cadence optical imaging data, and our first spectroscopic identification of an active 2.7 × 106 M⊙ BH at z = 0.164. This active BH was originally selected due to its rapid optical variability, from a few hours to a day, based on Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam g-band imaging data taken with a 1 hr cadence. Broad and narrow Hα lines and many other emission ones are detected in our optical spectra taken with Subaru FOCAS, and the BH mass is measured via the broad Hα emission line width (1880 km s-1) and luminosity (4.2 × 1040 erg s-1) after careful correction to the atmospheric absorption around 7580-7720 Å. We measure the Eddington ratio and find it to be as low as 0.05, considerably smaller than those in a previous SDSS sample with similar BH mass and redshift, which indicates one of the special potentials of our Subaru survey. The g - r color and morphology of the extended component indicate that the host galaxy is a star-forming galaxy. We also show the effectiveness of our variability selection for low-mass active BHs.

Pollution Police: How to Determine Spectroscopic Selection Rules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Selco, Jodye I.; Beery, Janet

2004-01-01

Students employ mathematics and physical chemistry in a project called Pollution Police to establish spectroscopic selection rules, and apply them to detect environmental contaminants from infrared spectra. This interdisciplinary project enables students to gain multiple information on molecular symmetry, and its role in the development of…

SPT-GMOS: A GEMINI/GMOS-SOUTH SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY OF GALAXY CLUSTERS IN THE SPT-SZ SURVEY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bayliss, M. B.; Ruel, J.; Stubbs, C. W.

We present the results of SPT-GMOS, a spectroscopic survey with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South. The targets of SPT-GMOS are galaxy clusters identified in the SPT-SZ survey, a millimeter-wave survey of 2500 deg{sup 2} of the southern sky using the South Pole Telescope (SPT). Multi-object spectroscopic observations of 62 SPT-selected galaxy clusters were performed between 2011 January and 2015 December, yielding spectra with radial velocity measurements for 2595 sources. We identify 2243 of these sources as galaxies, and 352 as stars. Of the galaxies, we identify 1579 as members of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters. The primary goal ofmore » these observations was to obtain spectra of cluster member galaxies to estimate cluster redshifts and velocity dispersions. We describe the full spectroscopic data set and resulting data products, including galaxy redshifts, cluster redshifts, and velocity dispersions, and measurements of several well-known spectral indices for each galaxy: the equivalent width, W , of [O ii] λλ 3727, 3729 and H- δ , and the 4000 Å break strength, D4000. We use the spectral indices to classify galaxies by spectral type (i.e., passive, post-starburst, star-forming), and we match the spectra against photometric catalogs to characterize spectroscopically observed cluster members as a function of brightness (relative to m {sup ⋆}). Finally, we report several new measurements of redshifts for ten bright, strongly lensed background galaxies in the cores of eight galaxy clusters. Combining the SPT-GMOS data set with previous spectroscopic follow-up of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters results in spectroscopic measurements for >100 clusters, or ∼20% of the full SPT-SZ sample.« less

SPT-GMOS: A Gemini/GMOS-South Spectroscopic survey of galaxy clusters in the SPT-SZ survey

DOE PAGES

Bayliss, M. B.; Ruel, J.; Stubbs, C. W.; ...

2016-11-01

Here, we present the results of SPT-GMOS, a spectroscopic survey with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South. The targets of SPT-GMOS are galaxy clusters identified in the SPT-SZ survey, a millimeter-wave survey of 2500 deg 2 of the southern sky using the South Pole Telescope (SPT). Multi-object spectroscopic observations of 62 SPT-selected galaxy clusters were performed between 2011 January and 2015 December, yielding spectra with radial velocity measurements for 2595 sources. We identify 2243 of these sources as galaxies, and 352 as stars. Of the galaxies, we identify 1579 as members of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters. The primary goalmore » of these observations was to obtain spectra of cluster member galaxies to estimate cluster redshifts and velocity dispersions. We describe the full spectroscopic data set and resulting data products, including galaxy redshifts, cluster redshifts, and velocity dispersions, and measurements of several well-known spectral indices for each galaxy: the equivalent width, W, of [O II] λλ3727, 3729 and H-δ, and the 4000 Å break strength, D4000. We use the spectral indices to classify galaxies by spectral type (i.e., passive, post-starburst, star-forming), and we match the spectra against photometric catalogs to characterize spectroscopically observed cluster members as a function of brightness (relative to m*). Lastly, we report several new measurements of redshifts for ten bright, strongly lensed background galaxies in the cores of eight galaxy clusters. Combining the SPT-GMOS data set with previous spectroscopic follow-up of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters results in spectroscopic measurements for >100 clusters, or ~20% of the full SPT-SZ sample.« less

SPT-GMOS: A Gemini/GMOS-South Spectroscopic survey of galaxy clusters in the SPT-SZ survey

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bayliss, M. B.; Ruel, J.; Stubbs, C. W.

Here, we present the results of SPT-GMOS, a spectroscopic survey with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South. The targets of SPT-GMOS are galaxy clusters identified in the SPT-SZ survey, a millimeter-wave survey of 2500 deg 2 of the southern sky using the South Pole Telescope (SPT). Multi-object spectroscopic observations of 62 SPT-selected galaxy clusters were performed between 2011 January and 2015 December, yielding spectra with radial velocity measurements for 2595 sources. We identify 2243 of these sources as galaxies, and 352 as stars. Of the galaxies, we identify 1579 as members of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters. The primary goalmore » of these observations was to obtain spectra of cluster member galaxies to estimate cluster redshifts and velocity dispersions. We describe the full spectroscopic data set and resulting data products, including galaxy redshifts, cluster redshifts, and velocity dispersions, and measurements of several well-known spectral indices for each galaxy: the equivalent width, W, of [O II] λλ3727, 3729 and H-δ, and the 4000 Å break strength, D4000. We use the spectral indices to classify galaxies by spectral type (i.e., passive, post-starburst, star-forming), and we match the spectra against photometric catalogs to characterize spectroscopically observed cluster members as a function of brightness (relative to m*). Lastly, we report several new measurements of redshifts for ten bright, strongly lensed background galaxies in the cores of eight galaxy clusters. Combining the SPT-GMOS data set with previous spectroscopic follow-up of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters results in spectroscopic measurements for >100 clusters, or ~20% of the full SPT-SZ sample.« less

SPT-GMOS: A Gemini/GMOS-South Spectroscopic Survey of Galaxy Clusters in the SPT-SZ Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bayliss, M. B.; Ruel, J.; Stubbs, C. W.; Allen, S. W.; Applegate, D. E.; Ashby, M. L. N.; Bautz, M.; Benson, B. A.; Bleem, L. E.; Bocquet, S.; Brodwin, M.; Capasso, R.; Carlstrom, J. E.; Chang, C. L.; Chiu, I.; Cho, H.-M.; Clocchiatti, A.; Crawford, T. M.; Crites, A. T.; de Haan, T.; Desai, S.; Dietrich, J. P.; Dobbs, M. A.; Doucouliagos, A. N.; Foley, R. J.; Forman, W. R.; Garmire, G. P.; George, E. M.; Gladders, M. D.; Gonzalez, A. H.; Gupta, N.; Halverson, N. W.; Hlavacek-Larrondo, J.; Hoekstra, H.; Holder, G. P.; Holzapfel, W. L.; Hou, Z.; Hrubes, J. D.; Huang, N.; Jones, C.; Keisler, R.; Knox, L.; Lee, A. T.; Leitch, E. M.; von der Linden, A.; Luong-Van, D.; Mantz, A.; Marrone, D. P.; McDonald, M.; McMahon, J. J.; Meyer, S. S.; Mocanu, L. M.; Mohr, J. J.; Murray, S. S.; Padin, S.; Pryke, C.; Rapetti, D.; Reichardt, C. L.; Rest, A.; Ruhl, J. E.; Saliwanchik, B. R.; Saro, A.; Sayre, J. T.; Schaffer, K. K.; Schrabback, T.; Shirokoff, E.; Song, J.; Spieler, H. G.; Stalder, B.; Stanford, S. A.; Staniszewski, Z.; Stark, A. A.; Story, K. T.; Vanderlinde, K.; Vieira, J. D.; Vikhlinin, A.; Williamson, R.; Zenteno, A.

2016-11-01

We present the results of SPT-GMOS, a spectroscopic survey with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South. The targets of SPT-GMOS are galaxy clusters identified in the SPT-SZ survey, a millimeter-wave survey of 2500 deg2 of the southern sky using the South Pole Telescope (SPT). Multi-object spectroscopic observations of 62 SPT-selected galaxy clusters were performed between 2011 January and 2015 December, yielding spectra with radial velocity measurements for 2595 sources. We identify 2243 of these sources as galaxies, and 352 as stars. Of the galaxies, we identify 1579 as members of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters. The primary goal of these observations was to obtain spectra of cluster member galaxies to estimate cluster redshifts and velocity dispersions. We describe the full spectroscopic data set and resulting data products, including galaxy redshifts, cluster redshifts, and velocity dispersions, and measurements of several well-known spectral indices for each galaxy: the equivalent width, W, of [O II] λλ3727, 3729 and H-δ, and the 4000 Å break strength, D4000. We use the spectral indices to classify galaxies by spectral type (i.e., passive, post-starburst, star-forming), and we match the spectra against photometric catalogs to characterize spectroscopically observed cluster members as a function of brightness (relative to m⋆). Finally, we report several new measurements of redshifts for ten bright, strongly lensed background galaxies in the cores of eight galaxy clusters. Combining the SPT-GMOS data set with previous spectroscopic follow-up of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters results in spectroscopic measurements for >100 clusters, or ∼20% of the full SPT-SZ sample.

Velocity segregation and systematic biases in velocity dispersion estimates with the SPT-GMOS spectroscopic survey

DOE PAGES

Bayliss, Matthew. B.; Zengo, Kyle; Ruel, Jonathan; ...

2017-03-07

The velocity distribution of galaxies in clusters is not universal; rather, galaxies are segregated according to their spectral type and relative luminosity. We examine the velocity distributions of different populations of galaxies within 89 Sunyaev Zel'dovich (SZ) selected galaxy clusters spanningmore » $ 0.28 < z < 1.08$. Our sample is primarily draw from the SPT-GMOS spectroscopic survey, supplemented by additional published spectroscopy, resulting in a final spectroscopic sample of 4148 galaxy spectra---2868 cluster members. The velocity dispersion of star-forming cluster galaxies is $$17\\pm4$$% greater than that of passive cluster galaxies, and the velocity dispersion of bright ($$m < m^{*}-0.5$$) cluster galaxies is $$11\\pm4$$% lower than the velocity dispersion of our total member population. We find good agreement with simulations regarding the shape of the relationship between the measured velocity dispersion and the fraction of passive vs. star-forming galaxies used to measure it, but we find a small offset between this relationship as measured in data and simulations in which suggests that our dispersions are systematically low by as much as 3\\% relative to simulations. We argue that this offset could be interpreted as a measurement of the effective velocity bias that describes the ratio of our observed velocity dispersions and the intrinsic velocity dispersion of dark matter particles in a published simulation result. Here, by measuring velocity bias in this way suggests that large spectroscopic surveys can improve dispersion-based mass-observable scaling relations for cosmology even in the face of velocity biases, by quantifying and ultimately calibrating them out.« less

Velocity segregation and systematic biases in velocity dispersion estimates with the SPT-GMOS spectroscopic survey

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bayliss, Matthew. B.; Zengo, Kyle; Ruel, Jonathan

The velocity distribution of galaxies in clusters is not universal; rather, galaxies are segregated according to their spectral type and relative luminosity. We examine the velocity distributions of different populations of galaxies within 89 Sunyaev Zel'dovich (SZ) selected galaxy clusters spanningmore » $ 0.28 < z < 1.08$. Our sample is primarily draw from the SPT-GMOS spectroscopic survey, supplemented by additional published spectroscopy, resulting in a final spectroscopic sample of 4148 galaxy spectra---2868 cluster members. The velocity dispersion of star-forming cluster galaxies is $$17\\pm4$$% greater than that of passive cluster galaxies, and the velocity dispersion of bright ($$m < m^{*}-0.5$$) cluster galaxies is $$11\\pm4$$% lower than the velocity dispersion of our total member population. We find good agreement with simulations regarding the shape of the relationship between the measured velocity dispersion and the fraction of passive vs. star-forming galaxies used to measure it, but we find a small offset between this relationship as measured in data and simulations in which suggests that our dispersions are systematically low by as much as 3\\% relative to simulations. We argue that this offset could be interpreted as a measurement of the effective velocity bias that describes the ratio of our observed velocity dispersions and the intrinsic velocity dispersion of dark matter particles in a published simulation result. Here, by measuring velocity bias in this way suggests that large spectroscopic surveys can improve dispersion-based mass-observable scaling relations for cosmology even in the face of velocity biases, by quantifying and ultimately calibrating them out.« less

Velocity Segregation and Systematic Biases In Velocity Dispersion Estimates with the SPT-GMOS Spectroscopic Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bayliss, Matthew. B.; Zengo, Kyle; Ruel, Jonathan; Benson, Bradford A.; Bleem, Lindsey E.; Bocquet, Sebastian; Bulbul, Esra; Brodwin, Mark; Capasso, Raffaella; Chiu, I.-non; McDonald, Michael; Rapetti, David; Saro, Alex; Stalder, Brian; Stark, Antony A.; Strazzullo, Veronica; Stubbs, Christopher W.; Zenteno, Alfredo

2017-03-01

The velocity distribution of galaxies in clusters is not universal; rather, galaxies are segregated according to their spectral type and relative luminosity. We examine the velocity distributions of different populations of galaxies within 89 Sunyaev Zel’dovich (SZ) selected galaxy clusters spanning 0.28< z< 1.08. Our sample is primarily draw from the SPT-GMOS spectroscopic survey, supplemented by additional published spectroscopy, resulting in a final spectroscopic sample of 4148 galaxy spectra—2868 cluster members. The velocity dispersion of star-forming cluster galaxies is 17 ± 4% greater than that of passive cluster galaxies, and the velocity dispersion of bright (m< {m}* -0.5) cluster galaxies is 11 ± 4% lower than the velocity dispersion of our total member population. We find good agreement with simulations regarding the shape of the relationship between the measured velocity dispersion and the fraction of passive versus star-forming galaxies used to measure it, but we find a small offset between this relationship as measured in data and simulations, which suggests that our dispersions are systematically low by as much as 3% relative to simulations. We argue that this offset could be interpreted as a measurement of the effective velocity bias that describes the ratio of our observed velocity dispersions and the intrinsic velocity dispersion of dark matter particles in a published simulation result. Measuring velocity bias in this way suggests that large spectroscopic surveys can improve dispersion-based mass-observable scaling relations for cosmology even in the face of velocity biases, by quantifying and ultimately calibrating them out.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: C IV BAL troughs properties in quasars (Filiz+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filiz, Ak N.; Brandt, W. N.; Hall, P. B.; Schneider, D. P.; Trump, J. R.; Anderson, S. F.; Hamann, F.; Myers, A. D.; Paris, I.; Petitjean, P.; Ross, N. P.; Shen, Y.; York, D.

2017-03-01

We utilize spectroscopic observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-I/II (hereafter SDSS, York et al. 2000AJ....120.1579Y) and the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey of SDSS-III (hereafter BOSS; Eisenstein et al. 2011AJ....142...72E; Dawson et al. 2013AJ....145...10D). We select a sample of quasars for this study from these 2005 targets that were observed by SDSS between MJD 51,602 (2000 February 28) and 54,557 (2008 January 4) and by BOSS between MJD 55,176 (2009 December 11) and 56,455 (2013 June 12). Observation start dates correspond to completion of hardware commissioning for both SDSS and BOSS; post-commissioning observations have the most reliable spectral calibration. (7 data files).

Carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic fingerprinting of commercial gasoline: pattern-recognition analyses for screening quality control purposes.

PubMed

Flumignan, Danilo Luiz; Boralle, Nivaldo; Oliveira, José Eduardo de

2010-06-30

In this work, the combination of carbon nuclear magnetic resonance ((13)C NMR) fingerprinting with pattern-recognition analyses provides an original and alternative approach to screening commercial gasoline quality. Soft Independent Modelling of Class Analogy (SIMCA) was performed on spectroscopic fingerprints to classify representative commercial gasoline samples, which were selected by Hierarchical Cluster Analyses (HCA) over several months in retails services of gas stations, into previously quality-defined classes. Following optimized (13)C NMR-SIMCA algorithm, sensitivity values were obtained in the training set (99.0%), with leave-one-out cross-validation, and external prediction set (92.0%). Governmental laboratories could employ this method as a rapid screening analysis to discourage adulteration practices. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

INVISIBLE ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI. II. RADIO MORPHOLOGIES AND FIVE NEW H i 21 cm ABSORPTION LINE DETECTORS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yan, Ting; Stocke, John T.; Darling, Jeremy

2016-03-15

This is the second paper directed toward finding new highly redshifted atomic and molecular absorption lines at radio frequencies. To this end, we selected a sample of 80 candidates for obscured radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and presented their basic optical/near-infrared (NIR) properties in Paper I. In this paper, we present both high-resolution radio continuum images for all of these sources and H i 21 cm absorption spectroscopy for a few selected sources in this sample. A-configuration 4.9 and 8.5 GHz Very Large Array continuum observations find that 52 sources are compact or have substantial compact components with size <0.″5more » and flux densities >0.1 Jy at 4.9 GHz. The 36 most compact sources were then observed with the Very Long Baseline Array at 1.4 GHz. One definite and 10 candidate Compact Symmetric Objects (CSOs) are newly identified, which is a detection rate of CSOs ∼three times higher than the detection rate previously found in purely flux-limited samples. Based on possessing compact components with high flux densities, 60 of these sources are good candidates for absorption-line searches. Twenty-seven sources were observed for H i 21 cm absorption at their photometric or spectroscopic redshifts with only six detections (five definite and one tentative). However, five of these were from a small subset of six CSOs with pure galaxy optical/NIR spectra (i.e., any AGN emission is obscured) and for which accurate spectroscopic redshifts place the redshifted 21 cm line in a radio frequency intereference (RFI)-free spectral “window” (i.e., the percentage of H i 21 cm absorption-line detections could be as high as ∼90% in this sample). It is likely that the presence of ubiquitous RFI and the absence of accurate spectroscopic redshifts preclude H i detections in similar sources (only 1 detection out of the remaining 22 sources observed, 13 of which have only photometric redshifts); that is, H i absorption may well be present but is masked by the RFI. Future searches for highly redshifted H i and molecular absorption can easily find more distant CSOs among bright, “blank field” radio sources, but will be severely hampered by an inability to determine accurate spectroscopic redshifts due to their lack of rest-frame UV continuum.« less

A Survey of Distant Clusters of Galaxies Selected by X-Rays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McNamara, Brian

1997-01-01

I will discuss the results of a new survey of X-ray selected, distant clusters of galaxies that has been undertaken by our group at.CfA (Vikhlinin, McNamara, Forman, Jones). We have analyzed the inner 17.5 arcminute region of roughly 650 ROSAT PSPC images of high latitude fields to compile a complete, flux-limited sample of clusters with a mean flux limit roughly 20 times more sensitive than the Einstein Medium Sensitivity Survey. The goal of our survey, which presently contains 233 extended X-ray sources, is to study cluster evolution over cosmological timescales. We have obtained optical images for nearly all of the faintest sources using the 1.2 m telescope of the Fred L. Whipple Observatory, and when including POSS images of the brighter sources, we have nearly completed the identification of all of the extended sources. Roughly 80% of the sources were identified as clusters of galaxies. We have measured redshifts for 42 clusters using the MMT, and including additional measurements from the literature, roughly 70 clusters in our catalog have spectroscopic redshifts. Using CCD photometry and spectroscopic redshifts, we have determined a magnitude-redshift relation which will allow redshifts of the remaining clusters in our sample to be determined photometrically to within a delta z over z of roughly ten percent. I will discuss the Log(N)-Log(S) relation for our sample and compare it to other determinations. In addition, I will discuss the evolution of core radii of clusters.

Relativistic effects on galaxy redshift samples due to target selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alam, Shadab; Croft, Rupert A. C.; Ho, Shirley; Zhu, Hongyu; Giusarma, Elena

2017-10-01

In a galaxy redshift survey, the objects to be targeted for spectra are selected from a photometrically observed sample. The observed magnitudes and colours of galaxies in this parent sample will be affected by their peculiar velocities, through relativistic Doppler and relativistic beaming effects. In this paper, we compute the resulting expected changes in galaxy photometry. The magnitudes of the relativistic effects are a function of redshift, stellar mass, galaxy velocity and velocity direction. We focus on the CMASS sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), which is selected on the basis of colour and magnitude. We find that 0.10 per cent of the sample (∼585 galaxies) has been scattered into the targeted region of colour-magnitude space by relativistic effects, and conversely 0.09 per cent of the sample (∼532 galaxies) has been scattered out. Observational consequences of these effects include an asymmetry in clustering statistics, which we explore in a companion paper. Here, we compute a set of weights that can be used to remove the effect of modulations introduced into the density field inferred from a galaxy sample. We conclude by investigating the possible effects of these relativistic modulation on large-scale clustering of the galaxy sample.

Dynamically Close Pairs of Galaxies Selected in the NIR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keenan, Ryan C.; Foucaud, Sebastien; De Propris, Roberto; Lin, Jing-Hua

2013-07-01

Studies of dynamically close pairs of galaxies can serve as a powerful probe of the galaxy merger rate and its evolution. Here we present a large sample of dynamically close pairs of galaxies selected in the K-band from the UKIDSS LAS. These data span ~ 175 deg2 on the sky in the 2dFGRS equatorial region (10 h < RA < 14h). Combining the 2dFGRS redshifts with those from the SDSS, our K-band selected catalog is > 90% spectroscopically complete at K AB < 16.4. In this study, we focus on quantifying the relative contributions of wet, dry, and mixed mergers to the stellar mass buildup of galaxies over the past 1-2 Gyr.

Cathodoluminescence microscopy and spectroscopy of micro- and nanodiamonds: an implication for laboratory astrophysics.

PubMed

Gucsik, Arnold; Nishido, Hirotsugu; Ninagawa, Kiyotaka; Ott, Ulrich; Tsuchiyama, Akira; Kayama, Masahiro; Simonia, Irakli; Boudou, Jean-Paul

2012-12-01

Color centers in selected micro- and nanodiamond samples were investigated by cathodoluminescence (CL) microscopy and spectroscopy at 298 K [room temperature (RT)] and 77 K [liquid-nitrogen temperature (LNT)] to assess the value of the technique for astrophysics. Nanodiamonds from meteorites were compared with synthetic diamonds made with different processes involving distinct synthesis mechanisms (chemical vapor deposition, static high pressure high temperature, detonation). A CL emission peak centered at around 540 nm at 77 K was observed in almost all of the selected diamond samples and is assigned to the dislocation defect with nitrogen atoms. Additional peaks were identified at 387 and 452 nm, which are related to the vacancy defect. In general, peak intensity at LNT at the samples was increased in comparison to RT. The results indicate a clear temperature-dependence of the spectroscopic properties of diamond. This suggests the method is a useful tool in laboratory astrophysics.

Application-Dedicated Selection of Filters (ADSF) using covariance maximization and orthogonal projection.

PubMed

Hadoux, Xavier; Kumar, Dinesh Kant; Sarossy, Marc G; Roger, Jean-Michel; Gorretta, Nathalie

2016-05-19

Visible and near-infrared (Vis-NIR) spectra are generated by the combination of numerous low resolution features. Spectral variables are thus highly correlated, which can cause problems for selecting the most appropriate ones for a given application. Some decomposition bases such as Fourier or wavelet generally help highlighting spectral features that are important, but are by nature constraint to have both positive and negative components. Thus, in addition to complicating the selected features interpretability, it impedes their use for application-dedicated sensors. In this paper we have proposed a new method for feature selection: Application-Dedicated Selection of Filters (ADSF). This method relaxes the shape constraint by enabling the selection of any type of user defined custom features. By considering only relevant features, based on the underlying nature of the data, high regularization of the final model can be obtained, even in the small sample size context often encountered in spectroscopic applications. For larger scale deployment of application-dedicated sensors, these predefined feature constraints can lead to application specific optical filters, e.g., lowpass, highpass, bandpass or bandstop filters with positive only coefficients. In a similar fashion to Partial Least Squares, ADSF successively selects features using covariance maximization and deflates their influences using orthogonal projection in order to optimally tune the selection to the data with limited redundancy. ADSF is well suited for spectroscopic data as it can deal with large numbers of highly correlated variables in supervised learning, even with many correlated responses. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Extremely Luminous Quasar Survey (ELQS) in SDSS and the high-z bright-end Quasar Luminosity Function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schindler, Jan-Torge; Fan, Xiaohui; McGreer, Ian

2018-01-01

Studies of the most luminous quasars at high redshift directly probe the evolution of the most massive black holes in the early Universe and their connection to massive galaxy formation. Unfortunately, extremely luminous quasars at high redshift are very rare objects. Only wide area surveys have a chance to constrain their population. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) nd the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) have so far provided the most widely adopted measurements of the type I quasar luminosity function (QLF) at z>3. However, a careful re-examination of the SDSS quasar sample revealed that the SDSS quasar selection is in fact missing a significant fraction of $z~3$ quasars at the brightest end.We have identified the purely optical color selection of SDSS, where quasars at these redshifts are strongly contaminated by late-type dwarfs, and the spectroscopic incompleteness of the SDSS footprint as the main reasons. Therefore we have designed the Extremely Luminous Quasar Survey (ELQS), based on a novel near-infrared JKW2 color cut using WISE AllWISE and 2MASS all-sky photometry, to yield high completeness for very bright (i < 18.0) quasars in the redshift range of 2.8<= z<=5.0. It effectively uses Random Forest machine-learning algorithms on SDSS and WISE photometry for quasar-star classification and photometric redshift estimation.The ELQS is spectroscopically following up ~230 new quasar candidates in an area of ~12000 deg2 in the SDSS footprint, to obtain a well-defined and complete quasar sample for an accurate measurement of the bright-end quasar luminosity function (QLF) at 2.8<= z<=5.0. So far the ELQS has identified 75 bright new quasars in this redshift range and observations of the fall sky will continue until the end of the year. At the AAS winter meeting we will present the full spectroscopic results of the survey, including a re-estimation and extension of the high-z QLF toward higher luminosities.

A Multiple-star Combined Solution Program - Application to the Population II Binary μ Cas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gudehus, D. H.

2001-05-01

A multiple-star combined-solution computer program which can simultaneously fit astrometric, speckle, and spectroscopic data, and solve for the orbital parameters, parallax, proper motion, and masses has been written and is now publicly available. Some features of the program are the ability to scale the weights at run time, hold selected parameters constant, handle up to five spectroscopic subcomponents for the primary and the secondary each, account for the light travel time across the system, account for apsidal motion, plot the results, and write the residuals in position to a standard file for further analysis. The spectroscopic subcomponent data can be represented by reflex velocities and/or by independent measurements. A companion editing program which can manage the data files is included in the package. The program has been applied to the Population II binary μ Cas to derive improved masses and an estimate of the primordial helium abundance. The source code, executables, sample data files, and documentation for OpenVMS and Unix, including Linux, are available at http://www.chara.gsu.edu/\\rlap\\ \\ gudehus/binary.html.

Vibrational spectroscopy for imaging single microbial cells in complex biological samples

DOE PAGES

Harrison, Jesse P.; Berry, David

2017-04-13

Here, vibrational spectroscopy is increasingly used for the rapid and non-destructive imaging of environmental and medical samples. Both Raman and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) imaging have been applied to obtain detailed information on the chemical composition of biological materials, ranging from single microbial cells to tissues. Due to its compatibility with methods such as stable isotope labeling for the monitoring of cellular activities, vibrational spectroscopy also holds considerable power as a tool in microbial ecology. Chemical imaging of undisturbed biological systems (such as live cells in their native habitats) presents unique challenges due to the physical and chemical complexity of themore » samples, potential for spectral interference, and frequent need for real-time measurements. This Mini Review provides a critical synthesis of recent applications of Raman and FT-IR spectroscopy for characterizing complex biological samples, with a focus on developments in single-cell imaging. We also discuss how new spectroscopic methods could be used to overcome current limitations of singlecell analyses. Given the inherent complementarity of Raman and FT-IR spectroscopic methods, we discuss how combining these approaches could enable us to obtain new insights into biological activities either in situ or under conditions that simulate selected properties of the natural environment.« less

Vibrational spectroscopy for imaging single microbial cells in complex biological samples

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harrison, Jesse P.; Berry, David

Here, vibrational spectroscopy is increasingly used for the rapid and non-destructive imaging of environmental and medical samples. Both Raman and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) imaging have been applied to obtain detailed information on the chemical composition of biological materials, ranging from single microbial cells to tissues. Due to its compatibility with methods such as stable isotope labeling for the monitoring of cellular activities, vibrational spectroscopy also holds considerable power as a tool in microbial ecology. Chemical imaging of undisturbed biological systems (such as live cells in their native habitats) presents unique challenges due to the physical and chemical complexity of themore » samples, potential for spectral interference, and frequent need for real-time measurements. This Mini Review provides a critical synthesis of recent applications of Raman and FT-IR spectroscopy for characterizing complex biological samples, with a focus on developments in single-cell imaging. We also discuss how new spectroscopic methods could be used to overcome current limitations of singlecell analyses. Given the inherent complementarity of Raman and FT-IR spectroscopic methods, we discuss how combining these approaches could enable us to obtain new insights into biological activities either in situ or under conditions that simulate selected properties of the natural environment.« less

Spectroscopic Confirmation of Five Galaxy Clusters at z > 1.25 in the 2500 deg^2 SPT-SZ Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khullar, Gourav; Bleem, Lindsey; Bayliss, Matthew; Gladders, Michael; South Pole Telescope (SPT) Collaboration

2018-06-01

We present spectroscopic confirmation of 5 galaxy clusters at 1.25 < z < 1.5, discovered in the 2500 deg2 South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SPT-SZ) survey. These clusters, taken from a nearly redshift-independent mass-limited sample of clusters, have multi-wavelength follow-up imaging data from the X-ray to the near-IR, and currently form the most homogenous massive high-redshift cluster sample in existence. We briefly describe the analysis pipeline used on the low S/N spectra of these faint galaxies, and describing the multiple techniques used to extract robust redshifts from a combination of absorption-line (Ca II H&K doublet - λλ3934,3968Å) and emission-line ([OII] λλ3727,3729Å) spectral features. We present several ensemble analyses of cluster member galaxies that demonstrate the reliability of the measured redshifts. We also identify modest [OII] emission and pronounced CN and Hδ absorption in a composite stacked spectrum of 28 low S/N passive galaxy spectra with redshifts derived primarily from Ca II H&K features. This work increases the number of spectroscopically-confirmed SPT-SZ galaxy clusters at z > 1.25 from 2 to 7, further demonstrating the efficacy of SZ selection for the highest redshift massive clusters, and enabling further detailed study of these confirmed systems.

Life in the Outer Limits: Insight into Hierarchical Merging from the Outermost Structure of the Andromeda Stellar Halo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beaton, Rachael; Majewski, S. R.; Patterson, R. J.; Guhathakurta, P.; Gilbert, K.; Kalirai, J. S.; Tollerud, E. J.; SPLASH Team

2014-01-01

Owing to their large dynamical timescales, the stellar haloes of Milky Way (MW) sized galaxies represent ideal environments to test modern theories of galaxy formation in the Lambda-CDM paradigm. Only in stellar haloes can the remnants of hierarchical accretion be preserved over long timescales as in-tact dwarf satellites or as tidal debris and can be easily distinguished from the underlying smooth structure. Stellar haloes, however, remain some of the most difficult galactic structures to constrain due to their large angular extent and extremely low surface brightness. Thus, the basic properties of stellar haloes -- the overall stellar distribution, substructure fraction, global kinematics and detailed stellar content -- remained relatively unconstrained. In this thesis, we present several projects designed to understand the current structure and the the formation of the Andromeda (M31) stellar halo, the only stellar halo -- besides our own -- that is within reach of current ground based facilities on the large scale required to constrain the basic properties of stellar haloes. First, we describe a seven season imaging campaign comprising the backbone of the Spectroscopic and Photometric Landscape of the Andromeda Stellar Halo (SPLASH) program. This survey is unique in its application of the Washington + DDO51 filter system to select individual M31 RGB stars without spectroscopic follow up. Second, we use the SPLASH photometric survey to identify sample of halo stars at projected radii of 120 kpc, for which we have obtained spectroscopic follow-up. Third, we add this large radius sample to the existing spectroscopic results from SPLASH, and use this unique sample to explore the stellar kinematics of the halo at large radii with full azimuthal coverage. Lastly, we preview on-going work to constrain the formation of the Andromeda stellar halo, using both in-tact satellites and resolved M31 halo members as tracers of its accretion history.

Infrared colours and inferred masses of metal-poor giant stars in the Keplerfield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casey, A. R.; Kennedy, G. M.; Hartle, T. R.; Schlaufman, Kevin C.

2018-05-01

Intrinsically luminous giant stars in the Milky Way are the only potential volume-complete tracers of the distant disk, bulge, and halo. The chemical abundances of metal-poor giants also reflect the compositions of the earliest star-forming regions, providing the initial conditions for the chemical evolution of the Galaxy. However, the intrinsic rarity of metal-poor giants combined with the difficulty of efficiently identifying them with broad-band optical photometry has made it difficult to exploit them for studies of the Milky Way. One long-standing problem is that photometric selections for giant and/or metal-poor stars frequently include a large fraction of metal-rich dwarf contaminants. We re-derive a giant star photometric selection using existing public g-band and narrow-band DDO51photometry obtained in the Keplerfield. Our selection is simple and yields a contamination rate of main-sequence stars of ≲1% and a completeness of about 80 % for giant stars with Teff ≲ 5250 K - subject to the selection function of the spectroscopic surveys used to estimate these rates, and the magnitude range considered (11 ≲ g ≲ 15). While the DDO51filter is known to be sensitive to stellar surface gravity, we further show that the mid-infrared colours of DDO51-selected giants are strongly correlated with spectroscopic metallicity. This extends the infrared metal-poor selection developed by Schlaufman & Casey, demonstrating that the principal contaminants in their selection can be efficiently removed by the photometric separation of dwarfs and giants. This implies that any similarly efficient dwarf/giant discriminant (e.g., Gaiaparallaxes) can be used in conjunction with WISEcolours to select samples of giant stars with high completeness and low contamination. We employ our photometric selection to identify three metal-poor giant candidates in the Keplerfield with global asteroseismic parameters and find that masses inferred for these three stars using standard asteroseismic scaling relations are systematically over-estimated by 20-175%. Taken at face value, this small sample size implies that standard asteroseismic scaling relations over-predict stellar masses for metal-poor giant stars.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: WISE data for radio-loud AGN complete samples (Gurkan+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurkan, G.; Hardcastle, M. J.; Jarvis, M. J.

2014-11-01

The 3CRR, 2Jy, 6CE and 7CE samples were chosen for our analysis. We used the revised subsample of the 3CR catalogue of radio sources (Bennett, 1962MNRAS.125...75B), which have flux densities greater than 10.9Jy at 178MHz (Laing, Riley & Longair, 1983MNRAS.204..151L, Cat. J/MNRAS.204.151). There are 172 sources with 0.0029

Vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopic study of crystalline cellulose in biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Seong H.; Lee, Christopher M.; Kafle, Kabindra; Park, Yong Bum; Xi, Xiaoning

2013-09-01

The noncentrosymmetry requirement of sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy allows selective detection of crystalline cellulose in plant cell walls and lignocellulose biomass without spectral interferences from hemicelluloses and lignin. In addition, the phase synchronization requirement of the SFG process allows noninvasive investigation of spatial arrangement of crystalline cellulose microfibrils in the sample. This paper reviews how these principles are applied to reveal structural information of crystalline cellulose in plant cell walls and biomass.

Spectroscopic Validation of Low-metallicity Stars from RAVE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Placco, Vinicius M.; Beers, Timothy C.; Santucci, Rafael M.; Chanamé, Julio; Sepúlveda, María Paz; Coronado, Johanna; Points, Sean D.; Kaleida, Catherine C.; Rossi, Silvia; Kordopatis, Georges; Lee, Young Sun; Matijevič, Gal; Frebel, Anna; Hansen, Terese T.; Holmbeck, Erika M.; Rasmussen, Kaitlin C.; Roederer, Ian U.; Sakari, Charli M.; Whitten, Devin D.

2018-06-01

We present results from a medium-resolution (R ∼ 2000) spectroscopic follow-up campaign of 1694 bright (V < 13.5), very metal-poor star candidates from the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE). Initial selection of the low-metallicity targets was based on the stellar parameters published in RAVE Data Releases 4 and 5. Follow up was accomplished with the Gemini-N and Gemini-S, the ESO/NTT, the KPNO/Mayall, and the SOAR telescopes. The wavelength coverage for most of the observed spectra allows for the determination of carbon and α-element abundances, which are crucial for considering the nature and frequency of the carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars in this sample. We find that 88% of the observed stars have [{Fe}/{{H}}] ≤ ‑1.0, 61% have [{Fe}/{{H}}] ≤ ‑2.0, and 3% have [{Fe}/{{H}}] ≤ ‑3.0 (with four stars at [{Fe}/{{H}}] ≤ ‑3.5). There are 306 CEMP star candidates in this sample, and we identify 169 CEMP Group I, 131 CEMP Group II, and 6 CEMP Group III stars from the A(C) versus [Fe/H] diagram. Inspection of the [α /{{C}}] abundance ratios reveals that five of the CEMP Group II stars can be classified as “mono-enriched second-generation” stars. Gaia DR1 matches were found for 734 stars, and we show that transverse velocities can be used as a confirmatory selection criteria for low-metallicity candidates. Selected stars from our validated list are being followed-up with high-resolution spectroscopy to reveal their full chemical-abundance patterns for further studies.

Quantifying the abundance of faint, low-redshift satellite galaxies in the COSMOS survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xi, ChengYu; Taylor, James E.; Massey, Richard J.; Rhodes, Jason; Koekemoer, Anton; Salvato, Mara

2018-06-01

Faint dwarf satellite galaxies are important as tracers of small-scale structure, but remain poorly characterized outside the Local Group, due to the difficulty of identifying them consistently at larger distances. We review a recently proposed method for estimating the average satellite population around a given sample of nearby bright galaxies, using a combination of size and magnitude cuts (to select low-redshift dwarf galaxies preferentially) and clustering measurements (to estimate the fraction of true satellites in the cut sample). We test this method using the high-precision photometric redshift catalog of the COSMOS survey, exploring the effect of specific cuts on the clustering signal. The most effective of the size-magnitude cuts considered recover the clustering signal around low-redshift primaries (z < 0.15) with about two-thirds of the signal and 80% of the signal-to-noise ratio obtainable using the full COSMOS photometric redshifts. These cuts are also fairly efficient, with more than one third of the selected objects being clustered satellites. We conclude that structural selection represents a useful tool in characterizing dwarf populations to fainter magnitudes and/or over larger areas than are feasible with spectroscopic surveys. In reviewing the low-redshift content of the COSMOS field, we also note the existence of several dozen objects that appear resolved or partially resolved in the HST imaging, and are confirmed to be local (at distances of ˜250 Mpc or less) by their photometric or spectroscopic redshifts. This underlines the potential for future space-based surveys to reveal local populations of intrinsically faint galaxies through imaging alone.

Spectral reflectance data of a high temperature stable solar selective coating based on MoSi2 -Si3N4.

PubMed

Hernández-Pinilla, D; Rodríguez-Palomo, A; Álvarez-Fraga, L; Céspedes, E; Prieto, J E; Muñoz-Martín, A; Prieto, C

2016-06-01

Data of optical performance, thermal stability and ageing are given for solar selective coatings (SSC) based on a novel MoSi2-Si3N4 absorbing composite. SSC have been prepared as multilayer stacks formed by silver as metallic infrared reflector, a double layer composite and an antireflective layer (doi: 10.1016/j.solmat.2016.04.001 [1]). Spectroscopic reflectance data corresponding to the optical performance of samples after moderate vacuum annealing at temperatures up to 600 °C and after ageing test of more than 200 h with several heating-cooling cycles are shown here.

THE SDSS-III BARYON OSCILLATION SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY: QUASAR TARGET SELECTION FOR DATA RELEASE NINE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ross, Nicholas P.; Kirkpatrick, Jessica A.; Carithers, William C.

2012-03-01

The SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), a five-year spectroscopic survey of 10,000 deg{sup 2}, achieved first light in late 2009. One of the key goals of BOSS is to measure the signature of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) in the distribution of Ly{alpha} absorption from the spectra of a sample of {approx}150,000 z > 2.2 quasars. Along with measuring the angular diameter distance at z Almost-Equal-To 2.5, BOSS will provide the first direct measurement of the expansion rate of the universe at z > 2. One of the biggest challenges in achieving this goal is an efficient target selection algorithmmore » for quasars in the redshift range 2.2 < z < 3.5, where their colors tend to overlap those of the far more numerous stars. During the first year of the BOSS survey, quasar target selection (QTS) methods were developed and tested to meet the requirement of delivering at least 15 quasars deg{sup -2} in this redshift range, with a goal of 20 out of 40 targets deg{sup -2} allocated to the quasar survey. To achieve these surface densities, the magnitude limit of the quasar targets was set at g {<=} 22.0 or r {<=} 21.85. While detection of the BAO signature in the distribution of Ly{alpha} absorption in quasar spectra does not require a uniform target selection algorithm, many other astrophysical studies do. We have therefore defined a uniformly selected subsample of 20 targets deg{sup -2}, for which the selection efficiency is just over 50% ({approx}10 z > 2.20 quasars deg{sup -2}). This 'CORE' subsample will be fixed for Years Two through Five of the survey. For the remaining 20 targets deg{sup -2}, we will continue to develop improved selection techniques, including the use of additional data sets beyond the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging data. In this paper, we describe the evolution and implementation of the BOSS QTS algorithms during the first two years of BOSS operations (through 2011 July), in support of the science investigations based on these data, and we analyze the spectra obtained during the first year. During this year, 11,263 new z > 2.20 quasars were spectroscopically confirmed by BOSS, roughly double the number of previously known quasars with z > 2.20. Our current algorithms select an average of 15 z > 2.20 quasars deg{sup -2} from 40 targets deg{sup -2} using single-epoch SDSS imaging. Multi-epoch optical data and data at other wavelengths can further improve the efficiency and completeness of BOSS QTS.« less

Properties of DRGs, LBGs, and BzK Galaxies in the GOODS South Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grazian, A.; Salimbeni, S.; Pentericci, L.; Fontana, A.; Santini, P.; Giallongo, E.; de Santis, C.; Gallozzi, S.; Nonino, M.; Cristiani, S.; Vanzella, E.

2007-12-01

We use the GOODS-MUSIC catalog with multi-wavelength coverage extending from the U band to the Spitzer 8 μm band, and spectroscopic or accurate photometric redshifts to select samples of BM/BX/LBGs, DRGs, and BzK galaxies. We discuss the overlap and the limitations of these selection criteria, which can be overcome with a criterion based on physical parameters (age and star formation timescale). We show that the BzK-PE criterion is not optimal for selecting early type galaxies at the faint end. We also find that LBGs and DRGs contribute almost equally to the global Stellar Mass Density (SMD) at z≥ 2 and in general that star forming galaxies form a substantial fraction of the universal SMD.

B-spline parameterization of the dielectric function and information criteria: the craft of non-overfitting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Likhachev, Dmitriy V.

2017-06-01

Johs and Hale developed the Kramers-Kronig consistent B-spline formulation for the dielectric function modeling in spectroscopic ellipsometry data analysis. In this article we use popular Akaike, corrected Akaike and Bayesian Information Criteria (AIC, AICc and BIC, respectively) to determine an optimal number of knots for B-spline model. These criteria allow finding a compromise between under- and overfitting of experimental data since they penalize for increasing number of knots and select representation which achieves the best fit with minimal number of knots. Proposed approach provides objective and practical guidance, as opposite to empirically driven or "gut feeling" decisions, for selecting the right number of knots for B-spline models in spectroscopic ellipsometry. AIC, AICc and BIC selection criteria work remarkably well as we demonstrated in several real-data applications. This approach formalizes selection of the optimal knot number and may be useful in practical perspective of spectroscopic ellipsometry data analysis.

Spectroscopic optical coherence tomography based on wavelength de-multiplexing and smart pixel array detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laubscher, Markus; Bourquin, Stéphane; Froehly, Luc; Karamata, Boris; Lasser, Theo

2004-07-01

Current spectroscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) methods rely on a posteriori numerical calculation. We present an experimental alternative for accessing spectroscopic information in OCT without post-processing based on wavelength de-multiplexing and parallel detection using a diffraction grating and a smart pixel detector array. Both a conventional A-scan with high axial resolution and the spectrally resolved measurement are acquired simultaneously. A proof-of-principle demonstration is given on a dynamically changing absorbing sample. The method's potential for fast spectroscopic OCT imaging is discussed. The spectral measurements obtained with this approach are insensitive to scan non-linearities or sample movements.

Radio variability in complete samples of extragalactic radio sources at 1.4 GHz

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rys, S.; Machalski, J.

1990-09-01

Complete samples of extragalactic radio sources obtained in 1970-1975 and the sky survey of Condon and Broderick (1983) were used to select sources variable at 1.4 GHz, and to investigate the characteristics of variability in the whole population of sources at this frequency. The radio structures, radio spectral types, and optical identifications of the selected variables are discussed. Only compact flat-spectrum sources vary at 1.4 GHz, and all but four are identified with QSOs, BL Lacs, or other (unconfirmed spectroscopically) stellar objects. No correlation of degree of variability at 1.4 GHz with Galactic latitude or variability at 408 MHz has been found, suggesting that most of the 1.4-GHz variability is intrinsic and not caused by refractive scintillations. Numerical models of the variability have been computed.

Spectroscopic properties for identifying sapphire samples from Ban Bo Kaew, Phrae Province, Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mogmued, J.; Monarumit, N.; Won-in, K.; Satitkune, S.

2017-09-01

Gemstone commercial is a high revenue for Thailand especially ruby and sapphire. Moreover, Phrae is a potential gem field located in the northern part of Thailand. The studies of spectroscopic properties are mainly to identify gemstone using advanced techniques (e.g. UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometry, FTIR spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy). Typically, UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometry is a technique to study the cause of color in gemstones. FTIR spectrometry is a technique to study the functional groups in gem-materials. Raman pattern can be applied to identify the mineral inclusions in gemstones. In this study, the natural sapphires from Ban Bo Kaew were divided into two groups based on colors including blue and green. The samples were analyzed by UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer, FTIR spectrometer and Raman spectroscope for studying spectroscopic properties. According to UV-Vis-NIR spectra, the blue sapphires show higher Fe3+/Ti4+ and Fe2+/Fe3+ absorption peaks than those of green sapphires. Otherwise, green sapphires display higher Fe3+/Fe3+ absorption peaks than blue sapphires. The FTIR spectra of both blue and green sapphire samples show the absorption peaks of -OH,-CH and CO2. The mineral inclusions such as ferrocolumbite and rutile in sapphires from this area were observed by Raman spectroscope. The spectroscopic properties of sapphire samples from Ban Bo Kaew, Phrae Province, Thailand are applied to be the specific evidence for gemstone identification.

Multidisciplinary approach for the study of an Egyptian coffin (late 22nd/early 25th dynasty): combining imaging and spectroscopic techniques.

PubMed

Bracci, S; Caruso, O; Galeotti, M; Iannaccone, R; Magrini, D; Picchi, D; Pinna, D; Porcinai, S

2015-06-15

This paper demonstrates that an educated methodology based on both non-invasive and micro invasive techniques in a two-step approach is a powerful tool to characterize the materials and stratigraphies of an Egyptian coffin, which was restored several times. This coffin, belonging to a certain Mesiset, is now located at the Museo Civico Archeologico of Bologna (inventory number MCABo EG 1963). Scholars attributed it to the late 22nd/early 25th dynasty by stylistic comparison. The first step of the diagnostic approach applied imaging techniques on the whole surface in order to select measurements spots and to unveil both original and restored areas. Images and close microscopic examination of the polychrome surface allowed selecting representative areas to be investigated in situ by portable spectroscopic techniques: X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), Fiber Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS) and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). After the analysis of the results coming from the first step, very few selected samples were taken to clarify the stratigraphy of the polychrome layers. The first step, based on the combination of imaging and spectroscopic techniques in a totally non-invasive modality, is quite unique in the literature on Egyptian coffins and enabled us to reveal many differences in the ground layer's composition and to identify a remarkable number of pigments in the original and restored areas. This work offered also a chance to check the limitations of the non-invasive approach applied on a complex case, namely the right localization of different materials in the stratigraphy and the identification of binding media. Indeed, to dissolve any remaining doubts on superimposed layers belonging to different interventions, it was necessary to sample few micro-fragments in some selected areas and analyze them prepared as cross-sections. The original ground layer is made of calcite, while the restored areas show the presence of either a mixture of calcite and silicates or a gypsum ground, overlapped by lead white. The original pigments were identified as orpiment, cinnabar and red clay, Egyptian blue and green copper based pigments. Some other pigments, such as white lead, Naples yellow, cerulean blue and azurite were only found in the restored areas. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The SDSS-IV MaNGA Sample: Design, Optimization, and Usage Considerations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wake, David A.; Bundy, Kevin; Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M.; Yan, Renbin; Blanton, Michael R.; Bershady, Matthew A.; Sánchez-Gallego, José R.; Drory, Niv; Jones, Amy; Kauffmann, Guinevere; Law, David R.; Li, Cheng; MacDonald, Nicholas; Masters, Karen; Thomas, Daniel; Tinker, Jeremy; Weijmans, Anne-Marie; Brownstein, Joel R.

2017-09-01

We describe the sample design for the SDSS-IV MaNGA survey and present the final properties of the main samples along with important considerations for using these samples for science. Our target selection criteria were developed while simultaneously optimizing the size distribution of the MaNGA integral field units (IFUs), the IFU allocation strategy, and the target density to produce a survey defined in terms of maximizing signal-to-noise ratio, spatial resolution, and sample size. Our selection strategy makes use of redshift limits that only depend on I-band absolute magnitude (M I ), or, for a small subset of our sample, M I and color (NUV - I). Such a strategy ensures that all galaxies span the same range in angular size irrespective of luminosity and are therefore covered evenly by the adopted range of IFU sizes. We define three samples: the Primary and Secondary samples are selected to have a flat number density with respect to M I and are targeted to have spectroscopic coverage to 1.5 and 2.5 effective radii (R e ), respectively. The Color-Enhanced supplement increases the number of galaxies in the low-density regions of color-magnitude space by extending the redshift limits of the Primary sample in the appropriate color bins. The samples cover the stellar mass range 5× {10}8≤slant {M}* ≤slant 3× {10}11 {M}⊙ {h}-2 and are sampled at median physical resolutions of 1.37 and 2.5 kpc for the Primary and Secondary samples, respectively. We provide weights that will statistically correct for our luminosity and color-dependent selection function and IFU allocation strategy, thus correcting the observed sample to a volume-limited sample.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: SPIRE observations of Herschel-BAT sample (Shimizu+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimizu, T. T.; Melendez, M.; Mushotzky, R. F.; Koss, M. J.; Barger, A. J.; Cowie, L. L.

2016-09-01

We selected our sample of 313 AGN from the 58 month Swift/BAT Catalogue (https://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/results/bs58mon) (Baumgartner et al., 2012, in prep.), imposing a redshift cutoff of z<0.05. All different types of AGN were chosen only excluding Blazars/BL Lac objects which most likely introduce complicated beaming effects. To determine their AGN type, for 252 sources we used the classifications from the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (Koss et al., in preparation) which compiled and analysed optical spectra for the Swift/BAT 70 month catalogue (Berney et al., 2015MNRAS.454.3622B). (2 data files).

The identification of post-starburst galaxies at z ˜ 1 using multiwavelength photometry: a spectroscopic verification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maltby, David T.; Almaini, Omar; Wild, Vivienne; Hatch, Nina A.; Hartley, William G.; Simpson, Chris; McLure, Ross J.; Dunlop, James; Rowlands, Kate; Cirasuolo, Michele

2016-06-01

Despite decades of study, we still do not fully understand why some massive galaxies abruptly switch off their star formation in the early Universe, and what causes their rapid transition to the red sequence. Post-starburst galaxies provide a rare opportunity to study this transition phase, but few have currently been spectroscopically identified at high redshift (z > 1). In this paper, we present the spectroscopic verification of a new photometric technique to identify post-starbursts in high-redshift surveys. The method classifies the broad-band optical-near-infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies using three spectral shape parameters (supercolours), derived from a principal component analysis of model SEDs. When applied to the multiwavelength photometric data in the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey, this technique identified over 900 candidate post-starbursts at redshifts 0.5 < z < 2.0. In this study, we present deep optical spectroscopy for a subset of these galaxies, in order to confirm their post-starburst nature. Where a spectroscopic assessment was possible, we find the majority (19/24 galaxies; ˜80 per cent) exhibit the strong Balmer absorption (H δ equivalent width Wλ > 5 Å) and Balmer break, characteristic of post-starburst galaxies. We conclude that photometric methods can be used to select large samples of recently-quenched galaxies in the distant Universe.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Herschel SPIRE/FTS 194-671um survey of GOALS LIRGs (Lu+, 2017)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, N.; Zhao, Y.; Diaz-Santos, T.; Xu, C. K.; Gao, Y.; Armus, L.; Isaak, K. G.; Mazzarella, J. M.; van der Werf, P. P.; Appleton, P. N.; Charmandaris, V.; Evans, A. S.; Howell, J.; Iwasawa, K.; Leech, J.; Lord, S.; Petric, A. O.; Privon, G. C.; Sanders, D. B.; Schulz, B.; Surace, J. A.

2017-06-01

In this paper we presented a Herschel SPIRE/FTS 194-671um spectroscopic survey of 121 galaxies belonging to a complete, flux-limited sample of 123 luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) down to a total IR flux of 6.5x10-13W/m2, selected from the Great Observatories All-Sky LIRG Survey (GOALS; Armus+ 2009PASP..121..559A). All 123 observed targets are listed in Table 1. (3 data files).

Massive Young Stellar Objects in the Galactic Center. 1; Spectroscopic Identification from Spitzer/IRS Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

An, Deokkeun; Ramirez, Solange V.; Sellgren, Kris; Arendt, Richard G.; Boogert, A. C. Adwin; Robitaille, Thomas P.; Schultheis, Mathias; Cotera, Angela S.; Smith, Howard A.; Stolovy, Susan R.

2011-01-01

We present results from our spectroscopic study, using the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope, designed to identify massive young stellar objects (YSOs) in the Galactic Center (GC). Our sample of 107 YSO candidates was selected based on IRAC colors from the high spatial resolution, high sensitivity Spitzer/IRAC images in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), which spans the central approximately 300 pc region of the Milky Way Galaxy. We obtained IRS spectra over 5 micron to 35 micron using both high- and low-resolution IRS modules. We spectroscopically identify massive YSOs by the presence of a 15.4 micron shoulder on the absorption profile of 15 micron CO2 ice, suggestive of CO2 ice mixed with CH30H ice on grains. This 15.4 micron shoulder is clearly observed in 16 sources and possibly observed in an additional 19 sources. We show that 9 massive YSOs also reveal molecular gas-phase absorption from C02, C2H2, and/or HCN, which traces warm and dense gas in YSOs. Our results provide the first spectroscopic census of the massive YSO population in the GC. We fit YSO models to the observed spectral energy distributions and find YSO masses of 8 - 23 solar Mass, which generally agree with the masses derived from observed radio continuum emission. We find that about 50% of photometrically identified YSOs are confirmed with our spectroscopic study. This implies a preliminary star formation rate of approximately 0.07 solar mass/yr at the GC.

A simultaneous multi-slice selective J-resolved experiment for fully resolved scalar coupling information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Qing; Lin, Liangjie; Chen, Jinyong; Lin, Yanqin; Barker, Peter B.; Chen, Zhong

2017-09-01

Proton-proton scalar coupling plays an important role in molecular structure elucidation. Many methods have been proposed for revealing scalar coupling networks involving chosen protons. However, determining all JHH values within a fully coupled network remains as a tedious process. Here, we propose a method termed as simultaneous multi-slice selective J-resolved spectroscopy (SMS-SEJRES) for simultaneously measuring JHH values out of all coupling networks in a sample within one experiment. In this work, gradient-encoded selective refocusing, PSYCHE decoupling and echo planar spectroscopic imaging (EPSI) detection module are adopted, resulting in different selective J-edited spectra extracted from different spatial positions. The proposed pulse sequence can facilitate the analysis of molecular structures. Therefore, it will interest scientists who would like to efficiently address the structural analysis of molecules.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Hα emission in nearby M dwarfs (Newton+, 2017)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newton, E. R.; Irwin, J.; Charbonneau, D.; Berlind, P.; Calkins, M. L.; Mink, J.

2017-06-01

Our sample of M dwarfs is drawn from the MEarth Project, an all-sky survey looking for transiting planets around approximately 3000 nearby, mid-to-late M dwarfs. Nutzman & Charbonneau (2008PASP..120..317N) selected the northern MEarth targets from the Lepine & Shara (2005, I/298) northern proper motion catalog (hereafter the "nearby northern M dwarf" sample). MEarth-North is located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO), on Mount Hopkins, Arizona, and has been operational since 2008 September. The observatory comprises eight 40cm telescopes. This work utilizes results from MEarth-North and from our further spectroscopic characterization of the sample. Compiled and new rotation period and Hα measurements are included in Table 1. (1 data file).

Plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition of titanium oxynitrides films: A comparative spectroscopic and electrical study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sowińska, Małgorzata, E-mail: malgorzata.sowinska@b-tu.de; Henkel, Karsten; Schmeißer, Dieter

2016-01-15

The process parameters' impact of the plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD) method on the oxygen to nitrogen (O/N) ratio in titanium oxynitride (TiO{sub x}N{sub y}) films was studied. Titanium(IV)isopropoxide in combination with NH{sub 3} plasma and tetrakis(dimethylamino)titanium by applying N{sub 2} plasma processes were investigated. Samples were characterized by the in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrical characterization (current–voltage: I-V and capacitance–voltage: C-V) methods. The O/N ratio in the TiO{sub x}N{sub y} films is found to be very sensitive for their electric properties such as conductivity, dielectric breakdown, and permittivity. Our results indicate that these PE-ALD film propertiesmore » can be tuned, via the O/N ratio, by the selection of the process parameters and precursor/coreactant combination.« less

Note: Small anaerobic chamber for optical spectroscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chauvet, Adrien A. P., E-mail: adrien.chauvet@gmail.com; Chergui, Majed; Agarwal, Rachna

2015-10-15

The study of oxygen-sensitive biological samples requires an effective control of the atmosphere in which they are housed. In this aim however, no commercial anaerobic chamber is adequate to solely enclose the sample and small enough to fit in a compact spectroscopic system with which analysis can be performed. Furthermore, spectroscopic analysis requires the probe beam to pass through the whole chamber, introducing a requirement for adequate windows. In response to these challenges, we present a 1 l anaerobic chamber that is suitable for broad-band spectroscopic analysis. This chamber has the advantage of (1) providing access, via a septum, tomore » the sample and (2) allows the sample position to be adjusted while keeping the chamber fixed and hermetic during the experiment.« less

A Spectroscopic Study of the Rich Supernova Remnant Population in M83

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winkler, P. Frank; Blair, William P.; Long, Knox S.

2017-04-01

We report the results from a spectrophotometric study sampling the ≳ 300 candidate supernova remnants (SNRs) in M83 identified through optical imaging with Magellan/IMACS and Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3. Of the 118 candidates identified based on a high [S II] λλ 6716, 6731 to Hα emission ratio, 117 show spectroscopic signatures of shock-heated gas, confirming them as SNRs—the largest uniform set of SNR spectra for any galaxy. Spectra of 22 objects with a high [O III] λ5007 to Hα emission ratio, selected in an attempt to identify young ejecta-dominated SNRs like Cas A, reveal only one (previously reported) object with the broad (≳ 1000 {km} {{{s}}}-1) emission lines characteristic of ejecta-dominated SNRs, beyond the known SN1957D remnant. The other 20 [O III]-selected candidates include planetary nebulae, compact H II regions, and one background QSO. Although our spectroscopic sample includes 22 SNRs smaller than 11 pc, none of the other objects show broad emission lines; instead their spectra stem from relatively slow (˜ 200 {km} {{{s}}}-1) radiative shocks propagating into the metal-rich interstellar medium of M83. With six SNe in the past century, one might expect more of M83's small-diameter SNRs to show evidence of ejecta; this appears not to be the case. We attribute their absence to several factors, including that SNRs expanding into a dense medium evolve quickly to the ISM-dominated phase, and that SNRs expanding into regions already evacuated by earlier SNe are probably very faint. Based on observations obtained at the Gemini Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the NSF on behalf of the Gemini partnership: the National Science Foundation (United States), the National Research Council (Canada), CONICYT (Chile), Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva (Argentina), and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brazil).

Selecting A Landing Site Of Astrobiological Interest For Mars Landers And Sample Return Missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wills, Danielle; Monaghan, E.; Foing, B.

2008-09-01

The landscape of Mars, despite its apparent hostility to life, is riddled with geological and mineralogical signs of past or present hydrological activity. As such, it is a key target for astrobiological exploration. The aim of this work is to combine data and studies to select top priority landing locations for in-situ landers and sample return missions to Mars. We report in particular on science and technical criteria and our data analysis for sites of astrobiological interest. This includes information from previous missions (such as Mars Express, MGS, Odyssey, MRO and MER rovers) on mineralogical composition, geomorphology, evidence from past water history from imaging and spectroscopic data, and existence of in-situ prior information from landers and rovers (concerning evidence for volatiles, organics and habitability conditions). We discuss key mission objectives, and consider the accessibility of chosen locations. We describe what additional measurements are needed, and outline the technical and scientific operations requirements of in-situ landers and sample return missions to Mars.

Reference-free spectroscopic determination of fat and protein in milk in the visible and near infrared region below 1000nm using spatially resolved diffuse reflectance fiber probe.

PubMed

Bogomolov, Andrey; Belikova, Valeria; Galyanin, Vladislav; Melenteva, Anastasiia; Meyer, Hans

2017-05-15

New technique of diffuse reflectance spectroscopic analysis of milk fat and total protein content in the visible (Vis) and adjacent near infrared (NIR) region (400-995nm) has been developed and tested. Sample analysis was performed through a probe having eight 200-µm fiber channels forming a linear array. One of the end fibers was used for the illumination and other seven - for the spectroscopic detection of diffusely reflected light. One of the detection channels was used as a reference to normalize the spectra and to convert them into absorbance-equivalent units. The method has been tested experimentally using a designed sample set prepared from industrial raw milk standards with widely varying fat and protein content. To increase the modelling robustness all milk samples were measured in three different homogenization degrees. Comprehensive data analysis has shown the advantage of combining both spectral and spatial resolution in the same measurement and revealed the most relevant channels and wavelength regions. The modelling accuracy was further improved using joint variable selection and preprocessing optimization method based on the genetic algorithm. The root mean-square errors of different validation methods were below 0.10% for fat and below 0.08% for total protein content. Based on the present experimental data, it was computationally shown that the full-spectrum analysis in this method can be replaced by a sensor measurement at several specific wavelengths, for instance, using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for illumination. Two optimal sensor configurations have been suggested: with nine LEDs for the analysis of fat and seven - for protein content. Both simulated sensors exhibit nearly the same component determination accuracy as corresponding full-spectrum analysis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spectroscopic confirmation of the rich z = 1.80 galaxy cluster JKCS 041 using the WFC3 grism: Environmental trends in the ages and structure of quiescent galaxies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Newman, Andrew B.; Ellis, Richard S.; Andreon, Stefano

2014-06-10

We present Hubble Space Telescope imaging and grism spectroscopy in the field of the distant galaxy cluster JKCS 041 using the Wide Field Camera 3. We confirm that JKCS 041 is a rich cluster and derive a redshift z = 1.80 via the spectroscopic identification of 19 member galaxies, of which 15 are quiescent. These are centered upon diffuse X-ray emission seen by the Chandra observatory. As JKCS 041 is the most distant known cluster with such a large, spectroscopically confirmed quiescent population, it provides a unique opportunity to study the effect of the environment on galaxy properties at earlymore » epochs. We construct high-quality composite spectra of the quiescent cluster members that reveal prominent Balmer and metallic absorption lines. Using these, we measure the mean stellar ages in two bins of stellar mass. The quiescent cluster members' ages agree remarkably closely with that inferred by Whitaker et al. for similarly selected samples in the field, supporting the idea that the cluster environment is more efficient at truncating star formation while not having a strong effect on the mean epoch of quenching. We find some evidence (90% confidence) for a lower fraction of disk-like quiescent systems in JKCS 041 compared to a sample of coeval field galaxies drawn from the CANDELS survey. Taking this into account, we do not detect a significant difference between the mass-radius relations of the quiescent JKCS 041 members and our z ∼ 1.8 field sample. Finally, we demonstrate how differences in the morphological mixture of quenched systems can complicate measures of the environmental dependence of size growth.« less

High-resolution spectroscopy of extremely metal-poor stars from SDSS/Segue. II. Binary fraction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aoki, Wako; Suda, Takuma; Beers, Timothy C.

2015-02-01

The fraction of binary systems in various stellar populations of the Galaxy and the distribution of their orbital parameters are important but not well-determined factors in studies of star formation, stellar evolution, and Galactic chemical evolution. While observational studies have been carried out for a large sample of nearby stars, including some metal-poor Population II stars, almost no constraints on the binary nature for extremely metal-poor (EMP; [Fe/H] <−3.0) stars have yet been obtained. Here we investigate the fraction of double-lined spectroscopic binaries and carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars, many of which could have formed as pairs of low-mass and intermediate-massmore » stars, to estimate the lower limit of the fraction of binary systems having short periods. The estimate is based on a sample of very metal-poor stars selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and observed at high spectral resolution in a previous study by Aoki et al. That survey reported 3 double-lined spectroscopic binaries and 11 CEMP stars, which we consider along with a sample of EMP stars from the literature compiled in the SAGA database. We have conducted measurements of the velocity components for stacked absorption features of different spectral lines for each double-lined spectroscopic binary. Our estimate indicates that the fraction of binary stars having orbital periods shorter than 1000 days is at least 10%, and possibly as high as 20% if the majority of CEMP stars are formed in such short-period binaries. This result suggests that the period distribution of EMP binary systems is biased toward short periods, unless the binary fraction of low-mass EMP stars is significantly higher than that of other nearby stars.« less

A new concept of efficient therapeutic drug monitoring using the high-resolution continuum source absorption spectrometry and the surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xing, Yanlong; Fuss, Harald; Lademann, Jürgen; Huang, Mao Dong; Becker-Ross, Helmut; Florek, Stefan; Patzelt, Alexa; Meinke, Martina C.; Jung, Sora; Esser, Norbert

2018-04-01

In this study, a new therapeutic drug monitoring approach has been tested based on the combination of CaF molecular absorption using high-resolution continuum source absorption spectrometry (HR-CSAS) and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). HR-CSAS with mini graphite tube was successfully tested for clinical therapeutic drug monitoring of the fluorine-containing drug capecitabine in sweat samples of cancer patients: It showed advantageous features of high selectivity (no interference from Cl), high sensitivity (characteristic mass of 0.1 ng at CaF 583.069 nm), low sample consumption (down to 30 nL) and fast measurement (no sample pretreatment and less than 1 min of responding time) in tracing the fluorine signal out of capecitabine. However, this technique has the disadvantage of the total loss of the drug's structure information after burning the sample at very high temperature. Therefore, a new concept of combining HR-CSAS with a non-destructive spectroscopic method (SERS) was proposed for the sensitive sensing and specific identification of capecitabine. We tested and succeed in obtaining the molecular characteristics of the metabolite of capecitabine (named 5-fluorouracil) by the non-destructive SERS technique. With the results shown in this work, it is demonstrated that the combined spectroscopic technique of HR-CSAS and SERS will be very useful in efficient therapeutic drug monitoring in the future.

Testing the accuracy of clustering redshifts with simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scottez, V.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Coupon, J.; Ilbert, O.; Mellier, Y.

2018-03-01

We explore the accuracy of clustering-based redshift inference within the MICE2 simulation. This method uses the spatial clustering of galaxies between a spectroscopic reference sample and an unknown sample. This study give an estimate of the reachable accuracy of this method. First, we discuss the requirements for the number objects in the two samples, confirming that this method does not require a representative spectroscopic sample for calibration. In the context of next generation of cosmological surveys, we estimated that the density of the Quasi Stellar Objects in BOSS allows us to reach 0.2 per cent accuracy in the mean redshift. Secondly, we estimate individual redshifts for galaxies in the densest regions of colour space ( ˜ 30 per cent of the galaxies) without using the photometric redshifts procedure. The advantage of this procedure is threefold. It allows: (i) the use of cluster-zs for any field in astronomy, (ii) the possibility to combine photo-zs and cluster-zs to get an improved redshift estimation, (iii) the use of cluster-z to define tomographic bins for weak lensing. Finally, we explore this last option and build five cluster-z selected tomographic bins from redshift 0.2 to 1. We found a bias on the mean redshift estimate of 0.002 per bin. We conclude that cluster-z could be used as a primary redshift estimator by next generation of cosmological surveys.

Applications of infrared photo-acoustic spectroscopy for wood samples

Treesearch

Mon-Lin Kuo; John F. McClelland; Siquan Luo; Po-Liang Chien; R.D. Walker; Chung-Yun Hse

1988-01-01

Various infrared (IR) spectroscopic techniques for the analysis of wood samples are briefly discussed. Theories and instrumentation of the newly developed photoacoustic spectroscopic (PAS) technique for measuring absorbance spectra of solids are presented. Some important applications of the PAS technique in wood science research are discussed. The application of the...

Spectral reflectance data of a high temperature stable solar selective coating based on MoSi2–Si3N4

PubMed Central

Hernández-Pinilla, D.; Rodríguez-Palomo, A.; Álvarez-Fraga, L.; Céspedes, E.; Prieto, J.E.; Muñoz-Martín, A.; Prieto, C.

2016-01-01

Data of optical performance, thermal stability and ageing are given for solar selective coatings (SSC) based on a novel MoSi2–Si3N4 absorbing composite. SSC have been prepared as multilayer stacks formed by silver as metallic infrared reflector, a double layer composite and an antireflective layer (doi: 10.1016/j.solmat.2016.04.001 [1]). Spectroscopic reflectance data corresponding to the optical performance of samples after moderate vacuum annealing at temperatures up to 600 °C and after ageing test of more than 200 h with several heating–cooling cycles are shown here. PMID:27182544

VizieR Online Data Catalog: G0-G3 main-sequence stars with V<15 (Lopez-Valdivia+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopez-Valdivia, R.; Bertone, E.; Chavez, M.; Tapia-Schiavon, C.; Hernandez-Aguila, J. B.; Valdes, J. R.; Chavushyan, V.

2015-04-01

We selected in late 2008 a sample of stars from the Set of Identifications, Measurements, and Bibliography for Astronomical Data (SIMBAD) data base using the following criteria: (i) spectral type between G0 and G3; (ii) luminosity class V; (iii) visible magnitude V<15mag; (iv) declination δ>-10°. The selection resulted in about 1200 objects. We report here the results for 233 stars. We carried out the spectroscopic observations at the 2.12-m telescope of the Observatorio Astrofisico Guillermo Haro (Sonora, Mexico) between 2008 and 2013, with a Boller & Chivens spectrograph, equipped with a Versarray 1300x1340 CCD. (3 data files).

A COMPARISON OF GALAXY COUNTING TECHNIQUES IN SPECTROSCOPICALLY UNDERSAMPLED REGIONS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Specian, Mike A.; Szalay, Alex S., E-mail: mspecia1@jhu.edu, E-mail: szalay@jhu.edu

2016-11-01

Accurate measures of galactic overdensities are invaluable for precision cosmology. Obtaining these measurements is complicated when members of one’s galaxy sample lack radial depths, most commonly derived via spectroscopic redshifts. In this paper, we utilize the Sloan Digital Sky Survey’s Main Galaxy Sample to compare seven methods of counting galaxies in cells when many of those galaxies lack redshifts. These methods fall into three categories: assigning galaxies discrete redshifts, scaling the numbers counted using regions’ spectroscopic completeness properties, and employing probabilistic techniques. We split spectroscopically undersampled regions into three types—those inside the spectroscopic footprint, those outside but adjacent to it,more » and those distant from it. Through Monte Carlo simulations, we demonstrate that the preferred counting techniques are a function of region type, cell size, and redshift. We conclude by reporting optimal counting strategies under a variety of conditions.« less

Flexible proton 3D MR spectroscopic imaging of the prostate with low-power adiabatic pulses for volume selection and spiral readout.

PubMed

Steinseifer, Isabell K; Philips, Bart W J; Gagoski, Borjan; Weiland, Elisabeth; Scheenen, Tom W J; Heerschap, Arend

2017-03-01

Cartesian k-space sampling in three-dimensional magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) of the prostate limits the selection of voxel size and acquisition time. Therefore, large prostates are often scanned at reduced spatial resolutions to stay within clinically acceptable measurement times. Here we present a semilocalized adiabatic selective refocusing (sLASER) sequence with gradient-modulated offset-independent adiabatic (GOIA) refocusing pulses and spiral k-space acquisition (GOIA-sLASER-Spiral) for fast prostate MRSI with enhanced resolution and extended matrix sizes. MR was performed at 3 tesla with an endorectal receive coil. GOIA-sLASER-Spiral at an echo time (TE) of 90 ms was compared to a point-resolved spectroscopy sequence (PRESS) with weighted, elliptical phase encoding at an TE of 145 ms using simulations and measurements of phantoms and patients (n = 9). GOIA-sLASER-Spiral acquisition allows prostate MR spectra to be obtained in ∼5 min with a quality comparable to those acquired with a common Cartesian PRESS protocol in ∼9 min, or at an enhanced spatial resolution showing more precise tissue allocation of metabolites. Extended field of views (FOVs) and matrix sizes for large prostates are possible without compromising spatial resolution or measurement time. The flexibility of spiral sampling enables prostate MRSI with a wide range of resolutions and FOVs without undesirable increases in acquisition times, as in Cartesian encoding. This approach is suitable for routine clinical exams of prostate metabolites. Magn Reson Med 77:928-935, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Photometric brown-dwarf classification. I. A method to identify and accurately classify large samples of brown dwarfs without spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skrzypek, N.; Warren, S. J.; Faherty, J. K.; Mortlock, D. J.; Burgasser, A. J.; Hewett, P. C.

2015-02-01

Aims: We present a method, named photo-type, to identify and accurately classify L and T dwarfs onto the standard spectral classification system using photometry alone. This enables the creation of large and deep homogeneous samples of these objects efficiently, without the need for spectroscopy. Methods: We created a catalogue of point sources with photometry in 8 bands, ranging from 0.75 to 4.6 μm, selected from an area of 3344 deg2, by combining SDSS, UKIDSS LAS, and WISE data. Sources with 13.0 0.8, were then classified by comparison against template colours of quasars, stars, and brown dwarfs. The L and T templates, spectral types L0 to T8, were created by identifying previously known sources with spectroscopic classifications, and fitting polynomial relations between colour and spectral type. Results: Of the 192 known L and T dwarfs with reliable photometry in the surveyed area and magnitude range, 189 are recovered by our selection and classification method. We have quantified the accuracy of the classification method both externally, with spectroscopy, and internally, by creating synthetic catalogues and accounting for the uncertainties. We find that, brighter than J = 17.5, photo-type classifications are accurate to one spectral sub-type, and are therefore competitive with spectroscopic classifications. The resultant catalogue of 1157 L and T dwarfs will be presented in a companion paper.

Innocent Bystanders: Carbon Stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Green, Paul

2013-03-01

Among stars showing carbon molecular bands (C stars), the main-sequence dwarfs, likely in post-mass transfer binaries, are numerically dominant in the Galaxy. Via spectroscopic selection from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we retrieve 1220 high galactic latitude C stars, ~5 times more than previously known, including a wider variety than past techniques such as color or grism selection have netted, and additionally yielding 167 DQ white dwarfs. Of the C stars with proper motion measurements, we identify 69% clearly as dwarfs (dCs), while ~7% are giants. The dCs likely span absolute magnitudes Mi from ~6.5 to 10.5. "G-type" dC stars with weak CN and relatively blue colors are probably the most massive dCs still cool enough to show C2 bands. We report Balmer emission in 22 dCs, none of which are G-types. We find 8 new DA/dC stars in composite spectrum binaries, quadrupling the total sample of these "smoking guns" for AGB binary mass transfer. Eleven very red C stars with strong red CN bands appear to be "N"-type AGB stars at large Galactocentric distances, one likely a new discovery in the dIrr galaxy Leo A. Two such stars within 30' of each other may trace a previously unidentified dwarf galaxy or tidal stream at ~40 kpc. We explore the multiwavelength properties of the sample and report the first X-ray detection of a dC star, which shows strong Balmer emission. Our own spectroscopic survey additionally provides the dC surface density from a complete sample of dwarfs limited by magnitude, color, and proper motion.

Photometric classification of type Ia supernovae in the SuperNova Legacy Survey with supervised learning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Möller, A.; Ruhlmann-Kleider, V.; Leloup, C.

In the era of large astronomical surveys, photometric classification of supernovae (SNe) has become an important research field due to limited spectroscopic resources for candidate follow-up and classification. In this work, we present a method to photometrically classify type Ia supernovae based on machine learning with redshifts that are derived from the SN light-curves. This method is implemented on real data from the SNLS deferred pipeline, a purely photometric pipeline that identifies SNe Ia at high-redshifts (0.2 < z < 1.1). Our method consists of two stages: feature extraction (obtaining the SN redshift from photometry and estimating light-curve shape parameters)more » and machine learning classification. We study the performance of different algorithms such as Random Forest and Boosted Decision Trees. We evaluate the performance using SN simulations and real data from the first 3 years of the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS), which contains large spectroscopically and photometrically classified type Ia samples. Using the Area Under the Curve (AUC) metric, where perfect classification is given by 1, we find that our best-performing classifier (Extreme Gradient Boosting Decision Tree) has an AUC of 0.98.We show that it is possible to obtain a large photometrically selected type Ia SN sample with an estimated contamination of less than 5%. When applied to data from the first three years of SNLS, we obtain 529 events. We investigate the differences between classifying simulated SNe, and real SN survey data. In particular, we find that applying a thorough set of selection cuts to the SN sample is essential for good classification. This work demonstrates for the first time the feasibility of machine learning classification in a high- z SN survey with application to real SN data.« less

Evolution of synchrotron-radiation-based Mössbauer absorption spectroscopy for various isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seto, Makoto; Masuda, Ryo; Kobayashi, Yasuhiro; Kitao, Shinji; Kurokuzu, Masayuki; Saito, Makina; Hosokawa, Shuuich; Ishibashi, Hiroki; Mitsui, Takaya; Yoda, Yoshitaka; Mibu, Ko

2017-11-01

Synchrotron-radiation-based Mössbauer spectroscopy that yields absorption type Mössbauer spectra has been applied to various isotopes. This method enables the advanced measurement by using the excellent features of synchrotron radiation, such as Mössbauer spectroscopic measurement under high-pressures. Furthermore, energy selectivity of synchrotron radiation allows us to measure 40K Mössbauer spectra, of which observation is impossible by using ordinary radioactive sources because the first excited state of 40K is not populated by any radioactive parent nuclides. Moreover, this method has flexibility of the experimental setup that the measured sample can be used as a transmitter or a scatterer, depending on the sample conditions. To enhance the measurement efficiency of the spectroscopy, we developed a detection system in which a windowless avalanche photodiode (APD) detector is combined with a vacuum cryostat to detect internal conversion electrons adding to X-rays accompanied by nuclear de-excitation. In particular, by selecting the emission from the scatterer sample, depth selective synchrotron-radiation-based Mössbauer spectroscopy is possible. Furthermore, limitation of the time window in the delayed components enables us to obtain narrow linewidth in Mössbauer spectra. Measurement system that records velocity dependent time spectra and energy information simultaneously realizes the depth selective and narrow linewidth measurement.

THE FMOS-COSMOS SURVEY OF STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT z ∼ 1.6. III. SURVEY DESIGN, PERFORMANCE, AND SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Silverman, J. D.; Sugiyama, N.; Kashino, D.

We present a spectroscopic survey of galaxies in the COSMOS field using the Fiber Multi-object Spectrograph (FMOS), a near-infrared instrument on the Subaru Telescope. Our survey is specifically designed to detect the Hα emission line that falls within the H-band (1.6–1.8 μm) spectroscopic window from star-forming galaxies with 1.4 < z < 1.7 and M{sub stellar} ≳ 10{sup 10} M{sub ⊙}. With the high multiplex capability of FMOS, it is now feasible to construct samples of over 1000 galaxies having spectroscopic redshifts at epochs that were previously challenging. The high-resolution mode (R ∼ 2600) effectively separates Hα and [N ii]λ6585,more » thus enabling studies of the gas-phase metallicity and photoionization state of the interstellar medium. The primary aim of our program is to establish how star formation depends on stellar mass and environment, both recognized as drivers of galaxy evolution at lower redshifts. In addition to the main galaxy sample, our target selection places priority on those detected in the far-infrared by Herschel/PACS to assess the level of obscured star formation and investigate, in detail, outliers from the star formation rate (SFR)—stellar mass relation. Galaxies with Hα detections are followed up with FMOS observations at shorter wavelengths using the J-long (1.11–1.35 μm) grating to detect Hβ and [O iii]λ5008 which provides an assessment of the extinction required to measure SFRs not hampered by dust, and an indication of embedded active galactic nuclei. With 460 redshifts measured from 1153 spectra, we assess the performance of the instrument with respect to achieving our goals, discuss inherent biases in the sample, and detail the emission-line properties. Our higher-level data products, including catalogs and spectra, are available to the community.« less

Selective detection of hyperpolarized NMR signals derived from para-hydrogen using the Only Para-hydrogen SpectroscopY (OPSY) approach.

PubMed

Aguilar, Juan A; Adams, Ralph W; Duckett, Simon B; Green, Gary G R; Kandiah, Rathika

2011-01-01

A new family of NMR pulse sequences is reported for the recording of para-hydrogen enhanced NMR spectra. This Only Para-hydrogen SpectroscopY (OPSY) approach uses coherence selection to separate hyperpolarized signals from those of fully relaxed and thermally equilibrated protons. Sequence design, performance, practical aspects and applicability to other hyperpolarization techniques are discussed. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

GEMINI/GMOS SPECTROSCOPY OF 26 STRONG-LENSING-SELECTED GALAXY CLUSTER CORES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bayliss, Matthew B.; Gladders, Michael D.; Koester, Benjamin P.

2011-03-15

We present results from a spectroscopic program targeting 26 strong-lensing cluster cores that were visually identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Second Red-Sequence Cluster Survey (RCS-2). The 26 galaxy cluster lenses span a redshift range of 0.2 < z < 0.65, and our spectroscopy reveals 69 unique background sources with redshifts as high as z = 5.200. We also identify redshifts for 262 cluster member galaxies and measure the velocity dispersions and dynamical masses for 18 clusters where we have redshifts for N {>=} 10 cluster member galaxies. We account for the expected biases in dynamicalmore » masses of strong-lensing-selected clusters as predicted by results from numerical simulations and discuss possible sources of bias in our observations. The median dynamical mass of the 18 clusters with N {>=} 10 spectroscopic cluster members is M {sub Vir} = 7.84 x 10{sup 14} M {sub sun} h {sup -1} {sub 0.7}, which is somewhat higher than predictions for strong-lensing-selected clusters in simulations. The disagreement is not significant considering the large uncertainty in our dynamical data, systematic uncertainties in the velocity dispersion calibration, and limitations of the theoretical modeling. Nevertheless our study represents an important first step toward characterizing large samples of clusters that are identified in a systematic way as systems exhibiting dramatic strong-lensing features.« less

An AzTEC 1.1mm survey of the GOODS-N field - II. Multiwavelength identifications and redshift distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chapin, Edward L.; Pope, Alexandra; Scott, Douglas; Aretxaga, Itziar; Austermann, Jason E.; Chary, Ranga-Ram; Coppin, Kristen; Halpern, Mark; Hughes, David H.; Lowenthal, James D.; Morrison, Glenn E.; Perera, Thushara A.; Scott, Kimberly S.; Wilson, Grant W.; Yun, Min S.

2009-10-01

We present results from a multiwavelength study of 29 sources (false detection probabilities <5 per cent) from a survey of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-North (GOODS-N) field at 1.1mm using the Astronomical Thermal Emission Camera (AzTEC). Comparing with existing 850μm Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) studies in the field, we examine differences in the source populations selected at the two wavelengths. The AzTEC observations uniformly cover the entire survey field to a 1σ depth of ~1mJy. Searching deep 1.4GHz Very Large Array (VLA) and Spitzer 3-24μm catalogues, we identify robust counterparts for 21 1.1mm sources, and tentative associations for the remaining objects. The redshift distribution of AzTEC sources is inferred from available spectroscopic and photometric redshifts. We find a median redshift of z = 2.7, somewhat higher than z = 2.0 for 850μm selected sources in the same field, and our lowest redshift identification lies at a spectroscopic redshift z = 1.1460. We measure the 850μm to 1.1mm colour of our sources and do not find evidence for `850μm dropouts', which can be explained by the low signal-to-noise ratio of the observations. We also combine these observed colours with spectroscopic redshifts to derive the range of dust temperatures T, and dust emissivity indices β for the sample, concluding that existing estimates T ~ 30K and β ~ 1.75 are consistent with these new data.

The Systematics of Strong Lens Modeling Quantified: The Effects of Constraint Selection and Redshift Information on Magnification, Mass, and Multiple Image Predictability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Traci L.; Sharon, Keren

2016-11-01

Until now, systematic errors in strong gravitational lens modeling have been acknowledged but have never been fully quantified. Here, we launch an investigation into the systematics induced by constraint selection. We model the simulated cluster Ares 362 times using random selections of image systems with and without spectroscopic redshifts and quantify the systematics using several diagnostics: image predictability, accuracy of model-predicted redshifts, enclosed mass, and magnification. We find that for models with >15 image systems, the image plane rms does not decrease significantly when more systems are added; however, the rms values quoted in the literature may be misleading as to the ability of a model to predict new multiple images. The mass is well constrained near the Einstein radius in all cases, and systematic error drops to <2% for models using >10 image systems. Magnification errors are smallest along the straight portions of the critical curve, and the value of the magnification is systematically lower near curved portions. For >15 systems, the systematic error on magnification is ∼2%. We report no trend in magnification error with the fraction of spectroscopic image systems when selecting constraints at random; however, when using the same selection of constraints, increasing this fraction up to ∼0.5 will increase model accuracy. The results suggest that the selection of constraints, rather than quantity alone, determines the accuracy of the magnification. We note that spectroscopic follow-up of at least a few image systems is crucial because models without any spectroscopic redshifts are inaccurate across all of our diagnostics.

HPLC-PFD determination of priority pollutant PAHs in water, sediment, and semipermeable membrane devices

USGS Publications Warehouse

Williamson, K.S.; Petty, J.D.; Huckins, J.N.; Lebo, J.A.; Kaiser, E.M.

2002-01-01

High performance liquid chromatography coupled with programmable fluorescence detection was employed for the determination of 15 priority pollutant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PPPAHs) in water, sediment, and semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs). Chromatographic separation using this analytical method facilitates selectivity, sensitivity (ppt levels), and can serve as a non-destructive technique for subsequent analysis by other chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. Extraction and sample cleanup procedures were also developed for water, sediment, and SPMDs using various chromatographic and wet chemical methods. The focus of this publication is to examine the enrichment techniques and the analytical methodologies used in the isolation, characterization, and quantitation of 15 PPPAHs in different sample matrices.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Global properties of z=1~2 GMASS galaxies (Tang+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Y.; Giavalisco, M.; Guo, Y.; Kurk, J.

2017-04-01

The sample of galaxies discussed here is extracted from the Galaxy Mass Assembly Spectroscopic Survey (GMASS) described by Kurk et al. (2013, J/A+A/549/A63), a program of spectroscopic observations of a mid-IR magnitude-limited (mAB of IRAC 4.5<23.0) sample selected from a 6.8'x6.8' field in the GOODS-S field (Giavalisco et al. 2004ApJ...600L..93G). The main scientific motivation of GMASS was to investigate the mass assembly and evolution of galaxies within the redshift range 1.310 hr for the blue masks and 20-30 hr for the red masks. (1 data file).

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Solar analogs and twins rotation by Kepler (do Nascimento+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Do Nascimento, J.-D. Jr; Garcia, R. A.; Mathur, S.; Anthony, F.; Barnes, S. A.; Meibom, S.; da Costa, J. S.; Castro, M.; Salabert, D.; Ceillier, T.

2017-03-01

Our sample of 75 stars consists of a seismic sample of 38 from Chaplin et al. (2014, J/ApJS/210/1), 35 additional stars selected from the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC), and 16 Cyg A and B. We selected 38 well-studied stars from the asteroseismic data with fundamental properties, including ages, estimated by Chaplin et al. (2014, J/ApJS/210/1), and with Teff and log g as close as possible to the Sun's value (5200 K < Teff < 6060 K and 3.63 < log g < 4.40). This seismic sample allows a direct comparison between gyro- and seismic-ages for a subset of eight stars. These seismic samples were observed in short cadence for one month each in survey mode. Stellar properties for these stars have been estimated using two global asteroseismic parameters and complementary photometric and spectroscopic observations as described by Chaplin et al. (2014, J/ApJS/210/1). The median final quoted uncertainties for the full Chaplin et al. (2014, J/ApJS/210/1) sample were approximately 0.020 dex in log g and 150 K in Teff. (1 data file).

Characterization of Sr-substituted W-type hexagonal ferrites synthesized by sol-gel autocombustion method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, Mukhtar; Grössinger, R.; Kriegisch, M.; Kubel, F.; Rana, M. U.

2013-04-01

The magnetic and microwave characterization of single phase hexaferrites of entirely new composition Ba1-xSrxCo2AlFe15O27 (x=0.2-1.0) for application in a microwave absorber, have been reported. The samples synthesized by sol-gel method were investigated by differential thermal analyzer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscope, X-ray diffractometer, field emission gun scanning electron microscope, vibrating sample magnetometer and vector network analyzer. Platelet grains exhibit well defined hexagonal shape which is a better shape for microwave absorption. M-H loops for a selected sample were measured for a temperature range of 4.2-400 K. Moreover M-H loops for all Sr-substituted samples were also measured at room temperature up to a maximum applied field of 9 T. Saturation magnetization values were calculated by the law of approach to saturation. The room temperature coercivity for all the samples is found to be a few hundred oersteds which is necessary for electromagnetic materials and makes these ferrites ideal for microwave devices, security, switching and sensing applications. The complex permittivity, permeability and reflection losses of a selected ferrite-epoxy composite were also investigated over a frequency range of 0.5-13 GHz.

Linking groundwater dissolved organic matter to sedimentary organic matter from a fluvio-lacustrine aquifer at Jianghan Plain, China by EEM-PARAFAC and hydrochemical analyses.

PubMed

Huang, Shuang-bing; Wang, Yan-xin; Ma, Teng; Tong, Lei; Wang, Yan-yan; Liu, Chang-rong; Zhao, Long

2015-10-01

The sources of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in groundwater are important to groundwater chemistry and quality. This study examined similarities in the nature of DOM and investigated the link between groundwater DOM (GDOM) and sedimentary organic matter (SOM) from a lacustrine-alluvial aquifer at Jianghan Plain. Sediment, groundwater and surface water samples were employed for SOM extraction, optical and/or chemical characterization, and subsequent fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) and parallel factor analyses (PARAFAC). Spectroscopic properties of bulk DOM pools showed that indices indicative of GDOM (e.g., biological source properties, humification level, aromaticity and molecule mobility) varied within the ranges of those of two extracted end-members of SOM: humic-like materials and microbe-associated materials. The coexistence of PARAFAC compositions and the sustaining internal relationship between GDOM and extracted SOM indicate a similar source. The results from principal component analyses with selected spectroscopic indices showed that GDOM exhibited a transition trend regarding its nature: from refractory high-humification DOM to intermediate humification DOM and then to microbe-associated DOM, with decreasing molecular weight. Correlations of spectroscopic indices with physicochemical parameters of the groundwater suggested that GDOM was released from SOM and was modified by microbial diagenetic processes. The current study demonstrated the associations of GDOM with SOM from a spectroscopic viewpoint and provided new evidence supporting SOM as the source of GDOM. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey first data release: Spectra and spectroscopic redshifts of 698 objects up to zspec 6 in CANDELS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tasca, L. A. M.; Le Fèvre, O.; Ribeiro, B.; Thomas, R.; Moreau, C.; Cassata, P.; Garilli, B.; Le Brun, V.; Lemaux, B. C.; Maccagni, D.; Pentericci, L.; Schaerer, D.; Vanzella, E.; Zamorani, G.; Zucca, E.; Amorin, R.; Bardelli, S.; Cassarà, L. P.; Castellano, M.; Cimatti, A.; Cucciati, O.; Durkalec, A.; Fontana, A.; Giavalisco, M.; Grazian, A.; Hathi, N. P.; Ilbert, O.; Paltani, S.; Pforr, J.; Scodeggio, M.; Sommariva, V.; Talia, M.; Tresse, L.; Vergani, D.; Capak, P.; Charlot, S.; Contini, T.; de la Torre, S.; Dunlop, J.; Fotopoulou, S.; Guaita, L.; Koekemoer, A.; López-Sanjuan, C.; Mellier, Y.; Salvato, M.; Scoville, N.; Taniguchi, Y.; Wang, P. W.

2017-04-01

This paper describes the first data release (DR1) of the VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey (VUDS). The VUDS-DR1 is the release of all low-resolution spectroscopic data obtained in 276.9 arcmin2 of the CANDELS-COSMOS and CANDELS-ECDFS survey areas, including accurate spectroscopic redshifts zspec and individual spectra obtained with VIMOS on the ESO-VLT. A total of 698 objects have a measured redshift, with 677 galaxies, two type-I AGN, and a small number of 19 contaminating stars. The targets of the spectroscopic survey are selected primarily on the basis of their photometric redshifts to ensure a broad population coverage. About 500 galaxies have zspec > 2, 48of which have zspec > 4; the highest reliable redshifts reach beyond zspec = 6. This data set approximately doubles the number of galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts at z > 3 in these fields. We discuss the general properties of the VUDS-DR1 sample in terms of the spectroscopic redshift distribution, the distribution of Lyman-α equivalent widths, and physical properties including stellar masses M⋆ and star formation rates derived from spectral energy distribution fitting with the knowledge of zspec. We highlight the properties of the most massive star-forming galaxies, noting the wide range in spectral properties, with Lyman-α in emission or in absorption, and in imaging properties with compact, multi-component, or pair morphologies. We present the catalogue database and data products. All VUDS-DR1 data are publicly available and can be retrieved from a dedicated query-based database. Future VUDS data releases will follow this VUDS-DR1 to give access to the spectra and associated measurement of 8000 objects in the full 1 square degree of the VUDS survey. Based on data obtained with the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope, Paranal, Chile, under Large Program 185.A-0791. http://cesam.lam.fr/vuds

Variable selection based cotton bollworm odor spectroscopic detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lü, Chengxu; Gai, Shasha; Luo, Min; Zhao, Bo

2016-10-01

Aiming at rapid automatic pest detection based efficient and targeting pesticide application and shooting the trouble of reflectance spectral signal covered and attenuated by the solid plant, the possibility of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) detection on cotton bollworm odor is studied. Three cotton bollworm odor samples and 3 blank air gas samples were prepared. Different concentrations of cotton bollworm odor were prepared by mixing the above gas samples, resulting a calibration group of 62 samples and a validation group of 31 samples. Spectral collection system includes light source, optical fiber, sample chamber, spectrometer. Spectra were pretreated by baseline correction, modeled with partial least squares (PLS), and optimized by genetic algorithm (GA) and competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS). Minor counts differences are found among spectra of different cotton bollworm odor concentrations. PLS model of all the variables was built presenting RMSEV of 14 and RV2 of 0.89, its theory basis is insect volatilizes specific odor, including pheromone and allelochemics, which are used for intra-specific and inter-specific communication and could be detected by NIR spectroscopy. 28 sensitive variables are selected by GA, presenting the model performance of RMSEV of 14 and RV2 of 0.90. Comparably, 8 sensitive variables are selected by CARS, presenting the model performance of RMSEV of 13 and RV2 of 0.92. CARS model employs only 1.5% variables presenting smaller error than that of all variable. Odor gas based NIR technique shows the potential for cotton bollworm detection.

Use of Advanced Spectroscopic Techniques for Predicting the Mechanical Properties of Wood Composites

Treesearch

Timothy G. Rials; Stephen S. Kelley; Chi-Leung So

2002-01-01

Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was used to characterize a set of medium-density fiberboard (MDF) samples. This spectroscopic technique, in combination with projection to latent structures (PLS) modeling, effectively predicted the mechanical strength of MDF samples with a wide range of physical properties. The stiffness, strength, and internal bond properties of the...

SAGITTARIUS STREAM THREE-DIMENSIONAL KINEMATICS FROM SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY STRIPE 82

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Koposov, Sergey E.; Belokurov, Vasily; Evans, N. Wyn

2013-04-01

Using multi-epoch observations of the Stripe 82 region from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we measure precise statistical proper motions of the stars in the Sagittarius (Sgr) stellar stream. The multi-band photometry and SDSS radial velocities allow us to efficiently select Sgr members and thus enhance the proper-motion precision to {approx}0.1 mas yr{sup -1}. We measure separately the proper motion of a photometrically selected sample of the main-sequence turn-off stars, as well as spectroscopically selected Sgr giants. The data allow us to determine the proper motion separately for the two Sgr streams in the south found in Koposov etmore » al. Together with the precise velocities from SDSS, our proper motions provide exquisite constraints of the three-dimensional motions of the stars in the Sgr streams.« less

A Spectroscopic Search for Leaking Lyman Continuum at Zeta Approximately 0.7

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bridge, Carrie R.; Teplitz, Harry I.; Siana, Brian; Scarlata, Claudia; Rudie, Gwen C.; Colbert, James; Ferguson, Henry C.; Brown, Thomas M.; Conselice, Christopher J.; Armus, Lee;

Identifying the Young Low-mass Stars within 25 pc. I. Spectroscopic Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shkolnik, Evgenya; Liu, Michael C.; Reid, I. Neill

2009-07-01

We have completed a high-resolution (R ≈ 60,000) optical spectroscopic survey of 185 nearby M dwarfs identified using ROSAT data to select active, young objects with fractional X-ray luminosities comparable to or greater than Pleiades members. Our targets are drawn from the NStars 20 pc census and the Moving-M sample with distances determined from parallaxes or spectrophotometric relations. We limited our sample to 25 pc from the Sun, prior to correcting for pre-main-sequence overluminosity or binarity. Nearly half of the resulting M dwarfs are not present in the Gliese catalog and have no previously published spectral types. We identified 30 spectroscopic binaries (SBs) from the sample, which have strong X-ray emission due to tidal spin-up rather than youth. This is equivalent to a 16% SB fraction, with at most a handful of undiscovered SBs. We estimate upper limits on the age of the remaining M dwarfs using spectroscopic youth indicators such as surface gravity-sensitive indices (CaH and K I). We find that for a sample of field stars with no metallicity measurements, a single CaH gravity index may not be sufficient, as higher metallicities mimic lower gravity. This is demonstrated in a subsample of metal-rich radial velocity (RV) standards, which appear to have low surface gravity as measured by the CaH index, yet show no other evidence of youth. We also use additional youth diagnostics such as lithium absorption and strong Hα emission to set more stringent age limits. Eleven M dwarfs with no Hα emission or absorption are likely old (>400 Myr) and were caught during an X-ray flare. We estimate that our final sample of the 144 youngest and nearest low-mass objects in the field is less than 300 Myr old, with 30% of them being younger than 150 Myr and four very young (lap10 Myr), representing a generally untapped and well-characterized resource of M dwarfs for intensive planet and disk searches. Based on observations collected at the W. M. Keck Observatory and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. The Keck Observatory is operated as a scientific partnership between the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation. The CFHT is operated by the National Research Council of Canada, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France, and the University of Hawaii.

The Swift/BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey. IX. The Clustering Environments of an Unbiased Sample of Local AGNs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powell, M. C.; Cappelluti, N.; Urry, C. M.; Koss, M.; Finoguenov, A.; Ricci, C.; Trakhtenbrot, B.; Allevato, V.; Ajello, M.; Oh, K.; Schawinski, K.; Secrest, N.

2018-05-01

We characterize the environments of local accreting supermassive black holes by measuring the clustering of AGNs in the Swift/BAT Spectroscopic Survey (BASS). With 548 AGN in the redshift range 0.01 < z < 0.1 over the full sky from the DR1 catalog, BASS provides the largest, least biased sample of local AGNs to date due to its hard X-ray selection (14–195 keV) and rich multiwavelength/ancillary data. By measuring the projected cross-correlation function between the AGN and 2MASS galaxies, and interpreting it via halo occupation distribution and subhalo-based models, we constrain the occupation statistics of the full sample, as well as in bins of absorbing column density and black hole mass. We find that AGNs tend to reside in galaxy group environments, in agreement with previous studies of AGNs throughout a large range of luminosity and redshift, and that on average they occupy their dark matter halos similar to inactive galaxies of comparable stellar mass. We also find evidence that obscured AGNs tend to reside in denser environments than unobscured AGNs, even when samples were matched in luminosity, redshift, stellar mass, and Eddington ratio. We show that this can be explained either by significantly different halo occupation distributions or statistically different host halo assembly histories. Lastly, we see that massive black holes are slightly more likely to reside in central galaxies than black holes of smaller mass.

Semi-supervised learning for photometric supernova classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richards, Joseph W.; Homrighausen, Darren; Freeman, Peter E.; Schafer, Chad M.; Poznanski, Dovi

2012-01-01

We present a semi-supervised method for photometric supernova typing. Our approach is to first use the non-linear dimension reduction technique diffusion map to detect structure in a data base of supernova light curves and subsequently employ random forest classification on a spectroscopically confirmed training set to learn a model that can predict the type of each newly observed supernova. We demonstrate that this is an effective method for supernova typing. As supernova numbers increase, our semi-supervised method efficiently utilizes this information to improve classification, a property not enjoyed by template-based methods. Applied to supernova data simulated by Kessler et al. to mimic those of the Dark Energy Survey, our methods achieve (cross-validated) 95 per cent Type Ia purity and 87 per cent Type Ia efficiency on the spectroscopic sample, but only 50 per cent Type Ia purity and 50 per cent efficiency on the photometric sample due to their spectroscopic follow-up strategy. To improve the performance on the photometric sample, we search for better spectroscopic follow-up procedures by studying the sensitivity of our machine-learned supernova classification on the specific strategy used to obtain training sets. With a fixed amount of spectroscopic follow-up time, we find that, despite collecting data on a smaller number of supernovae, deeper magnitude-limited spectroscopic surveys are better for producing training sets. For supernova Ia (II-P) typing, we obtain a 44 per cent (1 per cent) increase in purity to 72 per cent (87 per cent) and 30 per cent (162 per cent) increase in efficiency to 65 per cent (84 per cent) of the sample using a 25th (24.5th) magnitude-limited survey instead of the shallower spectroscopic sample used in the original simulations. When redshift information is available, we incorporate it into our analysis using a novel method of altering the diffusion map representation of the supernovae. Incorporating host redshifts leads to a 5 per cent improvement in Type Ia purity and 13 per cent improvement in Type Ia efficiency. A web service for the supernova classification method used in this paper can be found at .

NMR spectroscopic and analytical ultracentrifuge analysis of membrane protein detergent complexes.

PubMed

Maslennikov, Innokentiy; Kefala, Georgia; Johnson, Casey; Riek, Roland; Choe, Senyon; Kwiatkowski, Witek

2007-11-08

Structural studies of integral membrane proteins (IMPs) are hampered by inherent difficulties in their heterologous expression and in the purification of solubilized protein-detergent complexes (PDCs). The choice and concentrations of detergents used in an IMP preparation play a critical role in protein homogeneity and are thus important for successful crystallization. Seeking an effective and standardized means applicable to genomic approaches for the characterization of PDCs, we chose 1D-NMR spectroscopic analysis to monitor the detergent content throughout their purification: protein extraction, detergent exchange, and sample concentration. We demonstrate that a single NMR measurement combined with a SDS-PAGE of a detergent extracted sample provides a useful gauge of the detergent's extraction potential for a given protein. Furthermore, careful monitoring of the detergent content during the process of IMP production allows for a high level of reproducibility. We also show that in many cases a simple sedimentation velocity measurement provides sufficient data to estimate both the oligomeric state and the detergent-to-protein ratio in PDCs, as well as to evaluate the homogeneity of the samples prior to crystallization screening. The techniques presented here facilitate the screening and selection of the extraction detergent, as well as help to maintain reproducibility in the detergent exchange and PDC concentration procedures. Such reproducibility is particularly important for the optimization of initial crystallization conditions, for which multiple purifications are routinely required.

NMR spectroscopic and analytical ultracentrifuge analysis of membrane protein detergent complexes

PubMed Central

Maslennikov, Innokentiy; Kefala, Georgia; Johnson, Casey; Riek, Roland; Choe, Senyon; Kwiatkowski, Witek

2007-01-01

Background Structural studies of integral membrane proteins (IMPs) are hampered by inherent difficulties in their heterologous expression and in the purification of solubilized protein-detergent complexes (PDCs). The choice and concentrations of detergents used in an IMP preparation play a critical role in protein homogeneity and are thus important for successful crystallization. Results Seeking an effective and standardized means applicable to genomic approaches for the characterization of PDCs, we chose 1D-NMR spectroscopic analysis to monitor the detergent content throughout their purification: protein extraction, detergent exchange, and sample concentration. We demonstrate that a single NMR measurement combined with a SDS-PAGE of a detergent extracted sample provides a useful gauge of the detergent's extraction potential for a given protein. Furthermore, careful monitoring of the detergent content during the process of IMP production allows for a high level of reproducibility. We also show that in many cases a simple sedimentation velocity measurement provides sufficient data to estimate both the oligomeric state and the detergent-to-protein ratio in PDCs, as well as to evaluate the homogeneity of the samples prior to crystallization screening. Conclusion The techniques presented here facilitate the screening and selection of the extraction detergent, as well as help to maintain reproducibility in the detergent exchange and PDC concentration procedures. Such reproducibility is particularly important for the optimization of initial crystallization conditions, for which multiple purifications are routinely required. PMID:17988403

THE SYSTEMATICS OF STRONG LENS MODELING QUANTIFIED: THE EFFECTS OF CONSTRAINT SELECTION AND REDSHIFT INFORMATION ON MAGNIFICATION, MASS, AND MULTIPLE IMAGE PREDICTABILITY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, Traci L.; Sharon, Keren, E-mail: tljohn@umich.edu

Until now, systematic errors in strong gravitational lens modeling have been acknowledged but have never been fully quantified. Here, we launch an investigation into the systematics induced by constraint selection. We model the simulated cluster Ares 362 times using random selections of image systems with and without spectroscopic redshifts and quantify the systematics using several diagnostics: image predictability, accuracy of model-predicted redshifts, enclosed mass, and magnification. We find that for models with >15 image systems, the image plane rms does not decrease significantly when more systems are added; however, the rms values quoted in the literature may be misleading asmore » to the ability of a model to predict new multiple images. The mass is well constrained near the Einstein radius in all cases, and systematic error drops to <2% for models using >10 image systems. Magnification errors are smallest along the straight portions of the critical curve, and the value of the magnification is systematically lower near curved portions. For >15 systems, the systematic error on magnification is ∼2%. We report no trend in magnification error with the fraction of spectroscopic image systems when selecting constraints at random; however, when using the same selection of constraints, increasing this fraction up to ∼0.5 will increase model accuracy. The results suggest that the selection of constraints, rather than quantity alone, determines the accuracy of the magnification. We note that spectroscopic follow-up of at least a few image systems is crucial because models without any spectroscopic redshifts are inaccurate across all of our diagnostics.« less

Handbook of Basic Atomic Spectroscopic Data

National Institute of Standards and Technology Data Gateway

SRD 108 Handbook of Basic Atomic Spectroscopic Data (Web, free access)   This handbook provides a selection of the most important and frequently used atomic spectroscopic data. The compilation includes data for the neutral and singly-ionized atoms of all elements hydrogen through einsteinium (Z = 1-99). The wavelengths, intensities, and spectrum assignments are given for each element, and the data for the approximately 12,000 lines of all elements are also collected into a single table.

Dynamic refractometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curley, Michael J. (Inventor); Sarkisov, Sergey S. (Inventor)

2008-01-01

A refractometer computer controls the rotation of a rotary plate upon which are mounted a prism optically coupled via an optical window to a spectroscopic cell holding a resin exhibiting a dynamic refractive index during photocuring. The computer system positions the prism and spectroscopic cell relative to a visible light laser which illuminates the prism-resin interface at selected incidence angles. A photodetector mounted on the plate generates a signal to the computer proportional to intensity of an internally reflected light beam. A curing light is selectively transmitted through the prism and into the photocurable resin. The refractometer determines the intensity of the internally reflected beam a selected incidence angles and determines the effective refractive index curve of the resin at an uncured state and, optionally, at a completely cured state. Next, an amount of uncured resin and selected optical components to be joined by the resin is placed in the spectroscopic cell and irradiated with the UV light. The refractometer is fixed at a selected incidence angle and measures the intensity of an internally reflected light beam of light throughout the cure cycle. The refractometer determines the resin's refractive index of the polymeric mixture by means of extrapolation of a horizontal shift in the effective refractive index curve of the resin from an uncured state to a selected point in the cure cycle.

High pressure reaction cell and transfer mechanism for ultrahigh vacuum spectroscopic chambers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, A. E.; Schulz, K. H.

2000-06-01

A novel high pressure reaction cell and sample transfer mechanism for ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) spectroscopic chambers is described. The design employs a unique modification of a commercial load-lock transfer system to emulate a tractable microreactor. The reaction cell has an operating pressure range of <1×10-4 to 1000 Torr and can be evacuated to UHV conditions to enable sample transfer into the spectroscopic chamber. Additionally, a newly designed sample holder equipped with electrical and thermocouple contacts is described. The sample holder is capable of resistive specimen heating to 400 and 800 °C with current requirements of 14 A (2 V) and 25 A (3.5 V), respectively. The design enables thorough material science characterization of catalytic reactions and the surface chemistry of catalytic materials without exposing the specimen to atmospheric contaminants. The system is constructed primarily from readily available commercial equipment allowing its rapid implementation into existing laboratories.

Mid- and Near-infrared spectral properties of a sample of Swift-BAT X-ray selected AGNs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castro, Angel; Miyaji, Takamitsu; Malkan, Matthew A.; Ichikawa, Kohei; Ueda, Yoshihiro; Shirahata, M.; Nakagawa, Takao; Imanishi, Masatoshi; Oyabu, Shinki

2015-08-01

We present a comparative study of the mid- (MIR) to near-infrared (NIR) properties of a sample of X-ray selected AGNs from the Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) 70-month all-sky hard X-ray (14-195 keV) survey. For a sample of 78 AGNs, including both Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 sources with black hole masses derived from 2MASS K-band magnitudes and literature, we obtain spectroscopic data from the IRC (2.5 - 5 μm) and IRS (in the 5-14 μm band) instruments onboard the Akari and Spitzer satellites, respectively. We test possible correlations between the 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, 11.2 and 12.7 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission features, the continuum slope and CO optical depth, as well as CO2, H2O, and amorphous silicates. Using the 3.3, 6.2 and 11.3 μm PAH emission features as a proxy for the star-formation rate (SFR) we report the AGN type and Eddington-ratio dependences of circum-nuclear star formation.

Spectroscopic identification of rare earth elements in phosphate glass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devangad, Praveen; Tamboli, Maktum; Muhammed Shameem, K. M.; Nayak, Rajesh; Patil, Ajeetkumar; Unnikrishnan, V. K.; Santhosh, C.; Kumar, G. A.

2018-01-01

In this work, rare earth-doped phosphate glasses were synthesized and characterized using three different spectroscopic techniques. The absorption spectra of the prepared praseodymium (Pr) and samarium (Sm) doped glasses, recorded by a UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer, show the characteristic absorption bands of these elements. To confirm this inference, laser-induced fluorescence spectra of Pr and Sm were obtained at a laser excitation of 442 nm. Their emission bands are reported here. The elemental analysis of these samples was carried out using a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) system. Characteristic emission lines of Pr and Sm have been identified and reported by the recorded LIBS spectra of glass samples. Results prove that using these three complimentary spectroscopic techniques (absorption, fluorescence and LIBS), we can meaningfully characterize rare earth-doped glass samples.

White Dwarfs in the SDSS Photometric Footprint

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gentile Fusillo, N. P.; Girven, J.; Gänsicke, B.

2013-01-01

Attempts to create a homogeneous catalogue of white dwarfs have always been faced with the challenge posed by the intrinsic faintness of these objects. In recent years, thanks to large area surveys like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the size of the known white dwarf population has increased dramatically, but, in order to carry out a statical study on the population of white dwarfs, it is necessary to have a reliable and well-defined selection method. We present a method which uses cuts in colour-colour space to select from DR7 16785 bright (g ≤ 19) photometric DA white dwarf candidates (Girven et al. 2011). The selection is 62% efficient in returning DA white dwarfs and produces a DA sample which is 95% complete for Teff > 8000 K. This sample contains 4636 spectroscopically confirmed DA white dwarfs; i.e. a ˜70% increase compared to Eisenstein et al.'s sample. As a first application of the SDSS DR7 DA candidates sample we cross correlated it with Data Release 8 of UKIDSS Large Area Survey with the aim of identifying white dwarfs which exhibit an infrared excess consistent with the presence of low mass stellar companions or dusty debris discs. Our current work aims to extend the photometric selection to all types of white dwarfs, using reduced proper motion as a further constrain. We expect to find a total of ˜20 000 photometric white dwarf candidates with g ≤ 19 in the footprint of SDSS DR8.

The Gemini/HST Galaxy Cluster Project: Redshift 0.2–1.0 Cluster Sample, X-Ray Data, and Optical Photometry Catalog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jørgensen, Inger; Chiboucas, Kristin; Hibon, Pascale; Nielsen, Louise D.; Takamiya, Marianne

2018-04-01

The Gemini/HST Galaxy Cluster Project (GCP) covers 14 z = 0.2–1.0 clusters with X-ray luminosity of {L}500≥slant {10}44 {erg} {{{s}}}-1 in the 0.1–2.4 keV band. In this paper, we provide homogeneously calibrated X-ray luminosities, masses, and radii, and we present the complete catalog of the ground-based photometry for the GCP clusters. The clusters were observed with either Gemini North or South in three or four of the optical passbands g‧, r‧, i‧, and z‧. The photometric catalog includes consistently calibrated total magnitudes, colors, and geometrical parameters. The photometry reaches ≈25 mag in the passband closest to the rest-frame B band. We summarize comparisons of our photometry with data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We describe the sample selection for our spectroscopic observations, and establish the calibrations to obtain rest-frame magnitudes and colors. Finally, we derive the color–magnitude relations for the clusters, and briefly discuss these in the context of evolution with redshift. Consistent with our results based on spectroscopic data, the color–magnitude relations support passive evolution of the red sequence galaxies. The absence of change in the slope with redshift constrains the allowable age variation along the red sequence to <0.05 dex between the brightest cluster galaxies and those four magnitudes fainter. This paper serves as the main reference for the GCP cluster and galaxy selection, X-ray data, and ground-based photometry.

The BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koss, Michael; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Ricci, Claudio; Lamperti, Isabella; Oh, Kyuseok; Berney, Simon; Schawinski, Kevin; Balokovic, Mislav; Baronchelli, Linda; Gehrels, Neil; Stern, Daniel; Mushotzky, Richard; Veilleux, Sylvain; Ueda, Yoshihiro; Crenshaw, D. Michael; Harrison, Fiona; Fischer, Travis C.; Treister, Ezequiel; BASS Team; Swift BAT Team

2017-01-01

We present the Swift BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS) and discus the first four papers. The catalog represents an unprecedented census of hard-X-ray selected AGN in the local universe, with ~90% of sources at z<0.2. Starting from an all-sky catalog of AGN detected based on their 14-195 keV flux from the 70-month Swift/BAT catalog, we analyze a total of 1279 optical spectra, taken from twelve dierent telescopes, for a total of 642 spectra of unique AGN. We present the absorption and emission line measurements as well as black hole masses and accretion rates for the majority of obscured and un-obscured AGN (473), representing more than a factor of 10 increase from past studies. Consistent with previous surveys, we find an increase in the fraction of un-obscured (type 1) AGN, as measured from broad Hbeta and Halpha, with increasing 14-195 keV and 2-10 keV luminosity. We find the FWHM of the emission lines to show broad agreement with the X-ray obscuration measurements. Compared to narrow line AGN in the SDSS, the X-ray selected AGN in our sample with emission lines have a larger fraction of dustier galaxies suggesting these types of galaxies are missed in optical AGN surveys using emission line diagnostics. Additionally, we discuss follow-on efforts to study the variation of [OIII] to Xray measurements, a new method to measure accretion rates from using line ratios, a sample of 100 AGN observed with NIR spectroscopy, and an effort to measure the accretion rates and obscuration with merger stage in a subsample of mergers.

Cavity-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Natural Gas with Optical Feedback cw-Diode Lasers.

PubMed

Hippler, Michael

2015-08-04

We report on improvements made on our previously introduced technique of cavity-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (CERS) with optical feedback cw-diode lasers in the gas phase, including a new mode-matching procedure which keeps the laser in resonance with the optical cavity without inducing long-term frequency shifts of the laser, and using a new CCD camera with improved noise performance. With 10 mW of 636.2 nm diode laser excitation and 30 s integration time, cavity enhancement achieves noise-equivalent detection limits below 1 mbar at 1 bar total pressure, depending on Raman cross sections. Detection limits can be easily improved using higher power diodes. We further demonstrate a relevant analytical application of CERS, the multicomponent analysis of natural gas samples. Several spectroscopic features have been identified and characterized. CERS with low power diode lasers is suitable for online monitoring of natural gas mixtures with sensitivity and spectroscopic selectivity, including monitoring H2, H2S, N2, CO2, and alkanes.

Time evolution of high-energy emissions of low-mass stars. I. Age determination using stellar chronology with white dwarfs in wide binaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcés, A.; Catalán, S.; Ribas, I.

2011-07-01

Context. Stellar ages are extremely difficult to determine and often subject to large uncertainties, especially for field low-mass stars. We plan to carry out a calibration of the decrease in high-energy emissions of low-mass GKM stars with time, and therefore precise age determination is a key ingredient. The overall goal of our research is to study the time evolution of these high-energy emissions as an essential input to studying exoplanetary atmospheres. Aims: We propose to determine stellar ages with a methodology based on wide binaries. We are interested in systems composed of a low-mass star and a white dwarf (WD), where the latter serves as a stellar chronometer for the system. We aim at obtaining reliable ages for a sample of late-type stars older than 1 Gyr. Methods: We selected a sample of wide binaries composed by a DA type WD and a GKM companion. High signal-to-noise, low-resolution spectroscopic observations were obtained for most of the WD members of the sample. Atmospheric parameters were determined by fitting the spectroscopic data to appropiate WD models. The total ages of the systems were derived by using cooling sequences, an initial-final mass relationship and evolutionary tracks, to account for the progenitor life. Results: The spectroscopic observations have allowed us to determine ages for the binary systems using WDs as cosmochronometers. We obtained reliable ages for 27 stars between 1 and 5 Gyr, which is a range where age determination becomes difficult for field objects. Roughly half of these systems have cooling ages that contribute at least 30% the total age. We select those for further study since their age estimate should be less prone to systematic errors coming from the initial-final mass relationship. Conclusions: We have determined robust ages for a sizeable sample of GKM stars that can be subsequently used to study the time evolution of their emissions associated to stellar magnetic activity. Based on observations collected at the Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán (CAHA) at Calar Alto, operated jointly by the Max-Planck Institut für Astronomie and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC).Based on observations made with the WHT (William Herschel Telescope) operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.

Method of absorbance correction in a spectroscopic heating value sensor

DOEpatents

Saveliev, Alexei; Jangale, Vilas Vyankatrao; Zelepouga, Sergeui; Pratapas, John

2013-09-17

A method and apparatus for absorbance correction in a spectroscopic heating value sensor in which a reference light intensity measurement is made on a non-absorbing reference fluid, a light intensity measurement is made on a sample fluid, and a measured light absorbance of the sample fluid is determined. A corrective light intensity measurement at a non-absorbing wavelength of the sample fluid is made on the sample fluid from which an absorbance correction factor is determined. The absorbance correction factor is then applied to the measured light absorbance of the sample fluid to arrive at a true or accurate absorbance for the sample fluid.

Applications of QCL mid-IR imaging to the advancement of pathology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sreedhar, Hari; Varma, Vishal K.; Bird, Benjamin; Guzman, Grace; Walsh, Michael J.

2017-03-01

Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) spectroscopic imaging is a novel technique with many potential applications to histopathology. Like traditional Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) imaging, QCL spectroscopic imaging derives biochemical data coupled to the spatial information of a tissue sample, and can be used to improve the diagnostic and prognostic value of assessment of a tissue biopsy. This technique also offers advantages over traditional FT-IR imaging, specifically the capacity for discrete frequency and real-time imaging. In this work we present applications of QCL spectroscopic imaging to tissue samples, including discrete frequency imaging, to compare with FT-IR and its potential value to pathology.

The BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koss, Michael

2017-08-01

We present the Swift BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS) and discus the first four papers. The catalog represents an unprecedented census of hard-X-ray selected AGN in the local universe, with ~90% of sources at z<0.2. Starting from an all-sky catalog of AGN detected based on their 14-195 keV flux from the 70-month Swift/BAT catalog, we analyze a total of 1279 optical spectra, taken from twelve different telescopes, for a total of 642 spectra of unique AGN. We present the absorption and emission line measurements as well as black hole masses and accretion rates for the majority of obscured and un-obscured AGN (473), representing more than a factor of 10 increase from past studies. Consistent with previous surveys, we find an increase in the fraction of un-obscured (type 1) AGN, as measured from broad Hbeta and Halpha, with increasing 14-195 keV and 2-10 keV luminosity. We find the FWHM of the emission lines to show broad agreement with the X-ray obscuration measurements. Compared to narrow line AGN in the SDSS, the X-ray selected AGN in our sample with emission lines have a larger fraction of dustier galaxies suggesting these types of galaxies are missed in optical AGN surveys using emission line diagnostics.

The Faint End of the z = 5 Quasar Luminosity Function from the CFHTLS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGreer, Ian D.; Fan, Xiaohui; Jiang, Linhua; Cai, Zheng

2018-03-01

We present results from a spectroscopic survey of z ∼ 5 quasars in the CFHT Legacy Survey. Using both optical color selection and a likelihood method, we select 97 candidates over an area of 105 deg2 to a limit of i AB < 23.2, and 7 candidates in the range 23.2 < i AB < 23.7 over an area of 18.5 deg2. Spectroscopic observations for 43 candidates were obtained with Gemini, MMT, and Large Binocular Telescope, of which 37 are z > 4 quasars. This sample extends measurements of the quasar luminosity function ∼1.5 mag fainter than our previous work in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82. The resulting luminosity function is in good agreement with our previous results, and suggests that the faint end slope is not steep. We perform a detailed examination of our survey completeness, particularly the impact of the Lyα emission assumed in our quasar spectral models, and find hints that the observed Lyα emission from faint z ∼ 5 quasars is weaker than for z ∼ 3 quasars at a similar luminosity. Our results strongly disfavor a significant contribution of faint quasars to the hydrogen-ionizing background at z = 5.

Assays for Determination of Protein Concentration.

PubMed

Olson, Bradley J S C

2016-06-01

Biochemical analysis of proteins relies on accurate quantification of protein concentration. Detailed in this appendix are some commonly used methods for protein analysis, e.g., Lowry, Bradford, bicinchoninic acid (BCA), UV spectroscopic, and 3-(4-carboxybenzoyl)quinoline-2-carboxaldehyde (CBQCA) assays. The primary focus of this report is assay selection, emphasizing sample and buffer compatibility. The fundamentals of generating protein assay standard curves and of data processing are considered, as are high-throughput adaptations of the more commonly used protein assays. Also included is a rapid, inexpensive, and reliable BCA assay of total protein in SDS-PAGE sample buffer that is used for equal loading of SDS-PAGE gels. © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Standoff spectroscopic interrogation of samples irradiated by high energy lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daigle, Jean-François; Pudo, Dominik; Théberge, Francis

2017-10-01

We report on a novel method that shows the potential to provide real-time, standoff forensic analysis of samples being irradiated by a high energy laser (HEL). The interaction of the HEL beam with matter produces specific optical signatures that can be detected from the location of the HEL system. A spectroscopic analysis of these signals can then provide useful information to the operator including the impact the laser has on the sample as well as providing data about the its structure and composition.

THE EVOLUTION OF POST-STARBURST GALAXIES FROM z  ∼ 1 TO THE PRESENT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pattarakijwanich, Petchara; Strauss, Michael A.; Ho, Shirley

Post-starburst galaxies are in the transitional stage between blue, star-forming galaxies and red, quiescent galaxies and therefore hold important clues for our understanding of galaxy evolution. In this paper, we systematically searched for and identified a large sample of post-starburst galaxies from the spectroscopic data set of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 9. In total, we found more than 6000 objects with redshifts between z  ∼ 0.05 and z  ∼ 1.3, making this the largest sample of post-starburst galaxies in the literature. We calculated the luminosity function of the post-starburst galaxies using two uniformly selected subsamples: the SDSS mainmore » galaxy sample and the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey CMASS sample. The luminosity functions are reasonably fit by half-Gaussian functions. The peak magnitudes shift as a function of redshift from M  ∼ −23.5 at z  ∼ 0.8 to M  ∼ −20.3 at z  ∼ 0.1. This is consistent with the downsizing trend, whereby more massive galaxies form earlier than low-mass galaxies. We compared the mass of the post-starburst stellar population found in our sample to the decline of the global star formation rate and found that only a small amount (∼1%) of all star formation quenching in the redshift range z  = 0.2–0.7 results in post-starburst galaxies in the luminosity range our sample is sensitive to. Therefore, luminous post-starburst galaxies are not the place where most of the decline in the star formation rate of the universe is happening.« less

AGN Clustering in the BAT Sample

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powell, Meredith; Cappelluti, Nico; Urry, Meg; Koss, Michael; BASS Team

2018-01-01

We characterize the environments of local growing supermassive black holes by measuring the clustering of AGN in the Swift-BAT Spectroscopic Survey (BASS). With 548 AGN in the redshift range 0.01

Nearby stars of the Galactic disc and halo - IV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuhrmann, Klaus

2008-02-01

The Milky Way Galaxy has an age of about 13 billion years. Solar-type stars evolve all the long way to the realm of degenerate objects on essentially this time-scale. This, as well as the particular advantage that the Sun offers through reliable differential spectroscopic analyses, render these stars the ideal tracers for the fossil record of our parent spiral. Astrophysics is a science that is known to be notoriously plagued by selection effects. The present work - with a major focus in this fourth contribution on model atmosphere analyses of spectroscopic binaries and multiple star systems - aims at a volume-complete sample of about 300 nearby F-, G-, and K-type stars that particularly avoids any kinematical or chemical pre-selection from the outset. It thereby provides an unbiased record of the local stellar populations - the ancient thick disc and the much younger thin disc. On this base, the detailed individual scrutiny of the long-lived stars of both populations unveils the thick disc as a single-burst component with a local normalization of no less than 20 per cent. This enormous fraction, combined with its much larger scaleheight, implies a mass for the thick disc that is comparable to that of the thin disc. On account of its completely different mass-to-light ratio the thick disc thereby becomes the dark side of the Milky Way, an ideal major source for baryonic dark matter. This massive, ancient population consequently challenges any gradual build-up scenario for our parent spiral. Even more, on the supposition that the Galaxy is not unusual, the thick disc - as it emerges from this unbiased spectroscopic work - particularly challenges the hierarchical cold-dark-matter-dominated formation picture for spiral galaxies in general.

AEGIS: The Diversity of Bright Near-IR-selected Distant Red Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conselice, C. J.; Newman, J. A.; Georgakakis, A.; Almaini, O.; Coil, A. L.; Cooper, M. C.; Eisenhardt, P.; Foucaud, S.; Koekemoer, A.; Lotz, J.; Noeske, K.; Weiner, B.; Willmer, C. N. A.

2007-05-01

We use deep and wide near-infrared (NIR) imaging from the Palomar telescope combined with DEEP2 spectroscopy and HST and Chandra imaging to investigate the nature of galaxies that are red in NIR colors. We locate these ``distant red galaxies'' (DRGs) through the color cut (J-K)Vega>2.3 over 0.7 deg2, where we find 1010 DRG candidates down to Ks=20.5. We combine 95 high-quality spectroscopic redshifts with photometric redshifts from BRIJK photometry to determine the redshift and stellar mass distributions for these systems, and the morphological/structural and X-ray properties for 107 DRGs in the Extended Groth Strip. We find that many bright (J-K)Vega>2.3 galaxies with Ks<20.5 are at redshifts z<2, with 64% in the range 12 systems being massive with M*>1011 Msolar. HST imaging shows that the structural properties and morphologies of DRGs are also diverse, with the majority elliptical/compact (57%) and the remainder edge-on spiral (7%) and peculiar (29%). The DRGs at z<1.4 with high-quality spectroscopic redshifts are generally compact, with small half-light radii, and span a range in rest-frame optical properties. The spectral energy distribution for the DRGs at z<1.4 differs from higher redshift DRGs: they are bluer by 1 mag in observed (I-J) color. A pure IR color selection of high-redshift populations is not sufficient to identify unique populations, and other colors or spectroscopic redshifts are needed to produce homogeneous samples.

ELDAR, a new method to identify AGN in multi-filter surveys: the ALHAMBRA test case

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaves-Montero, Jonás; Bonoli, Silvia; Salvato, Mara; Greisel, Natascha; Díaz-García, Luis A.; López-Sanjuan, Carlos; Viironen, Kerttu; Fernández-Soto, Alberto; Pović, Mirjana; Ascaso, Begoña; Arnalte-Mur, Pablo; Masegosa, Josefa; Matute, Israel; Márquez, Isabel; Cenarro, A. Javier; Abramo, L. Raul; Ederoclite, Alessandro; Alfaro, Emilio J.; Marin-Franch, Antonio; Varela, Jesus; Cristobal-Hornillos, David

2017-12-01

We present ELDAR, a new method that exploits the potential of medium- and narrow-band filter surveys to securely identify active galactic nuclei (AGN) and determine their redshifts. Our methodology improves on traditional approaches by looking for AGN emission lines expected to be identified against the continuum, thanks to the width of the filters. To assess its performance, we apply ELDAR to the data of the ALHAMBRA (Advance Large Homogeneous Area Medium Band Redshift Astronomical) survey, which covered an effective area of 2.38 deg2 with 20 contiguous medium-band optical filters down to F814W ≃ 24.5. Using two different configurations of ELDAR in which we require the detection of at least two and three emission lines, respectively, we extract two catalogues of type-I AGN. The first is composed of 585 sources (79 per cent of them spectroscopically unknown) down to F814W = 22.5 at zphot > 1, which corresponds to a surface density of 209 deg-2. In the second, the 494 selected sources (83 per cent of them spectroscopically unknown) reach F814W = 23 at zphot > 1.5, for a corresponding number density of 176 deg-2. Then, using samples of spectroscopically known AGN in the ALHAMBRA fields, for the two catalogues we estimate a completeness of 73 per cent and 67 per cent, and a redshift precision of 1.01 per cent and 0.86 per cent (with outliers fractions of 8.1 per cent and 5.8 per cent). At z > 2, where our selection performs best, we reach 85 per cent and 77 per cent completeness and we find no contamination from galaxies.

Method and apparatus for scientific analysis under low temperature vacuum conditions

DOEpatents

Winefordner, James D.; Jones, Bradley T.

1990-01-01

A method and apparatus for scientific analysis of a sample under low temperature vacuum conditions uses a vacuum chamber with a conveyor belt disposed therein. One end of the conveyor belt is a cool end in thermal contact with the cold stage of a refrigerator, whereas the other end of the conveyor belt is a warm end spaced from the refrigerator. A septum allows injection of a sample into the vacuum chamber on top of the conveyor belt for spectroscopic or other analysis. The sample freezes on the conveyor belt at the cold end. One or more windows in the vacuum chamber housing allow spectroscopic analysis of the sample. Following the spectroscopic analysis, the conveyor belt may be moved such that the sample moves toward the warm end of the conveyor belt where upon it evaporates, thereby cleaning the conveyor belt. Instead of injecting the sample by way of a septum and use of a syringe and needle, the present device may be used in series with capillary-column gas chromatography or micro-bore high performance liquid chromatography.

Selective depression behavior of guar gum on talc-type scheelite flotation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yong-zhong; Gu, Guo-hua; Wu, Xiang-bin; Zhao, Kai-le

2017-08-01

The depression behavior and mechanism of guar gum on talc-type scheelite flotation were systematically investigated by flotation experiments, adsorption tests, zeta-potential measurements, and infrared spectroscopic analyses. The flotation results for monominerals, mixed minerals, and actual mineral samples indicated that guar gum exhibited much higher selective depression for talc than for scheelite. Bench-scale closed-circuit tests showed that a tungsten concentrate with a WO3 grade of 51.43% and a WO3 recovery of 76.18% was obtained. Adsorption tests, zeta-potential measurements, and infrared spectral analyses confirmed that guar gum absorbed more strongly onto the talc surface than onto the scheelite surface because of chemisorption between guar gum and talc. This chemisorption is responsible for the guar gum's highly selective depression for talc and small depression for scheelite. The flotation results provide technical support for talc-type scheelite flotation.

Application of Laser Mass Spectrometry to Art and Archaeology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gulian, Lase Lisa E.; Callahan, Michael P.; Muliadi, Sarah; Owens, Shawn; McGovern, Patrick E.; Schmidt, Catherine M.; Trentelman, Karen A.; deVries, Mattanjah S.

2011-01-01

REMPI laser mass spectrometry is a combination of resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization spectroscopy and time of flight mass spectrometry, This technique enables the collection of mass specific optical spectra as well as of optically selected mass spectra. Analytes are jet-cooled by entrainment in a molecular beam, and this low temperature gas phase analysis has the benefit of excellent vibronic resolution. Utilizing this method, mass spectrometric analysis of historically relevant samples can be simplified and improved; Optical selection of targets eliminates the need for chromatography while knowledge of a target's gas phase spectroscopy allows for facile differentiation of molecules that are in the aqueous phase considered spectroscopically indistinguishable. These two factors allow smaller sample sizes than commercial MS instruments, which in turn will require less damage to objects of antiquity. We have explored methods to optimize REMPI laser mass spectrometry as an analytical tool to archaeology using theobromine and caffeine as molecular markers in Mesoamerican pottery, and are expanding this approach to the field of art to examine laccaic acid in shellacs.

Spectroscopic investigation of the spectroscopic signatures of 2,4-DNT and 2,6-DNT: their interactions with sand particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanco, Alejandro; Mina, Nairmen; Castro, Miguel E.; Castillo-Chara, Jairo; Hernandez-Rivera, Samuel P.

2004-09-01

Raman Spectroscopy is a well established tool for vibrational spectroscopy analysis. Interactions of explosives with different substrates can be measured by using quantitative vibrational signal shift information of scattered Raman light associated with these interactions. A vibrational spectroscopic study has been carried out on 2,4-DNT and 2,6-DNT crystals. Raman Microscopy spectrometers equipped with 514 nm and 785 nm laser excitation lines were used. The samples were recrystallized on different solvents (water, methanol and acetonitrile) and allowed to interact with soil samples. The interaction with sand and soil samples doped with the nitroaromatic compounds showed significant shifts in its peaks. The above information was used to detect DNT in soil using Raman Microscopy. These results will make possible the development of highly sensitive sensors for detection of explosives materials.

Evolution of the major merger galaxy pair fraction at z < 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Keenan, R. C.; Hsieh, B. C.; Lin, L.

We present a study of the largest available sample of near-infrared selected (i.e., stellar mass selected) dynamically close pairs of galaxies at low redshifts (z < 0.3). We combine this sample with new estimates of the major merger pair fraction for stellar mass selected galaxies at z < 0.8, from the Red Sequence Cluster Survey (RCS1). We construct our low-redshift K-band selected sample using photometry from the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) in the K band (∼2.2 μm). Combined with all available spectroscopy, our K-band selected sample contains ∼250, 000 galaxies andmore » is >90% spectroscopically complete. The depth and large volume of this sample allow us to investigate the low-redshift pair fraction and merger rate of galaxies over a wide range in K-band luminosity. We find the major merger pair fraction to be flat at ∼2% as a function of K-band luminosity for galaxies in the range 10{sup 8}-10{sup 12} L {sub ☉}, in contrast to recent results from studies in the local group that find a substantially higher low-mass pair fraction. This low-redshift major merger pair fraction is ∼40%-50% higher than previous estimates drawn from K-band samples, which were based on 2MASS photometry alone. Combining with the RCS1 sample, we find a much flatter evolution (m = 0.7 ± 0.1) in the relation f {sub pair}∝(1 + z) {sup m} than indicated in many previous studies. These results indicate that a typical L ∼ L* galaxy has undergone ∼0.2-0.8 major mergers since z = 1 (depending on the assumptions of merger timescale and percentage of pairs that actually merge).« less

The 5-10 keV AGN luminosity function at 0.01 < z < 4.0

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fotopoulou, S.; Buchner, J.; Georgantopoulos, I.; Hasinger, G.; Salvato, M.; Georgakakis, A.; Cappelluti, N.; Ranalli, P.; Hsu, L. T.; Brusa, M.; Comastri, A.; Miyaji, T.; Nandra, K.; Aird, J.; Paltani, S.

2016-03-01

The active galactic nuclei (AGN) X-ray luminosity function traces actively accreting supermassive black holes and is essential for the study of the properties of the AGN population, black hole evolution, and galaxy-black hole coevolution. Up to now, the AGN luminosity function has been estimated several times in soft (0.5-2 keV) and hard X-rays (2-10 keV). AGN selection in these energy ranges often suffers from identification and redshift incompleteness and, at the same time, photoelectric absorption can obscure a significant amount of the X-ray radiation. We estimate the evolution of the luminosity function in the 5-10 keV band, where we effectively avoid the absorbed part of the spectrum, rendering absorption corrections unnecessary up to NH ~ 1023 cm-2. Our dataset is a compilation of six wide, and deep fields: MAXI, HBSS, XMM-COSMOS, Lockman Hole, XMM-CDFS, AEGIS-XD, Chandra-COSMOS, and Chandra-CDFS. This extensive sample of ~1110 AGN (0.01 < z < 4.0, 41 < log Lx < 46) is 98% redshift complete with 68% spectroscopic redshifts. For sources lacking a spectroscopic redshift estimation we use the probability distribution function of photometric redshift estimation specifically tuned for AGN, and a flat probability distribution function for sources with no redshift information. We use Bayesian analysis to select the best parametric model from simple pure luminosity and pure density evolution to more complicated luminosity and density evolution and luminosity-dependent density evolution (LDDE). We estimate the model parameters that describe best our dataset separately for each survey and for the combined sample. We show that, according to Bayesian model selection, the preferred model for our dataset is the LDDE. Our estimation of the AGN luminosity function does not require any assumption on the AGN absorption and is in good agreement with previous works in the 2-10 keV energy band based on X-ray hardness ratios to model the absorption in AGN up to redshift three. Our sample does not show evidence of a rapid decline of the AGN luminosity function up to redshift four.

The MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Field Survey. II. Spectroscopic redshifts and comparisons to color selections of high-redshift galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inami, H.; Bacon, R.; Brinchmann, J.; Richard, J.; Contini, T.; Conseil, S.; Hamer, S.; Akhlaghi, M.; Bouché, N.; Clément, B.; Desprez, G.; Drake, A. B.; Hashimoto, T.; Leclercq, F.; Maseda, M.; Michel-Dansac, L.; Paalvast, M.; Tresse, L.; Ventou, E.; Kollatschny, W.; Boogaard, L. A.; Finley, H.; Marino, R. A.; Schaye, J.; Wisotzki, L.

2017-11-01

We have conducted a two-layered spectroscopic survey (1' × 1' ultra deep and 3' × 3' deep regions) in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE). The combination of a large field of view, high sensitivity, and wide wavelength coverage provides an order of magnitude improvement in spectroscopically confirmed redshifts in the HUDF; i.e., 1206 secure spectroscopic redshifts for Hubble Space Telescope (HST) continuum selected objects, which corresponds to 15% of the total (7904). The redshift distribution extends well beyond z> 3 and to HST/F775W magnitudes as faint as ≈ 30 mag (AB, 1σ). In addition, 132 secure redshifts were obtained for sources with no HST counterparts that were discovered in the MUSE data cubes by a blind search for emission-line features. In total, we present 1338 high quality redshifts, which is a factor of eight increase compared with the previously known spectroscopic redshifts in the same field. We assessed redshifts mainly with the spectral features [O II] at z< 1.5 (473 objects) and Lyα at 2.9

Deep Extragalactic VIsible Legacy Survey (DEVILS): Motivation, Design and Target Catalogue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davies, L. J. M.; Robotham, A. S. G.; Driver, S. P.; Lagos, C. P.; Cortese, L.; Mannering, E.; Foster, C.; Lidman, C.; Hashemizadeh, A.; Koushan, S.; O'Toole, S.; Baldry, I. K.; Bilicki, M.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Bremer, M. N.; Brown, M. J. I.; Bryant, J. J.; Catinella, B.; Croom, S. M.; Grootes, M. W.; Holwerda, B. W.; Jarvis, M. J.; Maddox, N.; Meyer, M.; Moffett, A. J.; Phillipps, S.; Taylor, E. N.; Windhorst, R. A.; Wolf, C.

2018-06-01

The Deep Extragalactic VIsible Legacy Survey (DEVILS) is a large spectroscopic campaign at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) aimed at bridging the near and distant Universe by producing the highest completeness survey of galaxies and groups at intermediate redshifts (0.3 < z < 1.0). Our sample consists of ˜60,000 galaxies to Y<21.2 mag, over ˜6 deg2 in three well-studied deep extragalactic fields (Cosmic Origins Survey field, COSMOS, Extended Chandra Deep Field South, ECDFS and the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission Large-Scale Structure region, XMM-LSS - all Large Synoptic Survey Telescope deep-drill fields). This paper presents the broad experimental design of DEVILS. Our target sample has been selected from deep Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) Y-band imaging (VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations, VIDEO and UltraVISTA), with photometry measured by PROFOUND. Photometric star/galaxy separation is done on the basis of NIR colours, and has been validated by visual inspection. To maximise our observing efficiency for faint targets we employ a redshift feedback strategy, which continually updates our target lists, feeding back the results from the previous night's observations. We also present an overview of the initial spectroscopic observations undertaken in late 2017 and early 2018.

Substellar Companions to weak-line TTauri Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandner, W.; Alcala, J. M.; Covino, E.; Frink, S.

1997-05-01

Weak-line TTauri stars, contrary to classical TTauri stars, no longer possess massive circumstellar disks. In weak-line TTauri stars, the circumstellar matter was either accreted onto the TTauri star or has been redistributed. Disk instabilities in the outer disk might result in the formation of brown dwarfs and giant planets. Based on photometric and spectroscopic studies of ROSAT sources, we have selected an initial sample of 200 weak-line TTauri stars in the Chamaeleon T association and the Scorpius Centaurus OB association. In the course of follow-up observations we identified visual and spectroscopic binary stars and excluded them from our final list, as the complex dynamics and gravitational interaction in binary systems might aggravate or even completely inhibit the formation of planets (depending on physical separation of the binary components and their mass-ratio). The membership of individual stars to the associations was established from proper motion studies and radial velocity surveys. Our final sample consists of 70 single weak-line TTauri stars. We have initiated a program to spatially RESOLVE young brown dwarfs and young giant planets as companions to single weak-line TTauri stars using adaptive optics at the ESO 3.6m telescope and HST/NICMOS. In this poster we describe the observing strategy and present first results of our adaptive optics observations.

Crawling the Cosmic Web: An Exploration of Filamentary Structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bond, Nicholas A.; Strauss, M. A.; Cen, R.

2006-12-01

By analyzing the smoothed density field and its derivatives on a variety of scales, we can select strands from the cosmic web in a way which is consistent with our common sense understanding of a "filament". We present results from a twoand three-dimensional filament finder, run on both CDM simulations and a section of the SDSS spectroscopic sample. In both data sets, we will analyze the length and width distribution of filamentary structure and discuss its relation to galaxy clusters. Sources of contamination and error, such as "fingers of god", will also be addressed.

VLBA Observations of Low Luminosity Flat Spectrum Radio Galaxies and BL Lac Objects: Polarisation Properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bondi, M.; Dallacasa, D.; Stanghellini, C.; Marchã, M. J. M.

We obtained two-epoch VLBA observations at 5 GHz of a list of radio galaxies drawn from the 200 mJy sample (Marcha et al. 1996). The objects selected for milli-arcsecond scale observations are classified, on the basis of their optical spectroscopic and polarimetric properties, as BL Lac objects, normal weak line radio galaxies, broad line radio galaxies, and transition objects (those with intermediate properties). We present preliminary results on the radio polarization properties, on the milli-arcsecond scale, of objects with different optical properties and discuss structural variations detected from the two epochs.

Calibration and characterisation of the Gaia Red Clump

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruiz-Dern, L.; Babusiaux, C.; Arenou, F.; Danielski, C.; Turon, C.; Sartoretti, P.

2018-04-01

We present new empirical Colour-Colour and Effective Temperature-Colour Gaia Red Clump calibrations. The selected sample takes into account high photometric quality, good spectrometric metallicity, homogeneous effective temperatures and low interstellar extinctions. From those calibrations we developed a method to derive the absolute magnitude, temperature and extinction of the Gaia RC. We tested our colour and extinction estimates on stars with measured spectroscopic effective temperatures and Diffuse Interstellar Band (DIB) constraints. Within the Gaia Validation team these calibrations are also being used, together with asteroseismic constraints, to check the parallax zero-point with Red Clump stars.

Exploring Relations Between BCG & Cluster Properties in the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources Survey from 0.05 < z < 0.3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furnell, Kate E.; Collins, Chris A.; Kelvin, Lee S.; Clerc, Nicolas; Baldry, Ivan K.; Finoguenov, Alexis; Erfanianfar, Ghazaleh; Comparat, Johan; Schneider, Donald P.

2018-04-01

We present a sample of 329 low to intermediate redshift (0.05 < z < 0.3) brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in X-ray selected clusters from the SPectroscopic IDentification of eRosita Sources (SPIDERS) survey, a spectroscopic survey within Sloan Digital Sky Survey-IV (SDSS-IV). We define our BCGs by simultaneous consideration of legacy X-ray data from ROSAT, maximum likelihood outputs from an optical cluster-finder algorithm and visual inspection. Using SDSS imaging data, we fit Sérsic profiles to our BCGs in three bands (g, r, i) with SIGMA, a GALFIT-based software wrapper. We examine the reliability of our fits by running our pipeline on ˜104 psf-convolved model profiles injected into 8 random cluster fields; we then use the results of this analysis to create a robust subsample of 198 BCGs. We outline three cluster properties of interest: overall cluster X-ray luminosity (LX), cluster richness as estimated by REDMAPPER (λ) and cluster halo mass (M200), which is estimated via velocity dispersion. In general, there are significant correlations with BCG stellar mass between all three environmental properties, but no significant trends arise with either Sérsic index or effective radius. There is no major environmental dependence on the strength of the relation between effective radius and BCG stellar mass. Stellar mass therefore arises as the most important factor governing BCG morphology. Our results indicate that our sample consists of a large number of relaxed, mature clusters containing broadly homogeneous BCGs up to z ˜ 0.3, suggesting that there is little evidence for much ongoing structural evolution for BCGs in these systems.

A 2dF survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, Christopher J.; Howarth, Ian D.; Irwin, Michael J.; Burnley, Adam W.; Harries, Timothy J.

2004-09-01

We present a catalogue of new spectral types for hot, luminous stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The catalogue contains 4161 objects, giving an order-of-magnitude increase in the number of SMC stars with published spectroscopic classifications. The targets are primarily B- and A-type stars (2862 and 853 objects respectively), with one Wolf-Rayet, 139 O-type and 306 FG stars, sampling the main sequence to ~mid-B. The selection and classification criteria are described, and objects of particular interest are discussed, including UV-selected targets from the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) experiment, Be and B[e] stars, `anomalous A supergiants' and composite-spectrum systems. We examine the incidence of Balmer-line emission, and the relationship between Hγ equivalent width and absolute magnitude for BA stars.

On the selection of high-z quasars using LOFAR observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Retana-Montenegro, Edwin; Röttgering, Huub

2018-03-01

We present a method to identify candidate quasars which combines optical/infrared color selection with radio detections from the Low Frequency ARray (LOFAR) at 150MHz. We apply this {method} in a region of 9 square degrees located in the Boötes field, with a wealth of multi-wavelength data. Our LOFAR imaging in the central region reaches a rms noise of ˜50μJy with a resolution of 5''. This is so deep that we also routinely, `radio-quiet' quasars. We use quasar spectroscopy from the literature to calculate the completeness and efficiency of our selection method. We conduct our analysis in two redshift intervals, 1-1.0 sources can be detected in the WSRT-Boötes map, we find that the spectral index distribution of the 21 quasars in the resulting sample is steeper than the general LOFAR-WSRT spectral index distribution with a median of α=-0.80±0.06. As the upcoming LOFAR wide area surveys are much deeper than the traditional 1.4GHz surveys like NVSS and FIRST, this indicates that LOFAR in combination with optical and infrared will be an excellent fishing ground to obtain large samples of quasars.

Spectro-refractometry of individual microscopic objects using swept-source quantitative phase imaging.

PubMed

Jung, Jae-Hwang; Jang, Jaeduck; Park, Yongkeun

2013-11-05

We present a novel spectroscopic quantitative phase imaging technique with a wavelength swept-source, referred to as swept-source diffraction phase microscopy (ssDPM), for quantifying the optical dispersion of microscopic individual samples. Employing the swept-source and the principle of common-path interferometry, ssDPM measures the multispectral full-field quantitative phase imaging and spectroscopic microrefractometry of transparent microscopic samples in the visible spectrum with a wavelength range of 450-750 nm and a spectral resolution of less than 8 nm. With unprecedented precision and sensitivity, we demonstrate the quantitative spectroscopic microrefractometry of individual polystyrene beads, 30% bovine serum albumin solution, and healthy human red blood cells.

A new spectroscopic calibration to determine Teff and [Fe/H] of FGK dwarfs and giants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teixeira, G. D. C.; Sousa, S. G.; Tsantaki, M.; Monteiro, M. J. P. F. G.; Santos, N. C.; Israelian, G.

2017-10-01

We present a new spectroscopic calibration for a fast estimate of Teff and [Fe/H] for FGK dwarfs and GK giant stars. We used spectra from a joint sample of 708 stars, composed by 451 FGK dwarfs and 257 GK-giant stars with homogeneously determined spectroscopic stellar parameters. We have derived 322 EW line-ratios and 100 FeI lines that can be used to compute Teff and [Fe/H], respectively. We show that these calibrations are effective for FGK dwarfs and GK-giant stars in the following ranges: 4500 K < Teff < 6500 K, 2.5 < log g < 4.9 dex, and -0.8 < [Fe/H] < 0:5 dex. The new calibration has a standard deviation of 74 K for Teff and 0.07 dex for [Fe/H]. We use four independent samples of stars to test and verify the new calibration, a sample of giant stars, a sample composed of Gaia FGK benchmark stars, a sample of GK-giant stars from the DR1 of the Gaia-ESO survey, and a sample of FGK-dwarf stars. We present a new computer code, GeTCal, for automatically producing new calibration files based on any new sample of stars.

Imaging Extended Emission-Line Regions of Obscured AGN with the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Ai-Lei; Greene, Jenny E.; Zakamska, Nadia L.; Goulding, Andy; Strauss, Michael A.; Huang, Song; Johnson, Sean; Kawaguchi, Toshihiro; Matsuoka, Yoshiki; Marsteller, Alisabeth A.; Nagao, Tohru; Toba, Yoshiki

2018-05-01

Narrow-line regions excited by active galactic nuclei (AGN) are important for studying AGN photoionization and feedback. Their strong [O III] lines can be detected with broadband images, allowing morphological studies of these systems with large-area imaging surveys. We develop a new broad-band imaging technique to reconstruct the images of the [O III] line using the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Survey aided with spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The technique involves a careful subtraction of the galactic continuum to isolate emission from the [O III]λ5007 and [O III]λ4959 lines. Compared to traditional targeted observations, this technique is more efficient at covering larger samples without dedicated observational resources. We apply this technique to an SDSS spectroscopically selected sample of 300 obscured AGN at redshifts 0.1 - 0.7, uncovering extended emission-line region candidates with sizes up to tens of kpc. With the largest sample of uniformly derived narrow-line region sizes, we revisit the narrow-line region size - luminosity relation. The area and radii of the [O III] emission-line regions are strongly correlated with the AGN luminosity inferred from the mid-infrared (15 μm rest-frame) with a power-law slope of 0.62^{+0.05}_{-0.06}± 0.10 (statistical and systematic errors), consistent with previous spectroscopic findings. We discuss the implications for the physics of AGN emission-line regions and future applications of this technique, which should be useful for current and next-generation imaging surveys to study AGN photoionization and feedback with large statistical samples.

Combined UHV/high-pressure catalysis setup for depth-resolved near-surface spectroscopic characterization and catalytic testing of model catalysts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayr, Lukas; Rameshan, Raffael; Klötzer, Bernhard; Penner, Simon; Rameshan, Christoph

2014-05-01

An ultra-high vacuum (UHV) setup for "real" and "inverse" model catalyst preparation, depth-resolved near-surface spectroscopic characterization, and quantification of catalytic activity and selectivity under technologically relevant conditions is described. Due to the all-quartz reactor attached directly to the UHV-chamber, transfer of the catalyst for in situ testing without intermediate contact to the ambient is possible. The design of the UHV-compatible re-circulating batch reactor setup allows the study of reaction kinetics under close to technically relevant catalytic conditions up to 1273 K without contact to metallic surfaces except those of the catalyst itself. With the attached differentially pumped exchangeable evaporators and the quartz-microbalance thickness monitoring equipment, a reproducible, versatile, and standardised sample preparation is possible. For three-dimensional near-surface sample characterization, the system is equipped with a hemispherical analyser for X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electron-beam or X-ray-excited Auger-electron spectroscopy, and low-energy ion scattering measurements. Due the dedicated geometry of the X-ray gun (54.7°, "magic angle") and the rotatable sample holder, depth analysis by angle-resolved XPS measurements can be performed. Thus, by the combination of characterisation methods with different information depths, a detailed three-dimensional picture of the electronic and geometric structure of the model catalyst can be obtained. To demonstrate the capability of the described system, comparative results for depth-resolved sample characterization and catalytic testing in methanol steam reforming on PdGa and PdZn near-surface intermetallic phases are shown.

Non-Gaussian shape discrimination with spectroscopic galaxy surveys

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Byun, Joyce; Bean, Rachel, E-mail: byun@astro.cornell.edu, E-mail: rbean@astro.cornell.edu

2015-03-01

We consider how galaxy clustering data, from Mpc to Gpc scales, from upcoming large scale structure surveys, such as Euclid and DESI, can provide discriminating information about the bispectrum shape arising from a variety of inflationary scenarios. Through exploring in detail the weighting of shape properties in the calculation of the halo bias and halo mass function we show how they probe a broad range of configurations, beyond those in the squeezed limit, that can help distinguish between shapes with similar large scale bias behaviors. We assess the impact, on constraints for a diverse set of non-Gaussian shapes, of galaxymore » clustering information in the mildly non-linear regime, and surveys that span multiple redshifts and employ different galactic tracers of the dark matter distribution. Fisher forecasts are presented for a Euclid-like spectroscopic survey of Hα-selected emission line galaxies (ELGs), and a DESI-like survey, of luminous red galaxies (LRGs) and [O-II] doublet-selected ELGs, in combination with Planck-like CMB temperature and polarization data.While ELG samples provide better probes of shapes that are divergent in the squeezed limit, LRG constraints, centered below z<1, yield stronger constraints on shapes with scale-independent large-scale halo biases, such as the equilateral template. The ELG and LRG samples provide complementary degeneracy directions for distinguishing between different shapes. For Hα-selected galaxies, we note that recent revisions of the expected Hα luminosity function reduce the halo bias constraints on the local shape, relative to the CMB. For galaxy clustering constraints to be comparable to those from the CMB, additional information about the Gaussian galaxy bias is needed, such as can be determined from the galaxy clustering bispectrum or probing the halo power spectrum directly through weak lensing. If the Gaussian galaxy bias is constrained to better than a percent level then the LSS and CMB data could provide complementary constraints that will enable differentiation of bispectrum with distinct theoretical origins but with similar large scale, squeezed-limit properties.« less

DISCOVERY OF A LARGE NUMBER OF CANDIDATE PROTOCLUSTERS TRACED BY ∼15 Mpc-SCALE GALAXY OVERDENSITIES IN COSMOS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chiang, Yi-Kuan; Gebhardt, Karl; Overzier, Roderik

2014-02-10

To demonstrate the feasibility of studying the epoch of massive galaxy cluster formation in a more systematic manner using current and future galaxy surveys, we report the discovery of a large sample of protocluster candidates in the 1.62 deg{sup 2} COSMOS/UltraVISTA field traced by optical/infrared selected galaxies using photometric redshifts. By comparing properly smoothed three-dimensional galaxy density maps of the observations and a set of matched simulations incorporating the dominant observational effects (galaxy selection and photometric redshift uncertainties), we first confirm that the observed ∼15 comoving Mpc-scale galaxy clustering is consistent with ΛCDM models. Using further the relation between high-z overdensitymore » and the present day cluster mass calibrated in these matched simulations, we found 36 candidate structures at 1.6 < z < 3.1, showing overdensities consistent with the progenitors of M{sub z} {sub =} {sub 0} ∼ 10{sup 15} M {sub ☉} clusters. Taking into account the significant upward scattering of lower mass structures, the probabilities for the candidates to have at least M{sub z=} {sub 0} ∼ 10{sup 14} M {sub ☉} are ∼70%. For each structure, about 15%-40% of photometric galaxy candidates are expected to be true protocluster members that will merge into a cluster-scale halo by z = 0. With solely photometric redshifts, we successfully rediscover two spectroscopically confirmed structures in this field, suggesting that our algorithm is robust. This work generates a large sample of uniformly selected protocluster candidates, providing rich targets for spectroscopic follow-up and subsequent studies of cluster formation. Meanwhile, it demonstrates the potential for probing early cluster formation with upcoming redshift surveys such as the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment and the Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph survey.« less

DA white dwarfs in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 and a search for infrared excess emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Girven, J.; Gänsicke, B. T.; Steeghs, D.; Koester, D.

2011-10-01

We present a method which uses colour-colour cuts on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) photometry to select white dwarfs with hydrogen-rich (DA) atmospheres without the recourse to spectroscopy. This method results in a sample of DA white dwarfs that is 95 per cent complete at an efficiency of returning a true DA white dwarf of 62 per cent. The approach was applied to SDSS Data Release 7 for objects with and without SDSS spectroscopy. This led to 4636 spectroscopicially confirmed DA white dwarfs with g≤ 19; a ˜70 per cent increase compared to Eisenstein et al.'s 2006 sample. Including the photometric-only objects, we estimate a factor of 3 increase in DA white dwarfs. We find that the SDSS spectroscopic follow-up is 44 per cent complete for DA white dwarfs with Teff≳ 8000 K. We further cross-correlated the SDSS sample with Data Release 8 of the UKIRT (United Kingdom Infrared Telescope) Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Large Area Survey. The spectral energy distributions (SED) of both subsets, with and without SDSS spectroscopy, were fitted with white dwarf models to determine the fraction of DA white dwarfs with low-mass stellar companions or dusty debris discs via the detection of excess near-infrared emission. From the spectroscopic sample we find that 2.0 per cent of white dwarfs have an excess consistent with a brown dwarf type companion, with a firm lower limit of 0.8 per cent. From the white dwarfs with photometry only, we find that 1.8 per cent are candidates for having brown dwarf companions. Similarly, both samples show that ˜1 per cent of white dwarfs are candidates for having a dusty debris disc.

A spectroscopic analysis of a sample of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cracco, V.; Ciroi, S.; Berton, M.; Di Mille, F.; Foschini, L.; La Mura, G.; Rafanelli, P.

2016-10-01

We revisited the spectroscopic characteristics of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) by analysing a homogeneous sample of 296 NLS1s at redshift between 0.028 and 0.345, extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-DR7) public archive. We confirm that NLS1s are mostly characterized by Balmer lines with Lorentzian profiles, lower black hole masses and higher Eddington ratios than classic broad-line Seyfert 1 (BLS1s), but they also appear to be active galactic nuclei (AGNs) contiguous with BLS1s and sharing with them common properties. Strong Fe II emission does not seem to be a distinctive property of NLS1s, as low values of Fe II/Hβ are equally observed in these AGNs. Our data indicate that Fe II and Ca II kinematics are consistent with the one of Hβ. On the contrary, O I λ8446 seems to be systematically narrower and it is likely emitted by gas of the broad-line region more distant from the ionizing source and showing different physical properties. Finally, almost all NLS1s of our sample show radial motions of the narrow-line region highly ionized gas. The mechanism responsible for this effect is not yet clear, but there are hints that very fast outflows require high continuum luminosities (>1044 erg s-1) or high Eddington ratios (log (Lbol/LEdd) > -0.1).

High mobility high efficiency organic films based on pure organic materials

DOEpatents

Salzman, Rhonda F [Ann Arbor, MI; Forrest, Stephen R [Ann Arbor, MI

2009-01-27

A method of purifying small molecule organic material, performed as a series of operations beginning with a first sample of the organic small molecule material. The first step is to purify the organic small molecule material by thermal gradient sublimation. The second step is to test the purity of at least one sample from the purified organic small molecule material by spectroscopy. The third step is to repeat the first through third steps on the purified small molecule material if the spectroscopic testing reveals any peaks exceeding a threshold percentage of a magnitude of a characteristic peak of a target organic small molecule. The steps are performed at least twice. The threshold percentage is at most 10%. Preferably the threshold percentage is 5% and more preferably 2%. The threshold percentage may be selected based on the spectra of past samples that achieved target performance characteristics in finished devices.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Variability-selected AGN in Chandra DFS (Trevese+, 2008)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trevese, D.; Boutsia, K.; Vagnetti, F.; Cappellaro, E.; Puccetti, S.

2008-11-01

Variability is a property shared by virtually all active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and was adopted as a criterion for their selection using data from multi epoch surveys. Low Luminosity AGNs (LLAGNs) are contaminated by the light of their host galaxies, and cannot therefore be detected by the usual colour techniques. For this reason, their evolution in cosmic time is poorly known. Consistency with the evolution derived from X-ray detected samples has not been clearly established so far, also because the low luminosity population consists of a mixture of different object types. LLAGNs can be detected by the nuclear optical variability of extended objects. Several variability surveys have been, or are being, conducted for the detection of supernovae (SNe). We propose to re-analyse these SNe data using a variability criterion optimised for AGN detection, to select a new AGN sample and study its properties. We analysed images acquired with the wide field imager at the 2.2m ESO/MPI telescope, in the framework of the STRESS supernova survey. We selected the AXAF field centred on the Chandra Deep Field South where, besides the deep X-ray survey, various optical data exist, originating in the EIS and COMBO-17 photometric surveys and the spectroscopic database of GOODS. (1 data file).

Spitzer Photometry of WISE-Selected Brown Dwarf and Hyper-Lumninous Infrared Galaxy Candidates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Griffith, Roger L.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Eisenhardt, Peter R. M.; Gelino, Christopher R.; Cushing, Michael C.; Benford, Dominic; Blain, Andrew; Bridge, Carrie R.; Cohen, Martin; Cutri, Roc M.;

AGES: THE AGN AND GALAXY EVOLUTION SURVEY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kochanek, C. S.; Eisenstein, D. J.; Caldwell, N.

2012-05-01

The AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey (AGES) is a redshift survey covering, in its standard fields, 7.7 deg{sup 2} of the Booetes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. The final sample consists of 23,745 redshifts. There are well-defined galaxy samples in 10 bands (the B{sub W} , R, I, J, K, IRAC 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 {mu}m, and MIPS 24 {mu}m bands) to a limiting magnitude of I < 20 mag for spectroscopy. For these galaxies, we obtained 18,163 redshifts from a sample of 35,200 galaxies, where random sparse sampling was used to define statistically complete sub-samples inmore » all 10 photometric bands. The median galaxy redshift is 0.31, and 90% of the redshifts are in the range 0.085 < z < 0.66. Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) were selected as radio, X-ray, IRAC mid-IR, and MIPS 24 {mu}m sources to fainter limiting magnitudes (I < 22.5 mag for point sources). Redshifts were obtained for 4764 quasars and galaxies with AGN signatures, with 2926, 1718, 605, 119, and 13 above redshifts of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. We detail all the AGES selection procedures and present the complete spectroscopic redshift catalogs and spectral energy distribution decompositions. Photometric redshift estimates are provided for all sources in the AGES samples.« less

Variability-selected active galactic nuclei in the VST-SUDARE/VOICE survey of the COSMOS field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Cicco, D.; Paolillo, M.; Covone, G.; Falocco, S.; Longo, G.; Grado, A.; Limatola, L.; Botticella, M. T.; Pignata, G.; Cappellaro, E.; Vaccari, M.; Trevese, D.; Vagnetti, F.; Salvato, M.; Radovich, M.; Brandt, W. N.; Capaccioli, M.; Napolitano, N. R.; Schipani, P.

2015-02-01

Context. Active galaxies are characterized by variability at every wavelength, with timescales from hours to years depending on the observing window. Optical variability has proven to be an effective way of detecting AGNs in imaging surveys, lasting from weeks to years. Aims: In the present work we test the use of optical variability as a tool to identify active galactic nuclei in the VST multiepoch survey of the COSMOS field, originally tailored to detect supernova events. Methods: We make use of the multiwavelength data provided by other COSMOS surveys to discuss the reliability of the method and the nature of our AGN candidates. Results: The selection on the basis of optical variability returns a sample of 83 AGN candidates; based on a number of diagnostics, we conclude that 67 of them are confirmed AGNs (81% purity), 12 are classified as supernovae, while the nature of the remaining 4 is unknown. For the subsample of AGNs with some spectroscopic classification, we find that Type 1 are prevalent (89%) compared to Type 2 AGNs (11%). Overall, our approach is able to retrieve on average 15% of all AGNs in the field identified by means of spectroscopic or X-ray classification, with a strong dependence on the source apparent magnitude (completeness ranging from 26% to 5%). In particular, the completeness for Type 1 AGNs is 25%, while it drops to 6% for Type 2 AGNs. The rest of the X-ray selected AGN population presents on average a larger rms variability than the bulk of non-variable sources, indicating that variability detection for at least some of these objects is prevented only by the photometric accuracy of the data. The low completeness is in part due to the short observing span: we show that increasing the temporal baseline results in larger samples as expected for sources with a red-noise power spectrum. Our results allow us to assess the usefulness of this AGN selection technique in view of future wide-field surveys. Observations were provided by the ESO programs 088.D-0370 and 088.D-4013 (PI G. Pignata).Table 3 is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

Deep Spitzer/IRAC Imaging of the Subaru Deep Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Linhua; Egami, Eiichi; Cohen, Seth; Fan, Xiaohui; Ly, Chun; Mechtley, Matthew; Windhorst, Rogier

2013-10-01

The last decade saw great progress in our understanding of the distant Universe as a number of objects at z > 6 were discovered. The Subaru Deep Field (SDF) project has played an important role on study of high-z galaxies. The SDF is unique: it covers a large area of 850 sq arcmin; it has extremely deep optical images in a series of broad and narrow bands; it has the largest sample of spectroscopically-confirmed galaxies known at z >= 6, including ~100 Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs) and ~50 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs). Here we propose to carry out deep IRAC imaging observations of the central 75% of the SDF. The proposed observations together with those from our previous Spitzer programs will reach a depth of ~10 hours, and enable the first complete census of physical properties and stellar populations of spectroscopically-confirmed galaxies at the end of cosmic reionization. IRAC data is the key to measure stellar masses and constrain stellar populations in high-z galaxies. From SED modeling with secure redshifts, we will characterize the physical properties of these galaxies, and trace their mass assembly and star formation history. In particular, it allows us, for the first time, to study stellar populations in a large sample of z >=6 LAEs. We will also address some critical questions, such as whether LAEs and LBGs represent physically different galaxy populations. All these will help us to understand the earliest galaxy formation and evolution, and better constrain the galaxy contribution to reionization. The IRAC data will also cover 10,000 emission-line selected galaxies at z < 1.5, 50,000 UV and mass selected LBGs at 1.5 < z < 3, and more than 5,000 LBGs at 3 < z < 6. It will have a legacy value for SDF-related programs.

The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: modelling the clustering and halo occupation distribution of BOSS CMASS galaxies in the Final Data Release

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodríguez-Torres, Sergio A.; Chuang, Chia-Hsun; Prada, Francisco; Guo, Hong; Klypin, Anatoly; Behroozi, Peter; Hahn, Chang Hoon; Comparat, Johan; Yepes, Gustavo; Montero-Dorta, Antonio D.; Brownstein, Joel R.; Maraston, Claudia; McBride, Cameron K.; Tinker, Jeremy; Gottlöber, Stefan; Favole, Ginevra; Shu, Yiping; Kitaura, Francisco-Shu; Bolton, Adam; Scoccimarro, Román; Samushia, Lado; Schlegel, David; Schneider, Donald P.; Thomas, Daniel

2016-08-01

We present a study of the clustering and halo occupation distribution of Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) CMASS galaxies in the redshift range 0.43 < z < 0.7 drawn from the Final SDSS-III Data Release. We compare the BOSS results with the predictions of a halo abundance matching (HAM) clustering model that assigns galaxies to dark matter haloes selected from the large BigMultiDark N-body simulation of a flat Λ cold dark matter Planck cosmology. We compare the observational data with the simulated ones on a light cone constructed from 20 subsequent outputs of the simulation. Observational effects such as incompleteness, geometry, veto masks and fibre collisions are included in the model, which reproduces within 1σ errors the observed monopole of the two-point correlation function at all relevant scales: from the smallest scales, 0.5 h-1 Mpc, up to scales beyond the baryon acoustic oscillation feature. This model also agrees remarkably well with the BOSS galaxy power spectrum (up to k ˜ 1 h Mpc-1), and the three-point correlation function. The quadrupole of the correlation function presents some tensions with observations. We discuss possible causes that can explain this disagreement, including target selection effects. Overall, the standard HAM model describes remarkably well the clustering statistics of the CMASS sample. We compare the stellar-to-halo mass relation for the CMASS sample measured using weak lensing in the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Stripe 82 Survey with the prediction of our clustering model, and find a good agreement within 1σ. The BigMD-BOSS light cone including properties of BOSS galaxies and halo properties is made publicly available.

Herschel And Alma Observations Of The Ism In Massive High-Redshift Galaxy Clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, John F.; Aguirre, Paula; Baker, Andrew J.; Devlin, Mark J.; Hilton, Matt; Hughes, John P.; Infante, Leopoldo; Lindner, Robert R.; Sifón, Cristóbal

2017-06-01

The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) can be used to select samples of galaxy clusters that are essentially mass-limited out to arbitrarily high redshifts. I will present results from an investigation of the star formation properties of galaxies in four massive clusters, extending to z 1, which were selected on the basis of their SZE decrements in the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) survey. All four clusters have been imaged with Herschel/PACS (tracing star formation rate) and two with ALMA (tracing dust and cold gas mass); newly discovered ALMA CO(4-3) and [CI] line detections expand an already large sample of spectroscopically confirmed cluster members. Star formation rate appears to anti-correlate with environmental density, but this trend vanishes after controlling for stellar mass. Elevated star formation and higher CO excitation are seen in "El Gordo," a violent cluster merger, relative to a virialized cluster at a similar high (z 1) redshift. Also exploiting ATCA 2.1 GHz observations to identify radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) in our sample, I will use these data to develop a coherent picture of how environment influences galaxies' ISM properties and evolution in the most massive clusters at early cosmic times.

Use of different spectroscopic techniques in the analysis of Roman age wall paintings.

PubMed

Agnoli, Francesca; Calliari, Irene; Mazzocchin, Gian-Antonio

2007-01-01

In this paper the analysis of samples of Roman age wall paintings coming from: Pordenone, Vicenza and Verona is carried out by using three different techniques: energy dispersive x-rays spectroscopy (EDS), x-rays fluorescence (XRF) and proton induced x-rays emission (PIXE). The features of the three spectroscopic techniques in the analysis of samples of archaeological interest are discussed. The studied pigments were: cinnabar, yellow ochre, green earth, Egyptian blue and carbon black.

Hexagonal ice in pure water and biological NMR samples.

PubMed

Bauer, Thomas; Gath, Julia; Hunkeler, Andreas; Ernst, Matthias; Böckmann, Anja; Meier, Beat H

2017-01-01

Ice, in addition to "liquid" water and protein, is an important component of protein samples for NMR spectroscopy at subfreezing temperatures but it has rarely been observed spectroscopically in this context. We characterize its spectroscopic behavior in the temperature range from 100 to 273 K, and find that it behaves like pure water ice. The interference of magic-angle spinning (MAS) as well as rf multiple-pulse sequences with Bjerrum-defect motion greatly influences the ice spectra.

THE zCOSMOS-SINFONI PROJECT. I. SAMPLE SELECTION AND NATURAL-SEEING OBSERVATIONS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mancini, C.; Renzini, A.; Foerster Schreiber, N. M.

2011-12-10

The zCOSMOS-SINFONI project is aimed at studying the physical and kinematical properties of a sample of massive z {approx} 1.4-2.5 star-forming galaxies, through SINFONI near-infrared integral field spectroscopy (IFS), combined with the multiwavelength information from the zCOSMOS (COSMOS) survey. The project is based on one hour of natural-seeing observations per target, and adaptive optics (AO) follow-up for a major part of the sample, which includes 30 galaxies selected from the zCOSMOS/VIMOS spectroscopic survey. This first paper presents the sample selection, and the global physical characterization of the target galaxies from multicolor photometry, i.e., star formation rate (SFR), stellar mass, age,more » etc. The H{alpha} integrated properties, such as, flux, velocity dispersion, and size, are derived from the natural-seeing observations, while the follow-up AO observations will be presented in the next paper of this series. Our sample appears to be well representative of star-forming galaxies at z {approx} 2, covering a wide range in mass and SFR. The H{alpha} integrated properties of the 25 H{alpha} detected galaxies are similar to those of other IFS samples at the same redshifts. Good agreement is found among the SFRs derived from H{alpha} luminosity and other diagnostic methods, provided the extinction affecting the H{alpha} luminosity is about twice that affecting the continuum. A preliminary kinematic analysis, based on the maximum observed velocity difference across the source and on the integrated velocity dispersion, indicates that the sample splits nearly 50-50 into rotation-dominated and velocity-dispersion-dominated galaxies, in good agreement with previous surveys.« less

SNAPshot observations of the largest sample of lensed candidates in the Equatorial and Southern Sky identified with Herschel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marchetti, Lucia

2017-08-01

We propose WFC3/IR F110W Snapshot observations of 200 gravitational lensing systems selected using Herschel submm data taken in all the major Herschel extragalactic surveys (over 850 square degrees). This proposal aims to build upon the successful results of our cycle-19 snapshot (ID:12488) to complete the study of the brightest lensed galaxies ever discovered by Herschel in the Equatorial and Southern Sky. Our successful submm-based selection method identifies lensing events at much higher redshift than any other optical-based selection and is independent of the nature of the magnifier. With these data we will (1) characterize the morphology of the lenses and thus statistically determine what populations are responsible for the gravitational optical depth of the Universe, (2) make accurate fits to the lens light profiles disentangling the foreground lenses from the background sources (3) constrain (and in some cases directly detect) the rest-frame optical emission from the background sources providing estimates of the background source extinction, (4) identify the most extreme star-forming galaxies and rare lensing configurations in the Universe providing the best candidates for future ALMA follow-up, (5) measure the evolution of both the lens mass-density profile, constraing their assembly history, and the lens IMF. This HST program is well-timed with our on-going large spectroscopic program with SALT (3-year program, started in late 2015). This synergy guarantees the timely spectroscopic characterization of our targets securing a long-lasting legacy for this program.

Using the Semiconductors Materials of InSb-ZnTe System in Sensors for Gas Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shubenkova, E. G.

2017-04-01

The samples of thin film semiconductor compounds InSb, ZnTe and solid solutions based on them were obtained by vapor deposition of components on a dielectric substrate in a vacuum, followed by annealing and their surface properties in CO, O2 and NH3 gas atmospheres were investigated. Identification of the samples was carried out by X-ray diffraction techniques. In the temperature range 253 ÷ 403 K and a pressure range of 1÷12 Pa the gas adsorption was measured by piezoelectric microbalance technique. In order to establish the basic regularities of processes flowing on samples surface in addition to the electrophisical were used Infrared and Raman spectroscopic measurements. The resulting addiction “surface property - composition” is extreme and have allowed to determine solid solution InSb0,95-ZnTe0,05 as the most sensitive to the presence of ammonia, selective and this sample exhibits a negligible oxidation of surface.

Lessons Learned from Preparing OSIRIS-REx Spectral Analog Samples for Bennu

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schrader, D. L.; McCoy, T. J.; Cody, G. D.; King, A. J.; Schofield, P. F.; Russell, S. S.; Connolly, H. C., Jr.; Keller, L. P.; Donaldson Hanna, K.; Bowles, N.;

The clustering of the SDSS-IV extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey DR14 quasar sample: anisotropic Baryon Acoustic Oscillations measurements in Fourier-space with optimal redshift weights

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Dandan; Zhao, Gong-Bo; Wang, Yuting; Percival, Will J.; Ruggeri, Rossana; Zhu, Fangzhou; Tojeiro, Rita; Myers, Adam D.; Chuang, Chia-Hsun; Baumgarten, Falk; Zhao, Cheng; Gil-Marín, Héctor; Ross, Ashley J.; Burtin, Etienne; Zarrouk, Pauline; Bautista, Julian; Brinkmann, Jonathan; Dawson, Kyle; Brownstein, Joel R.; de la Macorra, Axel; Schneider, Donald P.; Shafieloo, Arman

2018-06-01

We present a measurement of the anisotropic and isotropic Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Data Release 14 quasar sample with optimal redshift weights. Applying the redshift weights improves the constraint on the BAO dilation parameter α(zeff) by 17 per cent. We reconstruct the evolution history of the BAO distance indicators in the redshift range of 0.8 < z < 2.2. This paper is part of a set that analyses the eBOSS DR14 quasar sample.

Identifying Li-rich giants from low-resolution spectroscopic survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Yerra Bharat; Reddy, Bacham Eswar; Zhao, Gang

2018-04-01

In this paper we discuss our choice of a large unbiased sample used for the survey of red giant branch stars for finding Li-rich K giants, and the method used for identifying Li-rich candidates using low-resolution spectra. The sample has 2000 giants within a mass range of 0.8 to 3.0it{M}_{⊙}. Sample stars were selected from the Hipparcos catalogue with colour (B-V) and luminosity (it{L}/it{L}_{⊙}) in such way that the sample covers RGB evolution from its base towards RGB tip passing through first dredge-up and luminosity bump. Low-resolution (R ≈ 2000, 3500, 5000) spectra were obtained for all sample stars. Using core strength ratios of lines at Li I 6707 Å and its adjacent line Ca I 6717 Å we successfully identified 15 K giants with A(Li) > 1.5 dex, which are defined as Li-rich K giants. The results demonstrate the usefulness of low-resolution spectra to measure Li abundance and identify Li-rich giants from a large sample of stars in relatively shorter time periods.

Dispersive Raman spectroscopy excited at 1064nm to classify the botanic origin of honeys from Calabria and quantify the sugar profile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mignani, A. G.; Ciaccheri, L.; Mencaglia, A. A.; Di Sanzo, R.; Carabetta, S.; Russo, M. T.

2005-05-01

Raman spectroscopy performed using optical fibers, with excitation at 1064 nm and a dispersive detection scheme, was utilized to analyze a selection of unifloral honeys produced in the Italian region of Calabria. The honey samples had three different botanical origins: chestnut, citrus, and acacia, respectively. A multivariate processing of the spectroscopic data enabled us to distinguish their botanical origin, and to build predictive models for quantifying their main sugars. This experiment indicates the excellent potentials of Raman spectroscopy as an analytical tool for the nondestructive and rapid assessment of food-quality indicators.

Chemical and spectroscopic characterization of humic acids extracted from the bottom sediments of a Brazilian subtropical microbasin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giovanela, M.; Crespo, J. S.; Antunes, M.; Adamatti, D. S.; Fernandes, A. N.; Barison, A.; da Silva, C. W. P.; Guégan, R.; Motelica-Heino, M.; Sierra, M. M. D.

2010-09-01

Humic substances (HS) perform a fundamental role in aquatic environments, exhibiting different levels of reactivity in retaining metal ions and organic pollutants. Also, they control the primary production of these ecosystems and act in the carbon sequestering process. In order to improve our understanding vis-à-vis the structural and functional features of HS from aquatic systems, this study aimed to chemically and spectroscopically characterize humic acids (HA) isolated from bottom sediment samples of a stream in a Brazilian subtropical microbasin by elemental analysis, and infrared (FT-IR), ultraviolet and visible (UV-Vis) and solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (CP-MAS 13C NMR) spectroscopies, thermogravimetry (TG), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Although all samples originated from the same environment, the data showed that the HA have distinct chemical and spectroscopic properties, and that the location and characteristics of the sampling points from which the sediments were collected played an important role in the differences observed. Furthermore, vascular plant matter is probably the main contributor to these samples.

Metallized Capillaries as Probes for Raman Spectroscopy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pelletier, Michael

2003-01-01

A class of miniature probes has been proposed to supplant the fiber-optic probes used heretofore in some Raman and fluorescence spectroscopic systems. A probe according to the proposal would include a capillary tube coated with metal on its inside to make it reflective. A microlens would be hermetically sealed onto one end of the tube. A spectroscopic probe head would contain a single such probe, which would both deliver laser light to a sample and collect Raman or fluorescent light emitted by the sample.

SUBSTRUCTURE WITHIN THE SSA22 PROTOCLUSTER AT z ≈ 3.09

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Topping, Michael W.; Shapley, Alice E.; Steidel, Charles C., E-mail: mtopping@astro.ucla.edu

We present the results of a densely sampled spectroscopic survey of the SSA22 protocluster at z ≈ 3.09. Our sample with Keck/LRIS spectroscopy includes 106 Ly α emitters (LAEs) and 40 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z = 3.05–3.12. These galaxies are contained within the 9′ × 9′ region in which the protocluster was discovered, which also hosts the maximum galaxy overdensity in the SSA22 region. The redshift histogram of our spectroscopic sample reveals two distinct peaks, at z = 3.069 (blue; 43 galaxies) and z = 3.095 (red; 103 galaxies). Furthermore, objects in the blue and red peaks aremore » segregated on the sky, with galaxies in the blue peak concentrating toward the western half of the field. These results suggest that the blue and red redshift peaks represent two distinct structures in physical space. Although the double-peaked redshift histogram is traced in the same manner by LBGs and LAEs, and brighter and fainter galaxies, we find that 9 out of 10 X-ray AGNs in SSA22, and all 7 spectroscopically confirmed giant Ly α “blobs,” reside in the red peak. We combine our data set with sparsely sampled spectroscopy from the literature over a significantly wider area, finding preliminary evidence that the double-peaked structure in redshift space extends beyond the region of our dense spectroscopic sampling. In order to fully characterize the three-dimensional structure, dynamics, and evolution of large-scale structure in the SSA22 overdensity, we require the measurement of large samples of LAE and LBG redshifts over a significantly wider area, as well as detailed comparisons with cosmological simulations of massive cluster formation.« less

AGN-enhanced outflows of low-ionization gas in star-forming galaxies at 1.7 < z < 4.6*

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Talia, M.; Brusa, M.; Cimatti, A.; Lemaux, B. C.; Amorin, R.; Bardelli, S.; Cassarà, L. P.; Cucciati, O.; Garilli, B.; Grazian, A.; Guaita, L.; Hathi, N. P.; Koekemoer, A.; Le Fèvre, O.; Maccagni, D.; Nakajima, K.; Pentericci, L.; Pforr, J.; Schaerer, D.; Vanzella, E.; Vergani, D.; Zamorani, G.; Zucca, E.

2017-11-01

Fast and energetic winds are invoked by galaxy formation models as essential processes in the evolution of galaxies. These outflows can be powered either by star formation (SF) and/or active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity, but the relative dominance of the two mechanisms is still under debate. We use spectroscopic stacking analysis to study the properties of the low-ionization phase of the outflow in a sample of 1330 star-forming galaxies (SFGs) and 79 X-ray-detected (1042 < LX < 1045 erg s-1) Type 2 AGN at 1.7 < z < 4.6 selected from a compilation of deep optical spectroscopic surveys, mostly zCOSMOS-Deep and VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey (VUDS). We measure mean velocity offsets of ˜- 150 km s-1 in the SFGs, while in the AGN sample the velocity is much higher (˜- 950 km s-1), suggesting that the AGN is boosting the outflow up to velocities that could not be reached only with the SF contribution. The sample of X-ray AGN has on average a lower SF rate than non-AGN SFGs of similar mass: this, combined with the enhanced outflow velocity in AGN hosts, is consistent with AGN feedback in action. We further divide our sample of AGN into two X-ray luminosity bins: we measure the same velocity offsets in both stacked spectra, at odds with results reported for the highly ionized phase in local AGN, suggesting that the two phases of the outflow may be mixed only up to relatively low velocities, while the highest velocities can be reached only by the highly ionized phase.

The Carla Survey: Insights From The Densest Carla Structures At 1.4 < Z < 2.8.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noirot, Gaël; Stern, Daniel; Wylezalek, Dominika; Cooke, Elizabeth A.; Mei, Simona; De Breuck, Carlos; Vernet, Joël; Brodwin, Mark; Eisenhardt, Peter; Galametz, Audrey; Gonzalez, Anthony H.; Hatch, Nina A.; Jarvis, Matt; Rettura, Alessandro; Seymour, Nick; Stanford, S. A.

2017-06-01

Radio-loud AGN (RLAGN) tend to reside in the most massive dark matter halos, and have a long history of being used to efficiently identify rich high-z structures (i.e., clusters and protoclusters). Our team contributed to this effort with a targeted 400hr Spitzer program surveying 420 RLAGN (radio-loud quasars and high-z radio galaxies) at z=1.3-3.2 across the full sky: Clusters Around RLAGN (CARLA; Wylezalek+2013,2014). The CARLA Survey identified 200 cluster candidates at z=1.3-3.2 as 2-8σ overdensities of red color-selected Spitzer/IRAC galaxies around the targeted powerful RLAGN. We present results from our follow-up 40-orbit HST program on the 20 densest CARLA cluster candidates at z=1.4-2.8 (Noirot+2016,2017). We spectroscopically confirm 16/20 distant structures associated with the RLAGN, up to z=2.8. For the first time at these redshifts, we statistically investigate the star-formation content of a large sample of galaxies in dense structures. We show that >10^(10) M⊙ cluster galaxies form significantly fewer stars than their field star-forming counterparts at all redshifts within 1.4 ≤ z ≤ 2. This survey represents a unique and large homogenous sample of spectroscopically confirmed clusters at high redshifts, ideal to investigate quenching mechanisms in dense environments.

Observational Searches for Star-Forming Galaxies at z > 6

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finkelstein, Steven L.

2016-08-01

Although the universe at redshifts greater than six represents only the first one billion years (< 10%) of cosmic time, the dense nature of the early universe led to vigorous galaxy formation and evolution activity which we are only now starting to piece together. Technological improvements have, over only the past decade, allowed large samples of galaxies at such high redshifts to be collected, providing a glimpse into the epoch of formation of the first stars and galaxies. A wide variety of observational techniques have led to the discovery of thousands of galaxy candidates at z > 6, with spectroscopically confirmed galaxies out to nearly z = 9. Using these large samples, we have begun to gain a physical insight into the processes inherent in galaxy evolution at early times. In this review, I will discuss (i) the selection techniques for finding distant galaxies, including a summary of previous and ongoing ground and space-based searches, and spectroscopic follow-up efforts, (ii) insights into galaxy evolution gleaned from measures such as the rest-frame ultraviolet luminosity function, the stellar mass function, and galaxy star-formation rates, and (iii) the effect of galaxies on their surrounding environment, including the chemical enrichment of the universe, and the reionisation of the intergalactic medium. Finally, I conclude with prospects for future observational study of the distant universe, using a bevy of new state-of-the-art facilities coming online over the next decade and beyond.

The Number Density of Quiescent Compact Galaxies at Intermediate Redshift

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Damjanov, Ivana; Hwang, Ho Seong; Geller, Margaret J.; Chilingarian, Igor

2014-09-01

Massive compact systems at 0.2 < z < 0.6 are the missing link between the predominantly compact population of massive quiescent galaxies at high redshift and their analogs and relics in the local volume. The evolution in number density of these extreme objects over cosmic time is the crucial constraining factor for the models of massive galaxy assembly. We select a large sample of ~200 intermediate-redshift massive compacts from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) spectroscopy by identifying point-like Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometric sources with spectroscopic signatures of evolved redshifted galaxies. A subset of our targets have publicly available high-resolution ground-based images that we use to augment the dynamical and stellar population properties of these systems by their structural parameters. We confirm that all BOSS compact candidates are as compact as their high-redshift massive counterparts and less than half the size of similarly massive systems at z ~ 0. We use the completeness-corrected numbers of BOSS compacts to compute lower limits on their number densities in narrow redshift bins spanning the range of our sample. The abundance of extremely dense quiescent galaxies at 0.2 < z < 0.6 is in excellent agreement with the number densities of these systems at high redshift. Our lower limits support the models of massive galaxy assembly through a series of minor mergers over the redshift range 0 < z < 2.

Broadband Photometric Reverberation Mapping Analysis on SDSS-RM and Stripe 82 Quasars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Haowen; Yang, Qian; Wu, Xuebing; Shen, Yue

2018-01-01

We extended the broadband photometric reverberation mapping (PRM) code, JAVELIN and test the availability to get broad line region (BLR) time delays that are consistent with spectroscopic reverberation mapping (SRM) projects. Broadband light curves of SDSS-RM quasars produced by convolution with system transmission curve were used in the test. We find that under similar sampling conditions (evenly and frequently sampled), the key factor determining whether the broadband PRM code can yield lags consistent with spectroscopic projects is the flux ratio of line to the reference continuum, which is in line with the findings in Zu et al. (2016). We further find a crucial line-to-continuum flux ratio, above which the mean of the ratios between the lags from PRM and SRM becomes closer to unity, and the scatter is pronouncedly reduced. Based on this flux ratio criteria, we selected some of the quasars from Hernitschek et al. (2015) and carry out broadband PRM on this subset. The performance of damped random walking (DRW) model and power-law (PL) structure function model on broadband PRM are compared using mock light curves with high, even cadences and low, uneven ones, respectively. We find that DRW model performs better in carrying out broadband PRM than PL model both for high and low cadence light curves with other data qualities similar to SDSS-RM quasars.

Complete Calibration of the Color-Redshift Relation (C3R2): A Critical Foundation for Weak Lensing Cosmology with Euclid and WFIRST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masters, Daniel C.; Stern, Daniel; Cohen, Judy; Capak, Peter

2018-01-01

A primary objective of both WFIRST and Euclid is to provide a 3D map of the distribution of matter across a significant fraction of the universe from the weak lensing shear field. Doing so will require accurate redshifts to the billions of galaxies that comprise the weak lensing samples of these surveys; achieving the required accuracy is a “tall pole” challenge for both missions. Here we present the ongoing Complete Calibration of the Color-Redshift Relation (C3R2) survey, designed specifically to calibrate the empirical galaxy color-redshift relation to Euclid depth. C3R2 is an ambitious Keck spectroscopy program, with a survey design based on a machine learning technique that allows us to optimally select the most important galaxies to sample the full range of galaxy colors. C3R2 is a multi-center program with time from all the primary Keck partners (Caltech, UC, Hawaii, and NASA), with a total of 34.5 Keck nights allocated to this project. Data Release 1, including 1283 high-confidence spectroscopic redshifts, is published as Masters, Stern, Cohen, Capak, et al. (2017), and we are currently completing Data Release 2, which will include >2000 additional high-confidence spectroscopic redshifts (Masters et al., in prep.). We will discuss current results and prospects for the survey going forward.

The clustering amplitude of X-ray-selected AGN at z ˜ 0.8: evidence for a negative dependence on accretion luminosity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mountrichas, G.; Georgakakis, A.; Menzel, M.-L.; Fanidakis, N.; Merloni, A.; Liu, Z.; Salvato, M.; Nandra, K.

2016-04-01

The northern tile of the wide-area and shallow XMM-XXL X-ray survey field is used to estimate the average dark matter halo mass of relatively luminous X-ray-selected active galactic nucleus (AGN) [log {L}_X (2-10 keV)= 43.6^{+0.4}_{-0.4} erg s^{-1}] in the redshift interval z = 0.5-1.2. Spectroscopic follow-up observations of X-ray sources in the XMM-XXL field by the Sloan telescope are combined with the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey spectroscopic galaxy survey to determine the cross-correlation signal between X-ray-selected AGN (total of 318) and galaxies (about 20 000). We model the large scales (2-25 Mpc) of the correlation function to infer a mean dark matter halo mass of log M / (M_{{⊙}} h^{-1}) = 12.50 ^{+0.22} _{-0.30} for the X-ray-selected AGN sample. This measurement is about 0.5 dex lower compared to estimates in the literature of the mean dark matter halo masses of moderate-luminosity X-ray AGN [LX(2-10 keV) ≈ 1042-1043 erg s- 1] at similar redshifts. Our analysis also links the mean clustering properties of moderate-luminosity AGN with those of powerful ultraviolet/optically selected QSOs, which are typically found in haloes with masses few times 1012 M⊙. There is therefore evidence for a negative luminosity dependence of the AGN clustering. This is consistent with suggestions that AGN have a broad dark matter halo mass distribution with a high mass tail that becomes subdominant at high accretion luminosities. We further show that our results are in qualitative agreement with semi-analytic models of galaxy and AGN evolution, which attribute the wide range of dark matter halo masses among the AGN population to different triggering mechanisms and/or black hole fuelling modes.

Chemical Compositions of Kinematically Selected Outer Halo Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Lan; Ishigaki, Miho; Aoki, Wako; Zhao, Gang; Chiba, Masashi

2009-12-01

Chemical abundances of 26 metal-poor dwarfs and giants are determined from high-resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio spectra obtained with the Subaru/High Dispersion Spectrograph. The sample is selected so that most of the objects have outer-halo kinematics. Self-consistent atmospheric parameters were determined by an iterative procedure based on spectroscopic analysis. Abundances of 13 elements, including α-elements (Mg, Si, Ca, Ti), odd-Z light elements (Na, Sc), iron-peak elements (Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Zn), and neutron-capture elements (Y, Ba), are determined by two independent data reduction and local thermodynamic equillibrium analysis procedures, confirming the consistency of the stellar parameters and abundances results. We find a decreasing trend of [α/Fe] with increasing [Fe/H] for the range of -3.5< [Fe/H] <-1, as found by Stephens & Boesgaard. [Zn/Fe] values of most objects in our sample are slightly lower than the bulk of halo stars previously studied. These results are discussed as possible chemical properties of the outer halo in the Galaxy. Based on data collected at the Subaru Telescope, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

Selecting AGN through Variability in SN Datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boutsia, K.; Leibundgut, B.; Trevese, D.; Vagnetti, F.

2010-07-01

Variability is a main property of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and it was adopted as a selection criterion using multi epoch surveys conducted for the detection of supernovae (SNe). We have used two SN datasets. First we selected the AXAF field of the STRESS project, centered in the Chandra Deep Field South where, besides the deep X-ray surveys also various optical catalogs exist. Our method yielded 132 variable AGN candidates. We then extended our method including the dataset of the ESSENCE project that has been active for 6 years, producing high quality light curves in the R and I bands. We obtained a sample of ˜4800 variable sources, down to R=22, in the whole 12 deg2 ESSENCE field. Among them, a subsample of ˜500 high priority AGN candidates was created using as secondary criterion the shape of the structure function. In a pilot spectroscopic run we have confirmed the AGN nature for nearly all of our candidates.

Spectroscopic quantification of extremely rare molecular species in the presence of interfering optical absorption

DOEpatents

Ognibene, Ted; Bench, Graham; McCartt, Alan Daniel; Turteltaub, Kenneth; Rella, Chris W.; Tan, Sze; Hoffnagle, John A.; Crosson, Eric

2017-05-09

Optical spectrometer apparatus, systems, and methods for analysis of carbon-14 including a resonant optical cavity configured to accept a sample gas including carbon-14, an optical source configured to deliver optical radiation to the resonant optical cavity, an optical detector configured to detect optical radiation emitted from the resonant cavity and to provide a detector signal; and a processor configured to compute a carbon-14 concentration from the detector signal, wherein computing the carbon-14 concentration from the detector signal includes fitting a spectroscopic model to a measured spectrogram, wherein the spectroscopic model accounts for contributions from one or more interfering species that spectroscopically interfere with carbon-14.

Aziridinyl-substituted benzo-1,4-quinones: A preliminary investigation on the theoretical and experimental studies of their structure and spectroscopic properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Šarlauskas, Jonas; Tamulienė, Jelena; Čėnas, Narimantas

2017-05-01

The detailed structure, chemical and spectroscopic properties of the derivatives of the selected 2,5-bis(1-aziridinyl)-benzo-1,4-quinone conformers were studied by applying quantum chemical and experimental methods. The relationship between the structure and chemical activity of the selected 3 bifunctional bioreductive quinonic anticancer agents - aziridinyl benzoquinones (AzBQ compounds) was obtained. The results obtained showed that the position of aziridine rings influenced by the chemical activity of the investigated compound were more significant than the substitutions of the benzene ring of the AzBQ compounds. The solvents influencing this activity were obtained, too.

Applications of absorption spectroscopy using quantum cascade lasers.

PubMed

Zhang, Lizhu; Tian, Guang; Li, Jingsong; Yu, Benli

2014-01-01

Infrared laser absorption spectroscopy (LAS) is a promising modern technique for sensing trace gases with high sensitivity, selectivity, and high time resolution. Mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers, operating in a pulsed or continuous wave mode, have potential as spectroscopic sources because of their narrow linewidths, single mode operation, tunability, high output power, reliability, low power consumption, and compactness. This paper reviews some important developments in modern laser absorption spectroscopy based on the use of quantum cascade laser (QCL) sources. Among the various laser spectroscopic methods, this review is focused on selected absorption spectroscopy applications of QCLs, with particular emphasis on molecular spectroscopy, industrial process control, combustion diagnostics, and medical breath analysis.

Determining the fraction of reddened quasars in COSMOS with multiple selection techniques from X-ray to radio wavelengths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heintz, K. E.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Møller, P.; Milvang-Jensen, B.; Zabl, J.; Maddox, N.; Krogager, J.-K.; Geier, S.; Vestergaard, M.; Noterdaeme, P.; Ledoux, C.

2016-10-01

The sub-population of quasars reddened by intrinsic or intervening clouds of dust are known to be underrepresented in optical quasar surveys. By defining a complete parent sample of the brightest and spatially unresolved quasars in the COSMOS field, we quantify to which extent this sub-population is fundamental to our understanding of the true population of quasars. By using the available multiwavelength data of various surveys in the COSMOS field, we built a parent sample of 33 quasars brighter than J = 20 mag, identified by reliable X-ray to radio wavelength selection techniques. Spectroscopic follow-up with the NOT/ALFOSC was carried out for four candidate quasars that had not been targeted previously to obtain a 100% redshift completeness of the sample. The population of high AV quasars (HAQs), a specific sub-population of quasars selected from optical/near-infrared photometry, some of which were shown to be missed in large optical surveys such as SDSS, is found to contribute 21%+9-5 of the parent sample. The full population of bright spatially unresolved quasars represented by our parent sample consists of 39%+9-8 reddened quasars defined by having AV > 0.1, and 21%+9-5 of the sample having E(B-V) > 0.1 assuming the extinction curve of the Small Magellanic Cloud. We show that the HAQ selection works well for selecting reddened quasars, but some are missed because their optical spectra are too blue to pass the g-r color cut in the HAQ selection. This is either due to a low degree of dust reddening or anomalous spectra. We find that the fraction of quasars with contributing light from the host galaxy, causing observed extended spatial morphology, is most dominant at z ≲ 1. At higher redshifts the population of spatially unresolved quasars selected by our parent sample is found to be representative of the full population of bright active galactic nuclei at J< 20 mag. This work quantifies the bias against reddened quasars in studies that are based solely on optical surveys. Partly based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope, operated by the Nordic Optical Telescope Scientific Association at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma, Spain, of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias.

Structural and spectroscopic changes to natural nontronite induced by experimental impacts between 10 and 40 GPa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedlander, Lonia R.; Glotch, Timothy D.; Bish, David L.; Dyar, M. Darby; Sharp, Thomas G.; Sklute, Elizabeth C.; Michalski, Joseph R.

2015-05-01

Many phyllosilicate deposits remotely detected on Mars occur within bombarded terrains. Shock metamorphism from meteor impacts alters mineral structures, producing changed mineral spectra. Thus, impacts have likely affected the spectra of remotely sensed Martian phyllosilicates. We present spectral analysis results for a natural nontronite sample before and after laboratory-generated impacts over five peak pressures between 10 and 40 GPa. We conducted a suite of spectroscopic analyses to characterize the sample's impact-induced structural and spectral changes. Nontronite becomes increasingly disordered with increasing peak impact pressure. Every infrared spectroscopic technique used showed evidence of structural changes at shock pressures above ~25 GPa. Reflectance spectroscopy in the visible near-infrared region is primarily sensitive to the vibrations of metal-OH and interlayer H2O groups in the nontronite octahedral sheet. Midinfrared (MIR) spectroscopic techniques are sensitive to the vibrations of silicon and oxygen in the nontronite tetrahedral sheet. Because the tetrahedral and octahedral sheets of nontronite deform differently, impact-driven structural deformation may contribute to differences in phyllosilicate detection between remote sensing techniques sensitive to different parts of the nontronite structure. Observed spectroscopic changes also indicated that the sample's octahedral and tetrahedral sheets were structurally deformed but not completely dehydroxylated. This finding is an important distinction from previous studies of thermally altered phyllosilicates in which dehydroxylation follows dehydration in a stepwise progression preceding structural deformation. Impact alteration may thus complicate mineral-specific identifications based on the location of OH-group bands in remotely detected spectra. This is a key implication for Martian remote sensing arising from our results.

Importance of tissue preparation methods in FTIR micro-spectroscopical analysis of biological tissues: 'traps for new users'.

PubMed

Zohdi, Vladislava; Whelan, Donna R; Wood, Bayden R; Pearson, James T; Bambery, Keith R; Black, M Jane

2015-01-01

Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) micro-spectroscopy is an emerging technique for the biochemical analysis of tissues and cellular materials. It provides objective information on the holistic biochemistry of a cell or tissue sample and has been applied in many areas of medical research. However, it has become apparent that how the tissue is handled prior to FTIR micro-spectroscopic imaging requires special consideration, particularly with regards to methods for preservation of the samples. We have performed FTIR micro-spectroscopy on rodent heart and liver tissue sections (two spectroscopically very different biological tissues) that were prepared by desiccation drying, ethanol substitution and formalin fixation and have compared the resulting spectra with that of fully hydrated freshly excised tissues. We have systematically examined the spectra for any biochemical changes to the native state of the tissue caused by the three methods of preparation and have detected changes in infrared (IR) absorption band intensities and peak positions. In particular, the position and profile of the amide I, key in assigning protein secondary structure, changes depending on preparation method and the lipid absorptions lose intensity drastically when these tissues are hydrated with ethanol. Indeed, we demonstrate that preserving samples through desiccation drying, ethanol substitution or formalin fixation significantly alters the biochemical information detected using spectroscopic methods when compared to spectra of fresh hydrated tissue. It is therefore imperative to consider tissue preparative effects when preparing, measuring, and analyzing samples using FTIR spectroscopy.

Highly selective defluoridation of brick tea infusion by tea waste supported aluminum oxides.

PubMed

Peng, Chuanyi; Xi, Junjun; Chen, Guijie; Feng, Zhihui; Ke, Fei; Ning, Jingming; Li, Daxiang; Ho, Chi-Tang; Cai, Huimei; Wan, Xiaochun

2017-03-01

Brick tea usually contains very high fluoride, which may affect human health. Biosorbents have received much attention for selective removal of fluoride because of low cost, environmental friendliness, and relative safeness. In the present study, a highly selective fluoride tea waste based biosorbent, namely, aluminum (Al) oxide decorated tea waste (Tea-Al), was successfully prepared. The Tea-Al biosorbent was characterized by energy-dispersive spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis. The Tea-Al sample exhibited remarkably selective adsorption for fluoride (52.90%), but a weaker adsorption for other major constituents of brick tea infusion, such as catechins, polyphenols and caffeine, under the same conditions. Fluoride adsorption by Tea-Al for different times obeyed the surface reaction and adsorption isotherms fit the Freundlich model. In addition, the fluoride adsorption mechanism appeared to be an ion exchange between hydroxyl and fluoride ions. Results from this study demonstrated that Tea-Al is a promising biosorbent useful for the removal of fluoride in brick tea infusion. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: LAMOST survey of star clusters in M31. II. (Chen+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, B.; Liu, X.; Xiang, M.; Yuan, H.; Huang, Y.; Shi, J.; Fan, Z.; Huo, Z.; Wang, C.; Ren, J.; Tian, Z.; Zhang, H.; Liu, G.; Cao, Z.; Zhang, Y.; Hou, Y.; Wang, Y.

2016-09-01

We select a sample of 306 massive star clusters observed with the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) in the vicinity fields of M31 and M33. Massive clusters in our sample are all selected from the catalog presented in Paper I (Chen et al. 2015, Cat. J/other/RAA/15.1392), including five newly discovered clusters selected with the SDSS photometry, three newly confirmed, and 298 previously known clusters from Revised Bologna Catalogue (RBC; Galleti et al. 2012, Cat. V/143; http://www.bo.astro.it/M31/). Since then another two objects, B341 and B207, have also been observed with LAMOST, and they are included in the current analysis. The current sample does not include those listed in Paper I but is selected from Johnson et al. 2012 (Cat. J/ApJ/752/95) since most of them are young but not so massive. All objects are observed with LAMOST between 2011 September and 2014 June. Table1 lists the name, position, and radial velocity of all sample clusters analyzed in the current work. The LAMOST spectra cover the wavelength range 3700-9000Å at a resolving power of R~1800. Details about the observations and data reduction can be found in Paper I. The median signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) per pixel at 4750 and 7450Å of spectra of all clusters in the current sample are, respectively, 14 and 37. Essentially all spectra have S/N(4750Å)>5 except for the spectra of 18 clusters. The latter have S/N(7540Å)>10. Peacock et al. 2010 (Cat. J/MNRAS/402/803) retrieved images of M31 star clusters and candidates from the SDSS archive and extracted ugriz aperture photometric magnitudes from those objects using the SExtractor. They present a catalog containing homogeneous ugriz photometry of 572 star clusters and 373 candidates. Among them, 299 clusters are in our sample. (2 data files).

Pre-phase A: Development of a far-ultraviolet photometric- and spectroscopic-survey small-explorer experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, Christopher

1993-01-01

We propose to perform a far ultraviolet photometric and spectroscopic survey covering the lambda lambda 1300-2000 band with a sensitivity comparable to that of the Palomar Sky Survey. This survey will proceed in three phases: an all-sky survey in three bands to 18-19.5(sup m), deep surveys of selected targets of interest in the same bands to 21-22(sup m), and a spectroscopic survey of 2 percent of the sky to 18(sup m) with a resolution of 3-20A. This mission, the Joint Ultraviolet Nightsky Observer (JUNO), can be performed by a Small-Explorer-class satellite.

Vibrational monitor of early demineralization in tooth enamel after in vitro exposure to phosphoridic liquid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pezzotti, Giuseppe; Adachi, Tetsuya; Gasparutti, Isabella; Vincini, Giulio; Zhu, Wenliang; Boffelli, Marco; Rondinella, Alfredo; Marin, Elia; Ichioka, Hiroaki; Yamamoto, Toshiro; Marunaka, Yoshinori; Kanamura, Narisato

2017-02-01

The Raman spectroscopic method has been applied to quantitatively assess the in vitro degree of demineralization in healthy human teeth. Based on previous evaluations of Raman selection rules (empowered by an orientation distribution function (ODF) statistical algorithm) and on a newly proposed analysis of phonon density of states (PDOS) for selected vibrational modes of the hexagonal structure of hydroxyapatite, a molecular-scale evaluation of the demineralization process upon in vitro exposure to a highly acidic beverage (i.e., CocaCola™ Classic, pH = 2.5) could be obtained. The Raman method proved quite sensitive and spectroscopic features could be directly related to an increase in off-stoichiometry of the enamel surface structure since the very early stage of the demineralization process (i.e., when yet invisible to other conventional analytical techniques). The proposed Raman spectroscopic algorithm might possess some generality for caries risk assessment, allowing a prompt non-contact diagnostic practice in dentistry.

Evaluation of Heterogeneous Metabolic Profile in an Orthotopic Human Glioblastoma Xenograft Model Using Compressed Sensing Hyperpolarized 3D 13C Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging

PubMed Central

Park, Ilwoo; Hu, Simon; Bok, Robert; Ozawa, Tomoko; Ito, Motokazu; Mukherjee, Joydeep; Phillips, Joanna J.; James, C. David; Pieper, Russell O.; Ronen, Sabrina M.; Vigneron, Daniel B.; Nelson, Sarah J.

2013-01-01

High resolution compressed sensing hyperpolarized 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging was applied in orthotopic human glioblastoma xenografts for quantitative assessment of spatial variations in 13C metabolic profiles and comparison with histopathology. A new compressed sensing sampling design with a factor of 3.72 acceleration was implemented to enable a factor of 4 increase in spatial resolution. Compressed sensing 3D 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging data were acquired from a phantom and 10 tumor-bearing rats following injection of hyperpolarized [1-13C]-pyruvate using a 3T scanner. The 13C metabolic profiles were compared with hematoxylin and eosin staining and carbonic anhydrase 9 staining. The high-resolution compressed sensing 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging data enabled the differentiation of distinct 13C metabolite patterns within abnormal tissues with high specificity in similar scan times compared to the fully sampled method. The results from pathology confirmed the different characteristics of 13C metabolic profiles between viable, non-necrotic, nonhypoxic tumor, and necrotic, hypoxic tissue. PMID:22851374

Evaluation of heterogeneous metabolic profile in an orthotopic human glioblastoma xenograft model using compressed sensing hyperpolarized 3D 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging.

PubMed

Park, Ilwoo; Hu, Simon; Bok, Robert; Ozawa, Tomoko; Ito, Motokazu; Mukherjee, Joydeep; Phillips, Joanna J; James, C David; Pieper, Russell O; Ronen, Sabrina M; Vigneron, Daniel B; Nelson, Sarah J

2013-07-01

High resolution compressed sensing hyperpolarized (13)C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging was applied in orthotopic human glioblastoma xenografts for quantitative assessment of spatial variations in (13)C metabolic profiles and comparison with histopathology. A new compressed sensing sampling design with a factor of 3.72 acceleration was implemented to enable a factor of 4 increase in spatial resolution. Compressed sensing 3D (13)C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging data were acquired from a phantom and 10 tumor-bearing rats following injection of hyperpolarized [1-(13)C]-pyruvate using a 3T scanner. The (13)C metabolic profiles were compared with hematoxylin and eosin staining and carbonic anhydrase 9 staining. The high-resolution compressed sensing (13)C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging data enabled the differentiation of distinct (13)C metabolite patterns within abnormal tissues with high specificity in similar scan times compared to the fully sampled method. The results from pathology confirmed the different characteristics of (13)C metabolic profiles between viable, non-necrotic, nonhypoxic tumor, and necrotic, hypoxic tissue. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Comparison of high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and Griess reagent-spectroscopic methods for the measurement of nitrate in serum from healthy individuals in the Nordic countries.

PubMed

Larsen, Tine Lise; Nilsen, Valentina; Andersen, Dag Olav; Francis, George; Rustad, Pål; Mansoor, Mohammad Azam

2008-12-01

Bioavailability of NO can be estimated by measuring the concentration of nitrate (NO(3)) in serum. However, the methods used for the measurement NO(3) in plasma or serum show a great degree of variation. Therefore, we compared two analytical methods for the measurement of NO(3) in serum. The concentration of NO(3) in 600 serum samples collected from healthy individuals was determined by the HPLC and by the Griess reagent-spectroscopic method. The concentration of NO(3) in the samples was 29.4+/-16.1 micromol/L and 26.2+/-14.0 micromol/L (mean+/-SD) measured by HPLC and Griess reagent-spectroscopic method respectively (p<0.0001). We detected a significant correlation between the two methods (R=0.81, p<0.0001). A significant correlation between the two methods may suggest that either method can be used for the measurement of NO(3) in serum, however the Griess reagent-spectroscopic method measures lower concentrations of NO(3) than the HPLC method.

Unbiased Large Spectroscopic Surveys of Galaxies Selected by SPICA Using Dust Bands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaneda, H.; Ishihara, D.; Oyabu, S.; Yamagishi, M.; Wada, T.; Armus, L.; Baes, M.; Charmandaris, V.; Czerny, B.; Efstathiou, A.; Fernández-Ontiveros, J. A.; Ferrara, A.; González-Alfonso, E.; Griffin, M.; Gruppioni, C.; Hatziminaoglou, E.; Imanishi, M.; Kohno, K.; Kwon, J.; Nakagawa, T.; Onaka, T.; Pozzi, F.; Scott, D.; Smith, J.-D. T.; Spinoglio, L.; Suzuki, T.; van der Tak, F.; Vaccari, M.; Vignali, C.; Wang, L.

2017-11-01

The mid-infrared range contains many spectral features associated with large molecules and dust grains such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and silicates. These are usually very strong compared to fine-structure gas lines, and thus valuable in studying the spectral properties of faint distant galaxies. In this paper, we evaluate the capability of low-resolution mid-infrared spectroscopic surveys of galaxies that could be performed by SPICA. The surveys are designed to address the question how star formation and black hole accretion activities evolved over cosmic time through spectral diagnostics of the physical conditions of the interstellar/circumnuclear media in galaxies. On the basis of results obtained with Herschel far-infrared photometric surveys of distant galaxies and Spitzer and AKARI near- to mid-infrared spectroscopic observations of nearby galaxies, we estimate the numbers of the galaxies at redshift z > 0.5, which are expected to be detected in the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon features or dust continuum by a wide (10 deg2) or deep (1 deg2) blind survey, both for a given observation time of 600 h. As by-products of the wide blind survey, we also expect to detect debris disks, through the mid-infrared excess above the photospheric emission of nearby main-sequence stars, and we estimate their number. We demonstrate that the SPICA mid-infrared surveys will efficiently provide us with unprecedentedly large spectral samples, which can be studied further in the far-infrared with SPICA.

THE SPATIAL STRUCTURE OF MONO-ABUNDANCE SUB-POPULATIONS OF THE MILKY WAY DISK

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bovy, Jo; Rix, Hans-Walter; Liu Chao

2012-07-10

The spatial, kinematic, and elemental-abundance structure of the Milky Way's stellar disk is complex, and has been difficult to dissect with local spectroscopic or global photometric data. Here, we develop and apply a rigorous density modeling approach for Galactic spectroscopic surveys that enables investigation of the global spatial structure of stellar sub-populations in narrow bins of [{alpha}/Fe] and [Fe/H], using 23,767 G-type dwarfs from SDSS/SEGUE, which effectively sample 5 kpc < R{sub GC} < 12 kpc and 0.3 kpc {approx}< |Z| {approx}< 3 kpc. We fit models for the number density of each such ([{alpha}/Fe] and [Fe/H]) mono-abundance component, properlymore » accounting for the complex spectroscopic SEGUE sampling of the underlying stellar population, as well as for the metallicity and color distributions of the samples. We find that each mono-abundance sub-population has a simple spatial structure that can be described by a single exponential in both the vertical and radial directions, with continuously increasing scale heights ( Almost-Equal-To 200 pc to 1 kpc) and decreasing scale lengths (>4.5 kpc to 2 kpc) for increasingly older sub-populations, as indicated by their lower metallicities and [{alpha}/Fe] enhancements. That the abundance-selected sub-components with the largest scale heights have the shortest scale lengths is in sharp contrast with purely geometric 'thick-thin disk' decompositions. To the extent that [{alpha}/Fe] is an adequate proxy for age, our results directly show that older disk sub-populations are more centrally concentrated, which implies inside-out formation of galactic disks. The fact that the largest scale-height sub-components are most centrally concentrated in the Milky Way is an almost inevitable consequence of explaining the vertical structure of the disk through internal evolution. Whether the simple spatial structure of the mono-abundance sub-components and the striking correlations between age, scale length, and scale height can be plausibly explained by satellite accretion or other external heating remains to be seen.« less

MALS–NOT: Identifying Radio-bright Quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krogager, J.-K.; Gupta, N.; Noterdaeme, P.; Ranjan, A.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Srianand, R.; Petitjean, P.; Combes, F.; Mahabal, A.

2018-03-01

We present a preparatory spectroscopic survey to identify radio-bright, high-redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey. The candidates have been selected on the basis of a single flux density limit at 1.4 GHz (>200 mJy), together with mid-infrared color criteria from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. Through spectroscopic observations using the Nordic Optical Telescope, we identify 72 quasars out of 99 candidates targeted. We measure the spectroscopic redshifts based on characteristic, broad emission lines present in the spectra. Of these 72 quasars, 64 and 48 objects are at sufficiently high redshift (z > 0.6 and z > 1.4) to be used for the L-band and UHF-band spectroscopic follow-up with the Square Kilometre Array precursor in South Africa: the MeerKAT.

Impact of absorption in the top layer of a two layer sample on spectroscopic spectral domain interferometry of the bottom layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fleischhauer, F.; Feuchter, T.; Leick, L.; Rajendram, R.; Podoleanu, A.

2018-03-01

Spectroscopic spectral domain interferometry and spectroscopic optical coherence tomography combine depth information with spectrally-resolved localised absorption data. These additional data can improve diagnostics by giving access to functional information of the investigated sample. One possible application is measuring oxygenation levels at the retina for earlier detection of several eye diseases. Here measurements with different hollow glass tube phantoms are shown to measure the impact of a superficial absorbing layer on the precision of reconstructed attenuation spectra of a deeper layer. Measurements show that a superficial absorber has no impact on the reconstructed absorption spectrum of the deeper absorber. Even when diluting the concentration of the deeper absorber so far that an incorrect absorption maximum is obtained, still no influence of the superficially placed absorber is identified.

Exploring the structural basis of the selective inhibition of monoamine oxidase A by dicarbonitrile aminoheterocycles: role of Asn181 and Ile335 validated by spectroscopic and computational studies.

PubMed

Juárez-Jiménez, Jordi; Mendes, Eduarda; Galdeano, Carles; Martins, Carla; Silva, Daniel B; Marco-Contelles, José; do Carmo Carreiras, Maria; Luque, F Javier; Ramsay, Rona R

2014-02-01

Since cyanide potentiates the inhibitory activity of several monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, a series of carbonitrile-containing aminoheterocycles was examined to explore the role of nitriles in determining the inhibitory activity against MAO. Dicarbonitrile aminofurans were found to be potent, selective inhibitors against MAO A. The origin of the MAO A selectivity was identified by combining spectroscopic and computational methods. Spectroscopic changes induced in MAO A by mono- and dicarbonitrile inhibitors were different, providing experimental evidence for distinct binding modes to the enzyme. Similar differences were also found between the binding of dicarbonitrile compounds to MAO A and to MAO B. Stabilization of the flavin anionic semiquinone by monocarbonitrile compounds, but destabilization by dicarbonitriles, provided further support to the distinct binding modes of these compounds and their interaction with the flavin ring. Molecular modeling studies supported the role played by the nitrile and amino groups in anchoring the inhibitor to the binding cavity. In particular, the results highlight the role of Asn181 and Ile335 in assisting the interaction of the nitrile-containing aminofuran ring. The network of interactions afforded by the specific attachment of these functional groups provides useful guidelines for the design of selective, reversible MAO A inhibitors. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preparation of the COROT mission: fundamental stellar parameters from photometric and spectroscopic analyses of target candidates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lastennet, E.; Lignières, F.; Buser, R.; Lejeune, T.; Lüftinger, T.; Cuisinier, F.; van't Veer-Menneret, C.

2001-09-01

We present a sample of 9 nearby F-type stars with detailed spectroscopic analyses to investigate the Basel Stellar Library (BaSeL) in two photometric systems simultaneously, Johnson UBV and Stromgren uvby. The sample corresponds to potential targets of the central seismology programme of the COROT (COnvection & ROtation) space experiment, which have been recently observed at Observatoire de Haute-Provence (OHP, France). The atmospheric parameters Teff, [Fe/H], and log g obtained from the BaSeL models are compared with spectroscopic determinations as well as with results of other photometric calibrations (the TEMPLOGG method and the catalogue of Marsakov & Shevelev, 1995). Moreover, new rotational velocity determinations are also derived from the spectroscopic analysis and compared with previous results compiled in the SIMBAD database. For a careful interpretation of the BaSeL solutions, we computed confidence regions around the best chi^2-estimates and projected them on Teff-[Fe/H], Teff-log g, and log g-[Fe/H] diagrams. In order to simultaneously and accurately determine the stellar parameters Teff, [Fe/H] and log g, we suggest to use the combination of the synthetic BaSeL indices B-V, U-B and b-y (rather than the full photometric information available for these stars: B-V, U-B, b-y, m1 and c1) and we present complete results in 3 different diagrams, along with the results of other methods (photometric and spectroscopic). All the methods presented give consistent solutions, and the agreement between TEMPLOGG and BaSeL for the hottest stars of the sample could be especially useful in view of the well-known difficulty of spectroscopic determinations for fast rotating stars. Finally, we present current and future developments of the BaSeL models for a systematic application to all the COROT targets.

Preparation of the COROT mission: fundamental stellar parameters from photometric and spectroscopic analyses of target candidates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lastennet, E.; Lignières, F.; Buser, R.; Lejeune, T.; Lüftinger, T.; Cuisinier, F.; van't Veer-Menneret, C.

2001-12-01

We present a sample of 9 nearby F-type stars with detailed spectroscopic analyses to investigate the Basel Stellar Library (BaSeL) in two photometric systems simultaneously, Johnson UBV and Strömgren uvby. The sample corresponds to potential targets of the central seismology programme of the COROT (COnvection & ROtation) space experiment, which have been recently observed at Observatoire de Haute-Provence (OHP, France). The atmospheric parameters Teff, [Fe/H], and log g obtained from the BaSeL models are compared with spectroscopic determinations as well as with results of other photometric calibrations (the TEMPLOGG method and the catalogue of Marsakov & Shevelev, 1995). Moreover, new rotational velocity determinations are also derived from the spectroscopic analysis and compared with previous results compiled in the SIMBAD database. For a careful interpretation of the BaSeL solutions, we computed confidence regions around the best χ2-estimates and projected them on Teff-[Fe/H], Teff-log g, and log g-[Fe/H] diagrams. In order to simultaneously and accurately determine the stellar parameters Teff, [Fe/H] and log g, we suggest to use the combination of the synthetic BaSeL indices B-V, U-B and b-y (rather than the full photometric information available for these stars: B-V, U-B, b-y, m1 and c1) and we present complete results in 3 different diagrams, along with the results of other methods (photometric and spectroscopic). All the methods presented give consistent solutions, and the agreement between TEMPLOGG and BaSeL for the hottest stars of the sample could be especially useful in view of the well-known difficulty of spectroscopic determinations for fast rotating stars. Finally, we present current and future developments of the BaSeL models for a systematic application to all the COROT targets.

Selections from 2017: Computers Help Us Map Our Home

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-12-01

Editors note:In these last two weeks of 2017, well be looking at a few selections that we havent yet discussed on AAS Nova from among the most-downloaded paperspublished in AAS journals this year. The usual posting schedule will resume in January.Machine-Learned Identification of RR Lyrae Stars from Sparse, Multi-Band Data: The PS1 SamplePublished April2017Main takeaway:A sample of RR Lyrae variable stars was built from thePan-STARRS1 (PS1) survey by a team led byBranimir Sesar (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Germany). The sample of45,000 starsrepresentsthe widest (three-fourthsof the sky) and deepest (reaching 120 kpc) sample of RR Lyrae stars to date.Why its interesting:Its challengingto understand the overall shape and behaviorof our galaxy because were stuck on the inside of it. RR Lyrae stars are a useful tool for this purpose: they can be used as tracers to map out the Milky Ways halo. The authors large sample of RR Lyrae stars from PS1 combined withproper-motion measurements from Gaia and radial-velocity measurements from multi-object spectroscopic surveys could become thepremier source for studying the structure, kinematics, and the gravitational potential of our galaxys outskirts.How they were found:The black dots show the distribution of the 45,000 probable RR Lyrae stars in the authors sample. [Sesar et al. 2017]The 45,000 stars in this sample were selected not by humans, but by computer.The authors used machine-learning algorithms to examine the light curvesin the Pan-STARRS1 sample and identify the characteristic brightness variations of RR Lyrae stars lying in the galactic halo. These techniques resulted in a very pure and complete sample, and the authors suggest that this approachmay translate well to othersparse,multi-band data sets such asthat from the upcomingLarge Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) galactic plane sub-survey.CitationBranimir Sesar et al 2017 AJ 153 204. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa661b

Combining Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data with near-infrared data from the ESO VISTA Hemisphere Survey

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Banerji, M.; Jouvel, S.; Lin, H.

2014-11-25

We present the combination of optical data from the Science Verification phase of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) with near-infrared (NIR) data from the European Southern Observatory VISTA Hemisphere Survey (VHS). The deep optical detections from DES are used to extract fluxes and associated errors from the shallower VHS data. Joint seven-band ( grizYJK) photometric catalogues are produced in a single 3 sq-deg dedicated camera field centred at 02h26m-04d36m where the availability of ancillary multiwavelength photometry and spectroscopy allows us to test the data quality. Dual photometry increases the number of DES galaxies with measured VHS fluxes by a factormore » of ~4.5 relative to a simple catalogue level matching and results in a ~1.5 mag increase in the 80 per cent completeness limit of the NIR data. Almost 70 per cent of DES sources have useful NIR flux measurements in this initial catalogue. Photometric redshifts are estimated for a subset of galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts and initial results, although currently limited by small number statistics, indicate that the VHS data can help reduce the photometric redshift scatter at both z < 0.5 and z > 1. We present example DES+VHS colour selection criteria for high-redshift luminous red galaxies (LRGs) at z ~ 0.7 as well as luminous quasars. Using spectroscopic observations in this field we show that the additional VHS fluxes enable a cleaner selection of both populations with <10 per cent contamination from galactic stars in the case of spectroscopically confirmed quasars and <0.5 per cent contamination from galactic stars in the case of spectroscopically confirmed LRGs. The combined DES+VHS data set, which will eventually cover almost 5000 sq-deg, will therefore enable a range of new science and be ideally suited for target selection for future wide-field spectroscopic surveys.« less

Combining Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data with near-infrared data from the ESO VISTA Hemisphere Survey

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Banerji, M.; Jouvel, S.; Lin, H.

2014-11-25

We present the combination of optical data from the Science Verification phase of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) with near-infrared (NIR) data from the European Southern Observatory VISTA Hemisphere Survey (VHS). The deep optical detections from DES are used to extract fluxes and associated errors from the shallower VHS data. Joint seven-band (grizYJK) photometric catalogues are produced in a single 3 sq-deg dedicated camera field centred at 02h26m-04d36m where the availability of ancillary multiwavelength photometry and spectroscopy allows us to test the data quality. Dual photometry increases the number of DES galaxies with measured VHS fluxes by a factor ofmore » similar to 4.5 relative to a simple catalogue level matching and results in a similar to 1.5 mag increase in the 80 per cent completeness limit of the NIR data. Almost 70 per cent of DES sources have useful NIR flux measurements in this initial catalogue. Photometric redshifts are estimated for a subset of galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts and initial results, although currently limited by small number statistics, indicate that the VHS data can help reduce the photometric redshift scatter at both z < 0.5 and z > 1. We present example DES VHS colour selection criteria for high-redshift luminous red galaxies (LRGs) at z similar to 0.7 as well as luminous quasars. Using spectroscopic observations in this field we show that the additional VHS fluxes enable a cleaner selection of both populations with <10 per cent contamination from galactic stars in the case of spectroscopically confirmed quasars and <0.5 per cent contamination from galactic stars in the case of spectroscopically confirmed LRGs. The combined DES+VHS data set, which will eventually cover almost 5000 sq-deg, will therefore enable a range of new science and be ideally suited for target selection for future wide-field spectroscopic surveys.« less

Method for quantitative determination and separation of trace amounts of chemical elements in the presence of large quantities of other elements having the same atomic mass

DOEpatents

Miller, C.M.; Nogar, N.S.

1982-09-02

Photoionization via autoionizing atomic levels combined with conventional mass spectroscopy provides a technique for quantitative analysis of trace quantities of chemical elements in the presence of much larger amounts of other elements with substantially the same atomic mass. Ytterbium samples smaller than 10 ng have been detected using an ArF* excimer laser which provides the atomic ions for a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Elemental selectivity of greater than 5:1 with respect to lutetium impurity has been obtained. Autoionization via a single photon process permits greater photon utilization efficiency because of its greater absorption cross section than bound-free transitions, while maintaining sufficient spectroscopic structure to allow significant photoionization selectivity between different atomic species. Separation of atomic species from others of substantially the same atomic mass is also described.

Multi-Object Spectroscopy with MUSE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelz, A.; Kamann, S.; Urrutia, T.; Weilbacher, P.; Bacon, R.

2016-10-01

Since 2014, MUSE, the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer, is in operation at the ESO-VLT. It combines a superb spatial sampling with a large wavelength coverage. By design, MUSE is an integral-field instrument, but its field-of-view and large multiplex make it a powerful tool for multi-object spectroscopy too. Every data-cube consists of 90,000 image-sliced spectra and 3700 monochromatic images. In autumn 2014, the observing programs with MUSE have commenced, with targets ranging from distant galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field to local stellar populations, star formation regions and globular clusters. This paper provides a brief summary of the key features of the MUSE instrument and its complex data reduction software. Some selected examples are given, how multi-object spectroscopy for hundreds of continuum and emission-line objects can be obtained in wide, deep and crowded fields with MUSE, without the classical need for any target pre-selection.

Steps Toward Unveiling the True Population of AGN: Photometric Selection of Broad-Line AGN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, Evan; Impey, C.

2012-01-01

We present an AGN selection technique that enables identification of broad-line AGN using only photometric data. An extension of infrared selection techniques, our method involves fitting a given spectral energy distribution with a model consisting of three physically motivated components: infrared power law emission, optical accretion disk emission, and host galaxy emission. Each component can be varied in intensity, and a reduced chi-square minimization routine is used to determine the optimum parameters for each object. Using this model, both broad- and narrow-line AGN are seen to fall within discrete ranges of parameter space that have plausible bounds, allowing physical trends with luminosity and redshift to be determined. Based on a fiducial sample of AGN from the catalog of Trump et al. (2009), we find the region occupied by broad-line AGN to be distinct from that of quiescent or star-bursting galaxies. Because this technique relies only on photometry, it will allow us to find AGN at fainter magnitudes than are accessible in spectroscopic surveys, and thus probe a population of less luminous and/or higher redshift objects. With the vast availability of photometric data in large surveys, this technique should have broad applicability and result in large samples that will complement X-ray AGN catalogs.

Clarification of the binding model of lead(II) with a highly sensitive and selective fluoroionophore sensor by spectroscopic and structural study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Lijun; Li, Yue; Li, Lei; Wu, Yuqing; Buchet, Rene; Ding, Yihong

2009-03-01

The detection of lead ion is very important both in environment and in biological systems because of its toxicity. A fluoroionophore sensor, N-[4(1-pyrene)-butyroyl]- L-tryptophan (PLT), distinguishing Pb 2+ from other 12 metal ions and exhibiting a very high sensitivity (0.15 μM) in aqueous solution, has been reported. The present study describes the spectroscopic clarification of the intrinsic differences of the binding model between PLT with Pb 2+ and with other ions. The fluorescent property of solid metal carboxylates reflects a character of the metal complex in solution, which results in a facility to solve problems by using solid sample of complex and vibrational spectroscopy. Both FT-infrared and Raman spectroscopy are employed to clarify the binding model between lead ion and its high sensitive and selective fluoroionophore sensor PLT, and essentially to explain why the metal ions other than Pb 2+ cannot response to PLT. The IR spectral data clearly show that a bridging bidentate coordination occurs when PLT is coordinated with Cu 2+ and Zn 2+; while a chelating bidentate coordination between the carboxyl anion and Pb 2+ exists in PLT-Pb, which is a new information beyond the NMR results in previous report. Meanwhile, the present study also indicates a characteristic interaction of lead ion and indole ring as well as the hydrogen bonding between amide groups. Furthermore, the quantum chemical calculations at the DFT level confirm the spectral and structural information of PLT-Pb 2+ proposed by experiments. Thus, the type of coordination, the interaction of the indole ring with the metal ion, and the hydrogen bonding between amide groups in PLT-Pb are likely responsible for the high selectivity of PLT to the lead(II) ion.

Clarification of the binding model of lead(II) with a highly sensitive and selective fluoroionophore sensor by spectroscopic and structural study.

PubMed

Ma, Lijun; Li, Yue; Li, Lei; Wu, Yuqing; Buchet, Rene; Ding, Yihong

2009-03-01

The detection of lead ion is very important both in environment and in biological systems because of its toxicity. A fluoroionophore sensor, N-[4(1-pyrene)-butyroyl]-l-tryptophan (PLT), distinguishing Pb(2+) from other 12 metal ions and exhibiting a very high sensitivity (0.15microM) in aqueous solution, has been reported. The present study describes the spectroscopic clarification of the intrinsic differences of the binding model between PLT with Pb(2+) and with other ions. The fluorescent property of solid metal carboxylates reflects a character of the metal complex in solution, which results in a facility to solve problems by using solid sample of complex and vibrational spectroscopy. Both FT-infrared and Raman spectroscopy are employed to clarify the binding model between lead ion and its high sensitive and selective fluoroionophore sensor PLT, and essentially to explain why the metal ions other than Pb(2+) cannot response to PLT. The IR spectral data clearly show that a bridging bidentate coordination occurs when PLT is coordinated with Cu(2+) and Zn(2+); while a chelating bidentate coordination between the carboxyl anion and Pb(2+) exists in PLT-Pb, which is a new information beyond the NMR results in previous report. Meanwhile, the present study also indicates a characteristic interaction of lead ion and indole ring as well as the hydrogen bonding between amide groups. Furthermore, the quantum chemical calculations at the DFT level confirm the spectral and structural information of PLT-Pb(2+) proposed by experiments. Thus, the type of coordination, the interaction of the indole ring with the metal ion, and the hydrogen bonding between amide groups in PLT-Pb are likely responsible for the high selectivity of PLT to the lead(II) ion.

Remote Chemical Sensing Using Quantum Cascade Lasers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harper, Warren W.; Schultz, John F.

2003-01-30

Spectroscopic chemical sensing research at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is focused on developing advanced sensors for detecting the production of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons; use of chemical weapons; or the presence of explosives, firearms, narcotics, or other contraband of significance to homeland security in airports, cargo terminals, public buildings, or other sensitive locations. For most of these missions, the signature chemicals are expected to occur in very low concentrations, and in mixture with ambient air or airborne waste streams that contain large numbers of other species that may interfere with spectroscopic detection, or be mistaken for signatures ofmore » illicit activity. PNNL’s emphasis is therefore on developing remote and sampling sensors with extreme sensitivity, and resistance to interferents, or selectivity. PNNL’s research activities include: 1. Identification of signature chemicals and quantification of their spectral characteristics, 2. Identification and development of laser and other technologies that enable breakthroughs in sensitivity and selectivity, 3. Development of promising sensing techniques through experimentation and modeling the physical phenomenology and practical engineering limitations affecting their performance, and 4. Development and testing of data collection methods and analysis algorithms. Close coordination of all aspects of the research is important to ensure that all parts are focused on productive avenues of investigation. Close coordination of experimental development and numerical modeling is particularly important because the theoretical component provides understanding and predictive capability, while the experiments validate calculations and ensure that all phenomena and engineering limitations are considered.« less

Transformations between the 2MASS, SDSS, and BV I photometric systems for late-type giants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yaz, E.; Bilir, S.; Karaali, S.; Ak, S.; Coşkunoğlu, B.; Cabrera-Lavers, A.

2010-08-01

We present colour transformations from Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) photometric system to Johnson-Cousins system and to Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) system for late-type giants and vice versa. The giant star sample was formed using surface gravity constraints ({2 < log g ≤ 3}) to Cayrel de Strobel et al.' s (2001) spectroscopic catalogue. 2MASS, SDSS and Johnson-Cousins photometric data was taken from \\cite{Cu03}, \\cite{Ofek08}, and \\cite{vanLeeuwen2007}, respectively. The final sample was refined applying the following steps: (1) the data were dereddened, (2) the sample stars selected are of the highest photometric quality. We give two-colour dependent transformations as a function of metallicity as well as independent of metallicity. The transformations provide absolute magnitudes and distance determinations which can be used in space density evaluations at relatively short distances where some or all of the SDSS magnitudes of late-type giants are saturated.

A Faint Flux-limited Ly α Emitter Sample at z ∼ 0.3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wold, Isak G. B.; Finkelstein, Steven L.; Barger, Amy J.

2017-10-20

We present a flux-limited sample of z ∼ 0.3 Ly α emitters (LAEs) from Galaxy Evolution Explorer ( GALEX ) grism spectroscopic data. The published GALEX z ∼ 0.3 LAE sample is pre-selected from continuum-bright objects and thus is biased against high equivalent width (EW) LAEs. We remove this continuum pre-selection and compute the EW distribution and the luminosity function of the Ly α emission line directly from our sample. We examine the evolution of these quantities from z ∼ 0.3 to 2.2 and find that the EW distribution shows little evidence for evolution over this redshift range. As shownmore » by previous studies, the Ly α luminosity density from star-forming (SF) galaxies declines rapidly with declining redshift. However, we find that the decline in Ly α luminosity density from z = 2.2 to z = 0.3 may simply mirror the decline seen in the H α luminosity density from z = 2.2 to z = 0.4, implying little change in the volumetric Ly α escape fraction. Finally, we show that the observed Ly α luminosity density from AGNs is comparable to the observed Ly α luminosity density from SF galaxies at z = 0.3. We suggest that this significant contribution from AGNs to the total observed Ly α luminosity density persists out to z ∼ 2.2.« less

SDSS-II SUPERNOVA SURVEY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE LARGEST SAMPLE OF TYPE IA SUPERNOVAE AND CORRELATIONS WITH HOST-GALAXY SPECTRAL PROPERTIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wolf, Rachel C.; Gupta, Ravi R.; Sako, Masao

2016-04-20

Using the largest single-survey sample of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) to date, we study the relationship between properties of SNe Ia and those of their host galaxies, focusing primarily on correlations with Hubble residuals (HRs). Our sample consists of 345 photometrically classified or spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia discovered as part of the SDSS-II Supernova Survey (SDSS-SNS). This analysis utilizes host-galaxy spectroscopy obtained during the SDSS-I/II spectroscopic survey and from an ancillary program on the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey that obtained spectra for nearly all host galaxies of SDSS-II SN candidates. In addition, we use photometric host-galaxy properties frommore » the SDSS-SNS data release such as host stellar mass and star formation rate. We confirm the well-known relation between HR and host-galaxy mass and find a 3.6 σ significance of a nonzero linear slope. We also recover correlations between HR and host-galaxy gas-phase metallicity and specific star formation rate as they are reported in the literature. With our large data set, we examine correlations between HR and multiple host-galaxy properties simultaneously and find no evidence of a significant correlation. We also independently analyze our spectroscopically confirmed and photometrically classified SNe Ia and comment on the significance of similar combined data sets for future surveys.« less

The biocompatibility of carbon hydroxyapatite/β-glucan composite for bone tissue engineering studied with Raman and FTIR spectroscopic imaging.

PubMed

Sroka-Bartnicka, Anna; Kimber, James A; Borkowski, Leszek; Pawlowska, Marta; Polkowska, Izabela; Kalisz, Grzegorz; Belcarz, Anna; Jozwiak, Krzysztof; Ginalska, Grazyna; Kazarian, Sergei G

2015-10-01

The spectroscopic approaches of FTIR imaging and Raman mapping were applied to the characterisation of a new carbon hydroxyapatite/β-glucan composite developed for bone tissue engineering. The composite is an artificial bone material with an apatite-forming ability for the bone repair process. Rabbit bone samples were tested with an implanted bioactive material for a period of several months. Using spectroscopic and chemometric methods, we were able to determine the presence of amides and phosphates and the distribution of lipid-rich domains in the bone tissue, providing an assessment of the composite's bioactivity. Samples were also imaged in transmission using an infrared microscope combined with a focal plane array detector. CaF2 lenses were also used on the infrared microscope to improve spectral quality by reducing scattering artefacts, improving chemometric analysis. The presence of collagen and lipids at the bone/composite interface confirmed biocompatibility and demonstrate the suitability of FTIR microscopic imaging with lenses in studying these samples. It confirmed that the composite is a very good background for collagen growth and increases collagen maturity with the time of the bone growth process. The results indicate the bioactive and biocompatible properties of this composite and demonstrate how Raman and FTIR spectroscopic imaging have been used as an effective tool for tissue characterisation.

SHARDS: Survey for High-z Absorption Red & Dead Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pérez-González, P. G.; Cava, A.

2013-05-01

SHARDS, an ESO/GTC Large Program, is an ultra-deep (26.5 mag) spectro-photometric survey with GTC/OSIRIS designed to select and study massive passively evolving galaxies at z=1.0-2.3 in the GOODS-N field using a set of 24 medium-band filters (FWHM~17 nm) covering the 500-950 nm spectral range. Our observing strategy has been planned to detect, for z>1 sources, the prominent Mg absorption feature (at rest-frame ~280 nm), a distinctive, necessary, and sufficient feature of evolved stellar populations (older than 0.5 Gyr). These observations are being used to: (1) derive for the first time an unbiased sample of high-z quiescent galaxies, which extends to fainter magnitudes the samples selected with color techniques and spectroscopic surveys; (2) derive accurate ages and stellar masses based on robust measurements of spectral features such as the Mg_UV or D(4000) indices; (3) measure their redshift with an accuracy Δz/(1+z)<0.02; and (4) study emission-line galaxies (starbursts and AGN) up to very high redshifts. The well-sampled optical SEDs provided by SHARDS for all sources in the GOODS-N field are a valuable complement for current and future surveys carried out with other telescopes (e.g., Spitzer, HST, and Herschel).

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): bivariate functions of Hα star-forming galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gunawardhana, M. L. P.; Hopkins, A. M.; Taylor, E. N.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Norberg, P.; Baldry, I. K.; Loveday, J.; Owers, M. S.; Wilkins, S. M.; Colless, M.; Brown, M. J. I.; Driver, S. P.; Alpaslan, M.; Brough, S.; Cluver, M.; Croom, S.; Kelvin, L.; Lara-López, M. A.; Liske, J.; López-Sánchez, A. R.; Robotham, A. S. G.

2015-02-01

We present bivariate luminosity and stellar mass functions of Hα star-forming galaxies drawn from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. While optically deep spectroscopic observations of GAMA over a wide sky area enable the detection of a large number of 0.001 < SFRHα (M⊙ yr-1) < 100 galaxies, the requirement for an Hα detection in targets selected from an r-band magnitude-limited survey leads to an incompleteness due to missing optically faint star-forming galaxies. Using z < 0.1 bivariate distributions as a reference we model the higher-z distributions, thereby approximating a correction for the missing optically faint star-forming galaxies to the local star formation rate (SFR) and M densities. Furthermore, we obtain the r-band luminosity functions (LFs) and stellar mass functions of Hα star-forming galaxies from the bivariate LFs. As our sample is selected on the basis of detected Hα emission, a direct tracer of ongoing star formation, this sample represents a true star-forming galaxy sample, and is drawn from both photometrically classified blue and red subpopulations, though mostly from the blue population. On average 20-30 per cent of red galaxies at all stellar masses are star forming, implying that these galaxies may be dusty star-forming systems.

Parallel detecting, spectroscopic ellipsometers/polarimeters

DOEpatents

Furtak, Thomas E.

2002-01-01

The parallel detecting spectroscopic ellipsometer/polarimeter sensor has no moving parts and operates in real-time for in-situ monitoring of the thin film surface properties of a sample within a processing chamber. It includes a multi-spectral source of radiation for producing a collimated beam of radiation directed towards the surface of the sample through a polarizer. The thus polarized collimated beam of radiation impacts and is reflected from the surface of the sample, thereby changing its polarization state due to the intrinsic material properties of the sample. The light reflected from the sample is separated into four separate polarized filtered beams, each having individual spectral intensities. Data about said four individual spectral intensities is collected within the processing chamber, and is transmitted into one or more spectrometers. The data of all four individual spectral intensities is then analyzed using transformation algorithms, in real-time.

A multiwavelength study of young stars in the Elephant Trunk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López Martí, B.; Bayo, A.; Morales Calderón, M.; Barrado, D.

2013-05-01

We present the results of a multiwavelength study of young stars in IC 1396A, ``the Elephant Trunk Nebula''. Our targets are selected combining optical, near-infrared and mid-infrared photometry. Near-infrared and optical spectroscopy are used to confirm their youth and to derive spectral types for these objects, showing that they are early to mid-M stars, and that our sample includes some of the lowest-mass objects reported so far in the region. The photometric and spectroscopic information is used to construct the spectral energy distributions and to study the properties of the stars (mass, age, accretion, disks, spatial location). The implications for the triggered star formation picture are discussed.

A novel method for the rapid detection of benzo(a)pyrene in liquid milk by dimethyl sulfoxide selectively enhanced synchronous fluorescence spectrometry.

PubMed

Lin, Li-Rong; Luo, He-Dong; Li, Xiu-Ying; Li, Na; Zhou, Na; Jia, Yu-Zhu; Liu, Yi-Hong; Li, Yao-Qun

2014-01-01

Based on the high solubility efficiency and strong fluorescence response of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) in dimethyl sulfoxide in combination with the high-performance derivative constant-energy synchronous fluorescence spectroscopic (DCESFS) technique, a simple, sensitive and economic method was developed for the determination of BaP in liquid milk. This method comprises ultrasound-assisted solvent extraction, solvent replacement and DCESFS detection. No saponification or other tedious clean-up procedures were needed. The recoveries of BaP in different milk samples were greater than 82%. Detection limits in full- and low-fat milk were 0.03 and 0.04 μg kg(-1), respectively.

Search for X-ray jets from high redshift radio sources.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwartz, Daniel A.; Cheung, Teddy; Gobeille, Doug; Marshall, Herman L.; Migliori, Giulia; Siemiginowska, Aneta; Wardle, John F. C.; Worrall, Diana M.; Birkinshaw, Mark

2018-06-01

We are conducting a Chandra "snapshot" survey of 14 radio quasars at redshifts z>3. These are selected to have one sided, arc-sec scale structure, either a jet or lobe, and come from a complete, objectively-defined sample of sources with radio flux density > 70 mJy, and with a spectroscopic redshift from the SDSS. Our objectives are to find X-ray emitting jets, compare the X-ray and radio morphology, and detect X-ray emission arising from inverse Compton scattering of the cosmic microwave background even for those cases where the radio emission is no longer detectable. For this meeting, we expect 5 of the 14 sources to have been observed.

Rapid measurement of human milk macronutrients in the neonatal intensive care unit: accuracy and precision of fourier transform mid-infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Smilowitz, Jennifer T; Gho, Deborah S; Mirmiran, Majid; German, J Bruce; Underwood, Mark A

2014-05-01

Although it is well established that human milk varies widely in macronutrient content, it remains common for human milk fortification for premature infants to be based on historic mean values. As a result, those caring for premature infants often underestimate protein intake. Rapid precise measurement of human milk protein, fat, and lactose to allow individualized fortification has been proposed for decades but remains elusive due to technical challenges. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy and precision of a Fourier transform (FT) mid-infrared (IR) spectroscope in the neonatal intensive care unit to measure human milk fat, total protein, lactose, and calculated energy compared with standard chemical analyses. One hundred sixteen breast milk samples across lactation stages from women who delivered at term (n = 69) and preterm (n = 5) were analyzed with the FT mid-IR spectroscope and with standard chemical methods. Ten of the samples were tested in replicate using the FT mid-IR spectroscope to determine repeatability. The agreement between the FT mid-IR spectroscope analysis and reference methods was high for protein and fat and moderate for lactose and energy. The intra-assay coefficients of variation for all outcomes were less than 3%. The FT mid-IR spectroscope demonstrated high accuracy in measurement of total protein and fat of preterm and term milk with high precision.

The Kormendy relation of galaxies in the Frontier Fields clusters: Abell S1063 and MACS J1149.5+2223

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tortorelli, Luca; Mercurio, Amata; Paolillo, Maurizio; Rosati, Piero; Gargiulo, Adriana; Gobat, Raphael; Balestra, Italo; Caminha, G. B.; Annunziatella, Marianna; Grillo, Claudio; Lombardi, Marco; Nonino, Mario; Rettura, Alessandro; Sartoris, Barbara; Strazzullo, Veronica

2018-06-01

We analyse the Kormendy relations (KRs) of the two Frontier Fields clusters, Abell S1063, at z = 0.348, and MACS J1149.5+2223, at z = 0.542, exploiting very deep Hubble Space Telescope photometry and Very Large Telescope (VLT)/Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) integral field spectroscopy. With this novel data set, we are able to investigate how the KR parameters depend on the cluster galaxy sample selection and how this affects studies of galaxy evolution based on the KR. We define and compare four different galaxy samples according to (a) Sérsic indices: early-type (`ETG'), (b) visual inspection: `ellipticals', (c) colours: `red', (d) spectral properties: `passive'. The classification is performed for a complete sample of galaxies with mF814W ≤ 22.5 ABmag (M* ≳ 1010.0 M⊙). To derive robust galaxy structural parameters, we use two methods: (1) an iterative estimate of structural parameters using images of increasing size, in order to deal with closely separated galaxies and (2) different background estimations, to deal with the intracluster light contamination. The comparison between the KRs obtained from the different samples suggests that the sample selection could affect the estimate of the best-fitting KR parameters. The KR built with ETGs is fully consistent with the one obtained for ellipticals and passive. On the other hand, the KR slope built on the red sample is only marginally consistent with those obtained with the other samples. We also release the photometric catalogue with structural parameters for the galaxies included in the present analysis.

A comparison of LBGs, DRGs, and BzK galaxies: their contribution to the stellar mass density in the GOODS-MUSIC sample

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grazian, A.; Salimbeni, S.; Pentericci, L.; Fontana, A.; Nonino, M.; Vanzella, E.; Cristiani, S.; de Santis, C.; Gallozzi, S.; Giallongo, E.; Santini, P.

2007-04-01

Context: The classification scheme for high redshift galaxies is complex at the present time, with simple colour-selection criteria (i.e. EROs, IEROs, LBGs, DRGs, BzKs), resulting in ill-defined properties for the stellar mass and star formation rate of these distant galaxies. Aims: The goal of this work is to investigate the properties of different classes of high-z galaxies, focusing in particular on the stellar masses of LBGs, DRGs, and BzKs, in order to derive their contribution to the total mass budget of the distant Universe. Methods: We used the GOODS-MUSIC catalog, containing ~3000 Ks-selected (~10 000 z-selected) galaxies with multi-wavelength coverage extending from the U band to the Spitzer 8~μm band, with spectroscopic or accurate photometric redshifts. We selected samples of BM/BX/LBGs, DRGs, and BzK galaxies to discuss the overlap and the limitations of these criteria, which can be overridden by a selection criterion based on physical parameters. We then measured the stellar masses of these galaxies and computed the stellar mass density (SMD) for the different samples up to redshift ≃4. Results: We show that the BzK-PE criterion is not optimal for selecting early type galaxies at the faint end. On the other hand, BzK-SF is highly contaminated by passively evolving galaxies at red z-Ks colours. We find that LBGs and DRGs contribute almost equally to the global SMD at z≥ 2 and, in general, that star-forming galaxies form a substantial fraction of the universal SMD. Passively evolving galaxies show a strong negative density evolution from redshift 2 to 3, indicating that we are witnessing the epoch of mass assembly of such objects. Finally we have indications that by pushing the selection to deeper magnitudes, the contribution of less massive DRGs could overtake that of LBGs. Deeper surveys, like the HUDF, are required to confirm this suggestion.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Luminosity and redshift of galaxies from WISE/SDSS (Toba+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toba, Y.; Oyabu, S.; Matsuhara, H.; Malkan, M. A.; Gandhi, P.; Nakagawa, T.; Isobe, N.; Shirahata, M.; Oi, N.; Ohyama, Y.; Takita, S.; Yamauchi, C.; Yano, K.

2017-07-01

We selected 12 and 22 um flux-limited galaxies based on the WISE (Cat. II/311) and SDSS (Cat. II/294) catalogs, and these galaxies were then classified into five types according to their optical spectroscopic information in the SDSS catalog. For spectroscopically classified galaxies, we constructed the luminosity functions using the 1/Vmax method, considering the detection limit of the WISE and SDSS catalogs. (1 data file).

The Herschel Multi-Tiered Extragalactic Survey: SPIRE-mm Photometric Redshifts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roseboom, I. G.; Ivison, R. J.; Greve, T. R.; Amblard, A.; Arumugam, V.; Auld, R.; Aussel, H.; Bethermin, M.; Blain, A.; Bock, J.;

EPR spectral investigation of radiation-induced radicals of gallic acid.

PubMed

Tuner, Hasan

2017-11-01

In the present work, spectroscopic features of the radiation-induced radicals of gallic acid compounds were investigated using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. While un-irradiated samples presented no EPR signal, irradiated samples exhibited an EPR spectrum consisting of an intense resonance line at the center and weak lines on both sides. Detailed microwave saturation investigations were carried out to determine the origin of the experimental EPR lines. It is concluded that the two side lines of the triplet satellite originate from forbidden "spin-flip" transitions. The spectroscopic and structural features of the radiation-induced radicals were determined using EPR spectrum fittings. The experimental EPR spectra of the two gallic acid compounds were consistent with the calculated EPR spectroscopic features of the proposed radicals. It is concluded that the most probable radicals are the cyclohexadienyl-type, [Formula: see text] radicals for both compounds.

Planck intermediate results: XXXVI. Optical identification and redshifts of Planck SZ sources with telescopes at the Canary Islands observatories

DOE PAGES

Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Arnaud, M.; ...

2016-02-09

In this paper, we present the results of approximately three years of observations of Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) sources with telescopes at the Canary Islands observatories as part of the general optical follow-up programme undertaken by the Planck Collaboration. In total, 78 SZ sources are discussed. Deep-imaging observations were obtained for most of these sources; spectroscopic observations in either in long-slit or multi-object modes were obtained for many. We effectively used 37.5 clear nights. We found optical counterparts for 73 of the 78 candidates. This sample includes 53 spectroscopic redshift determinations, 20 of them obtained with a multi-object spectroscopic mode. Finally,more » the sample contains new redshifts for 27 Planck clusters that were not included in the first Planck SZ source catalogue (PSZ1).« less

Resolving the nanostructure of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited nanocrystalline SiOx layers for application in solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klingsporn, M.; Kirner, S.; Villringer, C.; Abou-Ras, D.; Costina, I.; Lehmann, M.; Stannowski, B.

2016-06-01

Nanocrystalline silicon suboxides (nc-SiOx) have attracted attention during the past years for the use in thin-film silicon solar cells. We investigated the relationships between the nanostructure as well as the chemical, electrical, and optical properties of phosphorous, doped, nc-SiO0.8:H fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The nanostructure was varied through the sample series by changing the deposition pressure from 533 to 1067 Pa. The samples were then characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, Raman spectroscopy, aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected-area electron diffraction, and a specialized plasmon imaging method. We found that the material changed with increasing pressure from predominantly amorphous silicon monoxide to silicon dioxide containing nanocrystalline silicon. The nanostructure changed from amorphous silicon filaments to nanocrystalline silicon filaments, which were found to cause anisotropic electron transport.

Mapping the Milky Way's Halo out to 500 kpc: New M Giants selected from UKIDSS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bochanski, John J.; Willman, B.; West, A. A.

2013-01-01

We present an analysis of photometrically identified halo M giants in the UKIDSS Large Area Survey (LAS). The UKIDSS LAS Data Release 8 covers 2700 square degrees with yJHK photometry, down to faint limits about 3 magnitudes deeper than 2MASS. UKIDSS LAS DR8 is thus >4 times larger in effective volume than the 2MASS halo map. Combined with ugriz photometry from SDSS, our M giant sample extends to 500 kpc, the first to extend beyond 100 kpc and the first to utilize SDSS photometry to discriminate against quasars. We use this sample to search for new tidal debris structures in the distant halo and to constrain the recent merger history of the Milky Way. Spectroscopic follow-up will facilitate the study of Milky Way halo kinematics. We acknowledge the financial support of NSF AST-1151462.

Evidence for accreted component in the Galactic discs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xing, Q. F.; Zhao, G.

2018-06-01

We analyse the distribution of [Mg/Fe] abundance in the Galactic discs with F- and G-type dwarf stars selected from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) archive. The sample stars are assigned into different stellar populations by using kinematic criteria. Our analysis reveals the chemical inhomogeneities in the Galactic thick disc. A few of metal-poor stars in the thick disc exhibit relatively low [Mg/Fe] abundance in respect to the standard thick-disc sample. The orbital eccentricities and maximum Galactocentric radii of low-α metal-poor stars are apparently greater than that of high-α thick-disc stars. The orbital parameters and chemical components of low-α stars in the thick disc suggest that they may have been formed in regions with low star formation rate that were located at large distances from the Galactic centre, such as infalling dwarf spheroidal galaxies.

Vibrational algorithms for quantitative crystallographic analyses of hydroxyapatite-based biomaterials: I, theoretical foundations.

PubMed

Pezzotti, Giuseppe; Zhu, Wenliang; Boffelli, Marco; Adachi, Tetsuya; Ichioka, Hiroaki; Yamamoto, Toshiro; Marunaka, Yoshinori; Kanamura, Narisato

2015-05-01

The Raman spectroscopic method has quantitatively been applied to the analysis of local crystallographic orientation in both single-crystal hydroxyapatite and human teeth. Raman selection rules for all the vibrational modes of the hexagonal structure were expanded into explicit functions of Euler angles in space and six Raman tensor elements (RTE). A theoretical treatment has also been put forward according to the orientation distribution function (ODF) formalism, which allows one to resolve the statistical orientation patterns of the nm-sized hydroxyapatite crystallite comprised in the Raman microprobe. Close-form solutions could be obtained for the Euler angles and their statistical distributions resolved with respect to the direction of the average texture axis. Polarized Raman spectra from single-crystalline hydroxyapatite and textured polycrystalline (teeth enamel) samples were compared, and a validation of the proposed Raman method could be obtained through confirming the agreement between RTE values obtained from different samples.

High-Resolution Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of an Equivalent Width-Selected Sample of Starbursting Dwarf Galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maseda, Michael V.; VanDerWeL, Arjen; DaChuna, Elisabete; Rix, Hans-Walter; Pacafichi, Camilla; Momcheva, Ivelina; Brammer, Gabriel B.; Franx, Marijn; VanDokkum, Pieter; Bell, Eric F.;

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Double stars with wide separations in the AGK3 (Halbwachs+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halbwachs, J. L.; Mayor, M.; Udry, S.

2016-10-01

A large list of common proper motion stars selected from the third Astronomischen Gesellschaft Katalog (AGK3) was monitored with the CORAVEL (for COrrelation RAdial VELocities) spectrovelocimeter, in order to prepare a sample of physical binaries with very wide separations. In paper I,66 stars received special attention, since their radial velocities (RV) seemed to be variable. These stars were monitored over several years in order to derive the elements of their spectroscopic orbits. In addition, 10 of them received accurate RV measurements from the SOPHIE spectrograph of the T193 telescope at the Observatory of Haute-Provence. For deriving the orbital elements of double-lined spectroscopic binaries (SB2s), a new method was applied, which assumed that the RV of blended measurements are linear combinations of the RV of the components. 13 SB2 orbits were thus calculated. The orbital elements were eventually obtained for 52 spectroscopic binaries (SBs), two of them making a triple system. 40 SBs received their first orbit and the orbital elements were improved for 10 others. In addition, 11 SBs were discovered with very long periods for which the orbital parameters were not found. It appeared that HD 153252 has a close companion, which is a candidate brown dwarf with a minimum mass of 50 Jupiter masses. In paper II, 80 wide binaries (WBs) were detected, and 39 optical pairs were identified. Adding CPM stars with separations close enough to be almost certain they are physical, a "bias-controlled" sample of 116 wide binaries was obtained, and used to derive the distribution of separations from 100 to 30,000 au. The distribution obtained doesn't match the log-constant distribution, but is in agreement with the log-normal distribution. The spectroscopic binaries detected among the WB components were used to derive statistical informations about the multiple systems. The close binaries in WBs seem to be similar to those detected in other field stars. As for the WBs, they seem to obey the log-normal distribution of periods. The number of quadruple systems is in agreement with the "no correlation" hypothesis; this indicates that an environment conducive to the formation of WBs doesn't favor the formation of subsystems with periods shorter than 10 years. (9 data files).

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Amblard, A.; Riguccini, L.; Temi, P.

We compute the properties of a sample of 221 local, early-type galaxies with a spectral energy distribution (SED) modeling software, CIGALEMC. Concentrating on the star-forming (SF) activity and dust contents, we derive parameters such as the specific star formation rate (sSFR), the dust luminosity, dust mass, and temperature. In our sample, 52% is composed of elliptical (E) galaxies and 48% of lenticular (S0) galaxies. We find a larger proportion of S0 galaxies among galaxies with a large sSFR and large specific dust emission. The stronger activity of S0 galaxies is confirmed by larger dust masses. We investigate the relative proportionmore » of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and SF galaxies in our sample using spectroscopic Sloan Digital Sky Survey data and near-infrared selection techniques, and find a larger proportion of AGN-dominated galaxies in the S0 sample than the E one. This could corroborate a scenario where blue galaxies evolve into red ellipticals by passing through an S0 AGN active period while quenching its star formation. Finally, we find a good agreement comparing our estimates with color indicators.« less

Obscured AGN at z ~ 1 from the zCOSMOS-Bright Survey. I. Selection and optical properties of a [Ne v]-selected sample

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mignoli, M.; Vignali, C.; Gilli, R.; Comastri, A.; Zamorani, G.; Bolzonella, M.; Bongiorno, A.; Lamareille, F.; Nair, P.; Pozzetti, L.; Lilly, S. J.; Carollo, C. M.; Contini, T.; Kneib, J.-P.; Le Fèvre, O.; Mainieri, V.; Renzini, A.; Scodeggio, M.; Bardelli, S.; Caputi, K.; Cucciati, O.; de la Torre, S.; de Ravel, L.; Franzetti, P.; Garilli, B.; Iovino, A.; Kampczyk, P.; Knobel, C.; Kovač, K.; Le Borgne, J.-F.; Le Brun, V.; Maier, C.; Pellò, R.; Peng, Y.; Perez Montero, E.; Presotto, V.; Silverman, J. D.; Tanaka, M.; Tasca, L.; Tresse, L.; Vergani, D.; Zucca, E.; Bordoloi, R.; Cappi, A.; Cimatti, A.; Koekemoer, A. M.; McCracken, H. J.; Moresco, M.; Welikala, N.

2013-08-01

Aims: The application of multi-wavelength selection techniques is essential for obtaining a complete and unbiased census of active galactic nuclei (AGN). We present here a method for selecting z ~ 1 obscured AGN from optical spectroscopic surveys. Methods: A sample of 94 narrow-line AGN with 0.65 < z < 1.20 was selected from the 20k-Bright zCOSMOS galaxy sample by detection of the high-ionization [Ne v] λ3426 line. The presence of this emission line in a galaxy spectrum is indicative of nuclear activity, although the selection is biased toward low absorbing column densities on narrow-line region or galactic scales. A similar sample of unobscured (type 1 AGN) was collected applying the same analysis to zCOSMOS broad-line objects. This paper presents and compares the optical spectral properties of the two AGN samples. Taking advantage of the large amount of data available in the COSMOS field, the properties of the [Ne v]-selected type 2 AGN were investigated, focusing on their host galaxies, X-ray emission, and optical line-flux ratios. Finally, a previously developed diagnostic, based on the X-ray-to-[Ne v] luminosity ratio, was exploited to search for the more heavily obscured AGN. Results: We found that [Ne v]-selected narrow-line AGN have Seyfert 2-like optical spectra, although their emission line ratios are diluted by a star-forming component. The ACS morphologies and stellar component in the optical spectra indicate a preference for our type 2 AGN to be hosted in early-type spirals with stellar masses greater than 109.5 - 10 M⊙, on average higher than those of the galaxy parent sample. The fraction of galaxies hosting [Ne v]-selected obscured AGN increases with the stellar mass, reaching a maximum of about 3% at ≈2 × 1011 M⊙. A comparison with other selection techniques at z ~ 1, namely the line-ratio diagnostics and X-ray detections, shows that the detection of the [Ne v] λ3426 line is an effective method for selecting AGN in the optical band, in particular the most heavily obscured ones, but cannot provide a complete census of type 2 AGN by itself. Finally, the high fraction of [Ne v]-selected type 2 AGN not detected in medium-deep (≈100-200 ks) Chandra observations (67%) is suggestive of the inclusion of Compton-thick (i.e., with NH > 1024 cm-2) sources in our sample. The presence of a population of heavily obscured AGN is corroborated by the X-ray-to-[Ne v] ratio; we estimated, by means of an X-ray stacking technique and simulations, that the Compton-thick fraction in our sample of type 2 AGN is 43 ± 4% (statistical errors only), which agrees well with standard assumptions by XRB synthesis models.

Recalculating the quasar luminosity function of the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caditz, David M.

2017-12-01

Aims: The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey provides a uniform sample of over 13 000 variability selected quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) in the redshift range 0.68

X-ray spectroscopic diagnostics and modeling of polar-drive implosion experiments on the National Ignition Facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hakel, P.; Kyrala, G. A.; Bradley, P. A.; Krasheninnikova, N. S.; Murphy, T. J.; Schmitt, M. J.; Tregillis, I. L.; Kanzleieter, R. J.; Batha, S. H.; Fontes, C. J.; Sherrill, M. E.; Kilcrease, D. P.; Regan, S. P.

2014-06-01

A series of experiments featuring laser-imploded plastic-shell targets filled with hydrogen or deuterium were performed on the National Ignition Facility. The shells (some deuterated) were doped in selected locations with Cu, Ga, and Ge, whose spectroscopic signals (indicative of local plasma conditions) were collected with a time-integrated, 1-D imaging, spectrally resolved, and absolute-intensity calibrated instrument. The experimental spectra compare well with radiation hydrodynamics simulations post-processed with a non-local thermal equilibrium atomic kinetics and spectroscopic-quality radiation-transport model. The obtained degree of agreement between the modeling and experimental data supports the application of spectroscopic techniques for the determination of plasma conditions, which can ultimately lead to the validation of theoretical models for thermonuclear burn in the presence of mix. Furthermore, the use of a lower-Z dopant element (e.g., Fe) is suggested for future experiments, since the ˜2 keV electron temperatures reached in mixed regions are not high enough to drive sufficient H-like Ge and Cu line emissions needed for spectroscopic plasma diagnostics.

IN-SYNC VI. Identification and Radial Velocity Extraction for 100+ Double-Lined Spectroscopic Binaries in the APOGEE/IN-SYNC Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandez, M. A.; Covey, Kevin R.; De Lee, Nathan; Chojnowski, S. Drew; Nidever, David; Ballantyne, Richard; Cottaar, Michiel; Da Rio, Nicola; Foster, Jonathan B.; Majewski, Steven R.; Meyer, Michael R.; Reyna, A. M.; Roberts, G. W.; Skinner, Jacob; Stassun, Keivan; Tan, Jonathan C.; Troup, Nicholas; Zasowski, Gail

2017-08-01

We present radial velocity measurements for 70 high confidence, and 34 potential binary systems in fields containing the Perseus Molecular Cloud, Pleiades, NGC 2264, and the Orion A star-forming region. Eighteen of these systems have been previously identified as binaries in the literature. Candidate double-lined spectroscopic binaries (SB2s) are identified by analyzing the cross-correlation functions (CCFs) computed during the reduction of each APOGEE spectrum. We identify sources whose CCFs are well fit as the sum of two Lorentzians as likely binaries, and provide an initial characterization of the system based on the radial velocities indicated by that dual fit. For systems observed over several epochs, we present mass ratios and systemic velocities; for two systems with observations on eight or more epochs, and which meet our criteria for robust orbital coverage, we derive initial orbital parameters. The distribution of mass ratios for multi-epoch sources in our sample peaks at q = 1, but with a significant tail toward lower q values. Tables reporting radial velocities, systemic velocities, and mass ratios are provided online. We discuss future improvements to the radial velocity extraction method we employ, as well as limitations imposed by the number of epochs currently available in the APOGEE database. The Appendix contains brief notes from the literature on each system in the sample, and more extensive notes for select sources of interest.

Corrosion investigation of fire-gilded bronze involving high surface resolution spectroscopic imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masi, G.; Chiavari, C.; Avila, J.; Esvan, J.; Raffo, S.; Bignozzi, M. C.; Asensio, M. C.; Robbiola, L.; Martini, C.

2016-03-01

Gilded bronzes are often affected by severe corrosion, due to defects in the Au layer and Au/Cu alloy galvanic coupling, stimulated by large cathodic area of the gilded layer. Galvanic corrosion, triggered by gilding defects, leads to products growth at the Au/bronze interface, inducing blistering or break-up of the Au layer. In this context, fire-gilded bronze replicas prepared by ancient methods (use of spreadable Au-Hg paste) was specifically characterised by compiling complementary spectroscopic and imaging information before/after accelerated ageing with synthetic rain. Fire-gilded bronze samples were chemically imaged in cross-section at nano-metric scale (<200 nm) using high energy and lateral resolution synchrotron radiation photoemission (HR-SRPES) of core levels and valence band after conventional characterisation of the samples by Glow Discharge optical Emission Spectroscopy (GD-OES) and conventional X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). We have found a net surface enrichment in Zn and Sn after fire-gilding and presence of metallic Hg, Pb and Cu within the Au layer. Moreover, the composition distribution of the elements together with their oxidation has been determined. It was also revealed that metallic phases including Hg and Pb remain in the gilding after corrosion. Moreover, selective dissolution of Zn and Cu occurs in the crater due to galvanic coupling, which locally induces relative Sn species enrichment (decuprification). The feasibility advantages and disadvantages of chemical imaging using HR-SRPES to study artworks have been investigated on representative replicas.

Young Brown Dwarfs and Giant Planets as Companions to Weak-Line T Tauri Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandner, Wolfgang; Frink, Sabine; Kohler, Rainer; Kunkel, Michael

Weak-line T Tauri stars, contrary to classical T Tauri stars, no longer possess massive circumstellar disks. In weak-line T Tauri stars, the circumstellar matter was either accreted onto the T Tauri star or has been redistributed. Disk instabilities in the outer disk might result in the formation of brown dwarfs and giant planets. Based on photometric and spectroscopic studies of ROSAT sources, we have selected an initial sample of 200 weak-line T Tauri stars in the Chamaeleon T association and the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association. In the course of follow-up observations, we identified visual and spectroscopic binary stars and excluded them from our final list, as the complex dynamics and gravitational interaction in binary systems might aggravate or even completely inhibit the formation of planets (depending on physical separation of the binary components and their mass ratio). The membership of individual stars to the associations was established from proper motion studies and radial velocity surveys. Our final sample consists of 70 single weak-line T Tauri stars. We have initiated a program to spatially resolve young brown dwarfs and young giant planets as companions to single weak-line T Tauri stars using adaptive optics at the ESO 3.6 m telescope and HST/NICMOS. In this poster we describe the observing strategy and present first results of our adaptive optics observations. An update on the program status can be found at http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~brandner/text/bd/bd.html

Hunting the most distant stars in the Milky Way: methods and initial results

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bochanski, John J.; Willman, Beth; West, Andrew A.

2014-04-01

We present a new catalog of 404 M giant candidates found in the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS). The 2400 deg{sup 2} available in the UKIDSS Large Area Survey Data Release 8 resolve M giants through a volume four times larger than that of the entire Two Micron All Sky Survey. Combining near-infrared photometry with optical photometry and proper motions from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey yields an M giant candidate catalog with less M dwarf and quasar contamination than previous searches for similarly distant M giants. Extensive follow-up spectroscopy of this sample will yield the first map ofmore » our Galaxy's outermost reaches over a large area of sky. Our initial spectroscopic follow-up of ∼30 bright candidates yielded the positive identification of five M giants at distances ∼20-90 kpc. Each of these confirmed M giants have positions and velocities consistent with the Sagittarius stream. The fainter M giant candidates in our sample have estimated photometric distances ∼200 kpc (assuming [Fe/H] = 0.0), but require further spectroscopic verification. The photometric distance estimates extend beyond the Milky Way's virial radius, and increase by ∼50% for each 0.5 dex decrease in assumed [Fe/H]. Given the number of M giant candidates, initial selection efficiency, and volume surveyed, we loosely estimate that at least one additional Sagittarius-like accretion event could have contributed to the hierarchical build-up of the Milky Way's outer halo.« less

A Spectroscopic study on the fuel value of softwoods in relation to chemical composition

Treesearch

Chi-Leung So; Thomas L. Eberhardt; Les Groom; Todd F. Shupe

2012-01-01

The recent focus on bioenergy has led to interest in developing alternative technologies for assessing the fuel value of available biomass resources. In this study, both near- and mid-infrared spectroscopic datawere used to predict fuel value in relation to extractives and lignin contents for longleaf pine wood. Samples were analyzed both before and after extraction....

On the relative frequencies of spectroscopically normal and peculiar type Ia supernovae

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Branch, David; Fisher, Adam; Nugent, Peter

1993-01-01

After defining what we mean by spectroscopically 'normal' and 'peculiar' Type Ia supernove, we report the results of an attempt to subclassify 84 SNe Ia either as normal or as like one of the recent, peculiar SNe Ia: 1991T, 1991bg, or 1986G. Only SNe 1957A and 1960H are found to have been certifiably abnormal, with SN 1957A; appearing to have been like SN 1991bg, and SN 1960H having been like SN 1991bg or SN 1988G; SNe 1971I and 1980I are under suspicion of having been like SN 1986G, and SN 1988G of having been like SN 1991T. Of the SNe Ia we have been able to classify either as normal or as peculiar, 89% (or 83%, counting those under suspicion as peculiar) are normal. Our main conclusion is that the observational sample of SNe Ia is strongly peaked at 'spectroscopically normal.' We further conclude that when arranged in the photometric sequence of Phillips (1993) SNe Ia also form a spectroscopic sequence, and that peculiar SNe Ia are over-represented in the Phillips sample.

Dual-window dual-bandwidth spectroscopic optical coherence tomography metric for qualitative scatterer size differentiation in tissues.

PubMed

Tay, Benjamin Chia-Meng; Chow, Tzu-Hao; Ng, Beng-Koon; Loh, Thomas Kwok-Seng

2012-09-01

This study investigates the autocorrelation bandwidths of dual-window (DW) optical coherence tomography (OCT) k-space scattering profile of different-sized microspheres and their correlation to scatterer size. A dual-bandwidth spectroscopic metric defined as the ratio of the 10% to 90% autocorrelation bandwidths is found to change monotonically with microsphere size and gives the best contrast enhancement for scatterer size differentiation in the resulting spectroscopic image. A simulation model supports the experimental results and revealed a tradeoff between the smallest detectable scatterer size and the maximum scatterer size in the linear range of the dual-window dual-bandwidth (DWDB) metric, which depends on the choice of the light source optical bandwidth. Spectroscopic OCT (SOCT) images of microspheres and tonsil tissue samples based on the proposed DWDB metric showed clear differentiation between different-sized scatterers as compared to those derived from conventional short-time Fourier transform metrics. The DWDB metric significantly improves the contrast in SOCT imaging and can aid the visualization and identification of dissimilar scatterer size in a sample. Potential applications include the early detection of cell nuclear changes in tissue carcinogenesis, the monitoring of healing tendons, and cell proliferation in tissue scaffolds.

Hyphenation of Raman spectroscopy with gravimetric analysis to interrogate water-solid interactions in pharmaceutical systems.

PubMed

Gift, Alan D; Taylor, Lynne S

2007-01-04

A moisture sorption gravimetric analyzer has been combined with a Raman spectrometer to better understand the various modes of water-solid interactions relevant to pharmaceutical systems. A commercial automated moisture sorption balance was modified to allow non-contact monitoring of the sample properties by interfacing a Raman probe with the sample holder. This hybrid instrument allows for gravimetric and spectroscopic changes to be monitored simultaneously. The utility of this instrument was demonstrated by investigating different types of water-solid interactions including stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric hydrate formation, deliquescence, amorphous-crystalline transformation, and capillary condensation. In each of the model systems, sulfaguanidine, cromolyn sodium, ranitidine HCl, amorphous sucrose and silica gel, spectroscopic changes were observed during the time course of the moisture sorption profile. Analysis of spectroscopic data provided information about the origin of the observed changes in moisture content as a function of relative humidity. Furthermore, multivariate data analysis techniques were employed as a means of processing the spectroscopic data. Principle components analysis was found to be useful to aid in data processing, handling and interpretation of the spectral changes that occurred during the time course of the moisture sorption profile.

Vibrational Micro-Spectroscopy of Human Tissues Analysis: Review.

PubMed

Bunaciu, Andrei A; Hoang, Vu Dang; Aboul-Enein, Hassan Y

2017-05-04

Vibrational spectroscopy (Infrared (IR) and Raman) and, in particular, micro-spectroscopy and micro-spectroscopic imaging have been used to characterize developmental changes in tissues, to monitor these changes in cell cultures and to detect disease and drug-induced modifications. The conventional methods for biochemical and histophatological tissue characterization necessitate complex and "time-consuming" sample manipulations and the results are rarely quantifiable. The spectroscopy of molecular vibrations using mid-IR or Raman techniques has been applied to samples of human tissue. This article reviews the application of these vibrational spectroscopic techniques for analysis of biological tissue published between 2005 and 2015.

Spectroscopic observations of X-ray selected late type stars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Takalo, L. O.

1988-01-01

A spectroscopic survey of nine X-ray selected late type stars was conducted. These stars are serendipitously discovered EINSTEIN X-ray sources, selected from two large x-ray surveys: the Columbia Astrophysical Laboratory survey (five stars) and the CFA Medium Sensitivity survey (four stars). Four of the Columbia survey stars were found to be short period binaries. The fifth was found to be an active single G dwarf. None of the Medium Sensitivity survey stars were found to be either binaries or active stars. Activity was measured by comparing the H-alpha and the CaII infrared triplet (8498, 8542) lines in these stars to the lines in inactive stars of similar spectral type. A correlation was found between the excess H-alpha lime emission and V sin(i) and between the excess H-alpha line emission and X-ray luminosity. No correlation was found between the infrared line emission and any other measured quantity.

Spectroscopic detection

DOEpatents

Woskov, Paul P.; Hadidi, Kamal

2003-01-01

In embodiments, spectroscopic monitor monitors modulated light signals to detect low levels of contaminants and other compounds in the presence of background interference. The monitor uses a spectrometer that includes a transmissive modulator capable of causing different frequency ranges to move onto and off of the detector. The different ranges can include those with the desired signal and those selected to subtract background contributions from those with the desired signal. Embodiments of the system are particularly useful for monitoring metal concentrations in combustion effluent.

The SDSS-IV extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: Overview and early data

DOE PAGES

Kyle S. Dawson

2016-02-04

In a six-year program started in 2014 July, the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) will conduct novel cosmological observations using the BOSS spectrograph at Apache Point Observatory. These observations will be conducted simultaneously with the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS) designed for variability studies and the Spectroscopic Identification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS) program designed for studies of X-ray sources. In particular, eBOSS will measure with percent-level precision the distance-redshift relation with baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of matter. eBOSS will use four different tracers of the underlying matter density field to vastly expand the volume covered bymore » BOSS and map the large-scale-structures over the relatively unconstrained redshift range 0.6 < z < 2.2. Using more than 250,000 new, spectroscopically confirmed luminous red galaxies at a median redshift z = 0.72, we project that eBOSS will yield measurements of the angular diameter distance d A(z) to an accuracy of 1.2% and measurements of H(z) to 2.1% when combined with the z > 0.6 sample of BOSS galaxies. With ~195,000 new emission line galaxy redshifts, we expect BAO measurements of d A(z) to an accuracy of 3.1% and H(z) to 4.7% at an effective redshift of z = 0.87. A sample of more than 500,000 spectroscopically confirmed quasars will provide the first BAO distance measurements over the redshift range 0.9 < z < 2.2, with expected precision of 2.8% and 4.2% on d A(z) and H(z), respectively. Finally, with 60,000 new quasars and re-observation of 60,000 BOSS quasars, we will obtain new Lyα forest measurements at redshifts z > 2.1; these new data will enhance the precision of d A(z) and H(z) at z > 2.1 by a factor of 1.44 relative to BOSS. Furthermore, eBOSS will provide improved tests of General Relativity on cosmological scales through redshift-space distortion measurements, improved tests for non-Gaussianity in the primordial density field, and new constraints on the summed mass of all neutrino species. Lastly, we provide an overview of the cosmological goals, spectroscopic target sample, demonstration of spectral quality from early data, and projected cosmological constraints from eBOSS.« less

The SDSS-IV extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: Overview and early data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kyle S. Dawson

In a six-year program started in 2014 July, the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) will conduct novel cosmological observations using the BOSS spectrograph at Apache Point Observatory. These observations will be conducted simultaneously with the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS) designed for variability studies and the Spectroscopic Identification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS) program designed for studies of X-ray sources. In particular, eBOSS will measure with percent-level precision the distance-redshift relation with baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of matter. eBOSS will use four different tracers of the underlying matter density field to vastly expand the volume covered bymore » BOSS and map the large-scale-structures over the relatively unconstrained redshift range 0.6 < z < 2.2. Using more than 250,000 new, spectroscopically confirmed luminous red galaxies at a median redshift z = 0.72, we project that eBOSS will yield measurements of the angular diameter distance d A(z) to an accuracy of 1.2% and measurements of H(z) to 2.1% when combined with the z > 0.6 sample of BOSS galaxies. With ~195,000 new emission line galaxy redshifts, we expect BAO measurements of d A(z) to an accuracy of 3.1% and H(z) to 4.7% at an effective redshift of z = 0.87. A sample of more than 500,000 spectroscopically confirmed quasars will provide the first BAO distance measurements over the redshift range 0.9 < z < 2.2, with expected precision of 2.8% and 4.2% on d A(z) and H(z), respectively. Finally, with 60,000 new quasars and re-observation of 60,000 BOSS quasars, we will obtain new Lyα forest measurements at redshifts z > 2.1; these new data will enhance the precision of d A(z) and H(z) at z > 2.1 by a factor of 1.44 relative to BOSS. Furthermore, eBOSS will provide improved tests of General Relativity on cosmological scales through redshift-space distortion measurements, improved tests for non-Gaussianity in the primordial density field, and new constraints on the summed mass of all neutrino species. Lastly, we provide an overview of the cosmological goals, spectroscopic target sample, demonstration of spectral quality from early data, and projected cosmological constraints from eBOSS.« less

The Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey. I. Classification System and Bright Northern Stars in the Blue-violet at R ~ 2500

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sota, A.; Maíz Apellániz, J.; Walborn, N. R.; Alfaro, E. J.; Barbá, R. H.; Morrell, N. I.; Gamen, R. C.; Arias, J. I.

2011-04-01

We present the first installment of a massive spectroscopic survey of Galactic O stars, based on new, high signal-to-noise ratio, R ~ 2500 digital observations from both hemispheres selected from the Galactic O-Star Catalog of Maíz Apellániz et al. and Sota et al. The spectral classification system is rediscussed and a new atlas is presented, which supersedes previous versions. Extensive sequences of exceptional objects are given, including types Ofc, ON/OC, Onfp, Of?p, Oe, and double-lined spectroscopic binaries. The remaining normal spectra bring this first sample to 184 stars, which is close to complete to B = 8 and north of δ = -20° and includes all of the northern objects in Maíz Apellániz et al. that are still classified as O stars. The systematic and random accuracies of these classifications are substantially higher than previously attainable, because of the quality, quantity, and homogeneity of the data and analysis procedures. These results will enhance subsequent investigations in Galactic astronomy and stellar astrophysics. In the future, we will publish the rest of the survey, beginning with a second paper that will include most of the southern stars in Maíz Apellániz et al. The spectroscopic data in this article were gathered with three facilities: the 1.5 m telescope at the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada (OSN), the 3.5 m telescope at Calar Alto Observatory (CAHA), and the du Pont 2.5 m telescope at Las Campanas Observatory (LCO). Some of the supporting imaging data were obtained with the 2.2 m telescope at CAHA and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The rest were retrieved from the DSS2 and Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) surveys. The HST data were obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

Chemical and kinematical properties of galactic bulge stars surrounding the stellar system Terzan 5

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Massari, D.; Mucciarelli, A.; Ferraro, F. R.

2014-08-20

As part of a study aimed at determining the kinematical and chemical properties of Terzan 5, we present the first characterization of the bulge stars surrounding this puzzling stellar system. We observed 615 targets located well beyond the tidal radius of Terzan 5 and found that their radial velocity distribution is well described by a Gaussian function peaked at (v {sub rad}) = +21.0 ± 4.6 km s{sup –1} with dispersion σ {sub v} = 113.0 ± 2.7 km s{sup –1}. This is one of the few high-precision spectroscopic surveys of radial velocities for a large sample of bulge starsmore » in such a low and positive latitude environment (b = +1.°7). We found no evidence of the peak at (v {sub rad}) ∼ +200 km s{sup –1} found in Nidever et al. Strong contamination of many observed spectra by TiO bands prevented us from deriving the iron abundance for the entire spectroscopic sample, introducing a selection bias. The metallicity distribution was finally derived for a subsample of 112 stars in a magnitude range where the effect of the selection bias is negligible. The distribution is quite broad and roughly peaked at solar metallicity ([Fe/H] ≅ +0.05 dex) with a similar number of stars in the super-solar and in the sub-solar ranges. The population number ratios in different metallicity ranges agree well with those observed in other low-latitude bulge fields, suggesting (1) the possible presence of a plateau for |b| < 4° in the ratio between stars in the super-solar (0 < [Fe/H] <0.5 dex) and sub-solar (–0.5 < [Fe/H] <0 dex) metallicity ranges; (2) a severe drop in the metal-poor component ([Fe/H] <–0.5) as a function of Galactic latitude.« less

The Pristine survey - I. Mining the Galaxy for the most metal-poor stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Starkenburg, Else; Martin, Nicolas; Youakim, Kris; Aguado, David S.; Allende Prieto, Carlos; Arentsen, Anke; Bernard, Edouard J.; Bonifacio, Piercarlo; Caffau, Elisabetta; Carlberg, Raymond G.; Côté, Patrick; Fouesneau, Morgan; François, Patrick; Franke, Oliver; González Hernández, Jonay I.; Gwyn, Stephen D. J.; Hill, Vanessa; Ibata, Rodrigo A.; Jablonka, Pascale; Longeard, Nicolas; McConnachie, Alan W.; Navarro, Julio F.; Sánchez-Janssen, Rubén; Tolstoy, Eline; Venn, Kim A.

2017-11-01

We present the Pristine survey, a new narrow-band photometric survey focused on the metallicity-sensitive Ca H&K lines and conducted in the Northern hemisphere with the wide-field imager MegaCam on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. This paper reviews our overall survey strategy and discusses the data processing and metallicity calibration. Additionally we review the application of these data to the main aims of the survey, which are to gather a large sample of the most metal-poor stars in the Galaxy, to further characterize the faintest Milky Way satellites, and to map the (metal-poor) substructure in the Galactic halo. The current Pristine footprint comprises over 1000 deg2 in the Galactic halo ranging from b ˜ 30° to ˜78° and covers many known stellar substructures. We demonstrate that, for Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) stellar objects, we can calibrate the photometry at the 0.02-mag level. The comparison with existing spectroscopic metallicities from SDSS/Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE) and Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope shows that, when combined with SDSS broad-band g and I photometry, we can use the CaHK photometry to infer photometric metallicities with an accuracy of ˜0.2 dex from [Fe/H] = -0.5 down to the extremely metal-poor regime ([Fe/H] < -3.0). After the removal of various contaminants, we can efficiently select metal-poor stars and build a very complete sample with high purity. The success rate of uncovering [Fe/H]SEGUE < -3.0 stars among [Fe/H]Pristine < -3.0 selected stars is 24 per cent, and 85 per cent of the remaining candidates are still very metal poor ([Fe/H]<-2.0). We further demonstrate that Pristine is well suited to identify the very rare and pristine Galactic stars with [Fe/H] < -4.0, which can teach us valuable lessons about the early Universe.

Cosmology with XMM galaxy clusters: the X-CLASS/GROND catalogue and photometric redshifts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ridl, J.; Clerc, N.; Sadibekova, T.; Faccioli, L.; Pacaud, F.; Greiner, J.; Krühler, T.; Rau, A.; Salvato, M.; Menzel, M.-L.; Steinle, H.; Wiseman, P.; Nandra, K.; Sanders, J.

2017-06-01

The XMM Cluster Archive Super Survey (X-CLASS) is a serendipitously detected X-ray-selected sample of 845 galaxy clusters based on 2774 XMM archival observations and covering an approximately 90 deg2 spread across the high-Galactic latitude (|b| > 20°) sky. The primary goal of this survey is to produce a well-selected sample of galaxy clusters on which cosmological analyses can be performed. This paper presents the photometric redshift follow-up of a high signal-to-noise ratio subset of 265 of these clusters with declination δ < +20° with Gamma-Ray Burst Optical and Near-Infrared Detector (GROND), a 7-channel (grizJHK) simultaneous imager on the MPG 2.2-m telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory. We use a newly developed technique based on the red sequence colour-redshift relation, enhanced with information coming from the X-ray detection to provide photometric redshifts for this sample. We determine photometric redshifts for 232 clusters, finding a median redshift of z = 0.39 with an accuracy of Δz = 0.02(1 + z) when compared to a sample of 76 spectroscopically confirmed clusters. We also compute X-ray luminosities for the entire sample and find a median bolometric luminosity of 7.2 × 1043 erg s-1 and a median temperature of 2.9 keV. We compare our results to those of the XMM-XCS and XMM-XXL surveys, finding good agreement in both samples. The X-CLASS catalogue is available online at http://xmm-lss.in2p3.fr:8080/l4sdb/.

The Large Area Radio Galaxy Evolution Spectroscopic Survey (LARGESS): survey design, data catalogue and GAMA/WiggleZ spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ching, John H. Y.; Sadler, Elaine M.; Croom, Scott M.; Johnston, Helen M.; Pracy, Michael B.; Couch, Warrick J.; Hopkins, A. M.; Jurek, Russell J.; Pimbblet, K. A.

2017-01-01

We present the Large Area Radio Galaxy Evolution Spectroscopic Survey (LARGESS), a spectroscopic catalogue of radio sources designed to include the full range of radio AGN populations out to redshift z ˜ 0.8. The catalogue covers ˜800 deg2 of sky, and provides optical identifications for 19 179 radio sources from the 1.4 GHz Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm (FIRST) survey down to an optical magnitude limit of Imod < 20.5 in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) images. Both galaxies and point-like objects are included, and no colour cuts are applied. In collaboration with the WiggleZ and Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) spectroscopic survey teams, we have obtained new spectra for over 5000 objects in the LARGESS sample. Combining these new spectra with data from earlier surveys provides spectroscopic data for 12 329 radio sources in the survey area, of which 10 856 have reliable redshifts. 85 per cent of the LARGESS spectroscopic sample are radio AGN (median redshift z = 0.44), and 15 per cent are nearby star-forming galaxies (median z = 0.08). Low-excitation radio galaxies (LERGs) comprise the majority (83 per cent) of LARGESS radio AGN at z < 0.8, with 12 per cent being high-excitation radio galaxies (HERGs) and 5 per cent radio-loud QSOs. Unlike the more homogeneous LERG and QSO sub-populations, HERGs are a heterogeneous class of objects with relatively blue optical colours and a wide dispersion in mid-infrared colours. This is consistent with a picture in which most HERGs are hosted by galaxies with recent or ongoing star formation as well as a classical accretion disc.

CFHTLenS and RCSLenS: testing photometric redshift distributions using angular cross-correlations with spectroscopic galaxy surveys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, A.; Heymans, C.; Blake, C.; Hildebrandt, H.; Duncan, C. A. J.; Erben, T.; Nakajima, R.; Van Waerbeke, L.; Viola, M.

2016-12-01

We determine the accuracy of galaxy redshift distributions as estimated from photometric redshift probability distributions p(z). Our method utilizes measurements of the angular cross-correlation between photometric galaxies and an overlapping sample of galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts. We describe the redshift leakage from a galaxy photometric redshift bin j into a spectroscopic redshift bin I using the sum of the p(z) for the galaxies residing in bin j. We can then predict the angular cross-correlation between photometric and spectroscopic galaxies due to intrinsic galaxy clustering when I ≠ j as a function of the measured angular cross-correlation when I = j. We also account for enhanced clustering arising from lensing magnification using a halo model. The comparison of this prediction with the measured signal provides a consistency check on the validity of using the summed p(z) to determine galaxy redshift distributions in cosmological analyses, as advocated by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS). We present an analysis of the photometric redshifts measured by CFHTLenS, which overlaps the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). We also analyse the Red-sequence Cluster Lensing Survey, which overlaps both BOSS and the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey. We find that the summed p(z) from both surveys are generally biased with respect to the true underlying distributions. If unaccounted for, this bias would lead to errors in cosmological parameter estimation from CFHTLenS by less than ˜4 per cent. For photometric redshift bins which spatially overlap in 3D with our spectroscopic sample, we determine redshift bias corrections which can be used in future cosmological analyses that rely on accurate galaxy redshift distributions.

An empirical evaluation of three vibrational spectroscopic methods for detection of aflatoxins in maize.

PubMed

Lee, Kyung-Min; Davis, Jessica; Herrman, Timothy J; Murray, Seth C; Deng, Youjun

2015-04-15

Three commercially available vibrational spectroscopic techniques, including Raman, Fourier transform near infrared reflectance (FT-NIR), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) were evaluated to help users determine the spectroscopic method best suitable for aflatoxin analysis in maize (Zea mays L.) grain based on their relative efficiency and predictive ability. Spectral differences of Raman and FTIR spectra were more marked and pronounced among aflatoxin contamination groups than those of FT-NIR spectra. From the observations and findings in our current and previous studies, Raman and FTIR spectroscopic methods are superior to FT-NIR method in terms of predictive power and model performance for aflatoxin analysis and they are equally effective and accurate in predicting aflatoxin concentration in maize. The present study is considered as the first attempt to assess how spectroscopic techniques with different physical processes can influence and improve accuracy and reliability for rapid screening of aflatoxin contaminated maize samples. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Infrared spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging in forensic science.

PubMed

Ewing, Andrew V; Kazarian, Sergei G

2017-01-16

Infrared spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging, are robust, label free and inherently non-destructive methods with a high chemical specificity and sensitivity that are frequently employed in forensic science research and practices. This review aims to discuss the applications and recent developments of these methodologies in this field. Furthermore, the use of recently emerged Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic imaging in transmission, external reflection and Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) modes are summarised with relevance and potential for forensic science applications. This spectroscopic imaging approach provides the opportunity to obtain the chemical composition of fingermarks and information about possible contaminants deposited at a crime scene. Research that demonstrates the great potential of these techniques for analysis of fingerprint residues, explosive materials and counterfeit drugs will be reviewed. The implications of this research for the examination of different materials are considered, along with an outlook of possible future research avenues for the application of vibrational spectroscopic methods to the analysis of forensic samples.

Optical Spectroscopic Observations of γ-Ray Blazar Candidates. III. The 2013/2014 Campaign in the Southern Hemisphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Landoni, M.; Massaro, F.; Paggi, A.; D'Abrusco, R.; Milisavljevic, D.; Masetti, N.; Smith, H. A.; Tosti, G.; Chomiuk, L.; Strader, J.; Cheung, C. C.

2015-05-01

We report the results of our exploratory program carried out with the southern Astrophysical Research telescope aimed at associating counterparts and establishing the nature of the Fermi Unidentified γ-ray Sources (UGSs). We selected the optical counterparts of six UGSs from the Fermi catalog on the basis of our recently discovered tight connection between infrared and γ-ray emission found for the γ-ray blazars detected by the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer in its all-sky survey. We perform for the first time a spectroscopic study of the low-energy counterparts of the Fermi UGSs, in the optical band, confirming the blazar-like nature of the whole sample. We also present new spectroscopic observations of six active galaxies of uncertain type associated with Fermi sources which appear to be BL Lac objects. Finally, we report the spectra collected for six known γ-ray blazars belonging to the Roma BZCAT that were obtained to establish their nature or better estimate their redshifts. Two interesting cases of high redshift and extremely luminous BL Lac objects (z ≥ 1.18 and z ≥ 1.02, based on the detection of Mg ii intervening systems) are also discussed. Based on observations obtained at the southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope, which is a joint project of the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, e Inovação (MCTI) da República Federativa do Brasil, the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and Michigan State University (MSU).

Multislice 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging: assessment of epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiner, Michael W.; Maudsley, Andrew A.; Schuff, Norbert; Soher, Brian J.; Vermathen, Peter P.; Fein, George; Laxer, Kenneth D.

1998-07-01

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (1H MRSI) with volume pre-selection (i.e. by PRESS) or multislice 1H MRSI was used to investigate changes in brain metabolites in Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Examples of results from several ongoing clinical studies are provided. Multislice 1H MRSI of the human brain, without volume pre-selection offers considerable advantages over previously available techniques. Furthermore, MRI tissue segmentation and completely automated spectra curve fitting greatly facilitate quantitative data analysis. Future efforts will be devoted to obtaining full brain coverage and data acquisition at short spin echo times (TE less than 30 ms) for the detection of metabolites with short T2 relaxation times.

Process control using fiber optics and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kemsley, E. K.; Wilson, Reginald H.

1992-03-01

A process control system has been constructed using optical fibers interfaced to a Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer, to achieve remote spectroscopic analysis of food samples during processing. The multichannel interface accommodates six fibers, allowing the sequential observation of up to six samples. Novel fiber-optic sampling cells have been constructed, including transmission and attenuated total reflectance (ATR) designs. Different fiber types have been evaluated; in particular, plastic clad silica (PCS) and zirconium fluoride fibers. Processes investigated have included the dilution of fruit juice concentrate, and the addition of alcohol to fruit syrup. Suitable algorithms have been written which use the results of spectroscopic measurements to control and monitor the course of each process, by actuating devices such as valves and switches.

Space Density of Optically Selected Type 2 Quasars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reyes, Reinabelle; Zakamska, Nadia L.; Strauss, Michael A.; Green, Joshua; Krolik, Julian H.; Shen, Yue; Richards, Gordon T.; Anderson, Scott F.; Schneider, Donald P.

2008-12-01

Type 2 quasars are luminous active galactic nuclei whose central regions are obscured by large amounts of gas and dust. In this paper, we present a catalog of type 2 quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, selected based on their optical emission lines. The catalog contains 887 objects with redshifts z < 0.83; this is 6 times larger than the previous version and is by far the largest sample of type 2 quasars in the literature. We derive the [O III]5007 luminosity function (LF) for 108.3 L sun < L [O III] < 1010 L sun (corresponding to intrinsic luminosities up to M[2500 Å] ~= -28 mag or bolometric luminosities up to 4 × 1047 erg s-1). This LF provides robust lower limits to the actual space density of obscured quasars due to our selection criteria, the details of the spectroscopic target selection, and other effects. We derive the equivalent LF for the complete sample of type 1 (unobscured) quasars and determine the ratio of type 2 to type 1 quasar number densities. Our data constrain this ratio to be at least ~1.5:1 for 108.3 L sun < L [O III] < 109.5 L sun at z < 0.3, and at least ~1.2:1 for L [O III] ~ 1010 L sun at 0.3 < z < 0.83. Type 2 quasars are at least as abundant as type 1 quasars in the relatively nearby universe (z <~ 0.8) for the highest luminosities.

Updating a synchronous fluorescence spectroscopic virgin olive oil adulteration calibration to a new geographical region.

PubMed

Kunz, Matthew Ross; Ottaway, Joshua; Kalivas, John H; Georgiou, Constantinos A; Mousdis, George A

2011-02-23

Detecting and quantifying extra virgin olive adulteration is of great importance to the olive oil industry. Many spectroscopic methods in conjunction with multivariate analysis have been used to solve these issues. However, successes to date are limited as calibration models are built to a specific set of geographical regions, growing seasons, cultivars, and oil extraction methods (the composite primary condition). Samples from new geographical regions, growing seasons, etc. (secondary conditions) are not always correctly predicted by the primary model due to different olive oil and/or adulterant compositions stemming from secondary conditions not matching the primary conditions. Three Tikhonov regularization (TR) variants are used in this paper to allow adulterant (sunflower oil) concentration predictions in samples from geographical regions not part of the original primary calibration domain. Of the three TR variants, ridge regression with an additional 2-norm penalty provides the smallest validation sample prediction errors. Although the paper reports on using TR for model updating to predict adulterant oil concentration, the methods should also be applicable to updating models distinguishing adulterated samples from pure extra virgin olive oil. Additionally, the approaches are general and can be used with other spectroscopic methods and adulterants as well as with other agriculture products.

Studies on influence of aluminium ions on the bioactivity of B2O3-SiO2-P2O5-Na2O-CaO glass system by means of spectroscopic studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohini, G. Jagan; Krishnamacharyulu, N.; Sahaya Baskaran, G.; Rao, P. Venkateswara; Veeraiah, N.

2013-12-01

Bioactive multi component glasses of the composition of 27.4 B2O3-6.4 SiO2-2.5 P2O5-25.5 Na2O-(38.2 - x) CaO: x Al2O3 (x between 0 and 3.2) were synthesized, by melt quenching technique and their bioactivity was investigated as a function of Al2O3 concentration. Initially, optical absorption and infrared spectra were recorded and analyzed in order to have some pre-understanding over structural aspects of the glasses. For understanding the bioactivity, the samples were immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF) solution for prolonged times (∼30 days) and the weight loss measurements were carried out. The spectroscopic studies were repeated on the post immersed samples. From the comparison of the analysis of the spectroscopic data of both pre-immersed and post-immersed samples together with the information on variation of pH value of residual solution as a function of immersion time, it is concluded that the participation of aluminium ions in tetrahedral positions is hindrance for the formation of HA layer and for the bioactivity of the samples.

Photometric redshift analysis in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez, C.; Carrasco Kind, M.; Lin, H.; Miquel, R.; Abdalla, F. B.; Amara, A.; Banerji, M.; Bonnett, C.; Brunner, R.; Capozzi, D.; Carnero, A.; Castander, F. J.; da Costa, L. A. N.; Cunha, C.; Fausti, A.; Gerdes, D.; Greisel, N.; Gschwend, J.; Hartley, W.; Jouvel, S.; Lahav, O.; Lima, M.; Maia, M. A. G.; Martí, P.; Ogando, R. L. C.; Ostrovski, F.; Pellegrini, P.; Rau, M. M.; Sadeh, I.; Seitz, S.; Sevilla-Noarbe, I.; Sypniewski, A.; de Vicente, J.; Abbot, T.; Allam, S. S.; Atlee, D.; Bernstein, G.; Bernstein, J. P.; Buckley-Geer, E.; Burke, D.; Childress, M. J.; Davis, T.; DePoy, D. L.; Dey, A.; Desai, S.; Diehl, H. T.; Doel, P.; Estrada, J.; Evrard, A.; Fernández, E.; Finley, D.; Flaugher, B.; Frieman, J.; Gaztanaga, E.; Glazebrook, K.; Honscheid, K.; Kim, A.; Kuehn, K.; Kuropatkin, N.; Lidman, C.; Makler, M.; Marshall, J. L.; Nichol, R. C.; Roodman, A.; Sánchez, E.; Santiago, B. X.; Sako, M.; Scalzo, R.; Smith, R. C.; Swanson, M. E. C.; Tarle, G.; Thomas, D.; Tucker, D. L.; Uddin, S. A.; Valdés, F.; Walker, A.; Yuan, F.; Zuntz, J.

2014-12-01

We present results from a study of the photometric redshift performance of the Dark Energy Survey (DES), using the early data from a Science Verification period of observations in late 2012 and early 2013 that provided science-quality images for almost 200 sq. deg. at the nominal depth of the survey. We assess the photometric redshift (photo-z) performance using about 15 000 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts available from other surveys. These galaxies are used, in different configurations, as a calibration sample, and photo-z's are obtained and studied using most of the existing photo-z codes. A weighting method in a multidimensional colour-magnitude space is applied to the spectroscopic sample in order to evaluate the photo-z performance with sets that mimic the full DES photometric sample, which is on average significantly deeper than the calibration sample due to the limited depth of spectroscopic surveys. Empirical photo-z methods using, for instance, artificial neural networks or random forests, yield the best performance in the tests, achieving core photo-z resolutions σ68 ˜ 0.08. Moreover, the results from most of the codes, including template-fitting methods, comfortably meet the DES requirements on photo-z performance, therefore, providing an excellent precedent for future DES data sets.

Photometric redshift analysis in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data

DOE PAGES

Sanchez, C.; Carrasco Kind, M.; Lin, H.; ...

2014-10-09

In this study, we present results from a study of the photometric redshift performance of the Dark Energy Survey (DES), using the early data from a Science Verification period of observations in late 2012 and early 2013 that provided science-quality images for almost 200 sq. deg. at the nominal depth of the survey. We assess the photometric redshift (photo-z) performance using about 15 000 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts available from other surveys. These galaxies are used, in different configurations, as a calibration sample, and photo-z's are obtained and studied using most of the existing photo-z codes. A weighting method inmore » a multidimensional colour–magnitude space is applied to the spectroscopic sample in order to evaluate the photo-z performance with sets that mimic the full DES photometric sample, which is on average significantly deeper than the calibration sample due to the limited depth of spectroscopic surveys. In addition, empirical photo-z methods using, for instance, artificial neural networks or random forests, yield the best performance in the tests, achieving core photo-z resolutions σ68 ~ 0.08. Moreover, the results from most of the codes, including template-fitting methods, comfortably meet the DES requirements on photo-z performance, therefore, providing an excellent precedent for future DES data sets.« less

Destruction-free procedure for the isolation of bacteria from sputum samples for Raman spectroscopic analysis.

PubMed

Kloß, Sandra; Lorenz, Björn; Dees, Stefan; Labugger, Ines; Rösch, Petra; Popp, Jürgen

2015-11-01

Lower respiratory tract infections are the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. Here, a timely identification of the causing pathogens is crucial to the success of the treatment. Raman spectroscopy allows for quick identification of bacterial cells without the need for time-consuming cultivation steps, which is the current gold standard to detect pathogens. However, before Raman spectroscopy can be used to identify pathogens, they have to be isolated from the sample matrix, i.e., sputum in case of lower respiratory tract infections. In this study, we report an isolation protocol for single bacterial cells from sputum samples for Raman spectroscopic identification. Prior to the isolation, a liquefaction step using the proteolytic enzyme mixture Pronase E is required in order to deal with the high viscosity of sputum. The extraction of the bacteria was subsequently performed via different filtration and centrifugation steps, whereby isolation ratios between 46 and 57 % were achieved for sputa spiked with 6·10(7) to 6·10(4) CFU/mL of Staphylococcus aureus. The compatibility of such a liquefaction and isolation procedure towards a Raman spectroscopic classification was shown for five different model species, namely S. aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A classification of single-cell Raman spectra of these five species with an accuracy of 98.5 % could be achieved on the basis of a principal component analysis (PCA) followed by a linear discriminant analysis (LDA). These classification results could be validated with an independent test dataset, where 97.4 % of all spectra were identified correctly. Graphical Abstract Development of an isolation protocol of bacterial cells out of sputum samples followed by Raman spectroscopic measurement and species identification using chemometrical models.

Surface density of quasars in two high-latitude fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Usher, P. D.; Green, R. F.; Huang, K. L.; Warnock, A., III

1983-01-01

Fourty-four objects selected for ultraviolet excess have been identified spectroscopically. The objects lie in two Palomar 1.2 m Schmidt fields in the north galactic polar cap, one of 7.7 sq deg centered on Kapteyn Selected Area 29, the other of 36 sq deg centered on SA 55. The objects are characterized by Color Classes (CC) 1A, 1, 1B, 1C, 2, and 3. Quasars comprise 75 percent of the CC 1A objects and 44 percent of the objects in the SA 29 field. Twelve quasars in the SA 29 field comprise a complete sample to B = 18.5 mag, and given an uncorrected surface density of 1.6 quasars/sq deg. This value is essentially that derived by Sandage (1969). Corrections are applied to account for the lack of high redshift quasars. An empirical correction is derived to account for lack of simultaneity in selection and photometry. A corrected lower limit to the surface density is estimated to be 1.85 quasars/sq deg to B = 18.5 mag.

Selective adsorption of sulfur dioxide in a robust metal-organic framework material

DOE PAGES

Savage, Mathew; Cheng, Yongqiang; Easun, Timothy L.; ...

2016-08-16

Here, selective adsorption of SO 2 is realized in a porous metal–organic framework material, and in-depth structural and spectroscopic investigations using X-rays, infrared, and neutrons define the underlying interactions that cause SO 2 to bind more strongly than CO 2 and N 2.

Infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry of micrometer-sized SiO2 line gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walder, Cordula; Zellmeier, Matthias; Rappich, Jörg; Ketelsen, Helge; Hinrichs, Karsten

2017-09-01

For the design and process control of periodic nano-structured surfaces spectroscopic ellipsometry is already established in the UV-VIS spectral regime. The objective of this work is to show the feasibility of spectroscopic ellipsometry in the infrared, exemplarily, on micrometer-sized SiO2 line gratings grown on silicon wafers. The grating period ranges from 10 to about 34 μm. The IR-ellipsometric spectra of the gratings exhibit complex changes with structure variations. Especially in the spectral range of the oxide stretching modes, the presence of a Rayleigh singularity can lead to pronounced changes of the spectrum with the sample geometry. The IR-ellipsometric spectra of the gratings are well reproducible by calculations with the RCWA method (Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis). Therefore, infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry allows the quantitative characterization and process control of micrometer-sized structures.

Fiber array based hyperspectral Raman imaging for chemical selective analysis of malaria-infected red blood cells.

PubMed

Brückner, Michael; Becker, Katja; Popp, Jürgen; Frosch, Torsten

2015-09-24

A new setup for Raman spectroscopic wide-field imaging is presented. It combines the advantages of a fiber array based spectral translator with a tailor-made laser illumination system for high-quality Raman chemical imaging of sensitive biological samples. The Gaussian-like intensity distribution of the illuminating laser beam is shaped by a square-core optical multimode fiber to a top-hat profile with very homogeneous intensity distribution to fulfill the conditions of Koehler. The 30 m long optical fiber and an additional vibrator efficiently destroy the polarization and coherence of the illuminating light. This homogeneous, incoherent illumination is an essential prerequisite for stable quantitative imaging of complex biological samples. The fiber array translates the two-dimensional lateral information of the Raman stray light into separated spectral channels with very high contrast. The Raman image can be correlated with a corresponding white light microscopic image of the sample. The new setup enables simultaneous quantification of all Raman spectra across the whole spatial area with very good spectral resolution and thus outperforms other Raman imaging approaches based on scanning and tunable filters. The unique capabilities of the setup for fast, gentle, sensitive, and selective chemical imaging of biological samples were applied for automated hemozoin analysis. A special algorithm was developed to generate Raman images based on the hemozoin distribution in red blood cells without any influence from other Raman scattering. The new imaging setup in combination with the robust algorithm provides a novel, elegant way for chemical selective analysis of the malaria pigment hemozoin in early ring stages of Plasmodium falciparum infected erythrocytes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optical Substructure and BCG Offsets of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich and X-ray Selected Galaxy Clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopes, Paulo AA; Trevisan, M.; Laganá, T. F.; Durret, F.; Ribeiro, A. LB; Rembold, S. B.

2018-05-01

We used optical imaging and spectroscopic data to derive substructure estimates for local Universe (z < 0.11) galaxy clusters from two different samples. The first was selected through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect by the Planck satellite and the second is an X-ray selected sample. In agreement to X-ray substructure estimates we found that the SZ systems have a larger fraction of substructure than the X-ray clusters. We have also found evidence that the higher mass regime of the SZ clusters, compared to the X-ray sample, explains the larger fraction of disturbed objects in the Planck data. Although we detect a redshift evolution in the substructure fraction, it is not sufficient to explain the different results between the higher-z SZ sample and the X-ray one. We have also verified a good agreement (˜60%) between the optical and X-ray substructure estimates. However, the best level of agreement is given by the substructure classification given by measures based on the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG), either the BCG-X-ray centroid offset, or the magnitude gap between the first and second BCGs. We advocate the use of those two parameters as the most reliable and cheap way to assess cluster dynamical state. We recommend an offset cut of ˜0.01 ×R500 to separate relaxed and disturbed clusters. Regarding the magnitude gap the separation can be done at Δm12 = 1.0. The central galaxy paradigm (CGP) may not be valid for ˜20% of relaxed massive clusters. This fraction increases to ˜60% for disturbed systems.

Spectroscopic thermoacoustic imaging of water and fat composition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, Daniel R.; Wang, Xiong; Vollin, Jeff; Xin, Hao; Witte, Russell S.

2012-07-01

During clinical studies, thermoacoustic imaging (TAI) failed to reliably identify malignant breast tissue. To increase detection capability, we propose spectroscopic TAI to differentiate samples based on the slope of their dielectric absorption. Phantoms composed of different ratios of water and fat were imaged using excitation frequencies between 2.7 and 3.1 GHz. The frequency-dependent slope of the TA signal was highly correlated with that of its absorption coefficient (R2 = 0.98 and p < 0.01), indicating spectroscopic TAI can distinguish materials based on their intrinsic dielectric properties. This approach potentially enhances cancer detection due to the increased water content of many tumors.

A real-time spectroscopic sensor for monitoring laser welding processes.

PubMed

Sibillano, Teresa; Ancona, Antonio; Berardi, Vincenzo; Lugarà, Pietro Mario

2009-01-01

In this paper we report on the development of a sensor for real time monitoring of laser welding processes based on spectroscopic techniques. The system is based on the acquisition of the optical spectra emitted from the laser generated plasma plume and their use to implement an on-line algorithm for both the calculation of the plasma electron temperature and the analysis of the correlations between selected spectral lines. The sensor has been patented and it is currently available on the market.

Novel heterocyclic thiosemicarbazones derivatives as colorimetric and "turn on" fluorescent sensors for fluoride anion sensing employing hydrogen bonding.

PubMed

Ashok Kumar, S L; Saravana Kumar, M; Sreeja, P B; Sreekanth, A

2013-09-01

Two novel heterocyclic thiosemicarbazone derivatives have been synthesized, and characterized, by means of spectroscopic and single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. Their chromophoric-fluorogenic response towards anions in competing solvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was studied. The receptor shows selective recognition towards fluoride anion. The binding affinity of the receptors with fluoride anion was calculated using UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Do X-ray dark or underluminous galaxy clusters exist?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andreon, S.; Moretti, A.

2011-12-01

We study the X-ray properties of a color-selected sample of clusters at 0.1 < z < 0.3, to quantify the real aboundance of the population of X-ray dark or underluminous clusters and at the same time the spurious detection contamination level of color-selected cluster catalogs. Starting from a local sample of color-selected clusters, we restrict our attention to those with sufficiently deep X-ray observations to probe their X-ray luminosity down to very faint values and without introducing any X-ray bias. This allowed us to have an X-ray- unbiased sample of 33 clusters to measure the LX-richness relation. Swift 1.4 Ms X-ray observations show that at least 89% of the color-detected clusters are real objects with a potential well deep enough to heat and retain an intracluster medium. The percentage rises to 94% when one includes the single spectroscopically confirmed color-selected cluster whose X-ray emission is not secured. Looking at our results from the opposite perspective, the percentage of X-ray dark clusters among color-selected clusters is very low: at most about 11 per cent (at 90% confidence). Supplementing our data with those from literature, we conclude that X-ray- and color- cluster surveys sample the same population and consequently that in this regard we can safely use clusters selected with any of the two methods for cosmological purposes. This is an essential and promising piece of information for upcoming surveys in both the optical/IR (DES, EUCLID) and X-ray (eRosita). Richness correlates with X-ray luminosity with a large scatter, 0.51 ± 0.08 (0.44 ± 0.07) dex in lgLX at a given richness, when Lx is measured in a 500 (1070) kpc aperture. We release data and software to estimate the X-ray flux, or its upper limit, of a source with over-Poisson background fluctuations (found in this work to be ~20% on cluster angular scales) and to fit X-ray luminosity vs richness if there is an intrinsic scatter. These Bayesian applications rigorously account for boundaries (e.g., the X-ray luminosity and the richness cannot be negative).

Reproducibility of NMR Analysis of Urine Samples: Impact of Sample Preparation, Storage Conditions, and Animal Health Status

PubMed Central

Schreier, Christina; Kremer, Werner; Huber, Fritz; Neumann, Sindy; Pagel, Philipp; Lienemann, Kai; Pestel, Sabine

2013-01-01

Introduction. Spectroscopic analysis of urine samples from laboratory animals can be used to predict the efficacy and side effects of drugs. This employs methods combining 1H NMR spectroscopy with quantification of biomarkers or with multivariate data analysis. The most critical steps in data evaluation are analytical reproducibility of NMR data (collection, storage, and processing) and the health status of the animals, which may influence urine pH and osmolarity. Methods. We treated rats with a solvent, a diuretic, or a nephrotoxicant and collected urine samples. Samples were titrated to pH 3 to 9, or salt concentrations increased up to 20-fold. The effects of storage conditions and freeze-thaw cycles were monitored. Selected metabolites and multivariate data analysis were evaluated after 1H NMR spectroscopy. Results. We showed that variation of pH from 3 to 9 and increases in osmolarity up to 6-fold had no effect on the quantification of the metabolites or on multivariate data analysis. Storage led to changes after 14 days at 4°C or after 12 months at −20°C, independent of sample composition. Multiple freeze-thaw cycles did not affect data analysis. Conclusion. Reproducibility of NMR measurements is not dependent on sample composition under physiological or pathological conditions. PMID:23865070

Reproducibility of NMR analysis of urine samples: impact of sample preparation, storage conditions, and animal health status.

PubMed

Schreier, Christina; Kremer, Werner; Huber, Fritz; Neumann, Sindy; Pagel, Philipp; Lienemann, Kai; Pestel, Sabine

2013-01-01

Spectroscopic analysis of urine samples from laboratory animals can be used to predict the efficacy and side effects of drugs. This employs methods combining (1)H NMR spectroscopy with quantification of biomarkers or with multivariate data analysis. The most critical steps in data evaluation are analytical reproducibility of NMR data (collection, storage, and processing) and the health status of the animals, which may influence urine pH and osmolarity. We treated rats with a solvent, a diuretic, or a nephrotoxicant and collected urine samples. Samples were titrated to pH 3 to 9, or salt concentrations increased up to 20-fold. The effects of storage conditions and freeze-thaw cycles were monitored. Selected metabolites and multivariate data analysis were evaluated after (1)H NMR spectroscopy. We showed that variation of pH from 3 to 9 and increases in osmolarity up to 6-fold had no effect on the quantification of the metabolites or on multivariate data analysis. Storage led to changes after 14 days at 4°C or after 12 months at -20°C, independent of sample composition. Multiple freeze-thaw cycles did not affect data analysis. Reproducibility of NMR measurements is not dependent on sample composition under physiological or pathological conditions.

SPIRou Input Catalogue: global properties of 440 M dwarfs observed with ESPaDOnS at CFHT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fouqué, Pascal; Moutou, Claire; Malo, Lison; Martioli, Eder; Lim, Olivia; Rajpurohit, Arvind; Artigau, Etienne; Delfosse, Xavier; Donati, Jean-François; Forveille, Thierry; Morin, Julien; Allard, France; Delage, Raphaël; Doyon, René; Hébrard, Elodie; Neves, Vasco

2018-04-01

Present and future high-precision radial-velocity spectrometers dedicated to the discovery of low-mass planets orbiting low-mass dwarfs need to focus on the best selected stars to make an efficient use of telescope time. In the framework of the preparation of the SPIRou Input Catalogue (SPIC), the CoolSnap program aims at screening M dwarfs in the solar neighbourhood against binarity, rapid rotation, activity, etc. To optimize the selection, this paper describes the methods used to compute effective temperature, metallicity, projected rotation velocity of a large sample of 440 M dwarfs observed in the visible with the high-resolution spectropolarimeter Echelle SpectroPolArimetric Device for the ObservatioN of Stars (ESPaDOnS) at Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. It also summarizes known and newly discovered spectroscopic binaries, and stars known to belong to visual multiple systems. A calibration of the projected rotation velocity versus measured line widths for M dwarfs observed by the ESPaDOnS spectropolarimeter is derived, and the resulting values are compared to equatorial rotation velocities deduced from rotation periods and radii. A comparison of the derived effective temperatures and metallicities with literature values is also conducted. Finally, the radial-velocity uncertainty of each star in the sample is estimated, to narrow down the selection of stars to be included into the SPIC.

The MUSE-Wide survey: a measurement of the Ly α emitting fraction among z > 3 galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caruana, Joseph; Wisotzki, Lutz; Herenz, Edmund Christian; Kerutt, Josephine; Urrutia, Tanya; Schmidt, Kasper Borello; Bouwens, Rychard; Brinchmann, Jarle; Cantalupo, Sebastiano; Carollo, Marcella; Diener, Catrina; Drake, Alyssa; Garel, Thibault; Marino, Raffaella Anna; Richard, Johan; Saust, Rikke; Schaye, Joop; Verhamme, Anne

2018-01-01

We present a measurement of the fraction of Lyman α (Ly α) emitters (XLy α) amongst HST continuum-selected galaxies at 3 < z < 6 with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the VLT. Making use of the first 24 MUSE-Wide pointings in GOODS-South, each having an integration time of 1 h, we detect 100 Ly α emitters and find XLy α ≳ 0.5 for most of the redshift range covered, with 29 per cent of the Ly α sample exhibiting rest equivalent widths (rest-EWs) ≤ 15 Å. Adopting a range of rest-EW cuts (0-75 Å), we find no evidence of a dependence of XLy α on either redshift or ultraviolet luminosity.

An ultracold potassium Rydberg source for experiments in quantum optics and many-body physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conover, Charles; Dupre, Pamela; Tong, Ai Phuong; Sanon, Carlvin; Clarke, Kevin; Doolittle, Brian; Louria, Stephen; Adamson, Philip

2017-04-01

We report on the development of an apparatus for the study of quantum dynamics of Rydberg atoms of potassium. Samples of Rydberg atoms at 1 mK and varying density are excited in a magneto-optical trap of 107 K-39 atoms. The atoms are excited to Rydberg states in a steps from 4s to 5p and from 5p to ns and nd states using stabilized external-cavity diode lasers at 405 nm and 980 nm. Selective field ionization and detection with microchannel plates provides a platform for spectroscopic measurements in potassium, exploration of multiphoton processes, and experiments on cold atom collisions. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant PHY-1126599.

Analyzing Water's Optical Absorption

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

A cooperative agreement between World Precision Instruments (WPI), Inc., and Stennis Space Center has led the UltraPath(TM) device, which provides a more efficient method for analyzing the optical absorption of water samples at sea. UltraPath is a unique, high-performance absorbance spectrophotometer with user-selectable light path lengths. It is an ideal tool for any study requiring precise and highly sensitive spectroscopic determination of analytes, either in the laboratory or the field. As a low-cost, rugged, and portable system capable of high- sensitivity measurements in widely divergent waters, UltraPath will help scientists examine the role that coastal ocean environments play in the global carbon cycle. UltraPath(TM) is a trademark of World Precision Instruments, Inc. LWCC(TM) is a trademark of World Precision Instruments, Inc.

The optical and near-infrared colors of galaxies, 1: The photometric data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bershady, Matthew A.; Hereld, Mark; Kron, Richard G.; Koo, David C.; Munn, Jeffrey A.; Majewski, Steven R.

1994-01-01

We present optical and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopic redshifts of a well defined sample of 171 field galaxies selected from three high galactic latitude fields. This data set forms the basis for subsequent studies to characterize the trends, dispersion, and evolution of rest-frame colors and image structure. A subset of 143 galaxies constitutes a magnitude-limited sample to B approx. 19.9-20.75 (depending on field), with a median redshift of 0.14, and a maximum redshift of 0.54. This subset is statistically representative in its sampling of the apparent color distribution of galaxies. Thirty six galaxies were selected to have the reddest red-optical colors in two redshift intervals between 0.2 less than z less than 0.3. Photometric passbands are similar to U, B, V, I, and K, and sample galaxy spectral energy distributions between 0.37 and 2.2 micrometers in the observed frame, or down to 0.26 micrometers in the rest frame for the most distant galaxies. B and K images of the entire sample are assembled to form the first optical and near-infrared atlas of a statistically-representative sample of field galaxies. We discuss techniques for faint field-galaxy photometry, including a working definition of a total magnitude, and a method for matching magnitudes in different passbands and different seeing conditions to ensure reliable, integrated colors. Photographic saturation, which substantially affects the brightest 12% of our sample in the optical bands, is corrected with a model employing measured plate-density distributions for each galaxy, calibrated via similar measurements for stars as a function of known saturation level. Both the relative and absolute calibration of our photometry are demonstrated.

Firefly as a novel swarm intelligence variable selection method in spectroscopy.

PubMed

Goodarzi, Mohammad; dos Santos Coelho, Leandro

2014-12-10

A critical step in multivariate calibration is wavelength selection, which is used to build models with better prediction performance when applied to spectral data. Up to now, many feature selection techniques have been developed. Among all different types of feature selection techniques, those based on swarm intelligence optimization methodologies are more interesting since they are usually simulated based on animal and insect life behavior to, e.g., find the shortest path between a food source and their nests. This decision is made by a crowd, leading to a more robust model with less falling in local minima during the optimization cycle. This paper represents a novel feature selection approach to the selection of spectroscopic data, leading to more robust calibration models. The performance of the firefly algorithm, a swarm intelligence paradigm, was evaluated and compared with genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization. All three techniques were coupled with partial least squares (PLS) and applied to three spectroscopic data sets. They demonstrate improved prediction results in comparison to when only a PLS model was built using all wavelengths. Results show that firefly algorithm as a novel swarm paradigm leads to a lower number of selected wavelengths while the prediction performance of built PLS stays the same. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

High-redshift galaxies and low-mass stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilkins, Stephen M.; Stanway, Elizabeth R.; Bremer, Malcolm N.

2014-03-01

The sensitivity available to near-infrared surveys has recently allowed us to probe the galaxy population at z ≈ 7 and beyond. The existing Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) Infrared Camera (VIRCam) instruments allow deep surveys to be undertaken well beyond 1 μm - a capability that will be further extended with the launch and commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). As new regions of parameter space in both colour and depth are probed, new challenges for distant galaxy surveys are identified. In this paper, we present an analysis of the colours of L- and T-dwarf stars in widely used photometric systems. We also consider the implications of the newly identified Y-dwarf population - stars that are still cooler and less massive than T-dwarfs for both the photometric selection and spectroscopic follow-up of faint and distant galaxies. We highlight the dangers of working in the low-signal-to-noise regime, and the potential contamination of existing and future samples. We find that Hubble/WFC3 and VISTA/VIRCam Y-drop selections targeting galaxies at z ˜ 7.5 are vulnerable to contamination from T- and Y-class stars. Future observations using JWST, targeting the z ˜ 7 galaxy population, are also likely to prove difficult without deep medium-band observations. We demonstrate that single emission line detections in typical low-signal-to-noise spectroscopic observations may also be suspect, due to the unusual spectral characteristics of the cool dwarf star population.

Implementation of 3 T Lactate-Edited 3D 1H MR Spectroscopic Imaging with Flyback Echo-Planar Readout for Gliomas Patients

PubMed Central

Chen, Albert P.; Zierhut, Matthew L.; Ozturk-Isik, Esin; Vigneron, Daniel B.; Nelson, Sarah J.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to implement a new lactate-edited 3D 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) sequence at 3 T and demonstrate the feasibility of using this sequence for measuring lactate in patients with gliomas. A 3D PRESS MRSI sequence incorporating shortened, high bandwidth 180° pulses, new dual BASING lactate-editing pulses, high bandwidth very selective suppression (VSS) pulses and a flyback echo-planar readout was implemented at 3 T. Over-prescription factor of PRESS voxels was optimized using phantom to minimize chemical shift artifacts. The lactate-edited flyback sequence was compared with lactate-edited MRSI using conventional elliptical k-space sampling in a phantom and volunteers, and then applied to patients with gliomas. The results demonstrated the feasibility of detecting lactate within a short scan time of 9.5 min in both phantoms and patients. Over-prescription of voxels gave less chemical shift artifacts allowing detection of lactate on the majority of the selected volume. The normalized SNR of brain metabolites using the flyback encoding were comparable to the SNR of brain metabolites using conventional phase encoding MRSI. The specialized lactate-edited 3D MRSI sequence was able to detect lactate in brain tumor patients at 3 T. The implementation of this technique means that brain lactate can be evaluated in a routine clinical setting to study its potential as a marker for prognosis and response to therapy. PMID:20652745

Spectroscopic study of honey from Apis mellifera from different regions in Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frausto-Reyes, C.; Casillas-Peñuelas, R.; Quintanar-Stephano, JL; Macías-López, E.; Bujdud-Pérez, JM; Medina-Ramírez, I.

2017-05-01

The objective of this study was to analyze by Raman and UV-Vis-NIR Spectroscopic techniques, Mexican honey from Apis Mellífera, using representative samples with different botanic origins (unifloral and multifloral) and diverse climates. Using Raman spectroscopy together with principal components analysis, the results obtained represent the possibility to use them for determination of floral origin of honey, independently of the region of sampling. For this, the effect of heat up the honey was analyzed in relation that it was possible to greatly reduce the fluorescence background in Raman spectra, which allowed the visualization of fructose and glucose peaks. Using UV-Vis-NIR, spectroscopy, a characteristic spectrum profile of transmittance was obtained for each honey type. In addition, to have an objective characterization of color, a CIE Yxy and CIE L*a*b* colorimetric register was realized for each honey type. Applying the principal component analysis and their correlation with chromaticity coordinates allowed classifying the honey samples in one plot as: cutoff wavelength, maximum transmittance, tones and lightness. The results show that it is possible to obtain a spectroscopic record of honeys with specific characteristics by reducing the effects of fluorescence.

Molecular weight, polydispersity, and spectroscopic properties of aquatic humic substances

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chin, Y.-P.; Aiken, G.; O'Loughlin, E.

1994-01-01

The number- and weight-averaged molecular weights of a number of aquatic fulvic acids, a commercial humic acid, and unfractionated organic matter from four natural water samples were measured by high-pressure size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). Molecular weights determined in this manner compared favorably with those values reported in the literature. Both recent literature values and our data indicate that these substances are smaller and less polydisperse than previously believed. Moreover, the molecular weights of the organic matter from three of the four natural water samples compared favorably to the fulvic acid samples extracted from similar environments. Bulk spectroscopic properties of the fulvic substances such as molar absorptivity at 280 nm and the E4/E6 ratio were also measured. A strong correlation was observed between molar absorptivity, total aromaticity, and the weight average molecular weights of all the humic substances. This observation suggests that bulk spectroscopic properties can be used to quickly estimate the size of humic substances and their aromatic contents. Both parameters are important with respect to understanding humic substance mobility and their propensity to react with both organic and inorganic pollutants. ?? 1994 American Chemical Society.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Apellániz, J. Maíz; Sota, A.; Alfaro, E. J.

This is the third installment of the Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey (GOSSS), a massive spectroscopic survey of Galactic O stars, based on new homogeneous, high signal-to-noise ratio, R  ∼ 2500 digital observations selected from the Galactic O-Star Catalog. In this paper, we present 142 additional stellar systems with O stars from both hemispheres, bringing the total of O-type systems published within the project to 590. Among the new objects, there are 20 new O stars. We also identify 11 new double-lined spectroscopic binaries, 6 of which are of O+O type and 5 of O+B type, and an additional new tripled-lined spectroscopic binary of O+O+Bmore » type. We also revise some of the previous GOSSS classifications, present some egregious examples of stars erroneously classified as O-type in the past, introduce the use of luminosity class IV at spectral types O4-O5.5, and adapt the classification scheme to the work of Arias et al.« less

Partially oxidized iridium clusters within dendrimers: size-controlled synthesis and selective hydrogenation of 2-nitrobenzaldehyde

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Higaki, Tatsuya; Kitazawa, Hirokazu; Yamazoe, Seiji; Tsukuda, Tatsuya

2016-06-01

Iridium clusters nominally composed of 15, 30 or 60 atoms were size-selectively synthesized within OH-terminated poly(amidoamine) dendrimers of generation 6. Spectroscopic characterization revealed that the Ir clusters were partially oxidized. All the Ir clusters efficiently converted 2-nitrobenzaldehyde to anthranil and 2-aminobenzaldehyde under atmospheric hydrogen at room temperature in toluene via selective hydrogenation of the NO2 group. The selectivity toward 2-aminobenzaldehyde over anthranil was improved with the reduction of the cluster size. The improved selectivity is ascribed to more efficient reduction than intramolecular heterocyclization of a hydroxylamine intermediate on smaller clusters that have a higher Ir(0)-phase population on the surface.Iridium clusters nominally composed of 15, 30 or 60 atoms were size-selectively synthesized within OH-terminated poly(amidoamine) dendrimers of generation 6. Spectroscopic characterization revealed that the Ir clusters were partially oxidized. All the Ir clusters efficiently converted 2-nitrobenzaldehyde to anthranil and 2-aminobenzaldehyde under atmospheric hydrogen at room temperature in toluene via selective hydrogenation of the NO2 group. The selectivity toward 2-aminobenzaldehyde over anthranil was improved with the reduction of the cluster size. The improved selectivity is ascribed to more efficient reduction than intramolecular heterocyclization of a hydroxylamine intermediate on smaller clusters that have a higher Ir(0)-phase population on the surface. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c6nr01460g

The IACOB project. V. Spectroscopic parameters of the O-type stars in the modern grid of standards for spectral classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holgado, G.; Simón-Díaz, S.; Barbá, R. H.; Puls, J.; Herrero, A.; Castro, N.; Garcia, M.; Maíz Apellániz, J.; Negueruela, I.; Sabín-Sanjulián, C.

2018-06-01

Context. The IACOB and OWN surveys are two ambitious, complementary observational projects which have made available a large multi-epoch spectroscopic database of optical high resolution spectra of Galactic massive O-type stars. Aims: Our aim is to study the full sample of (more than 350) O stars surveyed by the IACOB and OWN projects. As a first step towards this aim, we have performed the quantitative spectroscopic analysis of a subsample of 128 stars included in the modern grid of O-type standards for spectral classification. The sample comprises stars with spectral types in the range O3-O9.7 and covers all luminosity classes. Methods: We used the semi-automatized IACOB-BROAD and IACOB-GBAT/FASTWIND tools to determine the complete set of spectroscopic parameters that can be obtained from the optical spectrum of O-type stars. A quality flag was assigned to the outcome of the IACOB-GBAT/FASTWIND analysis for each star, based on a visual evaluation of how the synthetic spectrum of the best fitting FASTWIND model reproduces the observed spectrum. We also benefitted from the multi-epoch character of the IACOB and OWN surveys to perform a spectroscopic variability study of the complete sample, providing two different flags for each star accounting for spectroscopic binarity as well as variability of the main wind diagnostic lines. Results: We obtain - for the first time in a homogeneous and complete manner - the full set of spectroscopic parameters of the "anchors" of the spectral classification system in the O star domain. We provide a general overview of the stellar and wind parameters of this reference sample, as well as updated recipes for the SpT-Teff and SpT-log g calibrations for Galactic O-type stars. We also propose a distance-independent test for the wind-momentum luminosity relationship. We evaluate the reliability of our semi-automatized analysis strategy using a subsample of 40 stars extensively studied in the literature, and find a fairly good agreement between our derived effective temperatures and gravities and those obtained by means of more traditional "by-eye" techniques and different stellar atmosphere codes. The overall agreement between the synthetic spectra associated with the IACOB-GBAT/FASTWIND best fitting models and the observed spectra is good for most of the analyzed targets, but 46 stars out of the 128 present a particular behavior of the wind diagnostic lines that cannot be reproduced by our grid of spherically symmetric unclumped models. These are potential targets of interest for more detailed investigations of clumpy winds and/or the existence of additional circumstellar emitting components contaminating the wind diagnostic lines (e.g., disks, magnetospheres). Last, our spectroscopic variability study has led to the detection of clear or likely signatures of spectroscopic binarity in 27% of the stars and small amplitude radial velocity variations in the photospheric lines of another 30%. Additionally, 31% of the investigated stars show variability in the wind diagnostic lines. Tables D.1 and D.2 are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/613/A65

A rapid Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic method for direct quantification of paracetamol content in solid pharmaceutical formulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mallah, Muhammad Ali; Sherazi, Syed Tufail Hussain; Bhanger, Muhammad Iqbal; Mahesar, Sarfaraz Ahmed; Bajeer, Muhammad Ashraf

2015-04-01

A transmission FTIR spectroscopic method was developed for direct, inexpensive and fast quantification of paracetamol content in solid pharmaceutical formulations. In this method paracetamol content is directly analyzed without solvent extraction. KBr pellets were formulated for the acquisition of FTIR spectra in transmission mode. Two chemometric models: simple Beer's law and partial least squares employed over the spectral region of 1800-1000 cm-1 for quantification of paracetamol content had a regression coefficient of (R2) of 0.999. The limits of detection and quantification using FTIR spectroscopy were 0.005 mg g-1 and 0.018 mg g-1, respectively. Study for interference was also done to check effect of the excipients. There was no significant interference from the sample matrix. The results obviously showed the sensitivity of transmission FTIR spectroscopic method for pharmaceutical analysis. This method is green in the sense that it does not require large volumes of hazardous solvents or long run times and avoids prior sample preparation.

The Herschel Multi-Tiered Extragalactic Survey: SPIRE-mm Photometric Redshifts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roseboom, I. G.; Ivison, R. J.; Greve, T. R.; Amblard, A.; Arumugam, V.; Auld, R.; Aussel, H.; Bethermin, M.; Blain, A.; Block, J.;

Mechanisms of Photo Degradation for Layered Silicate-Polycarbonate Nanocomposites

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-09-01

crystal was used as the sampling accessory. The UV/VIS spectra were recorded using a Cary 5G UV/VIS/ near - infrared (NIR) spectrometer set to scan in...transform infrared spectroscopy. The results reveal that the carbonate linkages undergo a scission reaction upon UV exposure, thereby compromising the...were wiped clean before spectroscopic analysis. 3.3 Spectroscopic Measurements Infrared measurements were recorded on a Nicolet model 560 Magna

Exploring Raman spectroscopy for the evaluation of glaucomatous retinal changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Qi; Grozdanic, Sinisa D.; Harper, Matthew M.; Hamouche, Nicolas; Kecova, Helga; Lazic, Tatjana; Yu, Chenxu

2011-10-01

Glaucoma is a chronic neurodegenerative disease characterized by apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells and subsequent loss of visual function. Early detection of glaucoma is critical for the prevention of permanent structural damage and irreversible vision loss. Raman spectroscopy is a technique that provides rapid biochemical characterization of tissues in a nondestructive and noninvasive fashion. In this study, we explored the potential of using Raman spectroscopy for detection of glaucomatous changes in vitro. Raman spectroscopic imaging was conducted on retinal tissues of dogs with hereditary glaucoma and healthy control dogs. The Raman spectra were subjected to multivariate discriminant analysis with a support vector machine algorithm, and a classification model was developed to differentiate disease tissues versus healthy tissues. Spectroscopic analysis of 105 retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) from glaucomatous dogs and 267 RGCs from healthy dogs revealed spectroscopic markers that differentiated glaucomatous specimens from healthy controls. Furthermore, the multivariate discriminant model differentiated healthy samples and glaucomatous samples with good accuracy [healthy 89.5% and glaucomatous 97.6% for the same breed (Basset Hounds); and healthy 85.0% and glaucomatous 85.5% for different breeds (Beagles versus Basset Hounds)]. Raman spectroscopic screening can be used for in vitro detection of glaucomatous changes in retinal tissue with a high specificity.

Exploring Raman spectroscopy for the evaluation of glaucomatous retinal changes.

PubMed

Wang, Qi; Grozdanic, Sinisa D; Harper, Matthew M; Hamouche, Nicolas; Kecova, Helga; Lazic, Tatjana; Yu, Chenxu

2011-10-01

Glaucoma is a chronic neurodegenerative disease characterized by apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells and subsequent loss of visual function. Early detection of glaucoma is critical for the prevention of permanent structural damage and irreversible vision loss. Raman spectroscopy is a technique that provides rapid biochemical characterization of tissues in a nondestructive and noninvasive fashion. In this study, we explored the potential of using Raman spectroscopy for detection of glaucomatous changes in vitro. Raman spectroscopic imaging was conducted on retinal tissues of dogs with hereditary glaucoma and healthy control dogs. The Raman spectra were subjected to multivariate discriminant analysis with a support vector machine algorithm, and a classification model was developed to differentiate disease tissues versus healthy tissues. Spectroscopic analysis of 105 retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) from glaucomatous dogs and 267 RGCs from healthy dogs revealed spectroscopic markers that differentiated glaucomatous specimens from healthy controls. Furthermore, the multivariate discriminant model differentiated healthy samples and glaucomatous samples with good accuracy [healthy 89.5% and glaucomatous 97.6% for the same breed (Basset Hounds); and healthy 85.0% and glaucomatous 85.5% for different breeds (Beagles versus Basset Hounds)]. Raman spectroscopic screening can be used for in vitro detection of glaucomatous changes in retinal tissue with a high specificity.

Exploratory Spectroscopy of Magnetic Cataclysmic Variables Candidates and Other Variable Objects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oliveira, A. S.; Palhares, M. S.; Rodrigues, C. V.

2017-04-01

The increasing number of synoptic surveys made by small robotic telescopes, such as the photometric Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey (CRTS), provides a unique opportunity to discover variable sources and improves the statistical samples of such classes of objects. Our goal is the discovery of magnetic Cataclysmic Variables (mCVs). These are rare objects that probe interesting accretion scenarios controlled by the white-dwarf magnetic field. In particular, improved statistics of mCVs would help to address open questions on their formation and evolution. We performed an optical spectroscopy survey to search for signatures of magnetic accretion in 45 variable objects selected mostly from themore » CRTS. In this sample, we found 32 CVs, 22 being mCV candidates, 13 of which were previously unreported as such. If the proposed classifications are confirmed, it would represent an increase of 4% in the number of known polars and 12% in the number of known IPs. A fraction of our initial sample was classified as extragalactic sources or other types of variable stars by the inspection of the identification spectra. Despite the inherent complexity in identifying a source as an mCV, variability-based selection, followed by spectroscopic snapshot observations, has proved to be an efficient strategy for their discoveries, being a relatively inexpensive approach in terms of telescope time.« less

SHARDS: a spectro-photometric analysis of distant red and dead massive galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pérez-González, P. G.; Cava, A.; The Shards Team

2013-05-01

SHARDS, an ESO/GTC Large Program, is an ultra-deep (26.5 mag) spectro-photometric survey carried out with GTC/OSIRIS and designed to select and study massive passively evolving galaxies at z= 1.0--2.5 in the GOODS-N field. The survey uses a set of 24 medium band filters (FWHM ˜15 nm) covering the 500--950 nm spectral range. Our observing strategy has been planned to detect, for z>1 sources, the prominent Mg absorption feature (at rest-frame ˜280 nm), a distinctive, necessary, and sufficient feature of evolved stellar populations (older than 0.5 Gyr). These observations are being used to: (1) construct for the first time an unbiased sample of high-z quiescent galaxies, which extends to fainter magnitudes the samples selected with color techniques and spectroscopic surveys; (2) derive accurate ages and stellar masses based on robust measurements of spectral features such as the Mg(UV) or D(4000) indices; (3) measure their redshift with an accuracy Δ z/(1+z)<0.02; and (4) study emission-line galaxies (starbursts and AGN) up to very high redshifts. The well-sampled optical SEDs provided by SHARDS for all sources in the GOODS-N field are a valuable complement for current and future surveys carried out with other telescopes (e.g., Spitzer, HST, and Herschel).

Far-infrared Properties of Infrared-bright Dust-obscured Galaxies Selected with IRAS and AKARI Far-infrared All-sky Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toba, Yoshiki; Nagao, Tohru; Wang, Wei-Hao; Matsuhara, Hideo; Akiyama, Masayuki; Goto, Tomotsugu; Koyama, Yusei; Ohyama, Youich; Yamamura, Issei

2017-05-01

We investigate the star-forming activity of a sample of infrared (IR)-bright dust-obscured galaxies (DOGs) that show an extreme red color in the optical and IR regime, {(I-[22])}{AB}> 7.0. Combining an IR-bright DOG sample with the flux at 22 μm > 3.8 mJy discovered by Toba & Nagao with the IRAS faint source catalog version 2 and AKARI far-IR (FIR) all-sky survey bright source catalog version 2, we selected 109 DOGs with FIR data. For a subsample of seven IR-bright DOGs with spectroscopic redshifts (0.07< z< 1.0) that were obtained from the literature, we estimated their IR luminosity, star formation rate (SFR), and stellar mass based on the spectral energy distribution fitting. We found that (1) the WISE 22 μm luminosity at the observed frame is a good indicator of IR luminosity for IR-bright DOGs and (2) the contribution of the active galactic nucleus to IR luminosity increases with IR luminosity. By comparing the stellar mass and SFR relation for our DOG sample and the literature, we found that most of the IR-bright DOGs lie significantly above the main sequence of star-forming galaxies at similar redshift, indicating that the majority of IRAS- or AKARI-detected IR-bright DOGs are starburst galaxies.

Site-selective laser spectroscopy of Nd3+ ions in 0.8CaSiO3-0.2Ca3(PO4)2 biocompatible eutectic glass-ceramics.

PubMed

Sola, D; Balda, R; Peña, J I; Fernández, J

2012-05-07

In this work we report the influence of the crystallization stage of the host matrix on the spectroscopic properties of Nd3+ ions in biocompatible glass-ceramic eutectic rods of composition 0.8CaSiO3-0.2Ca3(PO4)2 doped with 1 and 2 wt% of Nd2O3. The samples were obtained by the laser floating zone technique at different growth rates between 50 and 500 mm/h. The microstructural analysis shows that a growth rate increase or a rod diameter decrease leads the system to a structural arrangement from three (two crystalline and one amorphous) to two phases (one crystalline and one amorphous). Electron backscattering diffraction analysis shows the presence of Ca2SiO4 and apatite-like crystalline phases. Site-selective laser spectroscopy in the (4)I(9/2)→(4)F(3/2)/(4)F(5/2) transitions confirms that Nd(3+) ions are incorporated in crystalline and amorphous phases in these glass-ceramic samples. In particular, the presence of Ca(2)SiO(4) crystalline phase in the samples grown at low rates, which has an excellent in vitro bioactivity, can be unambiguously identified from the excitation spectra and lifetime measurements of the (4)F(3/2) state of Nd(3+) ions.

A 350 mK, 9 T scanning tunneling microscope for the study of superconducting thin films on insulating substrates and single crystals.

PubMed

Kamlapure, Anand; Saraswat, Garima; Ganguli, Somesh Chandra; Bagwe, Vivas; Raychaudhuri, Pratap; Pai, Subash P

2013-12-01

We report the construction and performance of a low temperature, high field scanning tunneling microscope (STM) operating down to 350 mK and in magnetic fields up to 9 T, with thin film deposition and in situ single crystal cleaving capabilities. The main focus lies on the simple design of STM head and a sample holder design that allows us to get spectroscopic data on superconducting thin films grown in situ on insulating substrates. Other design details on sample transport, sample preparation chamber, and vibration isolation schemes are also described. We demonstrate the capability of our instrument through the atomic resolution imaging and spectroscopy on NbSe2 single crystal and spectroscopic maps obtained on homogeneously disordered NbN thin film.

Spectroscopic analysis of roman wall paintings from Casa del Mitreo in Emerita Augusta, Mérida, Spain.

PubMed

Edreira, M C; Feliu, M J; Fernández-Lorenzo, C; Martín, J

2003-05-01

The use of visible spectroscopy, applied to chromatic characterization of Roman wall paintings, allows an easy and trustworthy grouping of the samples studied. The use of other spectroscopic techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) in conjunction with X-ray diffraction (XRD) allows a good identification of the substances present in the pictorial layers that define and differentiate each chromatic group. In this paper, a study of 40 Roman wall painting samples, from Pinturas Báquicas of Casa del Mitreo in Emerita Augusta (Mérida, Spain), is described. In these samples, some pigments of high quality and cost, as well as some unusual mixtures, not described in the bibliography, have been found.

Star Formation and Extinction in Redshift z~2 Galaxies: Inferences from Spitzer MIPS Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reddy, Naveen A.; Steidel, Charles C.; Fadda, Dario; Yan, Lin; Pettini, Max; Shapley, Alice E.; Erb, Dawn K.; Adelberger, Kurt L.

2006-06-01

We use very deep Spitzer MIPS 24 μm observations to examine the bolometric luminosities (Lbol) and UV extinction properties of more than 200 spectroscopically identified, optically selected (UnGR) z~2 galaxies, supplemented with near-IR-selected (``BzK'' and ``DRG'') and submillimeter galaxies at similar redshifts, in the GOODS-N field. Focusing on redshifts 1.51012 Lsolar, with a mean ~=2×1011 Lsolar. Using 24 μm observations as an independent probe of dust extinction, we find that, as in the local universe, the obscuration LIR/L1600 is strongly dependent on Lbol and ranges in value from <1 to ~1000 within the sample considered. However, the obscuration is generally ~10 times smaller at a given Lbol at z~2 than at z~0. We show that the values of LIR and obscuration inferred from the UV spectral slope β generally agree well with the values inferred from L5-8.5μm for Lbol<1012 Lsolar. Using the specific SFRs of galaxies as a proxy for cold gas fraction, we find a wide range in the evolutionary state of galaxies at z~2, from galaxies that have just begun to form stars to those that have already accumulated most of their stellar mass and are about to become, or already are, passively evolving. Based, in part, on data obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation. Also based in part on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA.

A newly synthesized thiazole derivative as a fluoride ion chemosensor: naked-eye, spectroscopic, electrochemical and NMR studies.

PubMed

Sarıgüney, Ahmet Burak; Saf, Ahmet Özgür; Coşkun, Ahmet

2014-07-15

2,3-Indoledione 3-thiosemicarbazone (TSCI) and a novel compound 3-(2-(4-(4-phenoxyphenyl)thiazol-2-yl)hydrazono)indolin-2-one (FTHI) were synthesized with high yield and characterized by spectroscopic techniques. The complexation behaviors of TSCI and FTHI for various anionic species (F(-), Cl(-), Br(-), I(-), NO2(-), NO3(-), BzO(-), HSO4(-), ClO4(-)) in CH3CN were investigated and compared by UV-vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and (1)H NMR titration techniques. FTHI showed high degree of selectivity for fluoride over other anions. This selectivity could be easily observed by the naked eye, indicating that FTHI is potential colorimetric sensor for fluoride anion. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

IN-SYNC. VII. Evidence for a Decreasing Spectroscopic Binary Fraction (from 1 to 100 Myr) within the IN-SYNC Sample

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaehnig, Karl; Bird, Jonathan C.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Da Rio, Nicola; Tan, Jonathan C.; Cotaar, Michiel; Somers, Garrett

2017-12-01

We study the occurrence of spectroscopic binaries in young star-forming regions using the INfrared Spectroscopy of Young Nebulous Clusters (IN-SYNC) survey, carried out in SDSS-III with the APOGEE spectrograph. Multi-epoch observations of thousands of low-mass stars in Orion A, NGC 2264, NGC 1333, IC 348, and the Pleiades have been carried out, yielding H-band spectra with a nominal resolution of R = 22,500 for sources with H < 12 mag. Radial velocity precisions of ˜0.3 {km} {{{s}}}-1 were achieved, which we use to identify radial velocity variations indicative of undetected companions. We use Monte Carlo simulations to assess the types of spectroscopic binaries to which we are sensitive, finding sensitivity to binaries with orbital periods ≲ {10}3.5 days, for stars with 2500 {{K}}≤slant {T}{eff}≤slant 6000 {{K}} and v \\sin i < 100 {km} {{{s}}}-1. Using Bayesian inference, we find evidence for a decline in the spectroscopic binary fraction, by a factor of 3-4, from the age of our pre-main-sequence (PMS) sample to the Pleiades age . The significance of this decline is weakened if spot-induced radial-velocity jitter is strong in the sample, and is only marginally significant when comparing any one of the PMS clusters against the Pleiades. However, the same decline in both sense and magnitude is found for each of the five PMS clusters, and the decline reaches a statistical significance of greater than 95% confidence when considering the PMS clusters jointly. Our results suggest that dynamical processes disrupt the widest spectroscopic binaries ({P}{orb}≈ {10}3{--}{10}4 days) as clusters age, indicating that this occurs early in the stars’ evolution, while they still reside within their nascent clusters.

Research and Development of Non-Spectroscopic MEMS-Based Sensor Arrays for Targeted Gas Detection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Loui, A; McCall, S K

2011-10-24

The ability to monitor the integrity of gas volumes is of interest to the stockpile surveillance community. Specifically, the leak detection of noble gases, at relevant concentration ranges and distinguished from other chemical species that may be simultaneously present, is particularly challenging. Aside from the laboratory-based method of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), where samples may be collected by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) or cryofocusing, the other major approaches for gas-phase detection employ lasers typically operating in the mid-infrared wavelength region. While mass spectrometry can readily detect noble gases - the helium leak detector is an obvious example - laser-based methods suchmore » as infrared (IR) or Raman spectroscopy are completely insensitive to them as their monatomic nature precludes a non-zero dipole moment or changes in polarizability upon excitation. Therefore, noble gases can only be detected by one of two methods: (1) atomic emission spectroscopies which require the generation of plasmas through laser-induced breakdown, electrical arcing, or similar means; (2) non-spectroscopic methods which measure one or more physical properties (e.g., mass, thermal conductivity, density). In this report, we present our progress during Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) in the research and development of a non-spectroscopic method for noble gas detection. During Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10), we demonstrated via proof-of-concept experiments that the combination of thermal conductivity detection (TCD) and coating-free damped resonance detection (CFDRD) using micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) could provide selective sensing of these inert species. Since the MEMS-based TCD technology was directly adapted from a brassboard prototype commissioned by a previous chemical sensing project, FY11 efforts focused on advancing the state of the newer CFDRD method. This work, guided by observations previously reported in the open literature, has not only resulted in a substantially measureable increase in selectivity but has also revealed a potential method for mitigating or eliminating thermal drift that does not require a secondary reference sensor. The design of an apparatus to test this drift compensation scheme will be described. We will conclude this report with a discussion of planned efforts in Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12).« less

SDSS-IV eBOSS emission-line galaxy pilot survey

DOE PAGES

Comparat, J.; Delubac, T.; Jouvel, S.; ...

2016-08-09

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV extended Baryonic Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (SDSS-IV/eBOSS) will observe 195,000 emission-line galaxies (ELGs) to measure the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation standard ruler (BAO) at redshift 0.9. To test different ELG selection algorithms, 9,000 spectra were observed with the SDSS spectrograph as a pilot survey based on data from several imaging surveys. First, using visual inspection and redshift quality flags, we show that the automated spectroscopic redshifts assigned by the pipeline meet the quality requirements for a reliable BAO measurement. We also show the correlations between sky emission, signal-to-noise ratio in the emission lines, and redshift error.more » Then we provide a detailed description of each target selection algorithm we tested and compare them with the requirements of the eBOSS experiment. As a result, we provide reliable redshift distributions for the different target selection schemes we tested. Lastly, we determine an target selection algorithms that is best suited to be applied on DECam photometry because they fulfill the eBOSS survey efficiency requirements.« less

A Speckle survey of Southern Hipparcos Visual Doubles and Geneva-Copenhagen Spectroscopic Binaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mendez, R. A.; Tokovinin, A.; Horch, E.

2018-01-01

We present a speckle survey of Hipparcos visual doubles and spectroscopic binary stars identified by the Geneva-Copenhagen spectroscopic survey with the SOAR 4m telescope + HRCam. These systems represent our best chance to take advantage of Gaia parallaxes for the purpose of stellar mass determinations. Many of these systems already have mass fractions (although generally no spectroscopic orbit - an astrometric orbit will determine individual masses), metallicity information, and Hipparcos distances. They will be used to improve our knowledge of the mass-luminosity relation, particularly for lower-metallicity stars. Our survey will create the first all-sky, volume-limited, speckle archive for the two primary samples, complementing a similar effort that has been recently been completed at the WIYN 3.5-m telescope in the Northern Hemisphere. This extension to the Southern Hemisphere will fill out the picture for a wider metallicity range.

Durbin-Watson partial least-squares regression applied to MIR data on adulteration with edible oils of different origins.

PubMed

Jović, Ozren

2016-12-15

A novel method for quantitative prediction and variable-selection on spectroscopic data, called Durbin-Watson partial least-squares regression (dwPLS), is proposed in this paper. The idea is to inspect serial correlation in infrared data that is known to consist of highly correlated neighbouring variables. The method selects only those variables whose intervals have a lower Durbin-Watson statistic (dw) than a certain optimal cutoff. For each interval, dw is calculated on a vector of regression coefficients. Adulteration of cold-pressed linseed oil (L), a well-known nutrient beneficial to health, is studied in this work by its being mixed with cheaper oils: rapeseed oil (R), sesame oil (Se) and sunflower oil (Su). The samples for each botanical origin of oil vary with respect to producer, content and geographic origin. The results obtained indicate that MIR-ATR, combined with dwPLS could be implemented to quantitative determination of edible-oil adulteration. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Elemental composition of solar energetic particles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cook, W. R.; Stone, E. C.; Vogt, R. E.

1984-01-01

The Low Energy Telescopes on the Voyager spacecraft have been used to measure the elemental composition (Z = 2-28) and energy spectra (5-15 MeV per nucleon) of solar energetic particles (SEPs) in seven large flare events. Four flare events were selected which have SEP abundance ratios approximately independent of energy per nucleon. For these selected flare events, SEP composition results may be described by an average composition plus a systematic flare-to-flare deviation about the average. The four-flare average SEP composition is systematically different from the solar composition determined by photospheric spectroscopy. These systematic composition differences are apparently not due to SEP propagation or acceleration effects. In contrast, the four-flare average SEP composition is in agreement with measured solar wind abundances and with a number of recent spectroscopic coronal abundance measurements. These findings suggest that SEPs originate in the corona, and that both SEPs and the solar wind sample a coronal composition which is significantly and persistently different from that measured for the photosphere.

Site-selective nitrogen isotopic ratio measurement of nitrous oxide using a TE-cooled CW-RT-QCL based spectrometer.

PubMed

Li, Jingsong; Zhang, Lizhu; Yu, Benli

2014-12-10

The feasibility of laser spectroscopic isotopic composition measurements of atmospheric N2O was demonstrated, although making them useful will require further improvements. The system relies on a thermoelectrically (TE) cooled continuous-wave (CW) room temperature (RT) quantum cascade laser source emitting wavelength of around 4.6μm, where strong fundamental absorption bands occur for the considered specie and its isotopomers. The analysis technique is based on wavelength modulation spectroscopy with second-harmonic detection and the combination of long-path absorption cell. Primary laboratory tests have been performed to estimate the achievable detection limits and the signal reproducibility levels in view of possible measurements of (15)N/(14)N and (18)O/(16)O isotope ratios. The experiment results showed that the site-selective (15)N/(14)N ratio can be measured with a precision of 3‰ with 90s averaging time using natural-abundance N2O sample of 12.7ppm. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-z X-ray Obscured Quasars in Galaxies with Extreme Mid-IR/Optical Colors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piconcelli, E.; Lanzuisi, G.; Fiore, F.; Feruglio, C.; Vignali, C.; Salvato, M.; Grappioni, C.

2009-05-01

Extreme Optical/Mid-IR color cuts have been used to uncover a population of dust-enshrouded, mid-IR luminous galaxies at high redshifts. Several lines of evidence point towards the presence of an heavily absorbed, possibly Compton-thick quasar at the heart of these systems. Nonetheless, the X-ray spectral properties of these intriguing sources still remain largely unexplored. Here we present an X-ray spectroscopic study of a large sample of 44 extreme dust-obscured galaxies (EDOGs) with F24 μm/FR>2000 and F24 μm>1.3 mJy selected from a 6 deg2 region in the SWIRE fields. The application of our selection criteria to a wide area survey has been capable of unveiling a population of X-ray luminous, absorbed z>1 quasars which is mostly missed in the traditional optical/X-ray surveys performed so far. Advances in the understanding of the X-ray properties of these recently-discovered sources by Simbol-X observations will be also discussed.

Mineral target areas in Nevada from geological analysis of LANDSAT-1 imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdel-Gawad, M.; Tubbesing, L.

1975-01-01

Geological analysis of LANDSAT-1 Scene MSS 1053-17540 suggests that certain known mineral districts in east-central Nevada frequently occur near faults or at faults or lineament intersections and areas of complex deformation and flexures. Seventeen (17) areas of analogous characteristics were identified as favorable targets for mineral exploration. During reconnaissance field trips eleven areas were visited. In three areas evidence was found of mining and/or prospecting not known before the field trips. In four areas favorable structural and alteration features were observed which call for more detailed field studies. In one of the four areas limonitic iron oxide samples were found in the regolith of a brecciated dolomite ridge. This area contains quartz veins, granitic and volcanic rocks and lies near the intersection of two linear fault structures identified in the LANDSAT-1 imagery. Semiquantitative spectroscopic analysis of selected portions of the samples showed abnormal contents of arsenic, molybdenum, copper, lead, zinc, and silver. These limonitic samples found were not in situ and further field studies are required to assess their source and significance.

Spectroscopic and statistical approach of archaeological artifacts recently excavated from Tamilnadu, South India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seetha, D.; Velraj, G.

2015-10-01

The ancient materials characterization will bring back the more evidence of the ancient people life styles. In this study, the archaeological pottery shards recently excavated from Kodumanal, Erode District in Tamilnadu, South India were investigated. The experimental results enlighten us to the elemental and the mineral composition of the pottery shards. The FT-IR technique tells that the mineralogy and the firing temperature of the samples are less than 800 °C, in the oxidizing/reducing atmosphere and the XRD was used as a complementary technique for the mineralogy. A thorough scientific study of SEM-EDS with the help of statistical approach done to find the provenance of the selected pot shards has not yet been performed. EDS and XRF results revealed that the investigated samples have the elements O, Si, Al, Fe, Mn, Mg, Ca, Ti, K and Na are in different compositions. For establishing the provenance (same or different origin) of pottery samples, Al and Si concentration ratio as well as hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was used and the results are correlated.

Relationship of In Vivo MR Parameters to Histopathological and Molecular Characteristics of Newly Diagnosed, Nonenhancing Lower-Grade Gliomas.

PubMed

Luks, Tracy L; McKnight, Tracy Richmond; Jalbert, Llewellyn E; Williams, Aurelia; Neill, Evan; Lobo, Khadjia A; Persson, Anders I; Perry, Arie; Phillips, Joanna J; Molinaro, Annette M; Chang, Susan M; Nelson, Sarah J

2018-06-05

The goal of this research was to elucidate the relationship between WHO 2016 molecular classifications of newly diagnosed, nonenhancing lower grade gliomas (LrGG), tissue sample histopathology, and magnetic resonance (MR) parameters derived from diffusion, perfusion, and 1 H spectroscopic imaging from the tissue sample locations and the entire tumor. A total of 135 patients were scanned prior to initial surgery, with tumor cellularity scores obtained from 88 image-guided tissue samples. MR parameters were obtained from corresponding sample locations, and histograms of normalized MR parameters within the T2 fluid-attenuated inversion recovery lesion were analyzed in order to evaluate differences between subgroups. For tissue samples, higher tumor scores were related to increased normalized apparent diffusion coefficient (nADC), lower fractional anisotropy (nFA), lower cerebral blood volume (nCBV), higher choline (nCho), and lower N-acetylaspartate (nNAA). Within the T2 lesion, higher tumor grade was associated with higher nADC, lower nFA, and higher Cho to NAA index. Pathological analysis confirmed that diffusion and metabolic parameters increased and perfusion decreased with tumor cellularity. This information can be used to select targets for tissue sampling and to aid in making decisions about treating residual disease. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: GOODS-MUSIC sample: multicolour catalog (Grazian+, 2006)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grazian, A.; Fontana, A.; de Santis, C.; Nonino, M.; Salimbeni, S.; Giallongo, E.; Cristiani, S.; Gallozzi, S.; Vanzella, E.

2006-02-01

The GOODS-MUSIC multi-wavelength catalog provides photometric and spectroscopic information for galaxies in the GOODS Southern field. It includes two U images obtained with the ESO 2.2m telescope and one U band image from VLT-VIMOS, the ACS-HST images in four optical (B,V,i,z) bands, the VLT-ISAAC J, H, and Ks bands as well as the Spitzer images in at 3.5, 4.5, 5.8, and 8 micron. Most of these images have been made publicly available in the coadded version by the GOODS team, while the U band data were retrieved in raw format and reduced by our team. We also collected all the available spectroscopic information from public spectroscopic surveys and cross-correlated the spectroscopic redshifts with our photometric catalog. For the unobserved fraction of the objects, we applied our photometric redshift code to obtain well-calibrated photometric redshifts. The final catalog is made up of 14847 objects, with at least 72 known stars, 68 AGNs, and 928 galaxies with spectroscopic redshift (668 galaxies with reliable redshift determination). (3 data files).

A Markov random field based approach to the identification of meat and bone meal in feed by near-infrared spectroscopic imaging.

PubMed

Jiang, Xunpeng; Yang, Zengling; Han, Lujia

2014-07-01

Contaminated meat and bone meal (MBM) in animal feedstuff has been the source of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) disease in cattle, leading to a ban in its use, so methods for its detection are essential. In this study, five pure feed and five pure MBM samples were used to prepare two sets of sample arrangements: set A for investigating the discrimination of individual feed/MBM particles and set B for larger numbers of overlapping particles. The two sets were used to test a Markov random field (MRF)-based approach. A Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) imaging system was used for data acquisition. The spatial resolution of the near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic image was 25 μm × 25 μm. Each spectrum was the average of 16 scans across the wavenumber range 7,000-4,000 cm(-1), at intervals of 8 cm(-1). This study introduces an innovative approach to analyzing NIR spectroscopic images: an MRF-based approach has been developed using the iterated conditional mode (ICM) algorithm, integrating initial labeling-derived results from support vector machine discriminant analysis (SVMDA) and observation data derived from the results of principal component analysis (PCA). The results showed that MBM covered by feed could be successfully recognized with an overall accuracy of 86.59% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.68. Compared with conventional methods, the MRF-based approach is capable of extracting spectral information combined with spatial information from NIR spectroscopic images. This new approach enhances the identification of MBM using NIR spectroscopic imaging.

The Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sako, Masao; Bassett, Bruce; Becker, Andrew C.; Brown, Peter J.; Campbell, Heather; Wolf, Rachel; Cinabro, David; D’Andrea, Chris B.; Dawson, Kyle S.; DeJongh, Fritz; Depoy, Darren L.; Dilday, Ben; Doi, Mamoru; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Fischer, John A.; Foley, Ryan J.; Frieman, Joshua A.; Galbany, Lluis; Garnavich, Peter M.; Goobar, Ariel; Gupta, Ravi R.; Hill, Gary J.; Hayden, Brian T.; Hlozek, Renée; Holtzman, Jon A.; Hopp, Ulrich; Jha, Saurabh W.; Kessler, Richard; Kollatschny, Wolfram; Leloudas, Giorgos; Marriner, John; Marshall, Jennifer L.; Miquel, Ramon; Morokuma, Tomoki; Mosher, Jennifer; Nichol, Robert C.; Nordin, Jakob; Olmstead, Matthew D.; Östman, Linda; Prieto, Jose L.; Richmond, Michael; Romani, Roger W.; Sollerman, Jesper; Stritzinger, Max; Schneider, Donald P.; Smith, Mathew; Wheeler, J. Craig; Yasuda, Naoki; Zheng, Chen

2018-06-01

This paper describes the data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II (SDSS-II) Supernova Survey conducted between 2005 and 2007. Light curves, spectra, classifications, and ancillary data are presented for 10,258 variable and transient sources discovered through repeat ugriz imaging of SDSS Stripe 82, a 300 deg2 area along the celestial equator. This data release is comprised of all transient sources brighter than r ≃ 22.5 mag with no history of variability prior to 2004. Dedicated spectroscopic observations were performed on a subset of 889 transients, as well as spectra for thousands of transient host galaxies using the SDSS-III BOSS spectrographs. Photometric classifications are provided for the candidates with good multi-color light curves that were not observed spectroscopically, using host galaxy redshift information when available. From these observations, 4607 transients are either spectroscopically confirmed, or likely to be, supernovae, making this the largest sample of supernova candidates ever compiled. We present a new method for SN host-galaxy identification and derive host-galaxy properties including stellar masses, star formation rates, and the average stellar population ages from our SDSS multi-band photometry. We derive SALT2 distance moduli for a total of 1364 SN Ia with spectroscopic redshifts as well as photometric redshifts for a further 624 purely photometric SN Ia candidates. Using the spectroscopically confirmed subset of the three-year SDSS-II SN Ia sample and assuming a flat ΛCDM cosmology, we determine Ω M = 0.315 ± 0.093 (statistical error only) and detect a non-zero cosmological constant at 5.7σ.

THE SDSS-IV EXTENDED BARYON OSCILLATION SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY: OVERVIEW AND EARLY DATA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dawson, Kyle S.; Bautista, Julian E.; Kneib, Jean-Paul

In a six-year program started in 2014 July, the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) will conduct novel cosmological observations using the BOSS spectrograph at Apache Point Observatory. These observations will be conducted simultaneously with the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS) designed for variability studies and the Spectroscopic Identification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS) program designed for studies of X-ray sources. In particular, eBOSS will measure with percent-level precision the distance-redshift relation with baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of matter. eBOSS will use four different tracers of the underlying matter density field to vastly expand the volume covered bymore » BOSS and map the large-scale-structures over the relatively unconstrained redshift range 0.6 < z < 2.2. Using more than 250,000 new, spectroscopically confirmed luminous red galaxies at a median redshift z = 0.72, we project that eBOSS will yield measurements of the angular diameter distance d{sub A}(z) to an accuracy of 1.2% and measurements of H(z) to 2.1% when combined with the z > 0.6 sample of BOSS galaxies. With ∼195,000 new emission line galaxy redshifts, we expect BAO measurements of d{sub A}(z) to an accuracy of 3.1% and H(z) to 4.7% at an effective redshift of z = 0.87. A sample of more than 500,000 spectroscopically confirmed quasars will provide the first BAO distance measurements over the redshift range 0.9 < z < 2.2, with expected precision of 2.8% and 4.2% on d{sub A}(z) and H(z), respectively. Finally, with 60,000 new quasars and re-observation of 60,000 BOSS quasars, we will obtain new Lyα forest measurements at redshifts z > 2.1; these new data will enhance the precision of d{sub A}(z) and H(z) at z > 2.1 by a factor of 1.44 relative to BOSS. Furthermore, eBOSS will provide improved tests of General Relativity on cosmological scales through redshift-space distortion measurements, improved tests for non-Gaussianity in the primordial density field, and new constraints on the summed mass of all neutrino species. Here, we provide an overview of the cosmological goals, spectroscopic target sample, demonstration of spectral quality from early data, and projected cosmological constraints from eBOSS.« less

Determination of high-molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in high performance liquid chromatography fractions of coal tar standard reference material 1597a via solid-phase nanoextraction and laser-excited time-resolved Shpol'skii spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Wilson, Walter B.; Alfarhani, Bassam; Moore, Anthony F. T.; Bisson, Cristina; Wise, Stephen A.; Campiglia, Andres D.

2016-01-01

This article presents an alternative approach for the analysis of high molecular weight – polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HMW-PAHs) with molecular mass 302 Da in complex environmental samples. This is not a trivial task due to the large number of molecular mass 302 Da isomers with very similar chromatographic elution times and similar, possibly even virtually identical, mass fragmentation patterns. The method presented here is based on 4.2 K laser-excited time-resolved Shpol'skii spectroscopy, a high resolution spectroscopic technique with the appropriate selectivity for the unambiguous determination of PAHs with the same molecular mass. The potential of this approach is demonstrated here with the analysis of a coal tar standard reference material (SRM) 1597a. Liquid chromatography fractions were submitted to the spectroscopic analysis of five targeted isomers, namely dibenzo[a,l]pyrene, dibenzo[a,e]pyrene, dibenzo[a,i]pyrene, naphtho[2,3-a]pyrene and dibenzo[a,h]pyrene. Prior to analyte determination, the liquid chromatographic fractions were pre-concentrated with gold nanoparticles. Complete analysis was possible with microliters of chromatographic fractions and organic solvents. The limits of detection varied from 0.05 (dibenzo[a,l]pyrene) to 0.24 μg L−1 (dibenzo[a,e]pyrene). The excellent analytical figures of merit associated to its non-destructive nature, which provides ample opportunity for further analysis with other instrumental methods, makes this approach an attractive alternative for the determination of PAH isomers in complex environmental samples. PMID:26653471

The ΓX-L/LEdd relation in BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Ricci, Claudio; Koss, Michael; Schawinski, Kevin; Mushotzky, Richard; Ueda, Yoshihiro; Veilleux, Sylvain; Lamperti, Isabella; Oh, Kyuseok; Treister, Ezequiel; Stern, Daniel; Harrison, Fiona; Balokovic, Mislav

2018-01-01

We present a study of the relation between accretion rate (in terms of L/LEdd) and shape of the hard X-ray spectral energy distribution (namely the photon index Γx) for a large sample of over 200 hard X-ray-selected, low-redshift active galactic nuclei (AGNs), drawn from the Swift/BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS). This includes 30 AGNs for which black hole mass (and therefore L/LEdd) is measured directly through masers, spatially resolved gas or stellar dynamics, or reverberation mapping. The high-quality and broad energy coverage of the data provided through BASS allow us to examine several alternative determinations of both Γx and L/LEdd. We find very weak correlation between Γx and L/LEdd for the BASS sample as a whole, with best-fitting relations that are considerably shallower than those reported in previous studies. Moreover, we find no corresponding correlations among the subsets of AGN with different MBH determination methodology, and in particular those AGN with direct or single-epoch MBH estimates. This latter finding is in contrast to several previous studies which focused on z > 0.5 broad-line AGN. We conclude that this tension can be partially accounted for if one adopts a simplified, power-law X-ray spectral model, combined with L/LEdd estimates that are based on the continuum emission and on single-epoch broad-line spectroscopy in the optical regime. Given these findings, we highlight the limitations of using Γx as a probe of supermassive black hole evolution in deep extragalactic X-ray surveys.

Analysing baryon acoustic oscillations in sparse spectroscopic samples via cross-correlation with dense photometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patej, A.; Eisenstein, D. J.

2018-07-01

We develop a formalism for measuring the cosmological distance scale from baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) using the cross-correlation of a sparse redshift survey with a denser photometric sample. This reduces the shot noise that would otherwise affect the autocorrelation of the sparse spectroscopic map. As a proof of principle, we make the first on-sky application of this method to a sparse sample defined as the z > 0.6 tail of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's (SDSS) BOSS/CMASS sample of galaxies and a dense photometric sample from SDSS DR9. We find a 2.8σ preference for the BAO peak in the cross-correlation at an effective z = 0.64, from which we measure the angular diameter distance DM(z = 0.64) = (2418 ± 73 Mpc)(rs/rs, fid). Accordingly, we expect that using this method to combine sparse spectroscopy with the deep, high-quality imaging that is just now becoming available will enable higher precision BAO measurements than possible with the spectroscopy alone.

Analyzing Baryon Acoustic Oscillations in Sparse Spectroscopic Samples via Cross-Correlation with Dense Photometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patej, Anna; Eisenstein, Daniel J.

2018-04-01

We develop a formalism for measuring the cosmological distance scale from baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) using the cross-correlation of a sparse redshift survey with a denser photometric sample. This reduces the shot noise that would otherwise affect the auto-correlation of the sparse spectroscopic map. As a proof of principle, we make the first on-sky application of this method to a sparse sample defined as the z > 0.6 tail of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's (SDSS) BOSS/CMASS sample of galaxies and a dense photometric sample from SDSS DR9. We find a 2.8σ preference for the BAO peak in the cross-correlation at an effective z = 0.64, from which we measure the angular diameter distance DM(z = 0.64) = (2418 ± 73 Mpc)(rs/rs, fid). Accordingly, we expect that using this method to combine sparse spectroscopy with the deep, high quality imaging that is just now becoming available will enable higher precision BAO measurements than possible with the spectroscopy alone.

Reduced electron exposure for energy-dispersive spectroscopy using dynamic sampling

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Yan; Godaliyadda, G. M. Dilshan; Ferrier, Nicola; ...

2017-10-23

Analytical electron microscopy and spectroscopy of biological specimens, polymers, and other beam sensitive materials has been a challenging area due to irradiation damage. There is a pressing need to develop novel imaging and spectroscopic imaging methods that will minimize such sample damage as well as reduce the data acquisition time. The latter is useful for high-throughput analysis of materials structure and chemistry. Here, in this work, we present a novel machine learning based method for dynamic sparse sampling of EDS data using a scanning electron microscope. Our method, based on the supervised learning approach for dynamic sampling algorithm and neuralmore » networks based classification of EDS data, allows a dramatic reduction in the total sampling of up to 90%, while maintaining the fidelity of the reconstructed elemental maps and spectroscopic data. In conclusion, we believe this approach will enable imaging and elemental mapping of materials that would otherwise be inaccessible to these analysis techniques.« less

Physical and Mathematical Methods for Removing Organic Interference from Optical Isotope Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsiao, G.; Chappellet-Volini, L.; Vu, D.

2012-12-01

Portable high precision isotope analyzers using CRDS technology have greatly increased the use of stable isotopes in hydrological, oceanographic, and ecological studies over the past five years. However studies of some water samples yielded incorrect isotopic values indicating some form of spectroscopic interference. Subsequent work has shown that waters derived from some plants containing interfering alcohols but meteoric waters are not affected. The initial approach to handling such samples was to use spectroscopic anomalies to identify and flag affected samples for later analysis by non-optical methods. This presentation will examine the approaches developed within the past year to allow for accurate analysis of such samples by optical methods. The first approach uses an advanced spectroscopic model to identify and quantify alcohols present in the sample. The alcohol signal is incorporated into the overall fit of the measure spectra to calculate the concentration of the individual isotopes. It was found that the δ18O value could be calculated with high accuracy, the result for the δ2H value was sufficient for many applications. The second approach uses physical treatment of the sample to break down the organic molecules into non-interfering species. The liquid sample is injected into a flash vaporizer then the vapor travels through a cartridge for physical treatment prior to analysis by CRDS. Inside the cartridge the organic molecules undergo oxidation at high temperature in the air carrier gas when exposed to the catalyst. This approach is highly effective for ethanol solutions as high as 5% as well as for the complex mixtures of alcohols found in plants. Comparison of the results of both of these methods will be compared with tertiary techniques such as IRMS where possible.

Clustering on very small scales from a large sample of confirmed quasar pairs: does quasar clustering track from Mpc to kpc scales?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eftekharzadeh, S.; Myers, A. D.; Hennawi, J. F.; Djorgovski, S. G.; Richards, G. T.; Mahabal, A. A.; Graham, M. J.

2017-06-01

We present the most precise estimate to date of the clustering of quasars on very small scales, based on a sample of 47 binary quasars with magnitudes of g < 20.85 and proper transverse separations of ˜25 h-1 kpc. Our sample of binary quasars, which is about six times larger than any previous spectroscopically confirmed sample on these scales, is targeted using a kernel density estimation (KDE) technique applied to Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging over most of the SDSS area. Our sample is 'complete' in that all of the KDE target pairs with 17.0 ≲ R ≲ 36.2 h-1 kpc in our area of interest have been spectroscopically confirmed from a combination of previous surveys and our own long-slit observational campaign. We catalogue 230 candidate quasar pairs with angular separations of <8 arcsec, from which our binary quasars were identified. We determine the projected correlation function of quasars (\\bar{W}_p) in four bins of proper transverse scale over the range 17.0 ≲ R ≲ 36.2 h-1 kpc. The implied small-scale quasar clustering amplitude from the projected correlation function, integrated across our entire redshift range, is A = 24.1 ± 3.6 at ˜26.6 h-1 kpc. Our sample is the first spectroscopically confirmed sample of quasar pairs that is sufficiently large to study how quasar clustering evolves with redshift at ˜25 h-1 kpc. We find that empirical descriptions of how quasar clustering evolves with redshift at ˜25 h-1 Mpc also adequately describe the evolution of quasar clustering at ˜25 h-1 kpc.

Inter-laboratory comparisons of hexenuronic acid measurements in kraft eucalyptus pulps using a UV-Vis spectroscopic method

Treesearch

J.Y. Zhu; H.F Zhou; Chai X.S.; Donna Johannes; Richard Pope; Cristina Valls; M. Blanca Roncero

2014-01-01

An inter-laboratory comparison of a UV-Vis spectroscopic method (TAPPI T 282 om-13 “Hexeneuronic acid content of chemical pulp”) for hexeneuronic acid measurements was conducted using three eucalyptus kraft pulps. The pulp samples were produced in a laboratory at kappa numbers of approximately 14, 20, and 35. The hexeneuronic acid contents of the three pulps were...

Selective excitation for spectral editing and assignment in separated local field experiments of oriented membrane proteins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koroloff, Sophie N.; Nevzorov, Alexander A.

2017-01-01

Spectroscopic assignment of NMR spectra for oriented uniformly labeled membrane proteins embedded in their native-like bilayer environment is essential for their structure determination. However, sequence-specific assignment in oriented-sample (OS) NMR is often complicated by insufficient resolution and spectral crowding. Therefore, the assignment process is usually done by a laborious and expensive "shotgun" method involving multiple selective labeling of amino acid residues. Presented here is a strategy to overcome poor spectral resolution in crowded regions of 2D spectra by selecting resolved "seed" residues via soft Gaussian pulses inserted into spin-exchange separated local-field experiments. The Gaussian pulse places the selected polarization along the z-axis while dephasing the other signals before the evolution of the 1H-15N dipolar couplings. The transfer of magnetization is accomplished via mismatched Hartmann-Hahn conditions to the nearest-neighbor peaks via the proton bath. By optimizing the length and amplitude of the Gaussian pulse, one can also achieve a phase inversion of the closest peaks, thus providing an additional phase contrast. From the superposition of the selective spin-exchanged SAMPI4 onto the fully excited SAMPI4 spectrum, the 15N sites that are directly adjacent to the selectively excited residues can be easily identified, thereby providing a straightforward method for initiating the assignment process in oriented membrane proteins.

Revisiting Abell 2744: a powerful synergy of GLASS spectroscopy and HFF photometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xin; Wang

We present new emission line identifications and improve the lensing reconstruction of the mass distribution of galaxy cluster Abell 2744 using the Grism Lens-Amplified Survey from Space (GLASS) spectroscopy and the Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) imaging. We performed blind and targeted searches for faint line emitters on all objects, including the arc sample, within the field of view (FoV) of GLASS prime pointings. We report 55 high quality spectroscopic redshifts, 5 of which are for arc images. We also present an extensive analysis based on the HFF photometry, measuring the colors and photometric redshifts of all objects within the FoV, and comparing the spectroscopic and photometric redshift estimates. In order to improve the lens model of Abell 2744, we develop a rigorous algorithm to screen arc images, based on their colors and morphology, and selecting the most reliable ones to use. As a result, 25 systems (corresponding to 72 images) pass the screening process and are used to reconstruct the gravitational potential of the cluster pixellated on an adaptive mesh. The resulting total mass distribution is compared with a stellar mass map obtained from the Spitzer Frontier Fields data in order to study the relative distribution of stars and dark matter in the cluster.

Metallicity and Kinematics of M31's Outer Stellar Halo from a Keck Spectroscopic Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reitzel, David B.; Guhathakurta, Puragra

2002-07-01

We present first results from a spectroscopic survey designed to examine the metallicity and kinematics of individual red giant branch stars in the outer halo of the Andromeda spiral galaxy (M31). This study is based on multislit spectroscopy with the Keck II 10 m telescope and Low Resolution Imaging Spectrograph of the Ca II near-infrared triplet in 99 M31 halo candidates in a field at R=19 kpc on the southeast minor axis with brightnesses from 20~2 dex range over which the abundance measurement methods are calibrated. The mean/median metallicity of the M31 halo is about <[Fe/H]>=-1.9 to -1.1 dex (depending on the details of metallicity calibration and sample selection) and possibly higher: the high-metallicity end of the distribution is poorly constrained by our data since the selection function for the secure M31 sample excludes over 80% of the giants in solar/supersolar metallicity range. Possible reasons are explored for the apparent discrepancy between the mean [Fe/H] found in our spectroscopic survey (corrected for metallicity selection bias) and the slightly higher mean values found in earlier photometric studies. Field halo red giants in M31 appear to be somewhat more metal-rich on average than their Milky Way counterparts. The M31 halo [Fe/H] distribution is comparable to that of M31 globular clusters, Galactic globular clusters, and Local Group dwarf satellite galaxies. The data in this 19 kpc outer halo field are broadly consistent with a scenario in which the halo is built from the accretion of small stellar subsystems. There are four stars in the secure M31 sample that have particularly strong Ca II lines, indicating solar metallicity, at a common velocity of ~-340 km s-1 close to the galaxy's systemic velocity, similar to what might be expected for M31 disk giants on the minor axis. An extrapolation of the inner disk brightness profile, however, falls far short of accounting for these four stars-the disk would instead have to be very large (Rdisk>~80 kpc) and/or warped. More likely, these four stars represent a metal-rich debris trail from a past accretion event in the halo. Data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Redshift survey of ALMA-identified SMGs in ECDFS (Danielson+, 2017)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Danielson, A. L. R.; Swinbank, A. M.; Smail, I.; Simpson, J. M.; Casey, C. M.; Chapman, S. C.; da Cunha, E.; Hodge, J. A.; Walter, F.; Wardlow, J. L.; Alexander, D. M.; Brandt, W. N.; De Breuck, C.; Coppin, K. E. K.; Dannerbauer, H.; Dickinson, M.; Edge, A. C.; Gawiser, E.; Ivison, R. J.; Karim, A.; Kovacs, A.; Lutz, D.; Menten, K.; Schinnerer, E.; Weiss, A.; van der Werf, P.

2017-11-01

The 870um LESS survey (Weiss+ 2009, J/ApJ/707/1201) was undertaken using the LABOCA camera on APEX, covering an area of 0.5°x0.5° centered on the ECDFS. Follow-up observations of the LESS sources were carried out with ALMA (Hodge+ 2013, J/ApJ/768/91). In summary, observations for each source were taken between 2011 October and November in the Cycle 0 Project #2011.1.00294.S. To search for spectroscopic redshifts, we initiated an observing campaign using the the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS2) and VIsible MultiObject Spectrograph (VIMOS) on VLT (program 183.A-0666), but to supplement these observations, we also obtained observations with XSHOOTER on VLT (program 090.A-0927(A) from 2012 December 7-10), the Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS; program GN-2012B-Q-90) and the Multi-Object Spectrometer for Infra-Red Exploration (MOSFIRE) on the Keck I telescope (2012B_H251M, 2013BU039M, and 2013BN114M), all of which cover the near-infrared. As part of a spectroscopic campaign targeting Herschel-selected galaxies in the ECDFS, ALESS submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) were included on DEep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph (DEIMOS) slit masks on Keck II (program 2012B_H251). In total, we observed 109 out of the 131 ALESS SMGs in the combined main and supp samples. Spectroscopic redshifts for two of our SMGs, ALESS61.1 and ALESS65.1, were determined from serendipitous detections of the [CII]λ158um line in the ALMA band. See section 2.7. (2 data files).

Uranium(VI) Binding Forms in Selected Human Body Fluids: Thermodynamic Calculations versus Spectroscopic Measurements.

PubMed

Osman, Alfatih A A; Geipel, Gerhard; Barkleit, Astrid; Bernhard, Gert

2015-02-16

Human exposure to uranium increasingly becomes a subject of interest in many scientific disciplines such as environmental medicine, toxicology, and radiation protection. Knowledge about uranium chemical binding forms(speciation) in human body fluids can be of great importance to understand not only its biokinetics but also its relevance in risk assessment and in designing decorporation therapy in the case of accidental overexposure. In this study, thermodynamic calculations of uranium speciation in relevant simulated and original body fluids were compared with spectroscopic data after ex-situ uranium addition. For the first time, experimental data on U(VI) speciation in body fluids (saliva, sweat, urine) was obtained by means of cryogenic time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (cryo-TRLFS) at 153 K. By using the time dependency of fluorescence decay and the band positions of the emission spectra, various uranyl complexes were demonstrated in the studied samples. The variations of the body fluids in terms of chemical composition, pH, and ionic strength resulted in different binding forms of U(VI). The speciation of U(VI) in saliva and in urine was affected by the presence of bioorganic ligands, whereas in sweat, the distribution depends mainly on inorganic ligands. We also elucidated the role of biological buffers, i.e., phosphate (H(2)PO(4−)/HPO(4)(2−)) on U(VI) distribution, and the system Ca(2+)/UO(2)(2+)/PO(4)(3−) was discussed in detail in both saliva and urine. The theoretical speciation calculations of the main U(VI) species in the investigated body fluids were significantly consistent with the spectroscopic data. Laser fluorescence spectroscopy showed success and reliability for direct determination of U(VI) in such biological matrices with the possibility for further improvement.

New fluorescence spectroscopic method for the simultaneous determination of alkaloids in aqueous extract of green coffee beans.

PubMed

Yisak, Hagos; Redi-Abshiro, Mesfin; Chandravanshi, Bhagwan Singh

2018-05-11

There is no fluorescence spectroscopic method for the determination of trigonelline and theobromine in green coffee beans. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a new fluorescence spectroscopic method to determine the alkaloids simultaneously in the aqueous extract of green coffee beans. The calibration curves were linear in the range 2-6, 1-6, 1-5 mg/L for caffeine, theobromine and trigonelline, respectively, with R 2  ≥ 0.9987. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were 2, 6 and 7 µg/L and 40, 20 and 20 µg/L for caffeine, theobromine and trigonelline, respectively. Caffeine and trigonelline exhibited well separated fluorescence excitation spectra and therefore the two alkaloids were selectively quantified in the aqueous extract of green coffee. While theobromine showed overlapping fluorescence excitation spectra with caffeine and hence theobromine could not be determined in the aqueous extract of green coffee beans. The amount of caffeine and trigonelline in the three samples of green coffee beans were found to be 0.95-1.10 and 1.00-1.10% (w/w), respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSD ≤ 4%) of the method for the three compounds of interest were of very good. The accuracy of the developed analytical method was evaluated by spiking standard caffeine and trigonelline to green coffee beans and the average recoveries were 99 ± 2% for both the alkaloids. A fast, sensitive and reliable fluorescence method for the simultaneous determination of caffeine and trigonelline in the aqueous extract of green coffee beans was developed and validated. The developed method reflected an effective performance to the direct determination of the two alkaloids in the aqueous extract of green coffee beans.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Luminous of high-z QSOs with SDSS and WISE. II (Yang+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, J.; Wang, F.; Wu, X.-B.; Fan, X.; McGreer, I. D.; Bian, F.; Yi, W.; Yang, Q.; Ai, Y.; Dong, X.; Zuo, W.; Green, R.; Jiang, L.; Wang, S.; Wang, R.; Yue, M.

2018-03-01

Our SDSS+WISE selection technique and spectroscopic follow-up observations were discussed in detail in Wang et al. (2016, Cat. J/ApJ/819/24). Our spectroscopic follow-up campaign started in 2013 October with the Lijiang 2.4m telescope (LJT) and Xinglong 2.16m telescope in China, the Kitt Peak 2.3m Bok telescope and 6.5m MMT telescope in the U.S., as well as the 2.3m ANU telescope in Australia. (1 data file).

Low resolution spectroscopy of selected Algol systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devarapalli, Shanti Priya; Jagirdar, Rukmini; Parthasarathy, M.; Sahu, D. K.; Mohan, Vijay; Bhatt, B. C.; Thomas, Vineet S.

2018-04-01

The analysis of spectroscopic data for 30 Algol-type binaries is presented. All these systems are short period Algols having primaries with spectral types B and A. Dominant spectral lines were identified for the spectra collected and their equivalent widths were calculated. All the spectra were examined to understand presence of mass transfer, a disk or circumstellar matter and chromospheric emission. We also present first spectroscopic and period study for few Algols and conclude that high resolution spectra within and outside the primary minimum are needed for better understanding of these Algol type close binaries.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Photometry/spectroscopic measurements for KA1858+4850 (Pei+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pei, L.; Barth, A. J.; Aldering, G. S.; Briley, M. M.; Carroll, C. J.; Carson, D. J.; Cenko, S. B.; Clubb, K. I.; Cohen, D. P.; Cucchiara, A.; Desjardins, T. D.; Edelson, R.; Fang, J. J.; Fedrow, J. M.; Filippenko, A. V.; Fox, O. D.; Furniss, A.; Gates, E. L.; Gregg, M.; Gustafson, S.; Horst, J. C.; Joner, M. D.; Kelly, P. L.; Lacy, M.; Laney, C. D.; Leonard, D. C.; Li, W.; Malkan, M. A.; Margon, B.; Neeleman, M.; Nguyen, M. L.; Prochaska, J. X.; Ross, N. R.; Sand, D. J.; Searcy, K. J.; Shivvers, I. S.; Silverman, J. M.; Smith, G. H.; Suzuki, N.; Smith, K. L.; Tytler, D.; Werk, J. K.; Worseck, G.

2017-05-01

We employed the Lick Observatory 3 m Shane telescope with the Kast Spectrograph and five other ground-based telescopes to spectroscopically and photometrically monitor KA1858+4850 from 2012 February to November. Reverberation mapping requires a continuum light curve with high sampling cadence and S/N. To achieve this, we obtained V-band images from ground-based telescopes and used aperture photometry to construct a light curve for KA1858+4850 that has nearly nightly sampling for a span of 290 days. For several reasons, we chose to use the V-band light curve rather than the Kepler light curve for reverberation measurements. (2 data files).

Construction and performance of a dilution-refrigerator based spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscope.

PubMed

Singh, U R; Enayat, M; White, S C; Wahl, P

2013-01-01

We report on the set-up and performance of a dilution-refrigerator based spectroscopic imaging scanning tunneling microscope. It operates at temperatures below 10 mK and in magnetic fields up to 14T. The system allows for sample transfer and in situ cleavage. We present first-results demonstrating atomic resolution and the multi-gap structure of the superconducting gap of NbSe(2) at base temperature. To determine the energy resolution of our system we have measured a normal metal/vacuum/superconductor tunneling junction consisting of an aluminum tip on a gold sample. Our system allows for continuous measurements at base temperature on time scales of up to ≈170 h.

Monsters and babies from the first/IRAS survey

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Van Bruegel, W J M

Radio continuum emission at cm wavelengths is relatively little affected by extinction. When combined with far-infrared (FIR) surveys this provides for a convenient and unbiased method to select (radio-loud) AGN and starbursts deeply embedded in gas and dust-rich galaxies. Such radio-selected FIR samples are useful for detailed investigations of the complex relationships between (radio) galaxy and starburst activity, and to determine whether ULIRGs are powered by hidden quasars (monsters) or young stars (babies). We present the results of a large program to obtain identifications and spectra of radio-sleected, optically faint IRAS/FSC objects using the FIRST/VLA 20 cm survey (Becker, Whitemore » and Helfand 1995). These objects are all radio-'quiet' in the sense that their radio power/FIR luminosities follow the well-known radio/FIR relationship for star forming galaxies. We compare these results to a previous study by our group of a sample of radio-'loud' IRAS/FSC ULIRGs selected from the Texas 365 MHz survey (Douglas et al. 1996). Many of these objects also show evidence for dominant, A-type stellar populations, as well as high ionization lines usually associated with AGN. These radio-loud ULIRGs have properties intermediate between those of starbursts and quasars, suggesting a possibile evolutionary connection. Deep Keck spectroscopic observations of three ULIRGs from these samples are presented, including high signal-to-noise spectropolarimetry. The polarimetry observations failed to show evidence of a hidden quasar in polarized (scattered) light in the two systems in which the stellar light was dominated by A-type stars. Although observations of a larger sample would be needed to allow a general conclusion, our current data suggest that a large fraction of ULIRGs may be powered by luminous starbursts, not by hidden, luminous AGN (quasars). While we used radio-selected FIR sources to search for evidence of a causal AGN/starburst connection, we conclude our presentation with a dramatic example of an AGN/starburst object from an entirely unrelated quasar survey selected at the opposite, blue end of the spectrum.« less

Improvement of near infrared spectroscopic (NIRS) analysis of caffeine in roasted Arabica coffee by variable selection method of stability competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (SCARS).

PubMed

Zhang, Xuan; Li, Wei; Yin, Bin; Chen, Weizhong; Kelly, Declan P; Wang, Xiaoxin; Zheng, Kaiyi; Du, Yiping

2013-10-01

Coffee is the most heavily consumed beverage in the world after water, for which quality is a key consideration in commercial trade. Therefore, caffeine content which has a significant effect on the final quality of the coffee products requires to be determined fast and reliably by new analytical techniques. The main purpose of this work was to establish a powerful and practical analytical method based on near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and chemometrics for quantitative determination of caffeine content in roasted Arabica coffees. Ground coffee samples within a wide range of roasted levels were analyzed by NIR, meanwhile, in which the caffeine contents were quantitative determined by the most commonly used HPLC-UV method as the reference values. Then calibration models based on chemometric analyses of the NIR spectral data and reference concentrations of coffee samples were developed. Partial least squares (PLS) regression was used to construct the models. Furthermore, diverse spectra pretreatment and variable selection techniques were applied in order to obtain robust and reliable reduced-spectrum regression models. Comparing the respective quality of the different models constructed, the application of second derivative pretreatment and stability competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (SCARS) variable selection provided a notably improved regression model, with root mean square error of cross validation (RMSECV) of 0.375 mg/g and correlation coefficient (R) of 0.918 at PLS factor of 7. An independent test set was used to assess the model, with the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.378 mg/g, mean relative error of 1.976% and mean relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.707%. Thus, the results provided by the high-quality calibration model revealed the feasibility of NIR spectroscopy for at-line application to predict the caffeine content of unknown roasted coffee samples, thanks to the short analysis time of a few seconds and non-destructive advantages of NIRS. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improvement of near infrared spectroscopic (NIRS) analysis of caffeine in roasted Arabica coffee by variable selection method of stability competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (SCARS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xuan; Li, Wei; Yin, Bin; Chen, Weizhong; Kelly, Declan P.; Wang, Xiaoxin; Zheng, Kaiyi; Du, Yiping

2013-10-01

Coffee is the most heavily consumed beverage in the world after water, for which quality is a key consideration in commercial trade. Therefore, caffeine content which has a significant effect on the final quality of the coffee products requires to be determined fast and reliably by new analytical techniques. The main purpose of this work was to establish a powerful and practical analytical method based on near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and chemometrics for quantitative determination of caffeine content in roasted Arabica coffees. Ground coffee samples within a wide range of roasted levels were analyzed by NIR, meanwhile, in which the caffeine contents were quantitative determined by the most commonly used HPLC-UV method as the reference values. Then calibration models based on chemometric analyses of the NIR spectral data and reference concentrations of coffee samples were developed. Partial least squares (PLS) regression was used to construct the models. Furthermore, diverse spectra pretreatment and variable selection techniques were applied in order to obtain robust and reliable reduced-spectrum regression models. Comparing the respective quality of the different models constructed, the application of second derivative pretreatment and stability competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (SCARS) variable selection provided a notably improved regression model, with root mean square error of cross validation (RMSECV) of 0.375 mg/g and correlation coefficient (R) of 0.918 at PLS factor of 7. An independent test set was used to assess the model, with the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.378 mg/g, mean relative error of 1.976% and mean relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.707%. Thus, the results provided by the high-quality calibration model revealed the feasibility of NIR spectroscopy for at-line application to predict the caffeine content of unknown roasted coffee samples, thanks to the short analysis time of a few seconds and non-destructive advantages of NIRS.

The XMM-Newton bright serendipitous survey. Identification and optical spectral properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caccianiga, A.; Severgnini, P.; Della Ceca, R.; Maccacaro, T.; Cocchia, F.; Barcons, X.; Carrera, F. J.; Matute, I.; McMahon, R. G.; Page, M. J.; Pietsch, W.; Sbarufatti, B.; Schwope, A.; Tedds, J. A.; Watson, M. G.

2008-01-01

Aims:We present the optical classification and redshift of 348 X-ray selected sources from the XMM-Newton Bright Serendipitous Survey (XBS), which contains a total of 400 objects (identification level = 87%). About 240 are new identifications. In particular, we discuss in detail the classification criteria adopted for the active galactic nuclei (AGNs) population. Methods: By means of systematic spectroscopic campaigns using various telescopes and through the literature search, we have collected an optical spectrum for the large majority of the sources in the XBS survey and applied a well-defined classification “flow chart”. Results: We find that the AGNs represent the most numerous population at the flux limit of the XBS survey (~10-13 erg cm-2 s-1) constituting 80% of the XBS sources selected in the 0.5-4.5 keV energy band and 95% of the “hard” (4.5-7.5 keV) selected objects. Galactic sources populate the 0.5-4.5 keV sample significantly (17%) and only marginally (3%) the 4.5-7.5 keV sample. The remaining sources in both samples are clusters/groups of galaxies and normal galaxies (i.e. probably not powered by an AGN). Furthermore, the percentage of type 2 AGNs (i.e. optically absorbed AGNs with A_V>2 mag) dramatically increases going from the 0.5-4.5 keV sample (f=NAGN 2/N_AGN=7%) to the 4.5-7.5 keV sample (f=32%). We finally propose two simple diagnostic plots that can be easily used to obtain the spectral classification for relatively low-redshift AGNs even if the quality of the spectrum is not good. Based on observations collected at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) and at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and on observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and the USA (NASA). Table 3 is only available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

A Spectroscopic and Photometric Study of Gravitational Microlensing Events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kane, Stephen R.

2000-08-01

Gravitational microlensing has generated a great deal of scientific interest over recent years. This has been largely due to the realization of its wide-reaching applications, such as the search for dark matter, the detection of planets, and the study of Galactic structure. A significant observational advance has been that most microlensing events can be identified in real-time while the source is still being lensed. More than 400 microlensing events have now been detected towards the Galactic bulge and Magellanic Clouds by the microlensing survey teams EROS, MACHO, OGLE, DUO, and MOA. The real-time detection of these events allows detailed follow-up observations with much denser sampling, both photometrically and spectroscopically. The research undertaken in this project on photometric studies of gravitational microlensing events has been performed as a member of the PLANET (Probing Lensing Anomalies NETwork) collaboration. This is a worldwide collaboration formed in the early part of 1995 to study microlensing anomalies - departures from an achromatic point source, point lens light curve - through rapidly-sampled, multi-band, photometry. PLANET has demonstrated that it can achieve 1% photometry under ideal circumstances, making PLANET observations sensitive to detection of Earth-mass planets which require characterization of 1%--2% deviations from a standard microlensing light curve. The photometric work in this project involved over 5 months using the 1.0 m telescope at Canopus Observatory in Australia, and 3 separate observing runs using the 0.9 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile. Methods were developed to reduce the vast amount of photometric data using the image analysis software MIDAS and the photometry package DoPHOT. Modelling routines were then written to analyse a selection of the resulting light curves in order to detect any deviation from an achromatic point source - point lens light curve. The photometric results presented in this thesis are from observations of 34 microlensing events over three consecutive bulge seasons. These results are presented along with a discussion of the observations and the data reduction procedures. The colour-magnitude diagrams indicate that the microlensed sources are main sequence and red clump giant stars. Most of the events appear to exhibit standard Paczynski point source - point lens curves whilst a few deviate significantly from the standard model. Various microlensing models that include anomalous structure are fitted to a selection of the observed events resulting in the discovery of a possible binary source event. These fitted events are used to estimate the sensitivity to extra-solar planets and it is found that the sampling rate for these events was insufficient by about a factor of 7.5 for detecting a Jupiter-mass planet. This result assumes that deviations of 5% can be reliably detected. If microlensing is caused predominantly by bulge stars, as has been suggested by Kiraga and Paczynski, the lensed stars should have larger extinction than other observed stars since they would preferentially be located at the far side of the Galactic bulge. Hence, spectroscopy of Galactic microlensing events may be used as a tool for studying the kinematics and extinction effects in the Galactic bulge. The spectroscopic work in this project involved using Kurucz model spectra to create theoretical extinction effects for various spectral classes towards the Galactic centre. These extinction effects are then used to interpret spectroscopic data taken with the 3.6 m ESO telescope. These data consist of a sample of microlensed stars towards the Galactic bulge and are used to derive the extinction offsets of the lensed source with respect to the average population and a measurement of the fraction of bulge-bulge lensing is made. Hence, it is shown statistically that the microlensed sources are generally located on the far side of the Galactic bulge. Measurements of the radial velocities of these sources are used to determine the kinematic properties of the far side of the Galactic bulge.

Spectral Energy Distribution of Far-infrared Bright Quasar Sample in the Lockman Hole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, Y.; Huang, J.-S.; Omont, A.; Hatziminaoglou, E.; Willmer, C.; Fazio, G.; Elvis, M.; Bergeron, J.; Rigopoulou, D.; Perez-Fournon, I.

2011-10-01

The far-infrared (FIR) properties of Quasi-Stellar Objects (QSOs) is important in connecting the Starburst (SB) and Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) activities. Therefore, we constructed a 24 μ m selected QSO sample to study their FIR behavior. All sources were spectroscopically identified from MMT or the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) as broadline quasars. Of the total ˜330 sources, 37 have secure FIR detections in the Herschel-HERMES field. We compared their SEDs to previous QSO templates, and found that those FIR bright quasars differ from existing AGNs only by an additional dust component(s). Further studies on the origin for the FIR emission reveals the relative roles starburst and AGN play in powering the dust emission, based on the dust temperature, FIR luminosity, and the shapes of individual SEDs. The dust temperatures have a wide range from 20K to 80K with a median of ˜ 30K, indicating homogeneous heating mechanisms that could later be related to the origin of these cold dust emissions.

Accounting for tissue heterogeneity in infrared spectroscopic imaging for accurate diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma subtypes.

PubMed

Martinez-Marin, David; Sreedhar, Hari; Varma, Vishal K; Eloy, Catarina; Sobrinho-Simões, Manuel; Kajdacsy-Balla, André; Walsh, Michael J

2017-07-01

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) microscopy was used to image tissue samples from twenty patients diagnosed with thyroid carcinoma. The spectral data were then used to differentiate between follicular thyroid carcinoma and follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma using principle component analysis coupled with linear discriminant analysis and a Naïve Bayesian classifier operating on a set of computed spectral metrics. Classification of patients' disease type was accomplished by using average spectra from a wide region containing follicular cells, colloid, and fibrosis; however, classification of disease state at the pixel level was only possible when the extracted spectra were limited to follicular epithelial cells in the samples, excluding the relatively uninformative areas of fibrosis. The results demonstrate the potential of FT-IR microscopy as a tool to assist in the difficult diagnosis of these subtypes of thyroid cancer, and also highlights the importance of selectively and separately analyzing spectral information from different features of a tissue of interest.

Reconnaissance of Young M Dwarfs: Locating the Elusive Majority of Nearby Moving Groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowler, Brendan; Liu, Michael; Riaz, Basmah; Gizis, John; Shkolnik, Evgenya

2013-08-01

With ages between ~8-120 Myr and distances lsim;80 pc, young moving group members make excellent targets for detailed studies of pre-main sequence evolution and exoplanet imaging surveys. We propose a multi-semester spectroscopic program to confirm our sample of ~1300 X-ray-selected active M dwarfs, about one-third of which are expected to be members of young moving groups. Our program consists of three parts: a reconnaissance phase of low-resolution spectroscopy to vet unlikely association members, radial velocity observations to confirm group membership, and deep adaptive optics imaging to study the architecture and demographics of giant planets around low-mass stars. We will also exploit our rich sample to study the evolution of chromospheric and coronal activity in low-mass stars with unprecedented precision. Altogether, this program will roughly double the population of M dwarfs in young moving groups, providing new targets for a broad range of star and planet formation studies in the near-future.

Resolving the nanostructure of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited nanocrystalline SiO{sub x} layers for application in solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Klingsporn, M.; Costina, I.; Kirner, S.

2016-06-14

Nanocrystalline silicon suboxides (nc-SiO{sub x}) have attracted attention during the past years for the use in thin-film silicon solar cells. We investigated the relationships between the nanostructure as well as the chemical, electrical, and optical properties of phosphorous, doped, nc-SiO{sub 0.8}:H fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The nanostructure was varied through the sample series by changing the deposition pressure from 533 to 1067 Pa. The samples were then characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, Raman spectroscopy, aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected-area electron diffraction, and a specialized plasmon imaging method. We found that the material changed with increasing pressuremore » from predominantly amorphous silicon monoxide to silicon dioxide containing nanocrystalline silicon. The nanostructure changed from amorphous silicon filaments to nanocrystalline silicon filaments, which were found to cause anisotropic electron transport.« less

XFAS SPECTROSCOPY ANALYSIS OF SELECTED HAP ELEMENTS IN FINE PM DERIVED FROM COAL COMBUSTION: JOURNAL ARTICLE

EPA Science Inventory

NRMRL-RTP-P-646 Shoji, T., Huggins, F.E., Huffman, G.P., Linak*, W.P., and Miller*, C.A. XFAS Spectroscopy Analysis of Selected HAP Elements in Fine PM Derived from Coal Combustion. Energy and Fuels 16 (2): (2002). 11/30/2001 X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscop...

Superoxygenated Water as an Experimental Sample for NMR Relaxometry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nestle, Nikolaus; Dakkouri, Marwan; Rauscher, Hubert

2004-01-01

The increase in NMR relaxation rates as a result of dissolved paramagnetic species on the sample of superoxygenated drinking water is demonstrated. It is concluded that oxygen content in NMR samples is an important issue and can give rise to various problems in the interpretation of both spectroscopic and NMR imaging or relaxation experiments.

The Rest-frame Optical Spectroscopic Properties of Lyalpha-emitters at Z~2.5: The Physical Origins of Strong Lyalpha Emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trainor, Ryan F.; Strom, Allison L.; Steidel, Charles C.; Rudie, Gwen C.

2016-12-01

We present the rest-frame optical spectroscopic properties of 60 faint (R AB ˜ 27; L ˜ 0.1 L *) Lyα-selected galaxies (LAEs) at z ≈ 2.56. These LAEs also have rest-UV spectra of their Lyα emission line morphologies, which trace the effects of interstellar and circumgalactic gas on the escape of Lyα photons. We find that the LAEs have diverse rest-optical spectra, but their average spectroscopic properties are broadly consistent with the extreme low-metallicity end of the populations of continuum-selected galaxies selected at z ≈ 2-3. In particular, the LAEs have extremely high [O III] λ5008/Hβ ratios (log([O III]/Hβ) ˜ 0.8) and low [N II] λ6585/Hα ratios (log([N II]/Hα) < 1.15). Coupled with a detection of the [O III] λ4364 auroral line, these measurements indicate that the star-forming regions in faint LAEs are characterized by high electron temperatures (T e ≈ 1.8 × 104 K), low oxygen abundances (12 + log(O/H) ≈ 8.04, Z neb ≈ 0.22Z ⊙), and high excitations with respect to their more luminous continuum-selected analogs. Several of our faintest LAEs have line ratios consistent with even lower metallicities, including six with 12 + log(O/H) ≈ 6.9-7.4 (Z neb ≈ 0.02-0.05Z ⊙). We interpret these observations in light of new models of stellar evolution (including binary interactions) that have been shown to produce long-lived populations of hot, massive stars at low metallicities. We find that strong, hard ionizing continua are required to reproduce our observed line ratios, suggesting that faint galaxies are efficient producers of ionizing photons and important analogs of reionization-era galaxies. Furthermore, we investigate the physical trends accompanying Lyα emission across the largest current sample of combined Lyα and rest-optical galaxy spectroscopy, including both the 60 KBSS-Lyα LAEs and 368 more luminous galaxies at similar redshifts. We find that the net Lyα emissivity (parameterized by the Lyα equivalent width) is strongly correlated with nebular excitation and ionization properties and weakly correlated with dust attenuation, suggesting that metallicity plays a strong role in determining the observed properties of these galaxies by modulating their stellar spectra, nebular excitation, and dust content. Based on data obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation.

THE REST-FRAME OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPIC PROPERTIES OF LY α -EMITTERS AT z  ∼ 2.5: THE PHYSICAL ORIGINS OF STRONG LY α EMISSION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Trainor, Ryan F.; Strom, Allison L.; Steidel, Charles C.

We present the rest-frame optical spectroscopic properties of 60 faint ( R {sub AB} ∼ 27; L ∼ 0.1 L {sub *}) Ly α -selected galaxies (LAEs) at z  ≈ 2.56. These LAEs also have rest-UV spectra of their Ly α emission line morphologies, which trace the effects of interstellar and circumgalactic gas on the escape of Ly α photons. We find that the LAEs have diverse rest-optical spectra, but their average spectroscopic properties are broadly consistent with the extreme low-metallicity end of the populations of continuum-selected galaxies selected at z  ≈ 2–3. In particular, the LAEs have extremely high [O iii]more » λ 5008/H β ratios (log([O iii]/H β ) ∼ 0.8) and low [N ii] λ 6585/H α ratios (log([N ii]/H α ) < 1.15). Coupled with a detection of the [O iii] λ 4364 auroral line, these measurements indicate that the star-forming regions in faint LAEs are characterized by high electron temperatures (T{sub e} ≈ 1.8 × 10{sup 4} K), low oxygen abundances (12 + log(O/H) ≈ 8.04, Z{sub neb} ≈ 0.22 Z {sub ⊙}), and high excitations with respect to their more luminous continuum-selected analogs. Several of our faintest LAEs have line ratios consistent with even lower metallicities, including six with 12 + log(O/H) ≈ 6.9–7.4 (Z {sub neb} ≈ 0.02–0.05 Z{sub ⊙}). We interpret these observations in light of new models of stellar evolution (including binary interactions) that have been shown to produce long-lived populations of hot, massive stars at low metallicities. We find that strong, hard ionizing continua are required to reproduce our observed line ratios, suggesting that faint galaxies are efficient producers of ionizing photons and important analogs of reionization-era galaxies. Furthermore, we investigate the physical trends accompanying Ly α emission across the largest current sample of combined Ly α and rest-optical galaxy spectroscopy, including both the 60 KBSS-Ly α LAEs and 368 more luminous galaxies at similar redshifts. We find that the net Ly α emissivity (parameterized by the Ly α equivalent width) is strongly correlated with nebular excitation and ionization properties and weakly correlated with dust attenuation, suggesting that metallicity plays a strong role in determining the observed properties of these galaxies by modulating their stellar spectra, nebular excitation, and dust content.« less

High-Definition Infrared Spectroscopic Imaging

PubMed Central

Reddy, Rohith K.; Walsh, Michael J.; Schulmerich, Matthew V.; Carney, P. Scott; Bhargava, Rohit

2013-01-01

The quality of images from an infrared (IR) microscope has traditionally been limited by considerations of throughput and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). An understanding of the achievable quality as a function of instrument parameters, from first principals is needed for improved instrument design. Here, we first present a model for light propagation through an IR spectroscopic imaging system based on scalar wave theory. The model analytically describes the propagation of light along the entire beam path from the source to the detector. The effect of various optical elements and the sample in the microscope is understood in terms of the accessible spatial frequencies by using a Fourier optics approach and simulations are conducted to gain insights into spectroscopic image formation. The optimal pixel size at the sample plane is calculated and shown much smaller than that in current mid-IR microscopy systems. A commercial imaging system is modified, and experimental data are presented to demonstrate the validity of the developed model. Building on this validated theoretical foundation, an optimal sampling configuration is set up. Acquired data were of high spatial quality but, as expected, of poorer SNR. Signal processing approaches were implemented to improve the spectral SNR. The resulting data demonstrated the ability to perform high-definition IR imaging in the laboratory by using minimally-modified commercial instruments. PMID:23317676

High-definition infrared spectroscopic imaging.

PubMed

Reddy, Rohith K; Walsh, Michael J; Schulmerich, Matthew V; Carney, P Scott; Bhargava, Rohit

2013-01-01

The quality of images from an infrared (IR) microscope has traditionally been limited by considerations of throughput and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). An understanding of the achievable quality as a function of instrument parameters, from first principals is needed for improved instrument design. Here, we first present a model for light propagation through an IR spectroscopic imaging system based on scalar wave theory. The model analytically describes the propagation of light along the entire beam path from the source to the detector. The effect of various optical elements and the sample in the microscope is understood in terms of the accessible spatial frequencies by using a Fourier optics approach and simulations are conducted to gain insights into spectroscopic image formation. The optimal pixel size at the sample plane is calculated and shown much smaller than that in current mid-IR microscopy systems. A commercial imaging system is modified, and experimental data are presented to demonstrate the validity of the developed model. Building on this validated theoretical foundation, an optimal sampling configuration is set up. Acquired data were of high spatial quality but, as expected, of poorer SNR. Signal processing approaches were implemented to improve the spectral SNR. The resulting data demonstrated the ability to perform high-definition IR imaging in the laboratory by using minimally-modified commercial instruments.

Raman microspectroscopy and FTIR crystallization studies of 2,4,6-TNT in soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manrique-Bastidas, Cesar A.; Mina, Nairmen; Castro, Miguel E.; Hernandez-Rivera, Samuel P.

2005-06-01

2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene is a high explosive used in manufacturing landmine, bombs, and other explosive devices. It has been the main source of contamination in groundwater, soil as a result of intentional or accidental releases at many places around the world. Crystallization of TNT in soil from TNT/methanol solutions was carried out and characterized using vibrational spectroscopy. TNT exhibits a series of characteristic bands that allow its detection when in soil. The spectroscopic signatures of neat TNT and TNT in soil samples were determined with Raman Microspectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Microscopy. The spectroscopic signature of neat TNT is dominated by strong bands about 1380 and 2970 cm-1. The intensity and position of these bands are found remarkably different in soil samples spiked with TNT. The 1380 cm-1 band is split into a number of bands in that region. The 2970 cm-1 is reduced in intensity and new bands are observed at about 2880 cm-1. The results are consistent with a different chemical environment for TNT in soil as compared to neat TNT. Further measurements are required to fully understand the spectroscopic signature of TNT in soil samples. Its detection in soil is essential in landmine detection technology, and could address the improvement of the devices in the mentioned technology.

Dispersive Raman spectroscopy for the nondestructive and rapid assessment of honey quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mignani, A. G.; Ciaccheri, L.; Mencaglia, A. A.; Di Sanzo, R.; Carabetta, S.; Russo, M. T.

2015-09-01

Raman spectroscopy performed using optical fibers, with excitation at 1064 nm and a dispersive detection scheme, was utilized to measure a selection of unifloral honeys produced in the Italian region of Calabria. The honey samples had three different botanical origins: chestnut, citrus, and acacia, respectively. A multivariate processing of the spectroscopic data enabled us to distinguish their botanical origin, and to build predictive models for quantifying important nutraceutic indicators such as the main sugars and potassium. Furthermore, the Raman spectra of chestnut honeys were compared with the taste profile measured by an electronic tongue, and a good correlation to bitter/savory taste was obtained. This experiment indicates the excellent potentials of Raman spectroscopy as an analytical tool for the nondestructive and rapid assessment of food-quality indicators.

Raman spectroscopy of white wines.

PubMed

Martin, Coralie; Bruneel, Jean-Luc; Guyon, François; Médina, Bernard; Jourdes, Michael; Teissedre, Pierre-Louis; Guillaume, François

2015-08-15

The feasibility of exploiting Raman scattering to analyze white wines has been investigated using 3 different wavelengths of the incoming laser radiation in the near-UV (325 nm), visible (532 nm) and near infrared (785 nm). To help in the interpretation of the Raman spectra, the absorption properties in the UV-visible range of two wine samples as well as their laser induced fluorescence have also been investigated. Thanks to the strong intensity enhancement of the Raman scattered light due to electronic resonance with 325 nm laser excitation, hydroxycinnamic acids may be detected and analyzed selectively. Fructose and glucose may also be easily detected below ca. 1000 cm(-1). This feasibility study demonstrates the potential of the Raman spectroscopic technique for the analysis of white wines. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Mira stars discovered in LAMOST DR4 (Yao+, 2017)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Y.; Liu, C.; Deng, L.; de Grijs, R.; Matsunaga, N.

2017-10-01

By the end of 2016 March, the wide-field Large sky Area Multi-Object fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) DR4 catalog had accumulated 7681185 spectra (R=1800), of which 6898298 were of stars. We compiled a photometrically confirmed sample of Mira variables from the Kiso Wide-Field Camera (KWFC) Intensive Survey of the Galactic Plane (KISOGP; Matsunaga 2017, arXiv:1705.08567), the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) International Database Variable Star Index (VSX; Watson 2006, B/vsx, version 2017-05-02; we selected stars of variability type "M"), and the SIMBAD Astronomical Database. We first cross-matched the KISOGP and VSX Miras with the LAMOST DR4 catalog. Finally, we cross-matched the DR4 catalog with the SIMBAD database. See section 2. (1 data file).

SIX MORE QUASARS AT REDSHIFT 6 DISCOVERED BY THE CANADA-FRANCE HIGH-z QUASAR SURVEY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Willott, Chris J.; Crampton, David; Hutchings, John B.

2009-03-15

We present imaging and spectroscopic observations for six quasars at z {>=} 5.9 discovered by the Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey (CFHQS). The CFHQS contains subsurveys with a range of flux and area combinations to sample a wide range of quasar luminosities at z {approx} 6. The new quasars have luminosities 10-75 times lower than the most luminous Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasars at this redshift. The least luminous quasar, CFHQS J0216-0455 at z = 6.01, has absolute magnitude M {sub 1450} = -22.21, well below the likely break in the luminosity function. This quasar is not detected in a deepmore » XMM-Newton survey showing that optical selection is still a very efficient tool for finding high-redshift quasars.« less

Customizing model membranes and samples for NMR spectroscopic studies of complex membrane proteins.

PubMed

Sanders, C R; Oxenoid, K

2000-11-23

Both solution and solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques for structural determination are advancing rapidly such that it is possible to contemplate bringing these techniques to bear upon integral membrane proteins having multiple transmembrane segments. This review outlines existing and emerging options for model membrane media for use in such studies and surveys the special considerations which must be taken into account when preparing larger membrane proteins for NMR spectroscopic studies.

Cavity ring-down spectroscopy in the liquid phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Shucheng; Sha, Guohe; Xie, Jinchun

2002-02-01

A new application for cavity ring-down spectroscopic (CRDS) technique using a pulsed polarized light source has been developed in the absorption measurement of liquids for "colorless" organic compounds using both a single sample cell and double sample cells inserted in an optical cavity at Brewster angle. At present an experimental capability of measuring absorption coefficients as small as 2-5×10-7 cm-1 has been demonstrated by measurement of the absorption baselines. The first spectra for CRDS in the liquid phase, the C-H stretching fifth vibrational overtones of benzene in the pure liquid and hexane solution are obtained. The optical absorption length for liquids in both a single sample cell and double sample cells of 1 cm length is up to 900 cm due to multipass of light within an optical cavity. Compared to the thermal lens and optoacoustic spectroscopic techniques, the sensitivity for CRDS mainly depends on the optical absorption path of the sample (single passing path of the sample times multipass times), is not determined by the laser power and the length of the sample cell. The absolute absorption coefficient and band intensity for the sample are determined directly by the spectroscopy.

The HELLAS2XMM survey. IV. Optical identifications and the evolution of the accretion luminosity in the Universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiore, F.; Brusa, M.; Cocchia, F.; Baldi, A.; Carangelo, N.; Ciliegi, P.; Comastri, A.; La Franca, F.; Maiolino, R.; Matt, G.; Molendi, S.; Mignoli, M.; Perola, G. C.; Severgnini, P.; Vignali, C.

2003-10-01

We present results from the photometric and spectroscopic identification of 122 X-ray sources recently discovered by XMM-Newton in the 2-10 keV band (the HELLAS2XMM 1dF sample). Their flux cover the range 8*E-15-4*E-13 erg cm-2 s-1 and the total area surveyed is 0.9 square degrees. One of the most interesting results (which is found also in deeper sourveys) is that about 20% of the hard X-ray selected sources have an X-ray to optical flux ratio (X/O) ten times or more higher than that of optically selected AGN. Unlike the faint sources found in the ultra-deep Chandra and XMM-Newton surveys, which reach X-ray (and optical) fluxes more than one order of magnitude lower than the HELLAS2XMM survey sources, many of the extreme X/O sources in our sample have Rprotect la25 and are therefore accessible to optical spectroscopy. We report the identification of 13 sources with X/Oprotect ga10 (to be compared with 9 sources known from the deeper, pencil-beam surveys). Eight of them are narrow line QSO (seemingly the extension to very high luminosity of the type 2 Seyfert galaxies), four are broad line QSO. The results from our survey are also used to make reliable predictions about the luminosity of the sources not yet spectroscopically identified, both in our sample and in deeper Chandra and XMM-Newton samples. We then use a combined sample of 317 hard X-ray selected sources (HELLAS2XMM 1dF, Chandra Deep Field North 1Msec, Chandra SSA13 and XMM-Newton Lockman Hole flux limited samples), 221 with measured redshifts, to evaluate the cosmological evolution of the hard X-ray source's number and luminosity densities. Looking backward in time, the low luminosity sources (log L2-10 keV=43-44 erg s-1) increase in number at a much slower rate than the very high luminosity sources (log L2-10 keV >44.5 erg s-1), reaching a maximum around z=1 and then levelling off beyond z=2. This translates into an accretion driven luminosity density which is dominated by sources with log L2-10 keV <44.5 erg s-1 up to at least z=1, while the contribution of the same sources and of those with log L2-10 keV >44.5 erg s-1 appear, with yet rather large uncertainties, to be comparable between z=2 and 4. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla and Paranal, Chile, and at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo, Roque de Los Muchachos, La Palma, TF, Spain. Based also on observations made with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission. Table 1 is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/409/79

Autonomous sample switcher for Mössbauer spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López, J. H.; Restrepo, J.; Barrero, C. A.; Tobón, J. E.; Ramírez, L. F.; Jaramillo, J.

2017-11-01

In this work we show the design and implementation of an autonomous sample switcher device to be used as a part of the experimental set up in transmission Mössbauer spectroscopy, which can be extended to other spectroscopic techniques employing radioactive sources. The changer is intended to minimize radiation exposure times to the users or technical staff and to optimize the use of radioactive sources without compromising the resolution of measurements or spectra. This proposal is motivated firstly by the potential hazards arising from the use of radioactive sources and secondly by the expensive costs involved, and in other cases the short life times, where a suitable and optimum use of the sources is crucial. The switcher system includes a PIC microcontroller for simple tasks involving sample displacement and positioning, in addition to a virtual instrument developed by using LabView. The shuffle of the samples proceeds in a sequential way based on the number of counts and the signal to noise ratio as selection criteria whereas the virtual instrument allows performing} a remote monitoring from a PC via Internet about the status of the spectra and to take control decisions. As an example, we show a case study involving a series of akaganeite samples. An efficiency and economical analysis is finally presented and discussed.

Linear Thermal Expansion Measurements of Lead Magnesium Niobate (PMN) Electroceramic Material for the Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karlmann, Paul B.; Halverson, Peter G.; Peters, Robert D.; Levine, Marie B.; VanBuren, David; Dudik, Matthew J.

2005-01-01

Linear thermal expansion measurements of nine samples of Lead Magnesium Niobate (PMN) electroceramic material were recently performed in support of NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph (TPF-C) mission. The TPF-C mission is a visible light coronagraph designed to look at roughly 50 stars pre- selected as good candidates for possessing earth-like planets. Upon detection of an earth-like planet, TPF-C will analyze the visible-light signature of the planet's atmosphere for specific spectroscopic indicators that life may exist there. With this focus, the project's primary interest in PMN material is for use as a solid-state actuator for deformable mirrors or compensating optics. The nine test samples were machined from three distinct boules of PMN ceramic manufactured by Xinetics Inc. Thermal expansion measurements were performed in 2005 at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in their Cryogenic Dilatometer Facility. All measurements were performed in vacuum with sample temperature actively controlled over the range of 270K to 3 10K. Expansion and contraction of the test samples with temperature was measured using a JPL developed interferometric system capable of sub-nanometer accuracy. Presented in this paper is a discussion of the sample configuration, test facilities, test method, data analysis, test results, and future plans.

Enhancing forensic science with spectroscopic imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ricci, Camilla; Kazarian, Sergei G.

2006-09-01

This presentation outlines the research we are developing in the area of Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic imaging with the focus on materials of forensic interest. FTIR spectroscopic imaging has recently emerged as a powerful tool for characterisation of heterogeneous materials. FTIR imaging relies on the ability of the military-developed infrared array detector to simultaneously measure spectra from thousands of different locations in a sample. Recently developed application of FTIR imaging using an ATR (Attenuated Total Reflection) mode has demonstrated the ability of this method to achieve spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit of infrared light in air. Chemical visualisation with enhanced spatial resolution in micro-ATR mode broadens the range of materials studied with FTIR imaging with applications to pharmaceutical formulations or biological samples. Macro-ATR imaging has also been developed for chemical imaging analysis of large surface area samples and was applied to analyse the surface of human skin (e.g. finger), counterfeit tablets, textile materials (clothing), etc. This approach demonstrated the ability of this imaging method to detect trace materials attached to the surface of the skin. This may also prove as a valuable tool in detection of traces of explosives left or trapped on the surfaces of different materials. This FTIR imaging method is substantially superior to many of the other imaging methods due to inherent chemical specificity of infrared spectroscopy and fast acquisition times of this technique. Our preliminary data demonstrated that this methodology will provide the means to non-destructive detection method that could relate evidence to its source. This will be important in a wider crime prevention programme. In summary, intrinsic chemical specificity and enhanced visualising capability of FTIR spectroscopic imaging open a window of opportunities for counter-terrorism and crime-fighting, with applications ranging from analysis of trace evidence (e.g. in soil), tablets, drugs, fibres, tape explosives, biological samples to detection of gunshot residues and imaging of fingerprints.

On Galactic Density Modeling in the Presence of Dust Extinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bovy, Jo; Rix, Hans-Walter; Green, Gregory M.; Schlafly, Edward F.; Finkbeiner, Douglas P.

2016-02-01

Inferences about the spatial density or phase-space structure of stellar populations in the Milky Way require a precise determination of the effective survey volume. The volume observed by surveys such as Gaia or near-infrared spectroscopic surveys, which have good coverage of the Galactic midplane region, is highly complex because of the abundant small-scale structure in the three-dimensional interstellar dust extinction. We introduce a novel framework for analyzing the importance of small-scale structure in the extinction. This formalism demonstrates that the spatially complex effect of extinction on the selection function of a pencil-beam or contiguous sky survey is equivalent to a low-pass filtering of the extinction-affected selection function with the smooth density field. We find that the angular resolution of current 3D extinction maps is sufficient for analyzing Gaia sub-samples of millions of stars. However, the current distance resolution is inadequate and needs to be improved by an order of magnitude, especially in the inner Galaxy. We also present a practical and efficient method for properly taking the effect of extinction into account in analyses of Galactic structure through an effective selection function. We illustrate its use with the selection function of red-clump stars in APOGEE using and comparing a variety of current 3D extinction maps.

Quantitative spectroscopic analyses in the IACOB+OWN project: Massive O-type stars in the Galaxy with the current Gaia information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holgado, Gonzalo; Simón-Díaz, Sergio; Barbá, Rodolfo

2017-11-01

We present the results from the quantitative spectroscopic analysis of ~280 likely single O stars targeted by the IACOB and OWN surveys. This implies the largest sample of Galactic O-type stars analyzed homogeneously to date. We used the iacob-broad and iacob-gbat tools (see Simón-Díaz et al. 2011,2015) to obtain the complete set of spectroscopic parameters which can be determined from the optical spectrum of O-type stars: projected rotational velocity (v sin i), macroturbulence velocity (v mac), effective temperature (T eff), gravity (logg), wind-strength (logQ), helium abundance (Y He), microturbulence (ξt), and the exponent of the wind-law (β).

Spectroscopic and Interferometric Measurements of Nine K Giant Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baines, Ellyn K.; Döllinger, Michaela P.; Guenther, Eike W.; Hatzes, Artie P.; Hrudkovu, Marie; van Belle, Gerard T.

2016-09-01

We present spectroscopic and interferometric measurements for a sample of nine K giant stars. These targets are of particular interest because they are slated for stellar oscillation observations. Our improved parameters will directly translate into reduced errors in the final masses for these stars when interferometric radii and asteroseismic densities are combined. Here, we determine each star’s limb-darkened angular diameter, physical radius, luminosity, bolometric flux, effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, and mass. When we compare our interferometric and spectroscopic results, we find no systematic offsets in the diameters and the values generally agree within the errors. Our interferometric temperatures for seven of the nine stars are hotter than those determined from spectroscopy with an average difference of about 380 K.

The Origin, Composition and History of Comets from Spectroscopic Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allamandola, L. J.

1997-01-01

A wealth of information essential to understanding the composition and physical structure of cometary ice and hence gain deep insight into the comet's origin and history, can be gleaned by carrying out a full range of spectroscopic studies on the returned sample. These studies ought to be among the first performed as they are generally non-destructive and will provide a broad data bank which will be crucial in planning subsequent analysis. Examples of the spectroscopic techniques along with relative sensitivities and transitions probed, are discussed. Different kind of "spectroscopy" is summarized, with emphasis placed on the kind of information each provides. Infrared spectroscopy should be the premier method of analysis as the mid-IR absorption spectrum of a substance contains more global information about the identity and structure of that material than any other property. In fact, the greatest strides in our understanding of the composition of interstellar ices (thought by many to be the primordial material from which comets have formed) have been taken during the past ten years or so because this was when high quality infrared spectra of the interstellar medium (ISM) first became available. The interpretation of the infrared spectra of mixtures, such as expected in comets, is often (not always) ambiguous. Consequently, a full range of other non-destructive, complementary spectroscopic measurements are required to fully characterize the material, to probe for substances for which the IR is not well suited and to lay the groundwork for future analysis. Given the likelihood that the icy component (including some of the organic and mineral phases) of the returned sample will be exceedingly complex, these techniques must be intensely developed over the next decade and then made ready to apply flawlessly to what will certainly be one of the most precious, and most challenging, samples ever analyzed.

Invention of the Annular Inductively Coupled Plasma as a Spectroscopic Source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greenfield, Stanley

2000-05-01

This paper shows how experiments with electrical discharges from the 18th century onward led to their use as sources in atomic spectroscopy and how the invention of the annular inductively coupled plasma (ICP) some 30 years ago arose from the need to solve a problem that necessitated the use of a high-temperature source. The search for such a source followed a fairly logical pattern involving dc plasma jets and an ICP such as had been used by T. B. Reed for crystal growing. The ellipsoidal plasma used by Reed was not entirely suitable as a spectroscopic source, since the analytical sample either mixed with the plasma gases or passed around the plasma, resulting in matrix effects and a diminution in the emission. It is shown how suitable modification of the plasma torch with attention to gas flows made it possible to produce an annular or tunnel plasma through which the sample aerosol could be passed, resulting in an annular ICP with greatly improved spectroscopic properties. The further refinements to the source and ancillary equipment are also discussed.

A Spectroscopic Survey and Analysis of Bright, Hydrogen-rich White Dwarfs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gianninas, A.; Bergeron, P.; Ruiz, M. T.

2011-12-01

We have conducted a spectroscopic survey of over 1300 bright (V <= 17.5), hydrogen-rich white dwarfs based largely on the last published version of the McCook & Sion catalog. The complete results from our survey, including the spectroscopic analysis of over 1100 DA white dwarfs, are presented. High signal-to-noise ratio optical spectra were obtained for each star and were subsequently analyzed using our standard spectroscopic technique where the observed Balmer line profiles are compared to synthetic spectra computed from the latest generation of model atmospheres appropriate for these stars. First, we present the spectroscopic content of our sample, which includes many misclassifications as well as several DAB, DAZ, and magnetic white dwarfs. Next, we look at how the new Stark broadening profiles affect the determination of the atmospheric parameters. When necessary, specific models and analysis techniques are used to derive the most accurate atmospheric parameters possible. In particular, we employ M dwarf templates to obtain better estimates of the atmospheric parameters for those white dwarfs that are in DA+dM binary systems. Certain unique white dwarfs and double-degenerate binary systems are also analyzed in greater detail. We then examine the global properties of our sample including the mass distribution and their distribution as a function of temperature. We then proceed to test the accuracy and robustness of our method by comparing our results to those of other surveys such as SPY and Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Finally, we revisit the ZZ Ceti instability strip and examine how the determination of its empirical boundaries is affected by the latest line profile calculations. Based on observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla or Paranal Observatories under program ID 078.D-0824(A).

IRAC Photometry of the Coldest CatWISE-selected Brown Dwarfs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meisner, Aaron; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Eisenhardt, Peter; Marocco, Federico; Faherty, Jacqueline; Cushing, Michael; Wright, Edward

2018-05-01

We will obtain IRAC [3.6] and [4.5] photometry of 250 extremely cool brown dwarfs newly revealed by the powerful combination of WISE and NEOWISE imaging at 4.6 microns. Our CatWISE effort, which is an archival data analysis program using WISE and NEOWISE data, will improve upon the motion selection of AllWISE by enabling a >10x time baseline enhancement, from 0.5 years (AllWISE) to 6.5 years (CatWISE). As a result, CatWISE motion selection is expected to yield a dramatic 8-fold increase in the sample of known brown dwarfs at spectral types T5 and later (T < 1,200 K). Many of the coolest such CatWISE discoveries will be detected exclusively in the WISE 4.6 micron (W2) channel. WISE W1 (3.4 micron) nondetections, which we expect for the majority of our most interesting sources, will provide only limits on mid-infrared color. Spitzer can supply this critical datum by measuring accurate [3.6]-[4.5] colors of our discoveries. These Spitzer color measurements will permit photometric spectral type estimates, which in turn yield estimates for critical parameters including luminosity, distance, and near-infrared flux. Using large [3.6]-[4.5] color to pinpoint the coldest late T and Y dwarfs among our CatWISE sample will enable us to prioritize these objects for spectroscopic follow-up, better understand the bottom of the substellar mass function, and identify nearby giant planet analogs suitable for future atmospheric studies with JWST.

The physical properties and evolution of Lyα emitting galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pentericci, L.; Grazian, A.; Fontana, A.

2009-05-01

A significant fraction of high redshift starburst galaxies presents strong Lyα emission. Understanding the nature of these galaxies is important to assess the role they played in the early Universe and to shed light on the relation between the narrow band selected Lyα emitters and the Lyman break galaxies: are the Lyα emitters a subset of the general LBG population? or do they represent the youngest galaxies in their early phases of formation? We studied a sample of UV continuum selected galaxies from z~2.5 to z~6 (U, B, V and i-dropouts) from the GOODS-South survey, that have been observed spectroscopically. Using the GOODS-MUSIC catalog we investigated their physical properties, such as total masses, ages, SFRs, extinction etc as determined from a spectrophotometric fit to the multi-wavelength (U band to mid-IR) SEDs, and their dependence on the emission line characteristics. In particular we determined the nature of the LBGs with Lyα in emission and compared them to the properties of narrow band selected Lyα emitters. For U and B-dropouts we also compared the properties of LBGs with and without the Lyα emission line.

Peptide-activated gold nanoparticles for selective visual sensing of virus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sajjanar, Basavaraj; Kakodia, Bhuvna; Bisht, Deepika; Saxena, Shikha; Singh, Arvind Kumar; Joshi, Vinay; Tiwari, Ashok Kumar; Kumar, Satish

2015-05-01

In this study, we report peptide-gold nanoparticles (AuNP)-based visual sensor for viruses. Citrate-stabilized AuNP (20 ± 1.9 nm) were functionalized with strong sulfur-gold interface using cysteinylated virus-specific peptide. Peptide-Cys-AuNP formed complexes with the viruses which made them to aggregate. The aggregation can be observed with naked eye and also with UV-Vis spectrophotometer as a color change from bright red to purple. The test allows for fast and selective detection of specific viruses. Spectroscopic measurements showed high linear correlation ( R 2 = 0.995) between the changes in optical density ratio (OD610/OD520) with the different concentrations of virus. The new method was compared with the hemagglutinating (HA) test for Newcastle disease virus (NDV). The results indicated that peptide-Cys-AuNP was more sensitive and can visually detect minimum number of virus particles present in the biological samples. The limit of detection for the NDV was 0.125 HA units of the virus. The method allows for selective detection and quantification of the NDV, and requires no isolation of viral RNA and PCR experiments. This strategy may be utilized for detection of other important human and animal viral pathogens.

Ohio State Infrared Imager/Spectrograph (OSIRIS) | SOAR

Science.gov Websites

opperate at wavelengths from 0.9 to 2.4 microns. Internal optics allow for two plate scales and a variety of spectroscopic resolutions. Internal mechanisms control the selected filter, focal plane mask

The Story of Supernova “Refsdal” Told by Muse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grillo, C.; Karman, W.; Suyu, S. H.; Rosati, P.; Balestra, I.; Mercurio, A.; Lombardi, M.; Treu, T.; Caminha, G. B.; Halkola, A.; Rodney, S. A.; Gavazzi, R.; Caputi, K. I.

2016-05-01

We present Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) observations in the core of the Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+2223, where the first magnified and spatially resolved multiple images of supernova (SN) “Refsdal” at redshift 1.489 were detected. Thanks to a Director's Discretionary Time program with the Very Large Telescope and the extraordinary efficiency of MUSE, we measure 117 secure redshifts with just 4.8 hr of total integration time on a single 1 arcmin2 target pointing. We spectroscopically confirm 68 galaxy cluster members, with redshift values ranging from 0.5272 to 0.5660, and 18 multiple images belonging to seven background, lensed sources distributed in redshifts between 1.240 and 3.703. Starting from the combination of our catalog with those obtained from extensive spectroscopic and photometric campaigns using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we select a sample of 300 (164 spectroscopic and 136 photometric) cluster members, within approximately 500 kpc from the brightest cluster galaxy, and a set of 88 reliable multiple images associated with 10 different background source galaxies and 18 distinct knots in the spiral galaxy hosting SN “Refsdal.” We exploit this valuable information to build six detailed strong-lensing models, the best of which reproduces the observed positions of the multiple images with an rms offset of only 0.″26. We use these models to quantify the statistical and systematic errors on the predicted values of magnification and time delay of the next emerging image of SN “Refsdal.” We find that its peak luminosity should occur between 2016 March and June and should be approximately 20% fainter than the dimmest (S4) of the previously detected images but above the detection limit of the planned HST/WFC3 follow-up. We present our two-dimensional reconstruction of the cluster mass density distribution and of the SN “Refsdal” host galaxy surface brightness distribution. We outline the road map toward even better strong-lensing models with a synergetic MUSE and HST effort. This work is based in large part on data collected at ESO VLT (prog.ID 294.A-5032) and NASA HST.

THE STORY OF SUPERNOVA “REFSDAL” TOLD BY MUSE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grillo, C.; Karman, W.; Caputi, K. I.

2016-05-10

We present Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) observations in the core of the Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+2223, where the first magnified and spatially resolved multiple images of supernova (SN) “Refsdal” at redshift 1.489 were detected. Thanks to a Director's Discretionary Time program with the Very Large Telescope and the extraordinary efficiency of MUSE, we measure 117 secure redshifts with just 4.8 hr of total integration time on a single 1 arcmin{sup 2} target pointing. We spectroscopically confirm 68 galaxy cluster members, with redshift values ranging from 0.5272 to 0.5660, and 18 multiple images belonging to sevenmore » background, lensed sources distributed in redshifts between 1.240 and 3.703. Starting from the combination of our catalog with those obtained from extensive spectroscopic and photometric campaigns using the Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ), we select a sample of 300 (164 spectroscopic and 136 photometric) cluster members, within approximately 500 kpc from the brightest cluster galaxy, and a set of 88 reliable multiple images associated with 10 different background source galaxies and 18 distinct knots in the spiral galaxy hosting SN “Refsdal.” We exploit this valuable information to build six detailed strong-lensing models, the best of which reproduces the observed positions of the multiple images with an rms offset of only 0.″26. We use these models to quantify the statistical and systematic errors on the predicted values of magnification and time delay of the next emerging image of SN “Refsdal.” We find that its peak luminosity should occur between 2016 March and June and should be approximately 20% fainter than the dimmest (S4) of the previously detected images but above the detection limit of the planned HST /WFC3 follow-up. We present our two-dimensional reconstruction of the cluster mass density distribution and of the SN “Refsdal” host galaxy surface brightness distribution. We outline the road map toward even better strong-lensing models with a synergetic MUSE and HST effort.« less

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Warm IRAS sources. II. (de Grijp+, 1992)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Grijp, M. H. K.; Keel, W. C.; Miley, G. K.; Goudfrooij, P.; Lub, J.

2011-01-01

We present optical spectra for a sample of 563 high-latitude IRAS sources selected from the Point Source Catalog to have relatively warm 25 to 60 micron colours. We have shown this selection criterion to be an efficient indicator for finding Seyfert galaxies. Plots of the optical spectra are shown and the fluxes of the strongest emission lines in these spectra are tabulated. After excluding 128 sources which are clearly galactic foreground objects, we obtained spectroscopic information for 358 extragalactic objects. Emission-line ratios have been used to classify these objects, resulting in 80 Seyfert 1, 141 Seyfert 2 and 133 HII-type objects. In comparison with samples of active nuclei selected in other ways, about 50% of known Seyfert nuclei are included by our colour criteria. This fraction is larger for high luminosities, reaching 80% for quasar luminosities. For lower-luminosity objects, contamination by the host galaxies becomes important and the sample becomes seriously incomplete. It should be moderately complete and representative for core luminosities greater than 1023.5W/Hz at 12m. Finally, the infrared luminosity function for each type of object is derived; the shapes for Seyfert 1 and 2 nuclei are identical, with a type 2/type 1 space-density ratio of 3.0. Our census is consistent with an obscuration scheme for producing both types of object from a single parent population, though the origin of excess cool IR radiation Irom many Seyferts is still unclear. We note the appearance of an apparent type II supernova in IRAS 0225-103 observed in 1985 September. Its spectrum suggests that it was observed between 1 and 2 months after maximum, perhaps in a "plateau" phase. (2 data files).

RECONSTRUCTING REDSHIFT DISTRIBUTIONS WITH CROSS-CORRELATIONS: TESTS AND AN OPTIMIZED RECIPE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Matthews, Daniel J.; Newman, Jeffrey A., E-mail: djm70@pitt.ed, E-mail: janewman@pitt.ed

2010-09-20

Many of the cosmological tests to be performed by planned dark energy experiments will require extremely well-characterized photometric redshift measurements. Current estimates for cosmic shear are that the true mean redshift of the objects in each photo-z bin must be known to better than 0.002(1 + z), and the width of the bin must be known to {approx}0.003(1 + z) if errors in cosmological measurements are not to be degraded significantly. A conventional approach is to calibrate these photometric redshifts with large sets of spectroscopic redshifts. However, at the depths probed by Stage III surveys (such as DES), let alonemore » Stage IV (LSST, JDEM, and Euclid), existing large redshift samples have all been highly (25%-60%) incomplete, with a strong dependence of success rate on both redshift and galaxy properties. A powerful alternative approach is to exploit the clustering of galaxies to perform photometric redshift calibrations. Measuring the two-point angular cross-correlation between objects in some photometric redshift bin and objects with known spectroscopic redshift, as a function of the spectroscopic z, allows the true redshift distribution of a photometric sample to be reconstructed in detail, even if it includes objects too faint for spectroscopy or if spectroscopic samples are highly incomplete. We test this technique using mock DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift survey light cones constructed from the Millennium Simulation semi-analytic galaxy catalogs. From this realistic test, which incorporates the effects of galaxy bias evolution and cosmic variance, we find that the true redshift distribution of a photometric sample can, in fact, be determined accurately with cross-correlation techniques. We also compare the empirical error in the reconstruction of redshift distributions to previous analytic predictions, finding that additional components must be included in error budgets to match the simulation results. This extra error contribution is small for surveys that sample large areas of sky (>{approx}10{sup 0}-100{sup 0}), but dominant for {approx}1 deg{sup 2} fields. We conclude by presenting a step-by-step, optimized recipe for reconstructing redshift distributions from cross-correlation information using standard correlation measurements.« less

Spectroscopic, microchemical and petrographic analyses of plasters from ancient buildings in Lamezia Terme (Calabria, Southern Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Luca, Raffaella; Gigliotti, Valentina; Panarello, Mario; Bloise, Andrea; Crisci, Gino M.; Miriello, Domenico

2016-01-01

This work shows the results of the spectroscopic, microchemical and petrographic study carried out on six plasters coming from three important residential buildings of the 18th century, located in Lamezia Terme (Catanzaro, Southern Italy). To study the provenance of the raw materials used to make the plasters, one sample of limestone and two samples of sand were also collected from the quarries near Lamezia Terme and compared with the historical plasters. Samples were studied by polarized optical microscopy (OM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Raman spectroscopy. The results of these analyses allowed to determine the mineralogical, petrographical and chemical characteristics of the plasters, identify the pigments used for their coloration and provide useful information about the building techniques, the raw materials employed and the production technology of plasters during the 18th century in Lamezia Terme. SEM-EDS microanalysis also revealed the presence of gold and silver on the surface of two samples.

Clustering redshift distributions for the Dark Energy Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Helsby, Jennifer

Accurate determination of photometric redshifts and their errors is critical for large scale structure and weak lensing studies for constraining cosmology from deep, wide imaging surveys. Current photometric redshift methods suffer from bias and scatter due to incomplete training sets. Exploiting the clustering between a sample of galaxies for which we have spectroscopic redshifts and a sample of galaxies for which the redshifts are unknown can allow us to reconstruct the true redshift distribution of the unknown sample. Here we use this method in both simulations and early data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to determine the true redshift distributions of galaxies in photometric redshift bins. We find that cross-correlating with the spectroscopic samples currently used for training provides a useful test of photometric redshifts and provides reliable estimates of the true redshift distribution in a photometric redshift bin. We discuss the use of the cross-correlation method in validating template- or learning-based approaches to redshift estimation and its future use in Stage IV surveys.

Measurement of Cohesion in Asteroid Regolith Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kleinhenz, Julie E.; Gaier, James R.; Waters, Deborah L.; Harvey, Ralph; Zeszut, Zoe; Carreno, Brandon; Shober, Patrick

2017-01-01

A study has been initiated to examine cohesive forces in asteroid materials to contribute to a better understanding of low density bodies such as asteroids and Phobos, and assist in exploration missions involving interaction with their surface material. The test specimen used in this study was a lightly weathered CM2 meteorite which is spectroscopically similar to Type C (carbonaceous) asteroids, and thought to have representative surface chemistry. To account for sample heterogeneity, adhesion forces were measured between the CM2 sample and its five primary mineral phase components. These adhesive forces bound the range of cohesive force that can be expected for the bulk material. All materials were characterized using a variety of optical and spectroscopic methods. Adhesive forces on the order of 50 to 400 µN were measured using a torsion balance in an ultrahigh vacuum chamber. The mineral samples exhibited clearly different adhesive strengths in the following hierarchy: Serpentine > Siderite > Bronzite > Olivine ˜ Fe-Ni.

Advances in spectroscopic methods for quantifying soil carbon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Liebig, Mark; Franzluebbers, Alan J.; Follett, Ronald F.; Hively, W. Dean; Reeves, James B.; McCarty, Gregory W.; Calderon, Francisco

2012-01-01

The gold standard for soil C determination is combustion. However, this method requires expensive consumables, is limited to the determination of the total carbon and in the number of samples which can be processed (~100/d). With increased interest in soil C sequestration, faster methods are needed. Thus, interest in methods based on diffuse reflectance spectroscopy in the visible, near-infrared or mid-infrared ranges using either proximal or remote sensing. These methods have the ability to analyze more samples (2 to 3X/d) or huge areas (imagery) and do multiple analytes simultaneously, but require calibrations relating spectral and reference data and have specific problems, i.e., remote sensing is capable of scanning entire watersheds, thus reducing the sampling needed, but is limiting to the surface layer of tilled soils and by difficulty in obtaining proper calibration reference values. The objective of this discussion is the present state of spectroscopic methods for soil C determination.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Palomar/MSU and SDSS-DR7 M dwarfs with GALEX obs. (Jones+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, D. O.; West, A. A.

2016-03-01

To compare magnetic activity in the optical with UV activity, we matched the SDSS Data Release 7 (DR7; Abazajian et al. 2009, II/294) M dwarf spectroscopic catalog (West et al. 2011, J/AJ/141/97; R~2000) to GALEX data from Data Releases 6 and 7 (NUV: ~1750-2750Å and FUV: ~1350-1750Å; see II/312). The DR7 M dwarf catalog consists of 70841 SDSS M dwarfs with spectral types verified by eye. We supplemented the SDSS sample with the Palomar/MSU Nearby-Star Spectroscopic Survey (PMSU; Reid et al. 1995, III/198), which contains 1684 nearby low-mass stars (1415 M dwarfs) as part of the northern sample (δ>-30°) and 282 nearby low-mass stars (228 M dwarfs) as part of the southern sample. (2 data files).

Spectroscopy Measurements on Ablation Testing in High Enthalpy Plasma Flows

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-11-01

sample as well as the recession rate. Further, the chemical composition of the free- stream and the surrounding gas layer in front of the sample...of the samples due to ablation (mass loss & surface recession ), different temperature measurements (surface & inside) and spectroscopic results...25 5 MEASUREMENT RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ................................................................ 26 5.1 MASS LOSS AND RECESSION

Spectroscopic ellipsometry analysis of a thin film composite membrane consisting of polysulfone on a porous α-alumina support.

PubMed

Ogieglo, Wojciech; Wormeester, Herbert; Wessling, Matthias; Benes, Nieck E

2012-02-01

Exposure of a thin polymer film to a fluid can affect properties of the film such as the density and thickness. In particular in membrane technology, these changes can have important implications for membrane performance. Spectroscopic ellipsometry is a convenient technique for in situ studies of thin films, because of its noninvasive character and very high precision. The applicability of spectroscopic ellipsometry is usually limited to samples with well-defined interfacial regions, whereas in typical composite membranes, often substantial and irregular intrusion of the thin film into the pores of a support exists. In this work, we provide a detailed characterization of a polished porous alumina membrane support, using variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry in combination with atomic force microscopy and mercury porosimetry. Two Spectroscopic ellipsometry optical models are presented that can adequately describe the surface roughness of the support. These models consider the surface roughness as a distinct layer in which the porosity gradually increases toward the outer ambient interface. The first model considers the porosity profile to be linear; the second model assumes an exponential profile. It is shown that the models can be extended to account for a composite membrane geometry, by deposition of a thin polysulfone film onto the support. The developed method facilitates practicability for in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry studies of nonequilibrium systems, i.e., membranes under actual permeation conditions.

Trap level spectroscopic investigations of U: ZnAl2O4: Role of defect centres in the TSL process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohapatra, M.; Kumar, Mithlesh; Kadam, R. M.

2018-03-01

In order to evaluate the trap level spectroscopic properties of Uranium in ZnAl2O4 spinel host, undoped and Uranium doped ZnAl2O4 samples were synthesized. From photoluminescence (PL) data it was confirmed that uranium gets stabilized in the system as UO66- (octahedral uranate). Electron spin resonance (ESR) studies for the gamma irradiated sample suggested the formation of O2-, F+ and V centres. From the TSL (thermally stimulated luminescence) data, the trap parameters such as frequency factor and activation energy etc. were evaluated. From ESR-TSL correlation it was confirmed that the destruction of O2- ion coincides with TSL glow peak appeared at 332 K.

Raman spectroscopic analysis of the Maya wall paintings in Ek'Balam, Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vandenabeele, P.; Bodé, S.; Alonso, A.; Moens, L.

2005-08-01

Raman spectroscopy has been applied to the examination of wall painting fragments from the archaeological site of Ek'Balam (Yucatán, Mexico). Thirty-three samples have been studied, all originating from room 23 of the Acropolis, and being representative of the painting technique at Ek'Balam during the late Classic Maya period. Several pigments such as haematite, calcite, carbon, cinnabar and indigo were identified in these samples. The latter pigment was presumed to be present as 'Maya blue', which is an intercalation product of indigo and palygorskite clay. The observed Raman spectra are reported and some band assignments have been made. This survey is the first Raman spectroscopic examination of a whole set of pigments in archaeological Maya wall painting fragments.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic study of intact cells of the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azospirillum brasilense

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamnev, A. A.; Ristić, M.; Antonyuk, L. P.; Chernyshev, A. V.; Ignatov, V. V.

1997-06-01

The data of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic measurements performed on intact cells of the soil nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azospirillum brasilense grown in a standard medium and under the conditions of an increased metal uptake are compared and discussed. The structural FTIR information obtained is considered together with atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) data on the content of metal cations in the bacterial cells. Some methodological aspects concerning preparation of bacterial cell samples for FTIR measurements are also discussed.

Spectroscopic studies on the interaction of cysteine capped CuS nanoparticles with tyrosine

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Prasanth, S.; Raj, D. Rithesh; Kumar, T. V. Vineesh

2015-06-24

Biocompatible cysteine coated CuS nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple aqueous solution method. Hexagonal phase of the samples were confirmed from X-ray diffraction and particle size found to be 9 nm. The possible interaction between the bioactive cysteine capped CuS nanoparticles and tyrosine were investigated using spectroscopic techniques such as UV-Visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. It is observed that the luminescence intensity of tyrosine molecule enhanced by the addition CuS nanoparticles.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Northern bright planet host stars parameters (Sousa+, 2015)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sousa, S. G.; Santos, N. C.; Mortier, A.; Tsantaki, M.; Adibekyan, V.; Delgado Mena, E.; Israelian, G.; Rojas-Ayala, B.; Neves, V.

2015-03-01

The spectroscopic data were collected between 16 April 2013 and 20 August 2013 with the NARVAL spectrograph located at the 2-meter Bernard Lyot Telescope (@ Pic du Midi). The data was obtained through the Opticon proposal (OPTI- CON2013A027). Table 1 contains the spectroscopic parameters derived with ARES+MOOG for the sample of planet hosts analysed in this work. Table 2 contains the stellar mass and radius estimated for the planet hosts analysed in this work. (2 data files).

Variability of the health effects of crystalline silica: Fe speciation in industrial quartz reagents and suspended dusts—insights from XAS spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Benedetto, Francesco; D'Acapito, Francesco; Capacci, Fabio; Fornaciai, Gabriele; Innocenti, Massimo; Montegrossi, Giordano; Oberhauser, Werner; Pardi, Luca A.; Romanelli, Maurizio

2014-03-01

We investigated the speciation of Fe in bulk and in suspended respirable quartz dusts coming from ceramic and iron-casting industrial processes via X-ray absorption spectroscopy, with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of the variability of crystalline silica toxicity. Four different bulk industrial quartz powders, nominally pure quartz samples with Fe contents below 200 ppm, and three respirable dusts filters were selected. Fe speciation was determined in all samples through a coupled study of the X-ray absorption near-edge structure and extended X-ray absorption fine structure regions, operating at the Fe-K edge. Fe speciation revealed common features at the beginning of the different production processes, whereas significant differences were observed on both respirable dusts and bulk dusts exiting from the production process. Namely, a common pollution of the raw quartz dusts by elemental Fe was evidenced and attributed to residuals of the industrial production of quartz materials. Moreover, the respirable samples indicated that reactivity occurs after the suspension of the powders in air. The gravitational selection during the particle suspension consistently allowed us to clearly discriminate between suspended and bulk dusts. On the basis of the obtained results, we provide an apparent spectroscopic discrimination between the raw materials used in the considered industrial processes, and those that are effectively inhaled by workers. In particular, an amorphous FeIII oxide, with an unsaturated coordination sphere, can be related to silica reactivity (and health consequences).

Novel salicylic acid-oriented thiourea-type receptors as colorimetric chemosensor: Synthesis, characterizations and selective naked-eye recognition properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shaowei; Cao, Xiufang; Chen, Changshui; Ke, Shaoyong

2012-10-01

Based on the salicylic acid backbone, three highly sensitive and selective colorimetric chemosensors with an acylthiourea binding unit have been designed, synthesized and characterized. These chemosensors have been utilized for selective recognition of fluoride anions in dry DMSO solution by typical spectroscopic titration techniques. Furthermore, the obtained chemosensors AR1-3 have shown naked-eye sensitivity for detection of biologically important fluoride ion over other anions in solution.

Efficient spectroscopic imaging by an optimized encoding of pre-targeted resonances

PubMed Central

Zhang, Zhiyong; Shemesh, Noam; Frydman, Lucio

2016-01-01

A “relaxation-enhanced” (RE) selective-excitation approach to acquire in vivo localized spectra with flat baselines and very good signal-to-noise ratios –particularly at high fields– has been recently proposed. As RE MRS targets a subset of a priori known resonances, new possibilities arise to acquire spectroscopic imaging data in a faster, more efficient manner. Hereby we present one such opportunity based on what we denominate Relaxation-Enhanced Chemical-shift-Encoded Spectroscopically-Separated (RECESS) imaging. RECESS delivers spectral/spatial correlations of various metabolites, by collecting a gradient echo train whose timing is defined by the chemical shifts of the various selectively excited resonances to be disentangled. Different sites thus impart distinct, coherent phase modulations on the images; condition number considerations allow one to disentangle these contributions of the various sites by a simple matrix inversion. The efficiency of the ensuing spectral/spatial correlation method is high enough to enable the examination of additional spatial axes via their phase encoding in CPMG-like spin-echo trains. The ensuing single-shot 1D spectral / 2D spatial RECESS method thus accelerates the acquisition of quality MRSI data by factors that, depending on the sensitivity, range between 2 and 50. This is illustrated with a number of phantom, of ex vivo and of in vivo acquisitions. PMID:26910285

Gemini Spectroscopic Survey of Young Intermediate-Mass Star-Forming Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lundquist, Michael; Kobulnicky, Henry

2018-01-01

The majority of stars form in embedded clusters. Current research into star formation has focused on either high-mass star-forming regions or low-mass star-forming regions. We present the results from a Gemini spectroscopic survey of young intermediate-mass star-forming regions. These are star forming regions selected to produce stars up to but not exceeding 8 solar masses. We obtained spectra of these regions with GNIRS on Gemini North and Flamingos-2 on Gemini South. We also combine this with near-infrared imaging from 2MASS, UKIDSS, and VVV to study the stellar content.

Quantum-mechanical calculations of magnesium aspartate arginine structure and spectroscopic characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcoin, W.; Pasterny, K.; Wrzalik, R.

2005-05-01

Theoretical calculations of magnesium aspartate-arginine (Mg[Asp-Arg]) structure and spectroscopic characteristics have been performed in the gas phase with the GAUSSIAN 98 software package using density functional theory (DFT) at the B3PW91 level. The 6-31+G* basis set was selected due to their reasonable quality and size. The comparison with corresponding results for magnesium aspartate-glycine (Mg[Asp-Gly]) is presented. NMR and IR measurements were carried out and obtained experimental 1H and 13C chemical shifts and IR spectra are compared with calculated spectral parameters.

Theoretical dissociation energies for the alkali and alkaline-earth monofluorides and monochlorides

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Langhoff, S. R.; Bauschlicher, C. W., Jr.; Partridge, H.

1986-01-01

Spectroscopic parameters are accurately determined for the alkali and alkaline-earth monofluorides and monochlorides by means of ab initio self-consistent field and correlated wave function calculations. Numerical Hartree-Fock calculations are performed on selected systems to ensure that the extended Slater basis sets employed are near the Hartree-Fock limit. Since the bonding is predominantly electrostatic in origin, a strong correlation exists between the dissociation energy (to ions) and the spectroscopic parameter r(e). By dissociating to the ionic limits, most of the differential correlation effects can be embedded in the accurate experimental electron affinities and ionization potentials.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging of benign prostatic tissue: findings at 3.0 T compared to 1.5 T—initial experience☆

PubMed Central

Chitkara, Munish; Westphalen, Antonio; Kurhanewicz, John; Qayyum, Aliya; Poder, Liina; Reed, Galen; Coakley, Fergus V.

2013-01-01

In a retrospective study of 71 voxels of benign peripheral zone tissue from 3 men who underwent endorectal magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopic imaging of the prostate at both 1.5 and 3 T, 21 voxels that appeared more malignant at 3 T to either of two readers demonstrated significantly higher levels of choline and polyamines at 3 T compared to 1.5 T using a Wilcoxon ranked-sum test; awareness of this selective amplification of these metabolic signals at high field strength may help avoid overdiagnosis of prostate cancer. PMID:21724122

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Abundances of Population II stars in NGC 6397 (Lind+, 2008)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lind, K.; Korn, A. J.; Barklem, P. S.; Grundahl, F.

2010-03-01

The target selection for the spectroscopic study is based on Stroemgren uvby photometry. The photometric observations were collected with the DFOSC instrument on the 1.5m telescope on La Silla, Chile, in 1997. Additional BVI photometric data were obtained in 2005. All spectroscopic data were collected in Service Mode, with the fibre-fed, multi-object, medium-high resolution spectrograph FLAMES/GIRAFFE at ESO-VLT. FLAMES allows for 132 objects to be observed simultaneously, with GIRAFFE in MEDUSA mode, between 2005 Mar 23 and Apr 04. (2 data files).

The ALMA Spectroscopic Survey in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field: Continuum Number Counts, Resolved 1.2 mm Extragalactic Background, and Properties of the Faintest Dusty Star-forming Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aravena, M.; Decarli, R.; Walter, F.; Da Cunha, E.; Bauer, F. E.; Carilli, C. L.; Daddi, E.; Elbaz, D.; Ivison, R. J.; Riechers, D. A.; Smail, I.; Swinbank, A. M.; Weiss, A.; Anguita, T.; Assef, R. J.; Bell, E.; Bertoldi, F.; Bacon, R.; Bouwens, R.; Cortes, P.; Cox, P.; Gónzalez-López, J.; Hodge, J.; Ibar, E.; Inami, H.; Infante, L.; Karim, A.; Le Le Fèvre, O.; Magnelli, B.; Ota, K.; Popping, G.; Sheth, K.; van der Werf, P.; Wagg, J.

2016-12-01

We present an analysis of a deep (1σ = 13 μJy) cosmological 1.2 mm continuum map based on ASPECS, the ALMA Spectroscopic Survey in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. In the 1 arcmin2 covered by ASPECS we detect nine sources at \\gt 3.5σ significance at 1.2 mm. Our ALMA-selected sample has a median redshift of z=1.6+/- 0.4, with only one galaxy detected at z > 2 within the survey area. This value is significantly lower than that found in millimeter samples selected at a higher flux density cutoff and similar frequencies. Most galaxies have specific star formation rates (SFRs) similar to that of main-sequence galaxies at the same epoch, and we find median values of stellar mass and SFRs of 4.0× {10}10 {M}⊙ and ˜ 40 {M}⊙ yr-1, respectively. Using the dust emission as a tracer for the interstellar medium (ISM) mass, we derive depletion times that are typically longer than 300 Myr, and we find molecular gas fractions ranging from ˜0.1 to 1.0. As noted by previous studies, these values are lower than those using CO-based ISM estimates by a factor of ˜2. The 1 mm number counts (corrected for fidelity and completeness) are in agreement with previous studies that were typically restricted to brighter sources. With our individual detections only, we recover 55% ± 4% of the extragalactic background light (EBL) at 1.2 mm measured by the Planck satellite, and we recover 80% ± 7% of this EBL if we include the bright end of the number counts and additional detections from stacking. The stacked contribution is dominated by galaxies at z˜ 1{--}2, with stellar masses of (1-3) × 1010 M {}⊙ . For the first time, we are able to characterize the population of galaxies that dominate the EBL at 1.2 mm.

KECK SPECTROSCOPY OF FAINT 3 < z < 8 LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES: EVIDENCE FOR A DECLINING FRACTION OF EMISSION LINE SOURCES IN THE REDSHIFT RANGE 6 < z < 8

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schenker, Matthew A.; Ellis, Richard S.; Robertson, Brant E.

2012-01-10

Using deep Keck spectroscopy of Lyman break galaxies selected from infrared imaging data taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 on board the Hubble Space Telescope, we present new evidence for a reversal in the redshift-dependent fraction of star-forming galaxies with detectable Lyman alpha (Ly{alpha}) emission in the redshift range 6.3 < z < 8.8. Our earlier surveys with the DEIMOS spectrograph demonstrated a significant increase with redshift in the fraction of line emitting galaxies over the interval 4 < z < 6, particularly for intrinsically faint systems which dominate the luminosity density. Using the longer wavelength sensitivities of Lowmore » Resolution Imaging Spectrometer and NIRSPEC, we have targeted 19 Lyman break galaxies selected using recent WFC3/IR data whose photometric redshifts are in the range 6.3 < z < 8.8 and which span a wide range of intrinsic luminosities. Our spectroscopic exposures typically reach a 5{sigma} sensitivity of <50 A for the rest-frame equivalent width (EW) of Ly{alpha} emission. Despite the high fraction of emitters seen only a few hundred million years later, we find only two convincing and one possible line emitter in our more distant sample. Combining with published data on a further seven sources obtained using FORS2 on the ESO Very Large Telescope, and assuming continuity in the trends found at lower redshift, we discuss the significance of this apparent reversal in the redshift-dependent Ly{alpha} fraction in the context of our range in continuum luminosity. Assuming all the targeted sources are at their photometric redshift and our assumptions about the Ly{alpha} EW distribution are correct, we would expect to find so few emitters in less than 1% of the realizations drawn from our lower redshift samples. Our new results provide further support for the suggestion that, at the redshifts now being probed spectroscopically, we are entering the era where the intergalactic medium is partially neutral. With the arrival of more sensitive multi-slit infrared spectrographs, the prospects for improving the statistical validity of this result are promising.« less

Forbidden atomic transitions driven by an intensity-modulated laser trap.

PubMed

Moore, Kaitlin R; Anderson, Sarah E; Raithel, Georg

2015-01-20

Spectroscopy is an essential tool in understanding and manipulating quantum systems, such as atoms and molecules. The model describing spectroscopy includes the multipole-field interaction, which leads to established spectroscopic selection rules, and an interaction that is quadratic in the field, which is not often employed. However, spectroscopy using the quadratic (ponderomotive) interaction promises two significant advantages over spectroscopy using the multipole-field interaction: flexible transition rules and vastly improved spatial addressability of the quantum system. Here we demonstrate ponderomotive spectroscopy by using optical-lattice-trapped Rydberg atoms, pulsating the lattice light and driving a microwave atomic transition that would otherwise be forbidden by established spectroscopic selection rules. This ability to measure frequencies of previously inaccessible transitions makes possible improved determinations of atomic characteristics and constants underlying physics. The spatial resolution of ponderomotive spectroscopy is orders of magnitude better than the transition frequency would suggest, promising single-site addressability in dense particle arrays for quantum computing applications.

Reflectometry-Ellipsometry Reveals Thickness, Growth Rate, and Phase Composition in Oxidation of Copper.

PubMed

Diaz Leon, Juan J; Fryauf, David M; Cormia, Robert D; Zhang, Min-Xian Max; Samuels, Kathryn; Williams, R Stanley; Kobayashi, Nobuhiko P

2016-08-31

The oxidation of copper is a complicated process. Copper oxide develops two stable phases at room temperature and standard pressure (RTSP): cuprous oxide (Cu2O) and cupric oxide (CuO). Both phases have different optical and electrical characteristics that make them interesting for applications such as solar cells or resistive switching devices. For a given application, it is necessary to selectively control oxide thickness and cupric/cuprous oxide phase volume fraction. The thickness and composition of a copper oxide film growing on the surface of copper widely depend on the characteristics of as-deposited copper. In this Research Article, two samples, copper films prepared by two different deposition techniques, electron-beam evaporation and sputtering, were studied. As the core part of the study, the formation of the oxidized copper was analyzed routinely over a period of 253 days using spectroscopic polarized reflectometry-spectroscopic ellipsometry (RE). An effective medium approximation (EMA) model was used to fit the RE data. The RE measurements were complemented and validated by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Our results show that the two samples oxidized under identical laboratory ambient conditions (RTSP, 87% average relative humidity) developed unique oxide films following an inverse-logarithmic growth rate with thickness and composition different from each other over time. Discussion is focused on the ability of RE to simultaneously extract thickness (i.e., growth rate) and composition of copper oxide films and on plausible physical mechanisms responsible for unique oxidation habits observed in the two copper samples. It appears that extended surface characteristics (i.e., surface roughness and grain boundaries) and preferential crystalline orientation of as-deposited polycrystalline copper films control the growth kinetics of the copper oxide film. Analysis based on a noncontact and nondestructive measurement, such as RE, to extract key material parameters is beneficial for conveniently understanding the oxidation process that would ultimately enable copper oxide-based devices at manufacturing scales.

Spectroscopic analysis of solar and cosmic X-ray spectra. 1: The nature of cosmic X-ray spectra and proposed analytical techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, A. B. C., Jr.

1975-01-01

Techniques for the study of the solar corona are reviewed as an introduction to a discussion of modifications required for the study of cosmic sources. Spectroscopic analysis of individual sources and the interstellar medium is considered. The latter was studied via analysis of its effect on the spectra of selected individual sources. The effects of various characteristics of the ISM, including the presence of grains, molecules, and ionization, are first discussed, and the development of ISM models is described. The expected spectral structure of individual cosmic sources is then reviewed with emphasis on supernovae remnants and binary X-ray sources. The observational and analytical requirements imposed by the characteristics of these sources are identified, and prospects for the analysis of abundances and the study of physical parameters within them are assessed. Prospects for the spectroscopic study of other classes of X-ray sources are also discussed.

Pharmaceutical properties of two ethenzamide-gentisic acid cocrystal polymorphs: Drug release profiles, spectroscopic studies and theoretical calculations.

PubMed

Sokal, Agnieszka; Pindelska, Edyta; Szeleszczuk, Lukasz; Kolodziejski, Waclaw

2017-04-30

The aim of this study was to evaluate the stability and solubility of the polymorphic forms of the ethenzamide (ET) - gentisic acid (GA) cocrystals during standard technological processes leading to tablet formation, such as compression and excipient addition. In this work two polymorphic forms of pharmaceutical cocrystals (ETGA) were characterized by 13 C and 15 N solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy. Spectroscopic studies were supported by gauge including projector augmented wave (GIPAW) calculations of chemical shielding constants.Polymorphs of cocrystals were easily identified and characterized on the basis of solid-state spectroscopic studies. ETGA cocrystals behaviour during direct compressionand tabletting with excipient addition were tested. In order to choose the best tablet composition with suitable properties for the pharmaceutical industry dissolution profile studies of tablets containing polymorphic forms of cocrystals with selected excipients were carried out. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Sorption of trivalent lanthanides and actinides onto montmorillonite: Macroscopic, thermodynamic and structural evidence for ternary hydroxo and carbonato surface complexes on multiple sorption sites.

PubMed

Fernandes, M Marques; Scheinost, A C; Baeyens, B

2016-08-01

The credibility of long-term safety assessments of radioactive waste repositories may be greatly enhanced by a molecular level understanding of the sorption processes onto individual minerals present in the near- and far-fields. In this study we couple macroscopic sorption experiments to surface complexation modelling and spectroscopic investigations, including extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopies (TRLFS), to elucidate the uptake mechanism of trivalent lanthanides and actinides (Ln/An(III)) by montmorillonite in the absence and presence of dissolved carbonate. Based on the experimental sorption isotherms for the carbonate-free system, the previously developed 2 site protolysis non electrostatic surface complexation and cation exchange (2SPNE SC/CE) model needed to be complemented with an additional surface complexation reaction onto weak sites. The fitting of sorption isotherms in the presence of carbonate required refinement of the previously published model by reducing the strong site capacity and by adding the formation of Ln/An(III)-carbonato complexes both on strong and weak sites. EXAFS spectra of selected Am samples and TRLFS spectra of selected Cm samples corroborate the model assumptions by showing the existence of different surface complexation sites and evidencing the formation of Ln/An(III) carbonate surface complexes. In the absence of carbonate and at low loadings, Ln/An(III) form strong inner-sphere complexes through binding to three Al(O,OH)6 octahedra, most likely by occupying vacant sites in the octahedral layers of montmorillonite, which are exposed on {010} and {110} edge faces. At higher loadings, Ln/An(III) binds to only one Al octahedron, forming a weaker, edge-sharing surface complex. In the presence of carbonate, we identified a ternary mono- or dicarbonato Ln/An(III) complex binding directly to one Al(O,OH)6 octahedron, revealing that type-A ternary complexes form with the one or two carbonate groups pointing away from the surface into the solution phase. Within the spectroscopically observable concentration range these complexes could only be identified on the weak sites, in line with the small strong site capacity suggested by the refined sorption model. When the solubility of carbonates was exceeded, formation of an Am carbonate hydroxide could be identified. The excellent agreement between the thermodynamic model parameters obtained by fitting the macroscopic data, and the spectroscopically identified mechanisms, demonstrates the mature state of the 2SPNE SC/CE model for predicting and quantifying the retention of Ln/An(III) elements by montmorillonite-rich clay rocks. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The SAGES Legacy Unifying Globulars and Galaxies survey (SLUGGS): sample definition, methods, and initial results

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brodie, Jean P.; Romanowsky, Aaron J.; Jennings, Zachary G.

2014-11-20

We introduce and provide the scientific motivation for a wide-field photometric and spectroscopic chemodynamical survey of nearby early-type galaxies (ETGs) and their globular cluster (GC) systems. The SAGES Legacy Unifying Globulars and GalaxieS (SLUGGS) survey is being carried out primarily with Subaru/Suprime-Cam and Keck/DEIMOS. The former provides deep gri imaging over a 900 arcmin{sup 2} field-of-view to characterize GC and host galaxy colors and spatial distributions, and to identify spectroscopic targets. The NIR Ca II triplet provides GC line-of-sight velocities and metallicities out to typically ∼8 R {sub e}, and to ∼15 R {sub e} in some cases. New techniquesmore » to extract integrated stellar kinematics and metallicities to large radii (∼2-3 R {sub e}) are used in concert with GC data to create two-dimensional (2D) velocity and metallicity maps for comparison with simulations of galaxy formation. The advantages of SLUGGS compared with other, complementary, 2D-chemodynamical surveys are its superior velocity resolution, radial extent, and multiple halo tracers. We describe the sample of 25 nearby ETGs, the selection criteria for galaxies and GCs, the observing strategies, the data reduction techniques, and modeling methods. The survey observations are nearly complete and more than 30 papers have so far been published using SLUGGS data. Here we summarize some initial results, including signatures of two-phase galaxy assembly, evidence for GC metallicity bimodality, and a novel framework for the formation of extended star clusters and ultracompact dwarfs. An integrated overview of current chemodynamical constraints on GC systems points to separate, in situ formation modes at high redshifts for metal-poor and metal-rich GCs.« less

BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS) - VI. The ΓX-L/LEdd relation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Ricci, Claudio; Koss, Michael J.; Schawinski, Kevin; Mushotzky, Richard; Ueda, Yoshihiro; Veilleux, Sylvain; Lamperti, Isabella; Oh, Kyuseok; Treister, Ezequiel; Stern, Daniel; Harrison, Fiona; Baloković, Mislav; Gehrels, Neil

2017-09-01

We study the relation between accretion rate (in terms of L/LEdd) and shape of the hard X-ray spectral energy distribution (namely the photon index Γx) for a large sample of 228 hard X-ray-selected, low-redshift active galactic nuclei (AGNs), drawn from the Swift/BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS). This includes 30 AGNs for which black hole mass (and therefore L/LEdd) is measured directly through masers, spatially resolved gas or stellar dynamics, or reverberation mapping. The high-quality and broad energy coverage of the data provided through BASS allow us to examine several alternative determinations of both Γx and L/LEdd. For the BASS sample as a whole, we find a statistically significant, albeit very weak correlation between Γx and L/LEdd. The best-fitting relations we find, Γx ≃ 0.15 log L/LEdd + const., are considerably shallower than those reported in previous studies. Moreover, we find no corresponding correlations among the subsets of AGN with different MBH determination methodology. In particular, we find no robust evidence for a correlation when considering only those AGN with direct or single-epoch MBH estimates. This latter finding is in contrast to several previous studies which focused on z > 0.5 broad-line AGN. We discuss this tension and conclude that it can be partially accounted for if one adopts a simplified, power-law X-ray spectral model, combined with L/LEdd estimates that are based on the continuum emission and on single-epoch broad-line spectroscopy in the optical regime. We finally highlight the limitations on using Γx as a probe of supermassive black hole evolution in deep extragalactic X-ray surveys.

Radial velocity variability and stellar properties of FGK stars in the cores of NGC 2516 and NGC 2422

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bailey, John I.; Mateo, Mario; White, Russel J.; Shectman, Stephen A.; Crane, Jeffrey D.

2018-04-01

We present multi-epoch high-dispersion optical spectra obtained with the Michigan/Magellan Fibre System of 126 and 125 Sun-like stars in the young clusters NGC 2516 (141 Myr) and NGC 2422 (73 Myr). We determine stellar properties including radial velocity (RV), Teff, [Fe/H], [α/Fe] and the line-of-sight rotation rate, vrsin (i), from these spectra. Our median RV precision of 80 m s-1 on individual epochs that span a temporal baseline of 1.1 yr enables us to investigate membership and stellar binarity, and to search for sub-stellar companions. We determine membership probabilities and RV variability probabilities for our sample along with candidate companion orbital periods for a select subset of stars. In NGC 2516, we identified 81 RV members, 27 spectroscopic binaries (17 previously identified as photometric binaries) and 16 other stars that show significant RV variability after accounting for average stellar jitter at the 74 m s-1 level. In NGC 2422, we identify 57 members, 11 spectroscopic binaries and three other stars that show significant RV variability after accounting for an average jitter of 138 m s-1. We use Monte Carlo simulations to verify our stellar jitter measurements, determine the proportion of exoplanets and stellar companions to which we are sensitive, and estimate companion-mass limits for our targets. We also report mean cluster metallicity, velocity and velocity dispersion based on our member targets. We identify 58 non-member stars as RV variables, 24 of which have RV amplitudes that imply stellar or brown-dwarf mass companions. Finally, we note the discovery of a separate RV clustering of stars in our NGC 2422 sample.

The KMOS Redshift One Spectroscopic Survey (KROSS): dynamical properties, gas and dark matter fractions of typical z ˜ 1 star-forming galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stott, John P.; Swinbank, A. M.; Johnson, Helen L.; Tiley, Alfie; Magdis, Georgios; Bower, Richard; Bunker, Andrew J.; Bureau, Martin; Harrison, Chris M.; Jarvis, Matt J.; Sharples, Ray; Smail, Ian; Sobral, David; Best, Philip; Cirasuolo, Michele

2016-04-01

The KMOS Redshift One Spectroscopic Survey (KROSS) is an ESO-guaranteed time survey of 795 typical star-forming galaxies in the redshift range z = 0.8-1.0 with the KMOS instrument on the Very Large Telescope. In this paper, we present resolved kinematics and star formation rates for 584 z ˜ 1 galaxies. This constitutes the largest near-infrared Integral Field Unit survey of galaxies at z ˜ 1 to date. We demonstrate the success of our selection criteria with 90 per cent of our targets found to be H α emitters, of which 81 per cent are spatially resolved. The fraction of the resolved KROSS sample with dynamics dominated by ordered rotation is found to be 83 ± 5 per cent. However, when compared with local samples these are turbulent discs with high gas to baryonic mass fractions, ˜35 per cent, and the majority are consistent with being marginally unstable (Toomre Q ˜ 1). There is no strong correlation between galaxy averaged velocity dispersion and the total star formation rate, suggesting that feedback from star formation is not the origin of the elevated turbulence. We postulate that it is the ubiquity of high (likely molecular) gas fractions and the associated gravitational instabilities that drive the elevated star formation rates in these typical z ˜ 1 galaxies, leading to the 10-fold enhanced star formation rate density. Finally, by comparing the gas masses obtained from inverting the star formation law with the dynamical and stellar masses, we infer an average dark matter to total mass fraction within 2.2re (9.5 kpc) of 65 ± 12 per cent, in agreement with the results from hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy formation.

Comparison of three-way and four-way calibration for the real-time quantitative analysis of drug hydrolysis in complex dynamic samples by excitation-emission matrix fluorescence.

PubMed

Yin, Xiao-Li; Gu, Hui-Wen; Liu, Xiao-Lu; Zhang, Shan-Hui; Wu, Hai-Long

2018-03-05

Multiway calibration in combination with spectroscopic technique is an attractive tool for online or real-time monitoring of target analyte(s) in complex samples. However, how to choose a suitable multiway calibration method for the resolution of spectroscopic-kinetic data is a troubling problem in practical application. In this work, for the first time, three-way and four-way fluorescence-kinetic data arrays were generated during the real-time monitoring of the hydrolysis of irinotecan (CPT-11) in human plasma by excitation-emission matrix fluorescence. Alternating normalization-weighted error (ANWE) and alternating penalty trilinear decomposition (APTLD) were used as three-way calibration for the decomposition of the three-way kinetic data array, whereas alternating weighted residual constraint quadrilinear decomposition (AWRCQLD) and alternating penalty quadrilinear decomposition (APQLD) were applied as four-way calibration to the four-way kinetic data array. The quantitative results of the two kinds of calibration models were fully compared from the perspective of predicted real-time concentrations, spiked recoveries of initial concentration, and analytical figures of merit. The comparison study demonstrated that both three-way and four-way calibration models could achieve real-time quantitative analysis of the hydrolysis of CPT-11 in human plasma under certain conditions. However, it was also found that both of them possess some critical advantages and shortcomings during the process of dynamic analysis. The conclusions obtained in this paper can provide some helpful guidance for the reasonable selection of multiway calibration models to achieve the real-time quantitative analysis of target analyte(s) in complex dynamic systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sub-mm galaxies as progenitors of compact quiescent galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toft, Sune

2015-08-01

Three billion years after the big bang (at redshift z=2), half of the most massive galaxies were already old, quiescent systems with little to no residual star formation and extremely compact with stellar mass densities at least an order of magnitude larger than in low redshift ellipticals, their descendants. Little is known about how they formed, but their evolved, dense stellar populations suggest formation within intense, compact starbursts 1-2 Gyr earlier (at 3 < z < 6). Simulations show that gas-rich major mergers can give rise to such starbursts which produce dense remnants. Sub-millimetre selected galaxies (SMGs) are prime examples of intense, gas-rich, starbursts. With a new, mass-complete spectroscopic sample of compact quiescent galaxies at z=2 and a statistically well-understood sample of SMGs, we show that z = 3 -6 SMGs are consistent with being the progenitors of z = 2 quiescent galaxies, matching their formation redshifts and their distributions of sizes, stellar masses and internal velocities. Assuming an evolutionary connection, their space densities also match if the mean duty cycle of SMG starbursts is 42 (+40/-29) Myr (consistent with independent estimates), indicating that the bulk of stars in these massive galaxies were formed in a major, early surge of star-formation. These results suggests a coherent picture of the formation history of the most massive galaxies in the universe, from their initial burst of violent star-formation through their appearance as high stellardensity galaxy cores and to their ultimate fate as giant ellipticals.If time permits i will show novel, spatially resolved spectroscopic observations of the inner regions (r2, allowing for strong new constraints on their formation and evolutionary path

The Space Density of Luminous Dusty Star-forming Galaxies at z > 4: SCUBA-2 and LABOCA Imaging of Ultrared Galaxies from Herschel-ATLAS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivison, R. J.; Lewis, A. J. R.; Weiss, A.; Arumugam, V.; Simpson, J. M.; Holland, W. S.; Maddox, S.; Dunne, L.; Valiante, E.; van der Werf, P.; Omont, A.; Dannerbauer, H.; Smail, Ian; Bertoldi, F.; Bremer, M.; Bussmann, R. S.; Cai, Z.-Y.; Clements, D. L.; Cooray, A.; De Zotti, G.; Eales, S. A.; Fuller, C.; Gonzalez-Nuevo, J.; Ibar, E.; Negrello, M.; Oteo, I.; Pérez-Fournon, I.; Riechers, D.; Stevens, J. A.; Swinbank, A. M.; Wardlow, J.

2016-11-01

Until recently, only a handful of dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) were known at z > 4, most of them significantly amplified by gravitational lensing. Here, we have increased the number of such DSFGs substantially, selecting galaxies from the uniquely wide 250, 350, and 500 μm Herschel-ATLAS imaging survey on the basis of their extremely red far-infrared colors and faint 350 and 500 μm flux densities, based on which, they are expected to be largely unlensed, luminous, rare, and very distant. The addition of ground-based continuum photometry at longer wavelengths from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment allows us to identify the dust peak in their spectral energy distributions (SEDs), with which we can better constrain their redshifts. We select the SED templates that are best able to determine photometric redshifts using a sample of 69 high-redshift, lensed DSFGs, then perform checks to assess the impact of the CMB on our technique, and to quantify the systematic uncertainty associated with our photometric redshifts, σ = 0.14 (1 + z), using a sample of 25 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts, each consistent with our color selection. For Herschel-selected ultrared galaxies with typical colors of S 500/S 250 ˜ 2.2 and S 500/S 350 ˜ 1.3 and flux densities, S 500 ˜ 50 mJy, we determine a median redshift, {\\hat{z}}{phot}=3.66, an interquartile redshift range, 3.30-4.27, with a median rest-frame 8-1000 μm luminosity, {\\hat{L}}{IR}, of 1.3 × 1013 L ⊙. A third of the galaxies lie at z > 4, suggesting a space density, ρ z > 4, of ≈6 × 10-7 Mpc-3. Our sample contains the most luminous known star-forming galaxies, and the most overdense cluster of starbursting proto-ellipticals found to date.

DISCOVERING THE MISSING 2.2 < z < 3 QUASARS BY COMBINING OPTICAL VARIABILITY AND OPTICAL/NEAR-INFRARED COLORS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu Xuebing; Wang Ran; Bian Fuyan

2011-09-15

The identification of quasars in the redshift range 2.2 < z < 3 is known to be very inefficient because the optical colors of such quasars are indistinguishable from those of stars. Recent studies have proposed using optical variability or near-infrared (near-IR) colors to improve the identification of the missing quasars in this redshift range. Here we present a case study combining both methods. We select a sample of 70 quasar candidates from variables in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82, which are non-ultraviolet excess sources and have UKIDSS near-IR public data. They are clearly separated into two partsmore » on the Y - K/g - z color-color diagram, and 59 of them meet or lie close to a newly proposed Y - K/g - z selection criterion for z < 4 quasars. Of these 59 sources, 44 were previously identified as quasars in SDSS DR7, and 35 of them are quasars at 2.2 < z < 3. We present spectroscopic observations of 14 of 15 remaining quasar candidates using the Bok 2.3 m telescope and the MMT 6.5 m telescope, and successfully identify all of them as new quasars at z = 2.36-2.88. We also apply this method to a sample of 643 variable quasar candidates with SDSS-UKIDSS nine-band photometric data selected from 1875 new quasar candidates in SDSS Stripe 82 given by Butler and Bloom based on the time-series selections, and find that 188 of them are probably new quasars with photometric redshifts at 2.2 < z < 3. Our results indicate that the combination of optical variability and optical/near-IR colors is probably the most efficient way to find 2.2 < z < 3 quasars and is very helpful for constructing a complete quasar sample. We discuss its implications for ongoing and upcoming large optical and near-IR sky surveys.« less

Combined experimental and theoretical studies on selective sensing of zinc and pyrophosphate ions by rational design of compartmental chemosensor probe: Dual sensing behaviour via secondary recognition approach and cell imaging studies.

PubMed

Mawai, Kiran; Nathani, Sandip; Roy, Partha; Singh, U P; Ghosh, Kaushik

2018-05-08

A compartmental chemosensor probe HL has been designed and synthesized for the selective recognition of zinc ions over other transition metal ions via fluorescence "ON" strategy. The chemosensing behaviour of HL was demonstrated through fluorescence, absorption and NMR spectroscopic techniques. The molecular structure of the zinc complex derived from HL was determined by X-ray crystallography. A probable mechanism of this selective sensing behavior was described on the basis of spectroscopic results and theoretical studies by density functional theory (DFT). The biological applicability of the chemosensor HL was examined via cell imaging on HeLa cells. The HL-zinc complex served as a secondary fluorescent probe responding to the pyrophosphate anion specifically over other anions. The fluorescence enhancement of HL in association with Zn2+ ions was quenched in the presence of pyrophosphate (PPi). Thus, a dual response was established based on "OFF-ON-OFF" strategy for detection of both cation and anion. This phenomenon was utilized in the construction of a "INHIBIT" logic gate.

The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III DR10 Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: no detectable colour dependence of distance scale or growth rate measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ross, Ashley J.; Samushia, Lado; Burden, Angela; Percival, Will J.; Tojeiro, Rita; Manera, Marc; Beutler, Florian; Brinkmann, J.; Brownstein, Joel R.; Carnero, Aurelio; da Costa, Luiz A. N.; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Guo, Hong; Ho, Shirley; Maia, Marcio A. G.; Montesano, Francesco; Muna, Demitri; Nichol, Robert C.; Nuza, Sebastián E.; Sánchez, Ariel G.; Schneider, Donald P.; Skibba, Ramin A.; Sobreira, Flávia; Streblyanska, Alina; Swanson, Molly E. C.; Thomas, Daniel; Tinker, Jeremy L.; Wake, David A.; Zehavi, Idit; Zhao, Gong-bo

2014-01-01

We study the clustering of galaxies, as a function of their colour, from Data Release Ten (DR10) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. DR10 contains 540 505 galaxies with 0.43 < z < 0.7; from these we select 122 967 for a `Blue' sample and 131 969 for a `Red' sample based on k + e corrected (to z = 0.55) r - i colours and i-band magnitudes. The samples are chosen such that both contain more than 100 000 galaxies, have similar redshift distributions and maximize the difference in clustering amplitude. The Red sample has a 40 per cent larger bias than the Blue (bRed/bBlue = 1.39 ± 0.04), implying that the Red galaxies occupy dark matter haloes with an average mass that is 0.5 log10 M⊙ greater. Spherically averaged measurements of the correlation function, ξ0, and the power spectrum are used to locate the position of the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) feature of both samples. Using ξ0, we obtain distance scales, relative to the distance of our reference Λ cold dark matter cosmology, of 1.010 ± 0.027 for the Red sample and 1.005 ± 0.031 for the Blue. After applying reconstruction, these measurements improve to 1.013 ± 0.020 for the Red sample and 1.008 ± 0.026 for the Blue. For each sample, measurements of ξ0 and the second multipole moment, ξ2, of the anisotropic correlation function are used to determine the rate of structure growth, parametrized by fσ8. We find fσ8, Red = 0.511 ± 0.083, fσ8, Blue = 0.509 ± 0.085 and fσ8, Cross = 0.423 ± 0.061 (from the cross-correlation between the Red and Blue samples). We use the covariance between the bias and growth measurements obtained from each sample and their cross-correlation to produce an optimally combined measurement of fσ8, comb = 0.443 ± 0.055. This result compares favourably to that of the full 0.43 < z < 0.7 sample (fσ8, full = 0.422 ± 0.051) despite the fact that, in total, we use less than half of the number of galaxies analysed in the full sample measurement. In no instance do we detect significant differences in distance scale or structure growth measurements obtained from the Blue and Red samples. Our results are consistent with theoretical predictions and our tests on mock samples, which predict that any colour-dependent systematic uncertainty on the measured BAO position is less than 0.5 per cent.

Spectroscopic confirmation of a galaxy cluster associated with 7C 1756+6520 at z = 1.416

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galametz, A.; Stern, D.; Stanford, S. A.; De Breuck, C.; Vernet, J.; Griffith, R. L.; Harrison, F. A.

2010-06-01

We present spectroscopic follow-up of an overdensity of galaxies photometrically selected to be at 1.4 < z < 2.5 found in the vicinity of the radio galaxy 7C 1756+6520 at z = 1.4156. Using the DEIMOS optical multi-object spectrograph on the Keck 2 telescope, we observed a total of 129 BzK-selected sources, comprising 82 blue, star-forming galaxy candidates (sBzK) and 47 red, passively-evolving galaxy candidates (pBzK*), as well as 11 mid-infrared selected AGN candidates. We obtain robust spectroscopic redshifts for 36 blue galaxies, 7 red galaxies and 9 AGN candidates. Assuming all foreground interlopers were identified, we find that only 16% (9%) of the sBzK (pBzK*) galaxies are at z < 1.4. Therefore, the BzK criteria are shown to be relatively robust at identifying galaxies at moderate redshifts. Twenty-one galaxies, including the radio galaxy, four additional AGN candidates and three red galaxy candidates are found with 1.4156 ± 0.025, forming a large scale structure at the redshift of the radio galaxy. Of these, eight have projected offsets <2 Mpc relative to the radio galaxy position and have velocity offsets <1000 km s-1 relative to the radio galaxy redshift. This confirms that 7C 1756+6520 is associated with a high-redshift galaxy cluster. A second compact group of four galaxies is found at z ~ 1.437, forming a sub-group offset by Δv ~ 3000 km s-1 and approximately 1.'5 east of the radio galaxy.