Search NASA⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Massana, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Massana, P..

The DECADE cosmic shear project I: A new weak lensing shape catalog of 107 million galaxies

We present the Dark Energy Camera All Data Everywhere (DECADE) weak lensing dataset: a catalog of 107 million galaxies observed by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) in the northern Galactic cap. This catalog was assembled from public DECam data including survey and standard observing programs. These data were consistently processed with the Dark Energy Survey Data Management pipeline as part of the DECADE campaign and serve as the basis of the DECam Local Volume Exploration survey (DELVE) Early Data Release 3 (EDR3). We apply the Metacalibration measurement algorithm to generate and calibrate galaxy shapes. After cuts, the resulting cosmology-ready galaxy shape catalog covers a region of $5,\!412 \,\,{\rm deg}^2$ with an effective number density of $4.59\,\, {\rm arcmin}^{-2}$. The coadd images used to derive this data have a median limiting magnitude of $r = 23.6$, $i = 23.2$, and $z = 22.6$, estimated at ${\rm S/N} = 10$ in a 2 arcsecond aperture. We present a suite of detailed studies to characterize the catalog, measure any residual systematic biases, and verify that the catalog is suitable for cosmology analyses. In parallel, we build an image simulation pipeline to characterize the remaining multiplicative shear bias in this catalog, which we measure to be $m = (-2.454 \pm 0.124) \times10^{-2}$ for the full sample. Despite the significantly inhomogeneous nature of the data set, due to it being an amalgamation of various observing programs, we find the resulting catalog has sufficient quality to yield competitive cosmological constraints.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Six More Ultra-faint Milky Way Companions Discovered in the DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey

We report the discovery of six ultra-faint Milky Way satellites identified through matched-filter searches conducted using Dark Energy Camera (DECam) data processed as part of the second data release of the DECam Local Volume Exploration (DELVE) survey. Leveraging deep Gemini/GMOS-N imaging (for four candidates) as well as follow-up DECam imaging (for two candidates), we characterize the morphologies and stellar populations of these systems. We find that these candidates all share faint absolute magnitudes (M$_{V}$ ≥ −3.2 mag) and old, metal-poor stellar populations (τ > 10 Gyr, [Fe/H] < −1.4 dex). Three of these systems are more extended (r$_{1/2}$ > 15 pc), while the other three are compact (r$_{1/2}$ < 10 pc). From these properties, we infer that the former three systems (Boötes V, Leo Minor I, and Virgo II) are consistent with ultra-faint dwarf galaxy classifications, whereas the latter three (DELVE 3, DELVE 4, and DELVE 5) are likely ultra-faint star clusters. Using data from the Gaia satellite, we confidently measure the proper motion of Boötes V, Leo Minor I, and DELVE 4, and tentatively detect a proper-motion signal from DELVE 3 and DELVE 5; no signal is detected for Virgo II. We use these measurements to explore possible associations between the newly discovered systems and the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal, the Magellanic Clouds, and the Vast Polar Structure, finding several plausible associations. Our results offer a preview of the numerous ultra-faint stellar systems that will soon be discovered by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and highlight the challenges of classifying the faintest stellar systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey Data Release 2

We present the second public data release (DR2) from the DECam Local Volume Exploration survey (DELVE). DELVE DR2 combines new DECam observations with archival DECam data from the Dark Energy Survey, the DECam Legacy Survey, and other DECam community programs. DELVE DR2 consists of ∼160,000 exposures that cover >21,000 deg$^{2}$ of the high-Galactic-latitude (∣b∣ > 10°) sky in four broadband optical/near-infrared filters (g, r, i, z). DELVE DR2 provides point-source and automatic aperture photometry for ∼2.5 billion astronomical sources with a median 5σ point-source depth of g = 24.3, r = 23.9, i = 23.5, and z = 22.8 mag. A region of ∼17,000 deg$^{2}$ has been imaged in all four filters, providing four-band photometric measurements for ∼618 million astronomical sources. DELVE DR2 covers more than 4 times the area of the previous DELVE data release and contains roughly 5 times as many astronomical objects. DELVE DR2 is publicly available via the NOIRLab Astro Data Lab science platform.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

The DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey: Overview and First Data Release

The DECam Local Volume Exploration survey (DELVE) is a 126-night survey program on the 4 m Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. DELVE seeks to understand the characteristics of faint satellite galaxies and other resolved stellar substructures over a range of environments in the Local Volume. DELVE will combine new DECam observations with archival DECam data to cover ~15,000 deg 2 of high Galactic latitude (|b| > 10°) southern sky to a 5σ depth of g, r, i, z ~ 23.5 mag. In addition, DELVE will cover a region of ~2200 deg 2 around the Magellanic Clouds to a depth of g, r, i ~ 24.5 mag and an area of ~135 deg 2 around four Magellanic analogs to a depth of g, i ~ 25.5 mag. Here, we present an overview of the DELVE program and progress to date. Furthermore, we also summarize the first DELVE public data release (DELVE DR1), which provides point-source and automatic aperture photometry for ~520 million astronomical sources covering ~5000 deg 2 of the southern sky to a 5σ point-source depth of g = 24.3 mag, r = 23.9 mag, i = 23.3 mag, and z = 22.8 mag. DELVE DR1 is publicly available via the NOIRLab Astro Data Lab science platform.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Discovery of an Ultra-faint Stellar System near the Magellanic Clouds with the DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey

We report the discovery of a new ultra-faint stellar system found near the Magellanic Clouds in the DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey. This new system, DELVE J0155−6815 (DELVE 2), is located at a heliocentric distance of D ⊙ = 71 ± 4 kpc, which places it at a 3D physical separation of 12 ± 3 kpc from the center of the Small Magellanic Cloud and from the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). DELVE 2 is identified as a resolved overdensity of old (τ > 13.3 Gyr) and metal-poor ( dex) stars with a projected half-light radius of and an absolute magnitude of . The size and luminosity of DELVE 2 are consistent with both the population of recently discovered ultra-faint globular clusters and the smallest ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. However, its photometrically derived age and metallicity would place it among the oldest and most metal-poor globular clusters in the Magellanic system. In the absence of spectroscopic measurements of the system’s metallicity dispersion and internal kinematics, we are unable to conclusively classify this system at this time. DELVE 2 is detected in Gaia DR2 with a clear proper-motion signal, with multiple blue horizontal-branch stars near the centroid of the system with proper motions consistent with the systemic mean. We measure the system proper motion to be = mas yr−1. We compare the spatial position and proper motion of DELVE 2 with simulations of the accreted satellite population of the LMC and find that it is very likely to be associated with the LMC.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗