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DOE OSTI2013

GNOSIS: THE FIRST INSTRUMENT TO USE FIBER BRAGG GRATINGS FOR OH SUPPRESSION

The near-infrared is an important part of the spectrum in astronomy, especially in cosmology because the light from objects in the early universe is redshifted to these wavelengths. However, deep near-infrared observations are extremely difficult to make from ground-based telescopes due to the bright background from the atmosphere. Nearly all of this background comes from the bright and narrow emission lines of atmospheric hydroxyl (OH) molecules. The atmospheric background cannot be easily removed from data because the brightness fluctuates unpredictably on short timescales. The sensitivity of ground-based optical astronomy far exceeds that of near-infrared astronomy because of this long-standing problem. GNOSIS is a prototype astrophotonic instrument that utilizes 'OH suppression fibers' consisting of fiber Bragg gratings and photonic lanterns to suppress the 103 brightest atmospheric emission doublets between 1.47 and 1.7 {mu}m. GNOSIS was commissioned at the 3.9 m Anglo-Australian Telescope with the IRIS2 spectrograph to demonstrate the potential of OH suppression fibers, but may be potentially used with any telescope and spectrograph combination. Unlike previous atmospheric suppression techniques GNOSIS suppresses the lines before dispersion and in a manner that depends purely on wavelength. We present the instrument design and report the results of laboratory and on-sky tests from commissioning. While these tests demonstrated high throughput ( Almost-Equal-To 60%) and excellent suppression of the skylines by the OH suppression fibers, surprisingly GNOSIS produced no significant reduction in the interline background and the sensitivity of GNOSIS+IRIS2 is about the same as IRIS2. It is unclear whether the lack of reduction in the interline background is due to physical sources or systematic errors as the observations are detector noise dominated. OH suppression fibers could potentially impact ground-based astronomy at the level of adaptive optics or greater. However, until a clear reduction in the interline background and the corresponding increasing in sensitivity is demonstrated optimized OH suppression fibers paired with a fiber-fed spectrograph will at least provide a real benefit at low resolving powers.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE CATALOG OF POSITIONS OF OPTICALLY BRIGHT EXTRAGALACTIC RADIO SOURCES OBRS-2

Future space-borne astrometry missions, such as Gaia, will be able to determine the optical positions of hundreds of quasars with submilliarcsecond accuracies comparable to those achieved in radio by very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). Comparisons of coordinate systems from space-borne missions and VLBI will be very important, first for investigations of possible systematic errors and second for investigations of possible shifts between centroids of radio and optical emissions in active galactic nuclei. In order to make such a comparison more robust, a program for densification of the grid of radio sources detectable with both VLBI and Gaia was launched in 2006. Program sources are 398 quasars with declinations > - 10 Degree-Sign that are brighter than 18 mag at the V band. The first two observing campaigns were run in 2007-2008. In the third campaign, a set of 291 objects from that list was observed with the VLBA+EVN in 2010-2011 with the primary goal of producing their images with milliarcsecond resolution. In this paper, following the method of absolute astrometry, coordinates of observed sources have been derived with milliarcsecond accuracies from analysis of these observations. The catalog of positions of 295 target sources, estimates of their correlated flux densities at 2.2 and 8.4 GHz, and their images are presented. The accuracies of source coordinates are in a range of 2-200 mas, with a median of 3.2 mas.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

WOCS 40007: A DETACHED ECLIPSING BINARY NEAR THE TURNOFF OF THE OPEN CLUSTER NGC 6819

We analyze extensive BVR{sub c}I{sub c} time-series photometry and radial-velocity measurements for WOCS 40007 (Auner 259; KIC 5113053), a double-lined detached eclipsing binary and a member of the open cluster NGC 6819. Utilizing photometric observations from the 1 m telescope at Mount Laguna Observatory and spectra from the WIYN 3.5 m telescope, we measure precise and accurate masses ({approx}1.6% uncertainty) and radii ({approx}0.5%) for the binary components. In addition, we discover a third star orbiting the binary with a period greater than 3000 days using radial velocities and Kepler eclipse timings. Because the stars in the eclipsing binary are near the cluster turnoff, they are evolving rapidly in size and are sensitive to age. With a metallicity of [Fe/H] = +0.09 {+-} 0.03, we find the age of NGC 6819 to be about 2.4 Gyr from color-magnitude diagram (CMD) isochrone fitting and 3.1 {+-} 0.4 Gyr by analyzing the mass-radius (M-R) data for this binary. The M-R age is above previous determinations for this cluster, but consistent within 1{sigma} uncertainties. When the M-R data for the primary star of the additional cluster binary WOCS 23009 is included, the weighted age estimate drops to 2.5 {+-} 0.2 Gyr, with a systematic uncertainty of at least 0.2 Gyr. The age difference between our CMD and M-R findings may be the result of systematic error in the metallicity or helium abundance used in models, or due to slight radius inflation of one or both stars in the WOCS 40007 binary.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

CALIBRATIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC PARAMETERS OBTAINED FROM THE FIRST YEAR OF SDSS-III APOGEE OBSERVATIONS

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) is a three-year survey that is collecting 10{sup 5} high-resolution spectra in the near-IR across multiple Galactic populations. To derive stellar parameters and chemical compositions from this massive data set, the APOGEE Stellar Parameters and Chemical Abundances Pipeline (ASPCAP) has been developed. Here, we describe empirical calibrations of stellar parameters presented in the first SDSS-III APOGEE data release (DR10). These calibrations were enabled by observations of 559 stars in 20 globular and open clusters. The cluster observations were supplemented by observations of stars in NASA's Kepler field that have well determined surface gravities from asteroseismic analysis. We discuss the accuracy and precision of the derived stellar parameters, considering especially effective temperature, surface gravity, and metallicity; we also briefly discuss the derived results for the abundances of the α-elements, carbon, and nitrogen. Overall, we find that ASPCAP achieves reasonably accurate results for temperature and metallicity, but suffers from systematic errors in surface gravity. We derive calibration relations that bring the raw ASPCAP results into better agreement with independently determined stellar parameters. The internal scatter of ASPCAP parameters within clusters suggests that metallicities are measured with a precision better than 0.1 dex, effective temperatures better than 150 K, and surface gravities better than 0.2 dex. The understanding provided by the clusters and Kepler giants on the current accuracy and precision will be invaluable for future improvements of the pipeline.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

PANCHROMATIC HUBBLE ANDROMEDA TREASURY. XII. MAPPING STELLAR METALLICITY DISTRIBUTIONS IN M31

We present a study of spatial variations in the metallicity of old red giant branch stars in the Andromeda galaxy. Photometric metallicity estimates are derived by interpolating isochrones for over seven million stars in the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey. This is the first systematic study of stellar metallicities over the inner 20 kpc of Andromeda’s galactic disk. We see a clear metallicity gradient of −0.020 ± 0.004 dex kpc{sup −1} from ∼4–20 kpc assuming a constant red giant branch age. This metallicity gradient is derived after correcting for the effects of photometric bias and completeness and dust extinction, and is quite insensitive to these effects. The unknown age gradient in M31's disk creates the dominant systematic uncertainty in our derived metallicity gradient. However, spectroscopic analyses of galaxies similar to M31 show that they typically have small age gradients that make this systematic error comparable to the 1σ error on our metallicity gradient measurement. In addition to the metallicity gradient, we observe an asymmetric local enhancement in metallicity at radii of 3–6 kpc that appears to be associated with Andromeda’s elongated bar. This same region also appears to have an enhanced stellar density and velocity dispersion.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

LIKELIHOOD-FREE COSMOLOGICAL INFERENCE WITH TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE: APPROXIMATE BAYESIAN COMPUTATION FOR A COMPLETE TREATMENT OF UNCERTAINTY

Cosmological inference becomes increasingly difficult when complex data-generating processes cannot be modeled by simple probability distributions. With the ever-increasing size of data sets in cosmology, there is an increasing burden placed on adequate modeling; systematic errors in the model will dominate where previously these were swamped by statistical errors. For example, Gaussian distributions are an insufficient representation for errors in quantities like photometric redshifts. Likewise, it can be difficult to quantify analytically the distribution of errors that are introduced in complex fitting codes. Without a simple form for these distributions, it becomes difficult to accurately construct a likelihood function for the data as a function of parameters of interest. Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) provides a means of probing the posterior distribution when direct calculation of a sufficiently accurate likelihood is intractable. ABC allows one to bypass direct calculation of the likelihood but instead relies upon the ability to simulate the forward process that generated the data. These simulations can naturally incorporate priors placed on nuisance parameters, and hence these can be marginalized in a natural way. We present and discuss ABC methods in the context of supernova cosmology using data from the SDSS-II Supernova Survey. Assuming a flat cosmology and constant dark energy equation of state, we demonstrate that ABC can recover an accurate posterior distribution. Finally, we show that ABC can still produce an accurate posterior distribution when we contaminate the sample with Type IIP supernovae.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE RGB AND AGB STAR NUCLEOSYNTHESIS IN LIGHT OF THE RECENT {sup 17}O(p, {alpha}){sup 14}N AND {sup 18}O(p, {alpha}){sup 15}N REACTION-RATE DETERMINATIONS

In recent years, the Trojan Horse Method (THM) has been used to investigate the low-energy cross sections of proton-induced reactions on A = 17 and A = 18 oxygen isotopes, overcoming extrapolation procedures and enhancement effects due to electron screening. In particular, the strengths of the 20 keV and 65 keV resonances in the {sup 18}O(p, {alpha}){sup 15}N and {sup 17}O(p, {alpha}){sup 14}N reactions, respectively, have been extracted, as well as the contribution of the tail of the broad 656 keV resonance in the {sup 18}O(p, {alpha}){sup 15}N reaction inside the Gamow window. The strength of the 65 keV resonance in the {sup 17}O(p, {alpha}){sup 14}N reaction, measured by means of the THM, has been used to renormalize the corresponding resonance strength in the {sup 17}O + p radiative capture channel. As a result, more accurate reaction rates for the {sup 18}O(p, {alpha}){sup 15}N, {sup 17}O(p, {alpha}){sup 14}N, and {sup 17}O(p, {gamma}){sup 18}F processes have been deduced, devoid of systematic errors due to extrapolation or the electron screening effect. Such rates have been introduced into state-of-the-art red giant branch and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) models for proton-capture nucleosynthesis coupled with extra-mixing episodes. The predicted abundances have been compared with isotopic compositions provided by geochemical analysis of presolar grains. As a result, an improved agreement is found between the models and the isotopic mix of oxide grains of AGB origins, whose composition is the signature of low-temperature proton-capture nucleosynthesis. The low {sup 14}N/{sup 15}N found in SiC grains cannot be explained by the revised nuclear reaction rates and remains a serious problem that has not been satisfactorily addressed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

HUBBLE PARAMETER MEASUREMENT CONSTRAINTS ON DARK ENERGY

We use 21 Hubble parameter versus redshift data points from Simon et al., Gaztanaga et al., Stern et al., and Moresco et al. to place constraints on model parameters of constant and time-evolving dark energy cosmologies. The inclusion of the eight new measurements results in H(z) constraints more restrictive than those derived by Chen and Ratra. These constraints are now almost as restrictive as those that follow from current Type Ia supernova (SNIa) apparent magnitude versus redshift data, which now more carefully account for systematic uncertainties. This is a remarkable result. We emphasize, however, that SNIa data have been studied for a longer time than the H(z) data, possibly resulting in a better estimate of potential systematic errors in the SNIa case. A joint analysis of the H(z), baryon acoustic oscillation peak length scale, and SNIa data favors a spatially flat cosmological model currently dominated by a time-independent cosmological constant but does not exclude slowly evolving dark energy.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE FUNDAMENTAL METALLICITY RELATION REDUCES TYPE Ia SN HUBBLE RESIDUALS MORE THAN HOST MASS ALONE

Type Ia supernova Hubble residuals have been shown to correlate with host galaxy mass, imposing a major obstacle for their use in measuring dark energy properties. Here, we calibrate the fundamental metallicity relation (FMR) of Mannucci et al. for host mass and star formation rates measured from broadband colors alone. We apply the FMR to the large number of hosts from the SDSS-II sample of Gupta et al. and find that the scatter in the Hubble residuals is significantly reduced when compared with using only stellar mass (or the mass-metallicity relation) as a fit parameter. Our calibration of the FMR is restricted to only star-forming galaxies and in the Hubble residual calculation we include only hosts with log(SFR) > - 2. Our results strongly suggest that metallicity is the underlying source of the correlation between Hubble residuals and host galaxy mass. Since the FMR is nearly constant between z = 2 and the present, use of the FMR along with light-curve width and color should provide a robust distance measurement method that minimizes systematic errors.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

TIME-AVERAGE-BASED METHODS FOR MULTI-ANGULAR SCALE ANALYSIS OF COSMIC-RAY DATA

Over the past decade, a number of experiments dealt with the problem of measuring the arrival direction distribution of cosmic rays, looking for information on the propagation mechanisms and the identification of their sources. Any deviation from the isotropy may be regarded to as a signature of unforeseen or unknown phenomena, mostly if well localized in the sky and occurring at low rigidity. It induced experimenters to search for excesses down to angular scales as narrow as 10 Degree-Sign , disclosing the issue of properly filtering contributions from wider structures. A solution commonly envisaged was based on time-average methods to determine the reference value of cosmic-ray flux. Such techniques are nearly insensitive to signals wider than the time window in use, thus allowing us to focus the analysis on medium- and small-scale signals. Nonetheless, the signal often cannot be excluded in the calculation of the reference value, which induces systematic errors. The use of time-average methods recently revealed important discoveries about the medium-scale cosmic-ray anisotropy, present both in the northern and southern hemispheres. It is known that the excess (or deficit) is observed as less intense than in reality and that fake deficit zones are rendered around true excesses because of the absolute lack of knowledge a priori of which signal is true and which is not. This work is an attempt to critically review the use of time-average-based methods for observing extended features in the cosmic-ray arrival distribution pattern.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

PRIMUS: CONSTRAINTS ON STAR FORMATION QUENCHING AND GALAXY MERGING, AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE STELLAR MASS FUNCTION FROM z = 0-1

We measure the evolution of the stellar mass function (SMF) from z = 0-1 using multi-wavelength imaging and spectroscopic redshifts from the PRism MUlti-object Survey (PRIMUS) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). From PRIMUS we construct an i < 23 flux-limited sample of {approx}40, 000 galaxies at z = 0.2-1.0 over five fields totaling Almost-Equal-To 5.5 deg{sup 2}, and from the SDSS we select {approx}170, 000 galaxies at z = 0.01-0.2 that we analyze consistently with respect to PRIMUS to minimize systematic errors in our evolutionary measurements. We find that the SMF of all galaxies evolves relatively little since z = 1, although we do find evidence for mass assembly downsizing; we measure a Almost-Equal-To 30% increase in the number density of {approx}10{sup 10} M{sub sun} galaxies since z Almost-Equal-To 0.6, and a {approx}< 10% change in the number density of all {approx}> 10{sup 11} M{sub sun} galaxies since z Almost-Equal-To 1. Dividing the sample into star-forming and quiescent using an evolving cut in specific star formation rate, we find that the number density of {approx}10{sup 10} M{sub sun} star-forming galaxies stays relatively constant since z Almost-Equal-To 0.6, whereas the space density of {approx}> 10{sup 11} M{sub sun} star-forming galaxies decreases by Almost-Equal-To 50% between z Almost-Equal-To 1 and z Almost-Equal-To 0. Meanwhile, the number density of {approx}10{sup 10} M{sub sun} quiescent galaxies increases steeply toward low redshift, by a factor of {approx}2-3 since z Almost-Equal-To 0.6, while the number of massive quiescent galaxies remains approximately constant since z Almost-Equal-To 1. These results suggest that the rate at which star-forming galaxies are quenched increases with decreasing stellar mass, but that the bulk of the stellar mass buildup within the quiescent population occurs around {approx}10{sup 10.8} M{sub sun}. In addition, we conclude that mergers do not appear to be a dominant channel for the stellar mass buildup of galaxies at z < 1, even among massive ({approx}> 10{sup 11} M{sub sun}) quiescent galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE MEGAMASER COSMOLOGY PROJECT. IV. A DIRECT MEASUREMENT OF THE HUBBLE CONSTANT FROM UGC 3789

In Papers I and II from the Megamaser Cosmology Project, we reported initial observations of H{sub 2}O masers in an accretion disk of a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy UGC 3789, which gave an angular-diameter distance to the galaxy and an estimate of H{sub 0} with 16% uncertainty. We have since conducted more very long baseline interferometric observations of the spatial-velocity structure of these H{sub 2}O masers, as well as continued monitoring of its spectrum to better measure maser accelerations. These more extensive observations, combined with improved modeling of the masers in the accretion disk of the central supermassive black hole, confirm our previous results, but with significantly improved accuracy. We find H{sub 0} = 68.9 {+-} 7.1 km s{sup -1} Mpc{sup -1}; this estimate of H{sub 0} is independent of other methods and is accurate to {+-}10%, including sources of systematic error. This places UGC 3789 at an angular-diameter distance of 49.6 {+-} 5.1 Mpc, with a central supermassive black hole of (1.16 {+-} 0.12) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 7} M{sub Sun }.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

TESTING CONVERGENCE FOR GLOBAL ACCRETION DISKS

Global disk simulations provide a powerful tool for investigating accretion and the underlying magnetohydrodynamic turbulence driven by magneto-rotational instability (MRI). Using them to accurately predict quantities such as stress, accretion rate, and surface brightness profile requires that purely numerical effects, arising from both resolution and algorithm, be understood and controlled. We use the flux-conservative Athena code to conduct a series of experiments on disks having a variety of magnetic topologies to determine what constitutes adequate resolution. We develop and apply several resolution metrics: (Q{sub z} ) and (Q{sub {phi}}), the ratio of the grid zone size to the characteristic MRI wavelength, {alpha}{sub mag}, the ratio of the Maxwell stress to the magnetic pressure, and / , the ratio of radial to toroidal magnetic field energy. For the initial conditions considered here, adequate resolution is characterized by (Q{sub z} ) {>=} 15, (Q{sub {phi}}) {>=} 20, {alpha}{sub mag} Almost-Equal-To 0.45, and / {approx}0.2. These values are associated with {>=}35 zones per scaleheight H, a result consistent with shearing box simulations. Numerical algorithm is also important. Use of the Harten-Lax-van Leer-Einfeldt flux solver or second-order interpolation can significantly degrade the effective resolution compared to the Harten-Lax-van Leer discontinuities flux solver and third-order interpolation. Resolution at this standard can be achieved only with large numbers of grid zones, arranged in a fashion that matches the symmetries of the problem and the scientific goals of the simulation. Without it, however, quantitative measures important to predictions of observables are subject to large systematic errors.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

SEARCH FOR SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE BINARIES IN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY SPECTROSCOPIC SAMPLE

Supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries are expected in a ΛCDM cosmology given that most (if not all) massive galaxies contain a massive black hole (BH) at their center. So far, however, direct evidence for such binaries has been elusive. We use cross-correlation to search for temporal velocity shifts in the Mg II broad emission lines of 0.36 < z < 2 quasars with multiple observations in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For ∼10{sup 9} M{sub ☉} BHs in SMBH binaries, we are sensitive to velocity drifts for binary separations of ∼0.1 pc with orbital periods of ∼100 yr. We find seven candidate sub-parsec-scale binaries with velocity shifts >3.4σ ∼ 280 km s{sup –1}, where σ is our systematic error. Comparing the detectability of SMBH binaries with the number of candidates (N ≤ 7), we can rule out that most 10{sup 9} M{sub ☉} BHs exist in ∼0.03-0.2 pc scale binaries, in a scenario where binaries stall at sub-parsec scales for a Hubble time. We further constrain that ≤16% (one-third) of quasars host SMBH binaries after considering gas-assisted sub-parsec evolution of SMBH binaries, although this result is very sensitive to the assumed size of the broad line region. We estimate the detectability of SMBH binaries with ongoing or next-generation surveys (e.g., Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph), taking into account the evolution of the sub-parsec binary in circumbinary gas disks. These future observations will provide longer time baselines for searches similar to ours and may in turn constrain the evolutionary scenarios of SMBH binaries.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

LIKELIHOOD OF THE POWER SPECTRUM IN COSMOLOGICAL PARAMETER ESTIMATION

The likelihood function is a crucial element of parameter estimation. In analyses of galaxy overdensities and weak lensing shear, one often approximates the likelihood of the power spectrum with a Gaussian distribution. The posterior probability derived from such a likelihood deviates considerably from the exact posterior on the largest scales probed by any survey, where the central limit theorem does not apply. We show that various forms of Gaussian likelihoods can have a significant impact on the estimation of the primordial non-Gaussianity parameter f{sub NL} from the galaxy angular power spectrum. The Gaussian plus log-normal likelihood, which has been applied successfully in analyses of the cosmic microwave background, outperforms the Gaussian likelihoods. Nevertheless, even if the exact likelihood of the power spectrum is used, the estimated parameters may be still biased. As such, the likelihoods and estimators need to be thoroughly examined for potential systematic errors.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The coyote universe extended: Precision emulation of the matter power spectrum

Modern sky surveys are returning precision measurements of cosmological statistics such as weak lensing shear correlations, the distribution of galaxies, and cluster abundance. To fully exploit these observations, theorists must provide predictions that are at least as accurate as the measurements, as well as robust estimates of systematic errors that are inherent to the modeling process. In the nonlinear regime of structure formation, this challenge can only be overcome by developing a large-scale, multi-physics simulation capability covering a range of cosmological models and astrophysical processes. As a first step to achieving this goal, we have recently developed a prediction scheme for the matter power spectrum (a so-called emulator), accurate at the 1% level out to k ∼ 1 Mpc{sup –1} and z = 1 for wCDM cosmologies based on a set of high-accuracy N-body simulations. It is highly desirable to increase the range in both redshift and wavenumber and to extend the reach in cosmological parameter space. To make progress in this direction, while minimizing computational cost, we present a strategy that maximally reuses the original simulations. We demonstrate improvement over the original spatial dynamic range by an order of magnitude, reaching k ∼ 10 h Mpc{sup –1}, a four-fold increase in redshift coverage, to z = 4, and now include the Hubble parameter as a new independent variable. To further the range in k and z, a new set of nested simulations run at modest cost is added to the original set. The extension in h is performed by including perturbation theory results within a multi-scale procedure for building the emulator. This economical methodology still gives excellent error control, ∼5% near the edges of the domain of applicability of the emulator. A public domain code for the new emulator is released as part of the work presented in this paper.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

How good a clock is rotation? The stellar rotation-mass-age relationship for old field stars

The rotation-mass-age relationship offers a promising avenue for measuring the ages of field stars, assuming the attendant uncertainties to this technique can be well characterized. We model stellar angular momentum evolution starting with a rotation distribution from open cluster M37. Our predicted rotation-mass-age relationship shows significant zero-point offsets compared to an alternative angular momentum loss law and published gyrochronology relations. Systematic errors at the 30% level are permitted by current data, highlighting the need for empirical guidance. We identify two fundamental sources of uncertainty that limit the precision of rotation-based ages and quantify their impact. Stars are born with a range of rotation rates, which leads to an age range at fixed rotation period. We find that the inherent ambiguity from the initial conditions is important for all young stars, and remains large for old stars below 0.6 M {sub ☉}. Latitudinal surface differential rotation also introduces a minimum uncertainty into rotation period measurements and, by extension, rotation-based ages. Both models and the data from binary star systems 61 Cyg and α Cen demonstrate that latitudinal differential rotation is the limiting factor for rotation-based age precision among old field stars, inducing uncertainties at the ∼2 Gyr level. We also examine the relationship between variability amplitude, rotation period, and age. Existing ground-based surveys can detect field populations with ages as old as 1-2 Gyr, while space missions can detect stars as old as the Galactic disk. In comparison with other techniques for measuring the ages of lower main sequence stars, including geometric parallax and asteroseismology, rotation-based ages have the potential to be the most precise chronometer for 0.6-1.0 M {sub ☉} stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Massive star-forming host galaxies of quasars on Sloan digital sky survey stripe 82

The stellar properties of about 800 galaxies hosting optically luminous, unobscured quasars at z < 0.6 are analyzed. Deep co-added Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) images of the quasars on Stripe 82 are decomposed into nucleus and host galaxy using point spread function and Sérsic models. The systematic errors in the measured galaxy absolute magnitudes and colors are estimated to be less than 0.5 mag and 0.1 mag, respectively, with simulated quasar images. The effect of quasar light scattered by the interstellar medium is also carefully addressed. The measured quasar-to-galaxy ratio in total flux decreases toward longer wavelengths, from ∼8 in the u band to ∼1 in the i and z bands. We find that the SDSS quasars are hosted exclusively by massive galaxies (stellar mass M {sub star} > 10{sup 10} M {sub ☉}), which is consistent with previous results for less luminous narrow-line (obscured) active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The quasar hosts are very blue and almost absent on the red sequence, showing stark contrast to the color-magnitude distribution of normal galaxies. The fact that more powerful AGNs reside in galaxies with higher star-formation efficiency may indicate that negative AGN feedback, if it exists, is not concurrent with the most luminous phase of AGNs. We also find positive correlation between the mass of supermassive black holes (SMBHs; M {sub BH}) and host stellar mass, but the M {sub BH}-M {sub star} relation is offset toward large M {sub BH} or small M {sub star} compared to the local relation. While this could indicate that SMBHs grow earlier than do their host galaxies, such an argument is not conclusive, as the effect may be dominated by observational biases.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗