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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

An iterative method to deblend AGN-Host contributions for Integral Field spectroscopic observations

ABSTRACT We present a new iterative deblending method to separate the host galaxy (HG) and their Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) emission with the use of Integral Field spectroscopic (IFS) data. The method decomposes the resolved HG emission from the unresolved AGN emission by modelling the two-dimensional surface brightness (SB) profile of the point-spread function (PSF) and the two-dimensional SB HG continuum simultaneously per each monochromatic slide. Our method does not require any prior information about the observed SB profile or a detailed fitting of the PSF, making it ideal for the automatic analysis of large galaxy samples. In this work, we test the quality of our method, its advantages, and its disadvantages. We test our method by using a set of IFS mock data cubes to quantify the reliability of our deblending process and further compare our method with the qdblend3d analysis tool. Furthermore, we applied our method to three data cubes selected from the MaNGA survey according to the dominance of either its HG or its AGN. We show that our deblending method is capable of disengaging the bright, non-resolved AGN emission from the HG continuum and its narrow emission lines. However, the decoupling depends on how well the IFS spatially resolves the PSF, and on the relative flux intensity of the HG-AGN. Therefore, the method is ideal for disentangling the bright-flux contribution from AGN-dominated spectra.

Ibarra-Medel, H. (ORCID:0000000297906313)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Analytical noise bias correction for precise weak lensing shear inference

Noise bias is a significant source of systematic error in weak gravitational lensing measurements that must be corrected to satisfy the stringent standards of modern imaging surveys in the era of precision cosmology. This paper reviews the analytical noise bias correction method and provides analytical derivations demonstrating that we can recover shear to its second order using the ‘renoising’ noise bias correction approach introduced by METACALIBRATION. We implement this analytical noise bias correction within the AnaCal shear estimation framework and propose several enhancements to the noise bias correction algorithm. We evaluate the improved AnaCal using simulations designed to replicate Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) imaging data. These simulations feature semi-realistic galaxies and stars, complete with representative distributions of magnitudes and Galactic spatial density. We conduct tests under various observational challenges, including cosmic rays, defective CCD columns, bright star saturation, bleed trails, and spatially variable point spread functions. Our results indicate a multiplicative bias in weak lensing shear recovery of less than a few tenths of a per cent, meeting LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration requirements without requiring calibration from external image simulations. Additionally, our algorithm achieves rapid processing, handling one galaxy in less than a millisecond.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Chromatic effects on the PSF and shear measurement for the Roman Space Telescope High-Latitude Wide Area Survey

Weak gravitational lensing (WL) is a key cosmological probe that requires precise measurement of galaxy images to infer shape distortions, or shear, and constrain cosmology. Accurate estimation of the point spread function (PSF) is crucial for shear measurement, but the wavelength dependence of the PSF introduces chromatic biases that can systematically impact shear inference. We focus on biases arising from spectral energy distribution (SED) differences between stars, used for PSF modelling, and galaxies, used for shear measurement. We investigate these effects in Roman’s four design reference mission WL bands (Y106, J129, H158, F184) and wide filter (W146). Using Roman-like image simulations, we quantify the induced shear biases and compare them to requirements on those biases. Multiplicative biases over all galaxies hover around ~0.2 per cent in the WL bands and 2 per cent in the wide filter, exceeding the mission requirement of |m| < 0.032 per cent and relaxed requirement of |m| < 0.1 per cent⁠. In individual redshift bins, biases can reach 0.4–0.9 per cent for the WL bands and 3–6 per cent for the wide filter. Additive biases remain acceptable in the WL bands but exceed systematic limits in the wide filter. We develop and test PSF-level corrections, showing that a first-order correction reduces biases within survey requirements for the WL bands; however, higher-order terms are necessary for the wide filter. Our results highlight the necessity of chromatic corrections for precision WL with Roman and provide a framework for mitigating these biases. Finally, we compare analytical colour-based corrections to self-organizing maps and find that both methods effectively reduce biases.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dark Energy Survey Year 6 results: cell-based coadds and METADETECTION weak lensing shape catalogue

We present the metadetection weak lensing galaxy shape catalogue from the 6-yr Dark Energy Survey (DES Y6) imaging data. This data set is the final release from DES, spanning 4422 deg 2 of the southern sky. We describe how the catalogue was constructed, including the two new major processing steps, cell-based image coaddition, and shear measurements with metadetection. The DES Y6 M etadetection weak lensing shape catalogue consists of 151 922 791 galaxies detected over riz bands, with an effective number density of n eff = 8.22 galaxies per arcmin 2 and shape noise of σ e = 0.29. We carry out a suite of validation tests on the catalogue, including testing for point spread function (PSF) leakage, testing for the impact of PSF modelling errors, and testing the correlation of the shear measurements with galaxy, PSF, and survey properties. In addition to demonstrating that our catalogue is robust for weak lensing science, we use the DES Y6 image simulation suite to estimate the overall multiplicative shear bias of our shear measurement pipeline. We find no detectable multiplicative bias at the roughly half-per cent level, with m = (3.4 ± 6.1) x 10 –3 , at 3σ uncertainty. This is the first time both cell-based coaddition and Metadetection algorithms are applied to observational data, paving the way to the Stage-IV weak lensing surveys.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Deep-field analytical calibration

The next generation of imaging surveys, including the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), Euclid, and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, will provide unprecedented constraints on cosmology using weak gravitational lensing. To fully exploit this statistical power, shear measurement methods must achieve sub- per cent accuracy while mitigating systematic biases from noise, the point-spread function (PSF), blending, and shear-dependent detection. The analytical calibration framework (AnaCal) has demonstrated such accuracy but requires adding noise to images, reducing effective depth. We introduce Deep-Field Analytical Calibration (DEEP-FIELD AnaCal), an extension of AnaCal that uses deep-field images to compute shear responses while preserving the statistical power of wide-field data. We validate DEEP-FIELD AnaCal on isolated and blended galaxy image simulations with LSST-like conditions, finding it meets the stringent requirement of multiplicative bias $|m| < 3\times 10^{-3}$ at 99.7 per cent confidence. Compared to standard AnaCal applied to wide-field images, DEEP-FIELD AnaCal increases the effective galaxy number density from 17 to 30 arcmin$^{-2}$ for simulated 10-yr LSST data. With deep fields $10\times$ longer than the wide field, we find pixel noise variance in shear estimation is reduced by 30 per cent and overall uncertainty by $\sim 25~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. Finally, using the LSST Deep Drilling Fields strategy, we assess sample variance and find an equivalent calibration uncertainty of $\lesssim 0.3~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. These results demonstrate that DEEP-FIELD AnaCal offers a promising path to achieve the required shear calibration for upcoming weak lensing surveys.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Three Photon Excited Image Scanning Microscopy for in-Depth Super-Resolution Studies of Biological Samples

Multiphoton laser scanning microscopy is a powerful tool for deep imaging of thick biological samples. Image scanning microscopy (ISM) has demonstrated significant improvements in the signal-to-noise ratio in confocal laser scanning microscopy, while at the same time improving upon the effectively attainable resolution. Two-photon excitation (2PE), combined with ISM, has been shown to allow for deep tissue imaging with enhanced resolution compared to 2PE microscopy. Three-photon excitation (3PE) has enabled record imaging depth and contrast for multiphoton imaging, due to the superior suppression of out-of-focus signal generation. In this paper, we demonstrate super-resolution 3PE ISM. This is achieved using a single-photon avalanche detector array, and 1040-nm pulses for 3PE of blue fluorescence. This method enables subdiffraction limited resolution imaging of biological samples stained with blue fluorescent markers, such as mouse myocardial and spinal cord tissues stained with 4 ′ , 6 -diamidino-2-phenylindole. Deconvolution improves the resolving power further and allows for imaging with better than λ / 8 resolution with respect to the 3PE wavelength λ . With the ISM pixel reassignment procedure, we demonstrate a resolution enhancement of ∼ 1.6 laterally, compared to the resolution attained using a photomultiplier tube in a non-descanned detection arrangement, and a factor of ∼ 1.8 enhancement in axial resolution. The experimentally measured three-dimensional point spread function volume is shrunk ∼ 4.4 -fold, which is close to the theoretically expected enhancement. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Chasing ghosts: characterization of artifact generation in coded aperture decoding due to experimental implementation

Coded aperture imaging is a form of lensless aperture imaging that projects multiple overlapping images of the source onto the detector, enhancing signal strength, which is advantageous for low-flux sources or high-resolution imaging. This technique requires decoding of the detector signal to reconstruct the original source, which involves convolving the detector data with the aperture pattern. When the signal is from a centered point source, the reconstructed source image is known as the point spread function (PSF). A clean PSF without artifacts is a Dirac delta function [Appl. Opt. 20, 1858 (1981)]. This paper examines the robustness of the decoding process against variations in experimental tolerances by analyzing artifact growth in the reconstructed PSF. We illustrate the effects of incorrect magnification, rotation, and detector size and find that aperture–detector rotational misalignment about the imaging axis is the most sensitive parameter, with significant artifact generation occurring with angular offsets of less than one degree. We discuss compensation methods for imperfect aperture placement, finding that small detector sizes produce uncompensatable artifact generation, and compare theoretical predictions with experimental PSF measurements of a rank , 6.8 mm thick (less than one mean free path) coded aperture with a 3.5 mm cell size, conducted at the MegaJOuLe Neutron Imaging Radiography dense plasma focus [IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 49, 3299 (2021)] using a 2.45 MeV neutron source. Based on our findings, we recommend using magnified coded apertures in the under-sampled regime, which allows for the inclusion of fiducial markers to characterize aperture–detector rotational offsets and the addition of mechanical coupling, where possible, to constrain rotational and magnification offsets.

Selwood, M. P. [Lawrence Livermore National Labora↗
DOE OSTI2025

Laser-driven high-resolution MeV x-ray tomography

The need for high-resolution MeV x-ray tomography to observe the three-dimensional structure of dense, large-sized objects is rapidly increasing for the non-destructive evaluation of critical additively manufactured parts, national security, and other applications. We report a demonstration of high-resolution MeV computed tomography of a dense, large object with a laser-driven x-ray source. A record detector-limited MeV radiograph resolution of < 200 µm as determined with the Bennett approximation of the point spread function was achieved by irradiating millimeter-thick tungsten targets with 300 TW femtosecond laser pulses at a 0.5 Hz repetition rate. A tungsten alloy step wedge spectrometer indicates that the peak of the x-ray emission is between 1 and 2 MeV, with an endpoint energy of 19 MeV. To illustrate the radiographic imaging capability of the system, a tomographic reconstruction of a nickel superalloy turbine blade ( maximum $ρr$ = 139 g/cm 2 ) with sub-millimeter resolution was performed using 2160 individual radiographs. The small x-ray source size opens the prospect of extremely high-resolution tomographs of large, dense objects. This laser-driven approach has major advantages for non-destructive evaluation.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Addressing Experimental Challenges in Probing Dark Energy with Accuracy and Precision with the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space & Time (LSST)

With support from this award, the Stanford group under the leadership of PI Patricia Burchat focused on pixel-level algorithms that are key to the investigation of dark energy with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The work was carried out through strong engagement in the DOE-supported LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC), for which the PI served as Deputy Spokesperson (07/2019 - 07/2021) and Technical Coordinator (07/2021 - 07/2023). Members of the Burchat group are Full DESC members and are among scientists who have been accepted to join the Rubin Observatory System Integration, Test, and Commissioning (SIT-Com) effort. The specific intellectual focus of the group was the optimization of gravitational lensing as a probe of the evolution of the distribution of dark matter in space and time to learn about the nature of dark energy. The Stanford group pursued an integrated research program to understand in detail, and then remediate or calibrate, systematic effects that could limit the sensitivity of the LSST to cosmic shear as a dark energy probe -- particularly those related to our understanding of the atmospheric point spread function (PSF), challenges associated with blended galaxy images, and impacts of residual camera artifacts. Key to this work was developing, enhancing, and validating the fidelity of simulations that play a key role in the development of our understanding of subtle systematic biases and then using these simulations to develop techniques to characterize and mitigate biases, and associated algorithms for implementation in the LSST or DESC science pipelines. The group’s work included contributions to the open-source GalSim simulation package, which is widely used in the community; simulations and studies of spatial correlations of atmospheric PSFs; studies of temporal correlations of the atmospheric PSF; impacts of chromatic PSFs on cosmic shear calibration; continued studies of anisotropic Gaussian process interpolation of PSF models across the focal plane; and measuring and mitigating impacts of residual camera artifacts on cosmic shear. A primary impact of this work is that it increases the scientific discovery potential of the DOE and NSF investments in the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space \& Time, by addressing challenges in interpreting astronomical images through more accurate descriptions of the blurring of images due to the atmosphere. Specifically, this work impacts our ability to understand the fundamental nature of dark energy.

Burchat, Patricia Rose↗
DOE OSTI2025

Optimizing 4d Emittance Measurements Using the Pinhole Scan Technique

Accurate measurement of electron beam emittance is essential for optimizing high-brightness electron sources. The Pinhole Scan Technique measures the 4D phase space and hence the emittance by measuring the beam profile after clipping the beam using a pinhole followed by a drift section and then scanning the beam over the pinhole. This technique has been implemented in low energy (< 200 keV) beamlines at both Cornell University and Arizona State University. However, the technique poses several practical challenges. In this work, we analyze and address key issues affecting the 4D phase space and emittance measurements using this technique. We identify and investigate sources of inaccuracies like the pinhole aspect ratio, beam divergence, position-momentum correlations in the phase space, and the point-spread-function of the detector and suggest techniques to minimize them. Our findings offer a pathway to more accurate 4D phase space characterization in advanced electron beam systems.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

The Effect of Luminance Pattern on Nighttime Discomfort Glare Response (CRADA Final Report)

LED luminaires with apertures containing visually resolvable “bright” (i.e., high luminance) spots are commonly used to illuminate outdoor environments. However, the impact of the distance between LEDs, which determines spatial frequency at a given viewing distance, on perceived discomfort caused by these luminaires remains unclear. This study involved 29 participants who were each shown 68 stimuli varying in spatial frequency, intensity, diffusion level, and ambient lighting in a dark laboratory setting. Participants reported their experiences of discomfort from glare, ability to resolve individual LEDs, and afterimages. The findings revealed that increased spatial frequency heightened both discomfort and the likelihood of experiencing afterimages. It is hypothesized that the point spread function of the eye contributed to these effects, where sources began to be perceived as a single larger source with equal or greater intensity. These results suggest that LED luminaire designs should favor configurations with lower spatial frequencies to minimize discomfort. A simple quantity, direct illuminance at the eye, is recommended for use to predict discomfort from glare because it performed like other more complex models.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Measuring Fiber Positioning Accuracy and Throughput with Fiber Dithering for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

Highly multiplexed, fiber-fed spectroscopy is enabling surveys of millions of stars and galaxies. The performance of these surveys depends on accurately positioning fibers in the focal plane to capture target light. We describe a technique to measure the positioning accuracy of fibers by dithering fibers slightly around their ideal locations. This approach also enables measurement of the total system throughput and point-spread function delivered to the focal plane. We then apply this technique to observations from the Dark Energy Survey Instrument (DESI), and demonstrate that DESI positions fibers to within 0farcs08 of their targets (5% of a fiber diameter) and achieves a system throughput within about 7% of expectations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Stellar Population Properties in the Stellar Streams around SPRC047

Abstract We have investigated the properties (e.g., age, metallicity) of the stellar populations of a ringlike tidal stellar stream (or streams) around the edge-on galaxy SPRC047 (z= 0.031) using spectral energy distribution (SED) fits to integrated broadband aperture flux densities. We used visual images in six different bands and Spitzer/IRAC 3.6μm data. We have attempted to derive best-fit stellar population parameters (metallicity, age) in three noncontiguous segments of the stream. Due to the very low surface brightness of the stream, we have performed a deconvolution with a Richardson–Lucy–type algorithm of the low spatial resolution 3.6μm IRAC image, thereby reducing the effect of the point-spread function aliasedemissionfrom the bright edge-on central galaxy at the locations of our three stream segments. Our SED fits that used several different star formation (SF) history priors, from an exponentially decaying SF burst to continuous SF, indicate that the age–metallicity–dust degeneracy is not resolved, most likely because of inadequate wavelength coverage and low signal-to-noise ratios of the low surface brightness features. We also discuss how future deep visual–near-infrared observations, combined with absolute flux calibration uncertainties at or below the 1% level, complemented by equally well absolute flux-calibrated observations in ultraviolet and mid-infrared bands, would improve the accuracy of broadband SED fitting results for low surface brightness targets, such as stellar streams around nearby galaxies that are not resolved into stars.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program: Light Curves and 5 Yr Data Release

We present griz photometric light curves for the full 5 yr of the Dark Energy Survey Supernova (DES-SN) program, obtained with both forced point-spread function photometry on difference images (DiffImg) performed during survey operations, and scene modelling photometry (SMP) on search images processed after the survey. This release contains 31,636 DiffImg and 19,706 high-quality SMP light curves, the latter of which contain 1635 photometrically classified SNe that pass cosmology quality cuts. This sample spans the largest redshift (z) range ever covered by a single SN survey (0.1 < z < 1.13) and is the largest single sample from a single instrument of SNe ever used for cosmological constraints. We describe in detail the improvements made to obtain the final DES-SN photometry and provide a comparison to what was used in the 3 yr DES-SN spectroscopically confirmed Type Ia SN sample. We also include a comparative analysis of the performance of the SMP photometry with respect to the real-time DiffImg forced photometry and find that SMP photometry is more precise, more accurate, and less sensitive to the host-galaxy surface brightness anomaly. The public release of the light curves and ancillary data can be found at github.com/des-science/DES-SN5YR and doi:10.5281/zenodo.12720777.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

The Roman View of Strong Gravitational Lenses

Galaxy–galaxy strong gravitational lenses can constrain dark matter models and the Lambda cold dark matter cosmological paradigm at subgalactic scales. Currently, there is a dearth of images of these rare systems with high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and angular resolution. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (hereafter Roman), scheduled for launch in late 2026, will play a transformative role in strong-lensing science with its planned wide-field surveys. With its remarkable 0.281 square degree field of view and diffraction-limited angular resolution of ~0$^{''}_.$1, Roman is uniquely suited to characterizing dark matter substructure from a robust population of strong lenses. We present a yield simulation of detectable strong lenses in Roman’s planned High Latitude Wide Area Survey (HLWAS). We simulate a population of galaxy–galaxy strong lenses across cosmic time with cold dark matter subhalo populations, select those detectable in the HLWAS, and generate simulated images accounting for realistic Wide Field Instrument detector effects. For a fiducial case of single 146 s exposures, we predict around 160,000 detectable strong lenses in the HLWAS, of which about 500 will have sufficient SNR to be amenable to detailed substructure characterization. We investigate the effect of variation of the point-spread function across Roman’s field of view on detecting individual subhalos and the suppression of the subhalo mass function at low masses. Our simulation products are available to support strong-lens science with Roman, such as training neural networks and validating dark matter substructure analysis pipelines.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

RTN-095: The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Data Preview 1

We present Rubin Data Preview 1 (DP1), the first release of data from the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, consisting of raw and calibrated single-epoch images, coadds, difference images, detection catalogs, and other derived data products. DP1 is based on 1792 science-grade optical/near-infrared exposures acquired over 48 distinct nights by the Rubin Commissioning Camera, LSSTComCam, on the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the Summit Facility on Cerro Pachón, Chile during the first on-sky commissioning campaign in late 2024. DP1 covers a total of ~15 sq. deg. over seven roughly equally-sized non-contiguous fields, each independently observed in six broad photometric bands, ugrizy, spanning a range of stellar densities and latitudes and overlapping with external reference datasets. The median image quality across all bands, measured by the FWHM of the point-spread function, is approximately 1.13 arcseconds, with the sharpest images reaching about 0.65 arcseconds. DP1 contains approximately 2.3 million distinct astrophysical objects, of which 1.6 million are extended in at least one band, and 431 solar system objects, of which 93 are new discoveries. DP1 is approximately 3.5 TB in size and available to Rubin data rights holders via the Rubin Science Platform, a cloud-based environment for the analysis of petascale astronomical data. While small compared to future LSST releases, its high quality and diversity of data support a broad range of early science investigations across all four LSST themes, providing a valuable opportunity to engage with Rubin data ahead of the start of full operations in late 2025.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

RTN-108: Impact of CCD Non-Flatness In Rubin LSSTCam PSF Measurements and Modeling

Modeling the point-spread function (PSF) precisely is essential for achieving optimal science with the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. In this work, we inspect a PSF residual pattern present in both Rubin's LSSTComCam and LSSTCam observations. We show that it is likely due to effects from CCD non-flatness and explain the physical mechanism by which height offsets could influence the PSF. Finally, we demonstrate that incorporating height information into PSF modeling greatly reduces the observed residual.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗