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Harding, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Harding, P..

The Multi-Mission Maximum Likelihood framework (3ML)

The age of multi-wavelength and multi-messenger astronomy has arrived and with it, new tools are needed to analyze data from multiple instruments properly and with ease. The Multi-Mission Maximum Likelihood framework (3ML) provides this functionality via the novel use of instrument plugins which allow for every instrument’s unique data to be treated independently with an appropriate likelihood. Under the 3ML framework, users can design plugins that handle instrument specific data routines transparently in the background. When multiple instruments are used together, their independent likelihoods are treated under a common minimization or Bayesian sampling framework. 3ML provides a multitude of minimization algorithm for maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) as well as several popular Bayesian posterior samplers. The entire framework is provided via a modern Python interface providing the user with a modern and easily transportable analysis framework well suited for modern astronomy. New models can be added easily. It is also possible to perform time-energy modeling. We present the framework and its main functionalities.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Target Selection for the SDSS-IV APOGEE-2 Survey

APOGEE-2 is a high-resolution, near-infrared spectroscopic survey observing ∼3 × 10{sup 5} stars across the entire sky. It is the successor to APOGEE and is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV). APOGEE-2 is expanding on APOGEE’s goals of addressing critical questions of stellar astrophysics, stellar populations, and Galactic chemodynamical evolution using (1) an enhanced set of target types and (2) a second spectrograph at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. APOGEE-2 is targeting red giant branch and red clump stars, RR Lyrae, low-mass dwarf stars, young stellar objects, and numerous other Milky Way and Local Group sources across the entire sky from both hemispheres. In this paper, we describe the APOGEE-2 observational design, target selection catalogs and algorithms, and the targeting-related documentation included in the SDSS data releases.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale XI. The Cepheids in NGC 4414

We report the Discovery of Cepheid variable stars in the galaxy NGC 4414, as part of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. Observations were obtained with the HST Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) for 13 epochs at V (F555W) and 4 at I (F814W).

Cepheids distance and redshifts galaxies NGC 4414↗

The Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project VIII. The Discovery of Cepheids and a New Distance to NGC 3621 Using the Hubble Space Telescope

We report on the discovery of Cepheids in the field spiral galaxy NGC3621, based on observations made with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). NGC 3621 is one of 18 galaxies observed as part of the HST Key Project on the Extragalctic Distance Scale, which aims to measure the Hubble Constant to 10 percent accuracy.

galaxies NGC 3621 stars cepheids Hubble constant↗

The Hubble Space Telescope Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project. X. The Cepheid Distance to NGC 7331

The distance to NGC 7331 has been derived from Cepheid variables observed with HST/WFPC2, as part of the Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project. Multi-epoch exposures in F555W(~V) and F814W (~1), with photometry derived independently from DoPHOT and DAOPHOT/ALLFRAME programs, which were used to detect a total of 14 reliable Cepheids, with periods between 11 and 42 days.

Cepheids galaxies distances redshifts NGC 7331 ear↗

UGC 8508 - A dwarf galaxy associated with the M 101 group

Two-color CCD photometry of UGC 8508 has resolved the system into stars. The color-magnitude diagram shows blue and red supergiants, the apparent magnitudes of the brightest stars indicate that UGC 8508 lies within 2 Mpc of the adopted 6 Mpc distance of the M 101 group. The galaxy contains a significant color gradient; star formation is confined to the central 1.5 scale lengths (0.8 kpc). UGC 8508 has a central surface brightness intermediate between bursting and quiescent dwarf irregular galaxies.

Mould, J. R.↗

Interstellar absorption lines in the spectrum of supernova Evans in M83 (NGC 5236)

It is pointed out that supernovae in other galaxies create spontaneous opportunities to probe spectroscopically the gaseous material in galactic halos. Because of their brightness, supernovae offer an unparalleled chance to obtain spectra with high wavelength resolution and/or signal-to-noise ratio. The present investigation is concerned with observations of visual interstellar lines in the spectrum of a supernova discovered on July 3, 1983, and identified as Type I. The supernova was located 124 arc sec south and 122 arc sec west of the nucleus of M83. Evidence is obtained that for velocities near that of M83, the line of sight toward the supernova contains a complex array of absorption features of Ca II. In both Ca II and Na I, the absorptions associated with M83 are far more prominent than those halfway through the disk (and halo) of the Milky Way Galaxy. It is felt that many of the displaced velocity components in the M83 system arise from a gaseous halo.

Rodgers, A. W.↗