SDSS-IV MaNGA IFS Galaxy Survey --- Survey Design, Execution, and Initial Data Quality

Astronomical Journal Institute of Physics 152:6 (2016) 197

Authors:

Michele Cappellari, Mark T Graham

Abstract:

The MaNGA Survey (Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory) is one of three core programs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV. It is obtaining integral field spectroscopy (IFS) for 10K nearby galaxies at a spectral resolution of R ~ 2000 from 3622 − 10, 354Å. The design of the survey is driven by a set of science requirements on the precision of estimates of the following properties: star formation rate surface density, gas metallicity, stellar population age, metallicity, and abundance ratio, and their gradients; stellar and gas kinematics; and enclosed gravitational mass as a function of radius. We describe how these science requirements set the depth of the observations and dictate sample selection. The majority of targeted galaxies are selected to ensure uniform spatial coverage in units of effective radius (Re) while maximizing spatial resolution. About 2/3 of the sample is covered out to 1.5Re (Primary sample), and 1/3 of the sample is covered to 2.5Re (Secondary sample). We describe the survey execution with details that would be useful in the design of similar future surveys. We also present statistics on the achieved data quality, specifically, the point spread function, sampling uniformity, spectral resolution, sky subtraction, and flux calibration. For our Primary sample, the median r-band signal-to-noise ratio is ~ 73 per 1.4Å pixel for spectra stacked between 1–1.5 Re. Measurements of various galaxy properties from the first year data show that we are meeting or exceeding the defined requirements for the majority of our science goals.

Detection of the secondary eclipse of Qatar-1b in the Ks band

Astronomy and Astrophysics EDP Sciences 595 (2016) A61

Authors:

Patricia Cruz, David Barrado, Jorge Lillo-Box, Marcos Diaz, Jayne Birkby, Mercedes López-Morales, Jonathan J Fortney

Abstract:

Aims. Qatar-1b is a close-orbiting hot Jupiter (Rp â‰ƒ 1.18 RJ, Mp â‰ƒ 1.33 MJ) around a metal-rich K-dwarf, with orbital separation and period of 0.023 AU and 1.42 days. We have observed the secondary eclipse of this exoplanet in the Ks band with the objective of deriving a brightness temperature for the planet and providing further constraints to the orbital configuration of the system.

Methods. We obtained near-infrared photometric data from the ground by using the OMEGA2000 instrument at the 3.5 m telescope at Calar Alto (Spain) in staring mode, with the telescope defocused. We have used principal component analysis (PCA) to identify correlated systematic trends in the data. A Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis was performed to model the correlated systematics and fit for the secondary eclipse of Qatar-1b using a previously developed occultation model. We adopted the prayer bead method to assess the effect of red noise on the derived parameters.

Results. We measured a secondary eclipse depth of 0.196%+ 0.071%−0.051%, which indicates a brightness temperature in the Ks band for the planet of 1885+ 212-168 K. We also measured a small deviation in the central phase of the secondary eclipse of −0.0079+ 0.0162-0.0043, which leads to a value for ecosω of −0.0123+ 0.0252-0.0067. However, this last result needs to be confirmed with more data.

Improved Dynamical Constraints on the Mass of the central Black Hole in NGC 404

(2016)

Authors:

Dieu D Nguyen, Anil C Seth, Mark den Brok, Nadine Neumayer, Michele Cappellari, Aaron J Barth, Nelson Caldwell, Benjamin F Williams, Breanna Binder

Dominant dark matter and a counter rotating disc: MUSE view of the low luminosity S0 galaxy NGC 5102

(2016)

Authors:

Martin Mitzkus, Michele Cappellari, C Jakob Walcher

A low upper mass limit for the central black hole in the late-type galaxy NGC 4414

(2016)

Authors:

Sabine Thater, Davor Krajnović, Martin A Bourne, Michele Cappellari, Tim de Zeeuw, Eric Emsellem, John Magorrian, Richard M McDermid, Marc Sarzi, Glenn van de Ven