Rubin-LSST

Abstract:

We perform a stacking analysis of Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) data in order to obtain isothermal dust temperatures and rest-frame luminosities at 250 μm (L250), for a well-defined sample of 1599 radio sources over the H-ATLAS Phase 1/Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) area. The radio sample is generated using a combination of NRAO VLA Sky Survey data and K-band United Kingdom Infrared Telescope Deep Sky Survey-Large Area Survey data, over the redshift range 0.01 < z < 0.8. The far-infrared(FIR) properties of the sample are investigated as a function of 1.4-GHz luminosity, redshift, projected radio-source size and radio spectral index. In order to search for stellar mass-dependent relations, we split the parent sample into those sources which are below and above 1.5 L*K.After correcting for stellar mass and redshift, we find no relation between the 250-μm luminosity and the 1.4-GHz radio luminosity of radio active galactic nuclei. This implies thata galaxy's nominal radio luminosity has little or no bearing on the star formation rate (SFR)and/or dust mass content of the host system, although this does not mean that other variables(e.g. radio source size) related to the jets do not have an effect. The L250 of both the radio detected and non-radio-detected galaxies (defined as those sources not detected at 1.4 GHz but detected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with r< 22) rises with increasing redshift. Compact radio sources (<30 kpc) are associated with higher 250 μm luminosities and dust temperatures than their more extended (>30 kpc) counterparts. The higher dust temperature suggests that this may be attributed to enhanced SFRs in compact radio galaxies, but whether this is directly or indirectly due to radio activity (e.g. jet-induced or merger-driven star formation) is as yet unknown.For matched samples in LK and g-r, sub-1.5 L*K and super-1.5 L*K radio-detected galaxies have 0.89±0.18 and 0.49±0.12 times the 250μm luminosity of their non-radio-detected counterparts. Thus, while no difference in L250 is observed in sub-1.5 L*K radio-detected galaxies, a strong deficit is observed in super-1.5 L*K radio-detected galaxies. We explain these results in terms of the hotter, denser and richer halo environments massive radio galaxies maintain and are embedded in. These environments are expected to quench the cold gas and dust supply needed for further star formation and therefore dust production. Our results indicate that all massive radio galaxies (>1.5 L*K) may have systematically lower FIR luminosities(~25 per cent) than their colour-matched non-radio-detected counterparts. Finally, no relation between radio spectral index and L250 is found for the subset of 1.4-GHz radio sources with detections at 330 MHz. © 2013 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Abstract:

SWIFT is a visible light (650-1000nm) integral field spectorgaph fed by the Palomar extreme adaptive optics system PALM3K. With a subaperture spacing of 8cm, PALM3K is capable of delivering diffraction limited performance even in the visible. With SWIFT providing spatially resolved spectroscopy at R=4000, this provides a truly unique facility for high resolution science in three dimensions. We present here some results from the first year of PALM3K+SWIFT science. We also report on our experience of operating a small field of view instrument (1"x0.5") with a high performance AO system, and hope the lessons learned will provide valuable input to designing successful and productive AO plus Instrument combinations for ELTs.

Abstract:

We have systematically studied the effect of the orbital inclination in the outburst evolution of black hole transients. We have included all the systems observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer in which the thermal, accretion disc component becomes strongly dominant at some point of the outburst. Inclination is found to modify the shape of the tracks that these systems display in the colour/luminosity diagrams traditionally used for their study. Black hole transients seen at low inclination reach softer spectra and their accretion discs look cooler than those observed closer to edge-on. This difference can be naturally explained by considering inclination-dependent relativistic effects on accretion discs. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Abstract:

We use galaxies from the Herschel-ATLAS (H-ATLAS) survey, and a suite of ancillary simulations based on an isothermal dust model, to study our ability to determine the effective dust temperature, luminosity and emissivity index of 250 μm selected galaxies in the local Universe (z < 0.5). As well as simple far-infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting of individual galaxies based on X2 minimization, we attempt to derive the best global isothermal properties of 13 826 galaxies with reliable optical counterparts and spectroscopic redshifts. Using our simulations, we highlight the fact that applying traditional SED fitting techniques to noisy observational data in the Herschel Space Observatory bands introduces artificial anticorrelation between derived values of dust temperature and emissivity index. This is true even for galaxies with the most robust statistical detections in our sample, making the results of such fitting difficult to interpret.We apply a method to determine the best-fitting global values of isothermal effective temperature and emissivity index for z < 0.5 galaxies in H-ATLAS, deriving Teff = 22.3 ± 0.1K and β = 1.98 ± 0.02 (or Teff = 23.5 ± 0.1K and β = 1.82 ± 0.02 if we attempt to correct for bias by assuming that Teff and βeff are independent and normally distributed). We use our technique to test for an evolving emissivity index, finding only weak evidence. The median dust luminosity of our sample is log10(Ldust/L⊙) = 10.72 ± 0.05, which (unlike Teff) shows little dependence on the choice of β used in our analysis, including whether it is variable or fixed. In addition, we use a further suite of simulations based on a fixed emissivity index isothermal model to emphasize the importance of the H-ATLAS PACS data for deriving dust temperatures at these redshifts, even though they are considerably less sensitive than the SPIRE data. Finally, we show that the majority of galaxies detected by H-ATLAS are normal star-forming galaxies, though with a substantial minority (~31 per cent) falling in the Luminous Infrared Galaxy category. © 2013 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Abstract:

The ATLAS experiment has observed 1995 Z boson candidates in data corresponding to 0:15 nb-1 of integrated luminosity obtained in the 2011 LHC Pb + Pb run at √SNN = 2.76 TeV. The Z bosons are reconstructed via dielectron and dimuon decay channels, with a background contamination of less than 3%. Results from the two channels are consistent and are combined. Within the statistical and systematic uncertainties, the per-event Z boson yield is proportional to the number of binary collisions estimated by the Glauber model. The elliptic anisotropy of the azimuthal distribution of the Z boson with respect to the event plane is found to be consistent with zero.