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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Clustering analysis of medium-band selected high-redshift galaxies

Next-generation large-scale structure spectroscopic surveys will probe cosmology at high redshifts (2.3 < z < 3.5), relying on abundant galaxy tracers such as Lyα emitters (LAEs) and Lyman break galaxies (LBGs). Medium-band photometry has emerged as a potential technique for efficiently selecting these high-redshift galaxies. In this work, we present clustering analysis of medium-band selected galaxies at high redshift, utilizing photometric data from the Intermediate Band Imaging Survey (IBIS) and spectroscopic data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). We interpret the clustering of such samples using both Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD) modeling and a perturbation theory description of large-scale structure. Our modeling indicates that the current target sample is composed from an overlapping mixture of LAEs and LBGs with emission lines. Despite differences in target selection, we find that the clustering properties are consistent with previous studies, with correlation lengths r 0 ≃ 3-4 h -1 Mpc and a linear bias of b ∼ 1.8-2.5. Finally, we discuss the simulation requirements implied by these measurements and demonstrate that the properties of the samples would make them excellent targets to enhance our understanding of the high-z universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Maven: a multimodal foundation model for supernova science

Abstract A common setting in astronomy is the availability of a small number of high-quality observations, and larger amounts of either lower-quality observations or synthetic data from simplified models. Time-domain astrophysics is a canonical example of this imbalance, with the number of supernovae observed photometrically outpacing the number observed spectroscopically by multiple orders of magnitude. At the same time, no data-driven models exist to understand these photometric and spectroscopic observables in a common context. Contrastive learning objectives, which have grown in popularity for aligning distinct data modalities in a shared embedding space, provide a potential solution to extract information from these modalities. We present Maven, the first foundation model for supernova science. To construct Maven, we first pre-train our model to align photometry and spectroscopy from 0.5 M synthetic supernovae using a contrastive objective. We then fine-tune the model on 4702 observed supernovae from the Zwicky transient facility. Maven reaches state-of-the-art performance on both classification and redshift estimation, despite the embeddings not being explicitly optimized for these tasks. Through ablation studies, we show that pre-training with synthetic data improves overall performance. In the upcoming era of the Vera C. Rubin observatory, Maven will serve as a valuable tool for leveraging large, unlabeled and multimodal time-domain datasets.

Zhang, Gemma (ORCID:0000000280198082)↗
DOE OSTI2024

TOI-2374 b and TOI-3071 b: two metal-rich sub-Saturns well within the Neptunian desert

ABSTRACT We report the discovery of two transiting planets detected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), TOI-2374 b and TOI-3071 b, orbiting a K5V and an F8V star, respectively, with periods of 4.31 and 1.27 d, respectively. We confirm and characterize these two planets with a variety of ground-based and follow-up observations, including photometry, precise radial velocity monitoring and high-resolution imaging. The planetary and orbital parameters were derived from a joint analysis of the radial velocities and photometric data. We found that the two planets have masses of (57 ± 4) M⊕ or (0.18 ± 0.01) MJ, and (68 ± 4) M⊕ or (0.21 ± 0.01) MJ, respectively, and they have radii of (6.8 ± 0.3) R⊕ or (0.61 ± 0.03) RJ and (7.2 ± 0.5) R⊕ or (0.64 ± 0.05) RJ, respectively. These parameters correspond to sub-Saturns within the Neptunian desert, both planets being hot and highly irradiated, with Teq ≈ 745 K and Teq ≈ 1812 K, respectively, assuming a Bond albedo of 0.5. TOI-3071 b has the hottest equilibrium temperature of all known planets with masses between 10 and 300 M⊕ and radii less than 1.5 RJ. By applying gas giant evolution models we found that both planets, especially TOI-3071 b, are very metal-rich. This challenges standard formation models which generally predict lower heavy-element masses for planets with similar characteristics. We studied the evolution of the planets’ atmospheres under photoevaporation and concluded that both are stable against evaporation due to their large masses and likely high metallicities in their gaseous envelopes.

Hacker, Alejandro (ORCID:0009000994520181)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Strong nebular emissions associated with Mg ii absorptions detected in the SDSS spectra of background quasars

ABSTRACT We present long-slit spectroscopic observations of 40 Galaxy On Top of Quasars (GOTOQs) at ${0.37 \leqslant z \leqslant 1.01}$ using the South African Large Telescope. Using this and available photometric data, we measure the impact parameters of the foreground galaxies to be in the range of 3–16 kpc with a median value of 8.6 kpc. This is the largest sample of galaxies producing Mg ii absorption at such low impact parameters. These quasar–galaxy pairs are ideal for probing the disc–halo interface. At such impact parameters, we do not find any anticorrelation between rest equivalent width (REW) of Ca ii, Mn ii, Fe ii, Mg ii, and Mg i absorption and impact parameter. These sight lines are typically redder than those of strong Mg ii absorbers, with the colour excess, E(B − V) for our sample ranging from −0.191 to 0.422, with a median value of 0.058. In the E(B − V) versus W3935 plane, GOTOQs occupy the same region as Ca ii absorbers. For a given E(B − V), we find larger W3935 than what has been found in the Milky Way, probably due to a smaller dust-to-gas ratio in GOTOQs. Galaxy parameters could be measured for twelve cases, and their properties seem to follow the trends found for strong Mg ii absorbers. Measuring the host galaxy properties for the full sample using HST photometry or AO-assisted ground-based imaging is important to gain insights into the relationship between the stellar mass of galaxies and the metal line REW distributions at low impact parameters.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Dark Energy Survey 5-yr photometrically classified type Ia supernovae without host-galaxy redshifts

ABSTRACT Current and future Type Ia Supernova (SN Ia) surveys will need to adopt new approaches to classifying SNe and obtaining their redshifts without spectra if they wish to reach their full potential. We present here a novel approach that uses only photometry to identify SNe Ia in the 5-yr Dark Energy Survey (DES) data set using the SuperNNova classifier. Our approach, which does not rely on any information from the SN host-galaxy, recovers SNe Ia that might otherwise be lost due to a lack of an identifiable host. We select $2{,}298$ high-quality SNe Ia from the DES 5-yr data set an almost complete sample of detected SNe Ia. More than 700 of these have no spectroscopic host redshift and are potentially new SNIa compared to the DES-SN5YR cosmology analysis. To analyse these SNe Ia, we derive their redshifts and properties using only their light curves with a modified version of the SALT2 light-curve fitter. Compared to other DES SN Ia samples with spectroscopic redshifts, our new sample has in average higher redshift, bluer and broader light curves, and fainter host-galaxies. Future surveys such as LSST will also face an additional challenge, the scarcity of spectroscopic resources for follow-up. When applying our novel method to DES data, we reduce the need for follow-up by a factor of four and three for host-galaxy and live SN, respectively, compared to earlier approaches. Our novel method thus leads to better optimization of spectroscopic resources for follow-up.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

The mass profiles of dwarf galaxies from Dark Energy Survey lensing

We present a novel approach to extracting dwarf galaxies from photometric data to measure their average halo mass profile with weak lensing. We characterize their stellar mass and redshift distributions with a spectroscopic calibration sample. By combining the ${\sim} 5000\,\mathrm{deg}^2$ multiband photometry from the Dark Energy Survey and redshifts from the Satellites Around Galactic Analogs Survey with an unsupervised machine learning method, we select a low-mass galaxy sample spanning redshifts $z\lt 0.3$ and divide it into three mass bins. From low to high median mass, the bins contain [146 420, 330 146, 275 028] galaxies and have median stellar masses of $\log _{10}(M_*/\text{M}_\odot)=\left[8.52\substack{+0.57 -0.76},\, 9.02\substack{+0.50 -0.64},\, 9.49\substack{+0.50 -0.58}\right]$ . We measure the stacked excess surface mass density profiles, $\Delta \Sigma (R)$, of these galaxies using galaxy–galaxy lensing with a signal-to-noise ratio of [14, 23, 28]. Through a simulation-based forward-modelling approach, we fit the measurements to constrain the stellar-to-halo mass relation and find the median halo mass of these samples to be $\log _{10}(M_{\rm halo}/\text{M}_\odot)$ = [$10.67\substack{+0.2 -0.4}$, $11.01\substack{+0.14 -0.27}$, $11.40\substack{+0.08 -0.15}$]. The cold dark matter profiles are consistent with NFW (Navarro, Frenk, and White) profiles over scales ${\lesssim} 0.15 \, {h}^{-1}$ Mpc. We find that ${\sim} 20$ per cent of the dwarf galaxy sample are satellites. This is the first measurement of the halo profiles and masses of such a comprehensive, low-mass galaxy sample. The techniques presented here pave the way for extracting and analysing even lower mass dwarf galaxies and for more finely splitting galaxies by their properties with future photometric and spectroscopic survey data.

dark matter↗
DOE OSTI2024

The DESI Early Data Release white dwarf catalogue

The Early Data Release (EDR) of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) comprises spectroscopy obtained from 2020 December 14 to 2021 June 10. White dwarfs were targeted by DESI both as calibration sources and as science targets and were selected based on Gaia photometry and astrometry. Here, we present the DESI EDR white dwarf catalogue, which includes 2706 spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs of which approximately 60 per cent have been spectroscopically observed for the first time, as well as 66 white dwarf binary systems. We provide spectral classifications for all white dwarfs, and discuss their distribution within the Gaia Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. We provide atmospheric parameters derived from spectroscopic and photometric fits for white dwarfs with pure hydrogen or helium photospheres, a mixture of those two, and white dwarfs displaying carbon features in their spectra. We also discuss the less abundant systems in the sample, such as those with magnetic fields, and cataclysmic variables. The DESI EDR white dwarf sample is significantly less biased than the sample observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which is skewed to bluer and therefore hotter white dwarfs, making DESI more complete and suitable for performing statistical studies of white dwarfs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

The rate of extreme coronal line emitting galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and their relation to tidal disruption events

High-ionization iron coronal lines (CLs) are a rare phenomenon observed in galaxy and quasi-stellar object spectra that are thought to be created by high-energy emission from active galactic nuclei and certain types of transients. In cases known as extreme coronal line emitting galaxies (ECLEs), these CLs are strong and fade away on a time-scale of years. The most likely progenitors of these variable CLs are tidal disruption events (TDEs), which produce sufficient high-energy emission to create and sustain the CLs over these time-scales. To test the possible connection between ECLEs and TDEs, we present the most complete variable ECLE rate calculation to date and compare the results to TDE rates from the literature. To achieve this, we search for ECLEs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We detect sufficiently strong CLs in 16 galaxies, more than doubling the number previously found in SDSS. Using follow-up spectra from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument and Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mid-infrared observations, and Liverpool Telescope optical photometry, we find that none of the nine new ECLEs evolve in a manner consistent with that of the five previously discovered variable ECLEs. Using this sample of five variable ECLEs, we calculate the galaxy-normalized rate of variable ECLEs in SDSS to be $R_\mathrm{G}=3.6~^{+2.6}_{-1.8}~(\mathrm{statistical})~^{+5.1}_{-0.0}~(\mathrm{systematic})\times 10^{-6}~\mathrm{galaxy}^{-1}~\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. The mass-normalized rate is $R_\mathrm{M}=3.1~^{+2.3}_{-1.5}~(\mathrm{statistical})~^{+4.4}_{-0.0}~(\mathrm{systematic})\times 10^{-17}~\mathrm{M_\odot ^{-1}}~\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ and the volumetric rate is $R_\mathrm{V}=7~^{+20}_{-5}~(\mathrm{statistical})~^{+10}_{-0.0}~(\mathrm{systematic})\times 10^{-9}~\mathrm{Mpc}^{-3}~\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. Our rates are one to two orders of magnitude lower than TDE rates from the literature, which suggests that only 10–40 per cent of all TDEs produce variable ECLEs. Additional uncertainties in the rates arising from the structure of the interstellar medium have yet to be included.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Hawai‘i Supernova Flows: a peculiar velocity survey using over a Thousand Supernovae in the near-infrared

ABSTRACT We introduce the Hawai‘i Supernova Flows project and present summary statistics of the first 1217 astronomical transients observed, 668 of which are spectroscopically classified Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia). Our project is designed to obtain systematics-limited distances to SNe Ia while consuming minimal dedicated observational resources. To date, we have performed almost 5000 near-infrared (NIR) observations of astronomical transients and have obtained spectra for over 200 host galaxies lacking published spectroscopic redshifts. In this survey paper, we describe the methodology used to select targets, collect/reduce data, calculate distances, and perform quality cuts. We compare our methods to those used in similar studies, finding general agreement or mild improvement. Our summary statistics include various parametrizations of dispersion in the Hubble diagrams produced using fits to several commonly used SN Ia models. We find the lowest dispersions using the SNooPy package’s EBV_model2, with a root mean square deviation of 0.165 mag and a normalized median absolute deviation of 0.123 mag. The full utility of the Hawai‘i Supernova Flows data set far exceeds the analyses presented in this paper. Our photometry will provide a valuable test bed for models of SN Ia incorporating NIR data. Differential cosmological studies comparing optical samples and combined optical and NIR samples will have increased leverage for constraining chromatic effects like dust extinction. We invite the community to explore our data by making the light curves, fits, and host galaxy redshifts publicly accessible.

Do, Aaron (ORCID:0000000334297845)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Impact of survey spatial variability on galaxy redshift distributions and the cosmological 3 × 2-point statistics for the Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST)

We investigate the impact of spatial survey non-uniformity on the galaxy redshift distributions for forthcoming data releases of the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Specifically, we construct a mock photometry data set degraded by the Rubin OpSim observing conditions, and estimate photometric redshifts of the sample using a template-fitting photo-z estimator, BPZ, and a machine learning method, FlexZBoost. We select the Gold sample, defined as $i\lt 25.3$ for 10 yr LSST data, with an adjusted magnitude cut for each year and divide it into five tomographic redshift bins for the weak lensing lens and source samples. We quantify the change in the number of objects, mean redshift, and width of each tomographic bin as a function of the coadd i-band depth for 1-yr (Y1), 3-yr (Y3), and 5-yr (Y5) data. In particular, Y3 and Y5 have large non-uniformity due to the rolling cadence of LSST, hence provide a worst-case scenario of the impact from non-uniformity. We find that these quantities typically increase with depth, and the variation can be $10\!-\!40~{{\rm per\ cent}}$ at extreme depth values. Using Y3 as an example, we propagate the variable depth effect to the weak lensing $3\times 2$ pt analysis, and assess the impact on cosmological parameters via a Fisher forecast. We find that galaxy clustering is most susceptible to variable depth, and non-uniformity needs to be mitigated below 3 per cent to recover unbiased cosmological constraints. There is little impact on galaxy–shear and shear–shear power spectra, given the expected LSST Y3 noise.

cosmology↗
DOE OSTI2024

Nature of the diffuse emission sources in the H i supershell in the galaxy IC 1613

ABSTRACT We present a study of the nearby low-metallicity dwarf galaxy IC 1613, focusing on the search for massive stars and related feedback processes, as well as for faint supernova remnants (SNR) in late stages of evolution. We obtained the deepest images of IC 1613 in the narrow-band H α, He ii and [S ii] emission lines and new long-slit spectroscopy observations using several facilities (6-m BTA, 2.5m SAI MSU, and 150RTT telescopes), in combination with the multiwavelength archival data from MUSE/VLT, VLA, XMM–Newton, and Swift/XRT. Our deep narrow-band photometry identifies several faint shells in the galaxy, and we further investigate their physical characteristics with the new long-slit spectroscopy observations and the archival multiwavelength data. Based on energy balance calculations and assumptions about their possible nature, we propose that one of the shells is a possible remnant of a supernova explosion. We study five out of eight Wolf–Rayet (WR) star candidates previously published for this galaxy using the He ii emission line mapping, MUSE/VLT archival spectra, and new long-slit spectra. Our analysis discards the considered WR candidates and finds no new ones. We found P Cyg profiles in H α line in two stars, which we classify as Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) star candidates. Overall, the galaxy IC 1613 may have a lower rate of WR star formation than previously suggested.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2025

OpenUniverse2024: a shared, simulated view of the sky for the next generation of cosmological surveys

The OpenUniverse2024 simulation suite is a cross-collaboration effort to produce matched simulated imaging for multiple surveys as they would observe a common simulated sky. Both the simulated data and associated tools used to produce it are intended to uniquely enable a wide range of studies to maximize the science potential of the next generation of cosmological surveys. We have produced simulated imaging for approximately 70 deg 2 of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Wide-Fast-Deep survey and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope High-Latitude Wide-Area Survey, as well as overlapping versions of the ELAIS-S1 Deep-Drilling Field for LSST and the High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey for Roman. OpenUniverse2024 includes (i) an early version of the updated extragalactic model called Diffsky, which substantially improves the realism of optical and infrared photometry of objects, compared to previous versions of these models; (ii) updated transient models that extend through the wavelength range probed by Roman and Rubin; and (iii) improved survey, telescope, and instrument realism based on up-to-date survey plans and known properties of the instruments. It is built on a new and updated suite of simulation tools that improves the ease of consistently simulating multiple observatories viewing the same sky. The approximately 400 TB of synthetic survey imaging and simulated universe catalogs are publicly available, and we preview some scientific uses of the simulations.

large-scale structure of Universe↗
DOE OSTI2025

Structural decomposition of merger-free galaxies hosting luminous AGNs

ABSTRACT Active galactic nucleus (AGN) growth in disc-dominated, merger-free galaxies is poorly understood, largely due to the difficulty in disentangling the AGN emission from that of the host galaxy. By carefully separating this emission, we examine the differences between AGNs in galaxies hosting a (possibly) merger-grown, classical bulge, and AGNs in secularly grown, truly bulgeless disc galaxies. We use galfit to obtain robust, accurate morphologies of 100 disc-dominated galaxies imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope. Adopting an inclusive definition of classical bulges, we detect a classical bulge component in $53.3 \pm 0.5$ per cent of the galaxies. These bulges were not visible in Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometry, however these galaxies are still unambiguously disc-dominated, with an average bulge-to-total luminosity ratio of $0.1 \pm 0.1$. We find some correlation between bulge mass and black hole mass for disc-dominated galaxies, though this correlation is significantly weaker in comparison to the relation for bulge-dominated or elliptical galaxies. Furthermore, a significant fraction ($\gtrsim 90$ per cent) of our black holes are overly massive when compared to the relationship for elliptical galaxies. We find a weak correlation between total stellar mass and black hole mass for the disc-dominated galaxies, hinting that the stochasticity of black hole–galaxy co-evolution may be higher in disc-dominated than bulge-dominated systems.

Fahey, Matthew J.↗
DOE OSTI2025

DAmodel: hierarchical Bayesian modelling of DA white dwarfs for spectrophotometric calibration

We use hierarchical Bayesian modelling to calibrate a network of 32 all-sky faint DA white dwarf (DA WD) spectrophotometric standards (⁠16.5 < V , 19.5⁠) alongside three CALSPEC standards, from 912 Å to 32 μm. The framework is the first of its kind to jointly infer photometric zero points and WD parameters (surface gravity log g⁠, effective temperature T eff ⁠, extinction A V ⁠, dust relation parameter R V ) by simultaneously modelling both photometric and spectroscopic data. We model panchromatic Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 (HST/WFC3) UVIS and IR photometry, HST/STIS UV spectroscopy, and ground-based optical spectroscopy to sub-per cent precision. Photometric residuals for the sample are the lowest yet yielding < 0.004 mag RMS on average from the UV to the NIR, achieved by jointly inferring time-dependent changes in system sensitivity and WFC3/IR count-rate nonlinearity. Our GPU-accelerated implementation enables efficient sampling via Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, critical for exploring the high-dimensional posterior space. The hierarchical nature of the model enables population analysis of intrinsic WD and dust parameters. Inferred spectral energy distributions from this model will be essential for calibrating the James Webb Space Telescope as well as next-generation surveys, including Vera Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

methods: statistical↗
DOE OSTI2025

DESI peculiar velocity survey – Fundamental Plane

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) peculiar velocity survey aims to measure the peculiar velocities of early- and late-type galaxies within the DESI footprint using both the Fundamental Plane and optical Tully–Fisher relations. Direct measurements of peculiar velocities can significantly improve constraints on the growth rate of structure, reducing uncertainty by a factor of approximately 2.5 at redshift 0.1 compared to the DESI Bright Galaxy Survey’s redshift space distortion measurements alone. We assess the quality of stellar velocity dispersion measurements from DESI spectroscopic data. These measurements, along with photometric data from the Legacy Survey, establish the Fundamental Plane relation and determine distances and peculiar velocities of early-type galaxies. During survey validation, we obtain spectra for 6698 unique early-type galaxies, up to a photometric redshift of 0.15. 64 per cent of observed galaxies (4267) have relative velocity dispersion errors below 10 per cent. This percentage increases to 75 per cent if we restrict our sample to galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts below 0.1. We use the measured central velocity dispersion, along with photometry from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, to fit the Fundamental Plane parameters using a 3D Gaussian maximum likelihood algorithm that accounts for measurement uncertainties and selection cuts. In addition, we conduct zero-point calibration using the absolute distance measurements to the Coma cluster, leading to a value of the Hubble constant, H 0 = 76.05 ± 0.35 (statistical) ±0.49 (systematic Fundamental Plane) ±4.86 (statistical due to calibration) km s –1 Mpc –1 ⁠. This H 0 value is within 2σ of Planck cosmic microwave background results and within 1σ of other low-redshift distance indicator-based measurements.

cosmological parameters↗
DOE OSTI2026

DESI DR2 Galaxy luminosity functions

We present galaxy luminosity functions (LFs) for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) DR2 Bright Galaxy Survey (BGS) in the g, r, z, and $w1$ bands over $0.002\lt z\lt 0.6$. Our analysis uses updated k-corrections and evolutionary corrections, including new polynomial kcorrection fits derived from BGS Year 1 data that supersede earlier GAMA-based prescriptions. Exploiting the statistical power of DESI, we measure LFs to very faint magnitudes, reaching $^{0.1}M_r-5\log h\sim -10$. Independent measurements from the North and South survey regions show excellent agreement around the LF knee, but the very small statistical uncertainties reveal that simple analytic forms fail to capture the full LF shape. The bright end departs from a pure exponential decline, while the faint end exhibits complex, non-powerlaw behaviour, including a pronounced upturn at $^{0.1}M_r-5\log h\gtrsim -15$, which is stronger for red galaxies than for blue. We show that our LFs are largely complete for galaxies with surface brightness $\mu _{50}\lt 25$, and that an apparent steepening fainter than $-13$ is driven primarily by local overdensity and fragmentation of large galaxies. A systematic North–South offset at the brightest magnitudes is traced to red galaxies and may reflect shallower North photometry underestimating extended earlytype profiles, although this remains inconclusive. We therefore also provide LFs based on model Petrosian magnitudes. Redshift splitting reveals small but significant residuals, indicating limitations of a simple global evolutionary model. Using the redshift limits of J. Loveday et al. (2012), we find excellent agreement with GAMA, with substantially reduced statistical errors. These measurements provide a precise reference for studies of environmental and population-dependent LFs and for testing galaxy formation models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Quantifying biases in stellar masses of JWST high- z quasar host galaxies caused by quasar subtraction

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has enabled dozens of high-z quasar host galaxy detections. Many of these observations imply galaxies with black holes that are overmassive compared to their low-z counterparts. However, the bright quasar point source removal can cause significant biases in recovered host magnitudes and stellar mass measurements due to the degeneracy in host galaxy and quasar light. We develop a statistical method to disentangle the quasar host galaxy stellar mass measurements from observational biases during the point source removal assuming the PSF is modelled perfectly. We use the BlueTides simulation to generate mock images and perform point source removal on thousands of simulated high-z quasar host galaxies, constructing corrected host magnitude posteriors. We find that removing a bright quasar in JWST photometry tends to either correctly recover or modestly misestimate host magnitudes, with a maximum magnitude underestimate of 0.2 mag. With our corrected magnitude posteriors, we perform SED fitting on each quasar host galaxy and compare the stellar mass measurement before and after the correction. We find that stellar mass estimates are generally robust, or misestimated by $<$ 0.3 dex. We also find that the stellar masses of a subset of hosts (J0844−0132, J0911+0152, and J1146−0005) remain unconstrained, as key photometric bands provide only flux upper limits. Accounting for observational biases does not resolve the apparent mismatch between black hole and host galaxy growth at high-z, where some quasars appear to host overmassive black holes while others reside in relatively massive galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Dark Energy Survey Year 6 results: Redshift calibration of the MagLim++ lens sample

In this work, we derive and calibrate the redshift distribution of the MagLim++ lens galaxy sample used in the Dark Energy Survey Year 6 (DES Y6) 3 x 2pt cosmology analysis. The 3 x 2pt analysis combines galaxy clustering from the lens galaxy sample and weak gravitational lensing. The redshift distributions are inferred using the SOMPZ method - a Self-Organizing Map framework that combines deep-field multi-band photometry, wide-field data, and a synthetic source injection ( B alrog) catalog. Key improvements over the DES Year 3 (Y3) calibration include a noise-weighted SOM metric, an expanded Balrog catalogue, and an improved scheme for propagating systematic uncertainties, which allows us to generate O(10 8 ) redshift realizations that collectively span the dominant sources of uncertainty. These realizations are then combined with independent clustering-redshift measurements via importance sampling. The resulting calibration achieves typical uncertainties on the mean redshift of 1-2%, corresponding to a 20-30% average reduction relative to DES Y3. We compress the n(z) uncertainties into a small number of orthogonal modes for use in cosmological inference. Marginalizing over these modes leads to only a minor degradation in cosmological constraints. Here, this analysis establishes the MagLim++ sample as a robust lens sample for precision cosmology with DES Y6 and provides a scalable framework for future surveys.

dark energy↗