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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

The most luminous, merger-free AGNs show only marginal correlation with bar presence

The role of large-scale bars in the fuelling of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is still debated, even as evidence mounts that black hole growth in the absence of galaxy mergers cumulatively dominates and may substantially influence disc (i.e. merger-free) galaxy evolution. We investigate whether large-scale galactic bars are a good candidate for merger-free AGN fuelling. Specifically, we combine slit spectroscopy and Hubble Space Telescope imagery to characterize star formation rates (SFRs) and stellar masses of the unambiguously disc-dominated host galaxies of a sample of luminous, Type-1 AGN with 0.02 < z < 0.24. After carefully correcting for AGN signal, we find no clear difference in SFRs between AGN hosts and a stellar mass-matched sample of galaxies lacking an AGN (0.013 < z < 0.19), although this could be due to small sample size (nAGN = 34). We correct for SFR and stellar mass to minimize selection biases, and compare the bar fraction in the two samples. We find that AGNs are marginally (~1.7σ) more likely to host a bar than inactive galaxies, with AGN hosts having a bar fraction, $f_{\mathrm{bar}}=0.59^{+0.08}_{-0.09}$ and inactive galaxies having a bar fraction, $f_{\mathrm{bar}}=0.44^{+0.08}_{-0.09}$. However, we find no further differences between SFR- and mass-matched AGNs and inactive samples. While bars could potentially trigger AGN activity, they appear to have no further, unique effect on a galaxy’s stellar mass or SFR.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Flux Cube Reconstruction from Slitless Spectroscopy

Slitless spectroscopy enables efficient, large-area surveys without target preselection, yet it faces challenges from source blending, higher noise, and lost spatial–spectral information. We present an advanced, nonparametric, data-driven algorithm that leverages multiple dispersion angles to reconstruct three-dimensional flux distributions, providing low-resolution integral field unit capabilities from slitless data. By treating each pixel as an independent element, our method naturally handles source confusion without requiring prior assumptions regarding redshifts, templates, or model libraries. We validate the algorithm using simulated Roman Space Telescope wide-field slitless spectroscopy images that are equivalent to what is expected from the High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey. First, we demonstrate that a host-galaxy model reconstructed from multiple dispersion angles can be used to accurately subtract host light from a transient, recovering a Type Ia supernova spectrum with minimal bias. Second, we showcase a high-fidelity flux-cube reconstruction of a complex galaxy, successfully measuring the redshift and recovering continuum, emission, and absorption features. This approach highlights the potential of multi-dispersion-angle slitless data to provide spatially resolved spectral information in a nonparametric way, which is traditionally accessible only with integral field spectroscopy, opening a new window into large, unbiased, and spatially resolved studies of galaxy evolution.

Griggio, M. [Space Telescope Science Institute, Ba↗
DOE OSTI2026

DESI Strong Lens Foundry. III. Keck Spectroscopy for Strong Lenses Discovered Using Residual Neural Networks

We present spectroscopic data of strong lenses and their source galaxies using the Keck Near-Infrared Echellette Spectrometer (NIRES) and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), providing redshifts necessary for nearly all strong-lensing applications with these systems, especially the extraction of physical parameters from lensing modeling. These strong lenses were found in the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys using residual neural networks and followed up by our Hubble Space Telescope program, with all systems displaying unambiguous lensed arcs. With NIRES, we target eight lensed sources at redshifts difficult to measure in the optical range and determine the source redshifts for six, between z s = 1.675 and 3.332. DESI observed one of the remaining source redshifts, as well as an additional source redshift within the six systems. The two systems with nondetections by NIRES were observed for a considerably shorter 600 s at high airmass. Combining NIRES infrared spectroscopy with optical spectroscopy from our DESI Strong Lensing Secondary Target Program, these results provide the complete lens and source redshifts for six systems, a resource for refining automated strong lens searches in future deep- and wide-field imaging surveys and addressing a range of questions in astrophysics and cosmology.

Agarwal, Shrihan [University of Chicago, IL (Unite↗
DOE OSTI2023

SDSS-IV MaNGA: the role of the environment in AGN triggering

ABSTRACT The large- and small-scale environments around optically-selected AGN host galaxies and a control sample of non-active galaxies in the MaNGA survey have been investigated in order to evaluate the importance of the environment in AGN triggering. Using the MaNGA integral field spectroscopy, we quantify non-circular motions of the ionized gas and detect an excess of radial gas motions in AGN hosts relative to control galaxies, not associated to AGN feedback and are most likely the result of tidal interactions, possibly associated with the triggering of the AGN. We find that the large-scale environments are similar for the AGN hosts and control galaxies in our sample and are biased towards lower large-scale densities and group virial masses, suggestive that the large-scale environment properties is only relevant to the AGN phenomenon in an indirect way, in the form, e.g. of the morphology-density relation. The small-scale environment, as measured by the frequency and luminosity of close neighbours, was also found to be similar for AGN and control galaxies. However, we find a correlation between the intensity of the non-circular gas motions in AGN hosts and the strength of the tidal field, while the control sample does not present such correlation. Also, AGN hosts with the most intense radial gas motions present larger tidal fields than their control galaxies. These findings indicate that at least a fraction of the AGN hosts in our sample have been triggered by tidal interactions with nearby galaxies.

Rembold, Sandro B.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Photometric Redshifts for Next-Generation Surveys

Photometric redshifts are essential in studies of both galaxy evolution and cosmology, as they enable analyses of objects too numerous or faint for spectroscopy. The Rubin Observatory, Euclid, and Roman Space Telescope will soon provide a new generation of imaging surveys with unprecedented area coverage, wavelength range, and depth. To take full advantage of these data sets, further progress in photometric redshift methods is needed. In this review, we focus on the greatest common challenges and prospects for improvement in applications of photometric redshifts to the next generation of surveys: ∙ Gains in performance (i.e., the precision of redshift estimates for individual galaxies) could greatly enhance studies of galaxy evolution and some probes of cosmology. ∙ Improvements in characterization (i.e., the accurate recovery of redshift distributions of galaxies in the presence of uncertainty on individual redshifts) are urgently needed for cosmological measurements with next-generation surveys. To achieve both of these goals, improvements in the scope and treatment of the samples of spectroscopic redshifts that make high-fidelity photometric redshifts possible will also be needed. For the full potential of the next generation of surveys to be reached, the characterization of redshift distributions must improve by roughly an order of magnitude compared with the current state of the art, requiring progress on a wide variety of fronts. We conclude by presenting a speculative evaluation of how photometric redshift methods and the collection of the necessary spectroscopic samples may improve by the time near-future surveys are completed.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2022

SEGUE-2: Old Milky Way Stars Near and Far

The Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration 2 (SEGUE-2) obtained 128,288 low-resolution spectra (R ~ 1800) of 118,958 unique stars in the first year of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (2008–2009). SEGUE-2 targeted prioritized distant halo tracers (blue horizontal-branch stars, K giants, and M giants) and metal-poor or kinematically hot populations. The main goal of SEGUE-2 was to target stars in the distant halo and measure their kinematics and chemical abundances to learn about the formation and evolution of the Milky Way. We present the SEGUE-2 field placement and target selection strategies. We discuss the success rate of the targeting based on the SEGUE-2 spectra and other spectroscopic and astrometric surveys. We describe the final SEGUE-2/SDSS-III improvements to the stellar parameter determinations based on the SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline. We report a (g - i) color-effective temperature relation calibrated to the IRFM. We evaluate the accuracy and uncertainties associated with these stellar parameters by comparing with fundamental parameters, a sample of high-resolution spectra of SEGUE stars analyzed homogeneously, stars in well-studied clusters, and stars observed in common by the APOGEE survey. The final SEGUE spectra, calibration data, and derived parameters described here were released in SDSS-III Data Release 9 and continue to be included in all subsequent SDSS Data Releases. Because of its faint limiting magnitude and emphasis on the distant halo, the public SEGUE-2 data remain an important resource for the spectroscopy of stars in the Milky Way.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

ASCENT: a balloon-borne hard x-ray imaging spectroscopy telescope using transition edge sensor microcalorimeter detectors

Core collapse supernovae are thought to be one of the main sources in the galaxy of elements heavier than iron. Understanding the origin of the elements is thus tightly linked to our understanding of the explosion mechanism of supernovae and supernova nucleosynthesis. X-ray and gamma-ray observations of young supernova remnants, combined with improved theoretical modeling, have resulted in enormous improvements in our knowledge of these events. Here, the isotope Ti44 is one of the most sensitive probes of the innermost regions of the core collapse engine, and its spatial and velocity distribution are key observables. Hard x-ray imaging spectroscopy with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) has provided new insights into the structure of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A), establishing the convective nature of the supernova engine. However, many questions about the details of this engine remain. We present here the concept for a balloon-borne follow-up mission called A SuperConducting ENergetic x-ray Telescope (ASCENT). ASCENT uses transition edge sensor gamma-ray microcalorimeter detectors with a demonstrated 55-eV full-width half maximum energy resolution at 97 keV. This 8- to 16-fold improvement in energy resolution over NuSTAR will allow for high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy of the Ti44 emission. This will allow for a detailed reconstruction of gamma-ray line redshifts, widths, and shapes, allowing us to address questions such as, What is the source of the neutron star kicks? What is the dominant production pathway for Ti44? Is the engine of Cas A unique?

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Searching water megamasers by using mid-infrared spectroscopy (I): Possible mid-infrared indicators

ABSTRACT Water megamasers at 22 GHz with a gas disc configuration in galaxies provide the most precise measurements of supermassive black hole masses, as well as independent constraints on the Hubble constant in the nearby universe. The existence of other maser types, such as jet or outflow masers, represents another tracer for AGN science. However, the detection rate of water megamasers in galaxies is extremely low. Over 40 yr, only ∼ 160 galaxies are found to harbour maser emission, and ∼30 per cent of them show features in their maser emission that indicate a disc-like geometry. Therefore, increasing the detection rate of masers is a crucial task to allow expanding on maser studies. We present a comparison of mid-infrared spectroscopic data between a maser galaxy sample and a Seyfert 2 control sample. We find that maser galaxies show significant peculiarities in their mid-infrared spectra: (1) Maser galaxies tend to present stronger silicate absorption at τ9.7 $\mu\mathrm{ m}$ than the control sample, (2) PAH 11.3 $\mu$m emission in maser galaxies is much weaker than in the control sample, (3) spectral indices at 20–30 $\mu$m are steeper in maser galaxies than in the control sample and tend to be mid-infrared enhanced population. We conclude that there may be good indicators in mid-infrared and far-infrared which could differentiate maser and non-maser Seyfert 2 galaxies. Upcoming infrared facilities, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, may be able to exploit these and other useful criteria and tracers for water megamaser observations.

Lam, Man I.↗
DOE OSTI2020

A Wide and Deep Exploration of Radio Galaxies with Subaru HSC (WERGS). III. Discovery of a z = 4.72 Radio Galaxy with the Lyman Break Technique

We report a discovery of a z = 4.72 radio galaxy, HSC J083913.17+011308.1, using the Lyman break technique with the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Survey (HSC-SSP) catalog for Very Large Array Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty centimeter radio sources. The number of known high-z radio galaxies (HzRGs) at z > 3 is quite small to constrain the evolution of HzRGs so far. The deep and wide-area optical survey by HSC-SSP enables us to apply the Lyman break technique to a large search for HzRGs. For an HzRG candidate among pre-selected r-band dropouts with a radio detection, a follow-up optical spectroscopy with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrographs (GMOS)/Gemini has been performed. The obtained spectrum presents a clear Lyα emission line redshifted to z = 4.72. The spectral energy distribution fitting analysis with the rest-frame UV and optical photometries suggests the massive nature of this HzRG with logM{sub ∗}/M{sub ⊙}=11.4. The small equivalent width of Lyα and the moderately red UV colors indicate its dusty host galaxy, implying a chemically evolved and dusty system. The radio spectral index does not meet a criterion for an ultra-steep spectrum, α{sub 1400}{sup 325} of −1.1 and α{sub 1400}{sup 150} of −0.9, demonstrating that the HSC-SSP survey compensates for a subpopulation of HzRGs that are missed in surveys focusing on an ultra-steep spectral index.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Star formation and AGN feedback in the local Universe: Combining LOFAR and MaNGA

The effect of active galactic nuclei (AGN) on their host galaxies – in particular their levels of star formation – remains one of the key outstanding questions of galaxy evolution. Successful cosmological models of galaxy evolution require a fraction of energy released by an AGN to be redistributed into the interstellar medium to reproduce the observed stellar mass and luminosity function and to prevent the formation of over-massive galaxies. Observations have confirmed that the radio-AGN population is energetically capable of heating and redistributing gas at all phases, however, direct evidence of AGN enhancing or quenching star formation remains rare. With modern, deep radio surveys and large integral field spectroscopy (IFS) surveys, we can detect fainter synchrotron emission from AGN jets and accurately probe the star-forming properties of galaxies, respectively. Here, in this paper, we combine data from the LOw Frequency ARray Two-meter Sky Survey (LoTSS) with data from one of the largest optical IFS surveys, Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA), to probe the star-forming properties of 307 local (z < 0.15) galaxies that host radio-detected AGN (RDAGN). We compare our results to a robust control sample of non-active galaxies that each match the stellar mass, redshift, visual morphology, and inclination of a RDAGN host. We find that RDAGN and control galaxies have broad star-formation rate (SFR) distributions, typically lie below the SFMS, and have negative stellar light-weighted age gradients. These results indicate that AGN selected based on their current activity are not responsible for suppressing their host galaxies’ star formation. Rather, our results support the maintenance mode role that radio AGN are expected to have in the local Universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Progenitor, precursor, and evolution of the dusty remnant of the stellar merger M31-LRN-2015

ABSTRACT M31-LRN-2015 is a likely stellar merger discovered in the Andromeda Galaxy in 2015. We present new optical to mid-infrared photometry and optical spectroscopy for this event. Archival data show that the source started to brighten ∼2 yr before the nova event. During this precursor phase, the source brightened by ∼3 mag. The light curve at 6 and 1.5 months before the main outburst may show periodicity, with periods of 16 ± 0.3 and 28.1 ± 1.4 d, respectively. This complex emission may be explained by runaway mass-loss from the system after the binary undergoes Roche lobe overflow, leading the system to coalesce in tens of orbital periods. While the progenitor spectral energy distribution shows no evidence of pre-existing warm dust in the system, the remnant forms an optically thick dust shell at approximately four months after the outburst peak. The optical depth of the shell increases dramatically after 1.5 yr, suggesting the existence of shocks that enhance the dust formation process. We propose that the merger remnant is likely an inflated giant obscured by a cooling shell of gas with mass ∼0.2 M⊙ ejected at the onset of the common envelope phase.

(ISM:) dust, extinction↗
DOE OSTI2022

How Many Elements Matter?

Some studies of stars' multielement abundance distributions suggest at least 5–7 significant dimensions, but others show that many elemental abundances can be predicted to high accuracy from [Fe/H] and [Mg/Fe] (or [Fe/H] and age) alone. We show that both propositions can be, and are, simultaneously true. We adopt a machine-learning technique known as normalizing flow to reconstruct the probability distribution of Milky Way disk stars in the space of 15 elemental abundances measured by APOGEE. Conditioning on T eff and $\mathrm{log}\,g$ minimizes the differential systematics. After further conditioning on [Fe/H] and [Mg/Fe], the residual scatter for most abundances is σ [X/H] ≲ 0.02 dex, consistent with APOGEE's reported statistical uncertainties of ~0.01–0.015 dex and intrinsic scatter of 0.01–0.02 dex. Despite the small scatter, residual abundances display clear correlations between elements, which we show are too large to be explained by measurement uncertainties or by the finite sampling noise. We must condition on at least seven elements to reduce the correlations to a level consistent with the observational uncertainties. Our results demonstrate that cross-element correlations are a much more sensitive probe of a hidden structure than dispersion, and they can be measured precisely in a large sample even if the star-by-star measurement noise is comparable to the intrinsic scatter. We conclude that many elements have an independent story to tell, even for the mundane disk stars and elements produced by the core-collapse and Type Ia supernovae. The only way to learn these lessons is to measure the abundances directly, and not merely infer them.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Discovery of a Cool, Metal-rich Gas Reservoir in the Outskirts of z ≈ 0.5 Clusters

We built the first-ever statistically significant sample of ≈80,000 background quasar–foreground cluster pairs to study the cool, metal-rich gas in the outskirts (>R 500 ) of z ≈ 0.5 clusters with a median mass of ≈10 14.2 M ⊙ . The sample was obtained by crossmatching the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) cluster catalog of Wen & Han and the SDSS quasar catalog of Lyke et al. The median impact parameter (ρcl) of the clusters from the quasar sightlines is 2.4 Mpc (median ρ cl /R 500 = 3.6). A strong Mg II, along with marginal Fe II, absorption is detected in the mean and median stacked spectra of the quasars with a total Mg II rest-frame equivalent width (${W}_{r}^{2796+2803}$) of 0.034 ± 0.005 Å (7σ) and 0.010 ± 0.003 Å (3σ), respectively. The ${W}_{r}^{2796+2803}$ shows a declining trend with increasing ρcl and ρcl/R 500 , but does not show any significant trend with mass (M 500 ) or redshift (z cl ) within the small M500 and z cl ranges probed here. The Mg II absorption signal and the trends persist even if we exclude the quasar–cluster pairs where the background quasars may be probing the circumgalactic medium of bright galaxies with impact parameters <300 kpc. The Mg II (and Fe II) absorption reported here is the first detection of its kind. It indicates the presence of a cool, metal-rich gas reservoir surrounding galaxy clusters out to several R 500 . We suggest that the metal-rich gas in the cluster outskirts arise from stripped materials and that gas stripping may be important out to large clustocentric distances (>3R 500 ).

Intergalactic medium↗
DOE OSTI2020

Spectroscopic Tomography: A First Weak-lensing Detection Using Spectroscopic Redshifts Only

We describe the first spectroscopic tomographic (spectrotomographic) weak-lensing measurement for a galaxy cluster based only on background galaxies with spectroscopically determined redshifts. We use the massive cluster A2029 to demonstrate the power of combining spectroscopy and lensing to obtain accurate masses and to overcome biases from contamination and photometric redshift errors. We detect the shear signal from the cluster at > 3.9 σ significance. The shear signal scales with source redshift in a way that is consistent with the angular diameter distance ratio variation in a ΛCDM universe. Furthermore, the amplitude of the measured signal is consistent with the X-ray mass. Upcoming spectroscopic instruments such as the Prime Focus Spectrograph on Subaru will permit spectrotomographic weak-lensing measurements with a signal-to-noise ratio comparable with current photometric-redshift-based weak-lensing measurements for hundreds of galaxy clusters. Thus, spectrotomography may enable sensitive cosmological constraints that complement and are independent of other measurement techniques.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2022

Spatially resolved mass–metallicity relation at $z$ ~ 0.26 from the MUSE-Wide Survey

Galaxies in the local universe have a spatially resolved star-forming main sequence (rSFMS) and mass–metallicity relation (rMZR). We know that the global mass–metallicity relation (MZR) results from the integral of the rMZR, and it evolves with redshift. However, the evolution of the rMZR with redshift is still unclear because the spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio are low. Currently, too few observations beyond the local universe are available, and only simulations can reproduce the evolution of the rMZR with redshift. We selected ten emission-line galaxies with an average redshift of $z$ ~ 0.26 from the MUSE-Wide DR1. We obtained the spatially resolved star formation rate (SFR) and metallicity from integral field spectroscopy (IFS), as well as the stellar mass surface density from 3D-HST photometry. We derived the rSFMS and rMZR at $z$ ~ 0.26 and compared them with those of local galaxies. We find that the rSFMS of galaxies at $z$ ~ 0.26 has a slope of ~0.771. The rMZR exists at z ~ 0.26, showing a similar shape to that of the local universe, but a lower average metallicity that is about ~0.11 dex lower than the local metallicity. In addition, we also study the spatially resolved fundamental metallicity relation (rFMR) of these galaxies. However, there is no obvious evidence that an rFMR exists at $z$ ~ 0.26, and it is not an extension of rMZR at a high SFR. Similar to their global versions, the rSFMS and rMZR of galaxies also evolve with redshift. At fixed stellar mass, galaxies at higher redshift show a higher SFR and lower metallicity. In conclusion, these suggest that the evolution of the global galaxy properties with redshift may result from integrating the evolution of the spatially resolved galaxy properties.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
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

DESI Spectroscopy of HETDEX Emission-line Candidates. I. Line Discrimination Validation

The Hobby–Eberly Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) is an untargeted spectroscopic galaxy survey that uses Lyα-emitting galaxies (LAEs) as tracers of 1.9 < z < 3.5 large-scale structure. Most detections consist of a single emission line, whose identity is inferred via a Bayesian analysis of ancillary data. To determine the accuracy of these line identifications, HETDEX detections were observed with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). In two DESI pointings, high-confidence spectroscopic redshifts are obtained for 1157 sources, including 982 LAEs. The DESI spectra are used to evaluate the accuracy of the HETDEX object classifications and tune the methodology to achieve the HETDEX science requirement of ≲2% contamination of the LAE sample by low-redshift emission-line galaxies, while still assigning 96% of the true Lyα emission sample with the correct spectroscopic redshift. We compare emission-line measurements between the two experiments assuming a simple Gaussian line fitting model. Fitted values for the central wavelength of the emission line, the measured line flux, and line widths are consistent between the surveys within uncertainties. Derived spectroscopic redshifts, from the two classification pipelines, when both agree as an LAE classification, are consistent to within $\langle$Δz/(1 + z)$\rangle$ = 6.9 × 10 −5 with an rms scatter of 3.3 × 10 −4 . Data are available at https://data.desi.lbl.gov/desi/public/dr1/vac/dr1/hetdex.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

The COS Legacy Archive Spectroscopy Survey (CLASSY) Treasury Atlas

Far-ultraviolet (FUV; ~1200–2000 Å) spectra are fundamental to our understanding of star-forming galaxies, providing a unique window on massive stellar populations, chemical evolution, feedback processes, and reionization. The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope will soon usher in a new era, pushing the UV spectroscopic frontier to higher redshifts than ever before; however, its success hinges on a comprehensive understanding of the massive star populations and gas conditions that power the observed UV spectral features. This requires a level of detail that is only possible with a combination of ample wavelength coverage, signal-to-noise, spectral-resolution, and sample diversity that has not yet been achieved by any FUV spectral database. We present the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph Legacy Spectroscopic Survey (CLASSY) treasury and its first high-level science product, the CLASSY atlas. CLASSY builds on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) archive to construct the first high-quality (S/N 1500 Å ≳ 5/resel), high-resolution (R ~ 15,000) FUV spectral database of 45 nearby (0.002 < z < 0.182) star-forming galaxies. The CLASSY atlas, available to the public via the CLASSY website, is the result of optimally extracting and coadding 170 archival+new spectra from 312 orbits of HST observations. The CLASSY sample covers a broad range of properties including stellar mass (6.2 < log M * (M ⊙ ) < 10.1), star formation rate (–2.0 < log SFR (M ⊙ yr –1 ) < +1.6), direct gas-phase metallicity (7.0 < 12+log(O/H) < 8.8), ionization (0.5 < O 32 < 38.0), reddening (0.02 < E(B – V) < 0.67), and nebular density (10 < n e (cm –3 ) < 1120). CLASSY is biased to UV-bright star-forming galaxies, resulting in a sample that is consistent with the z ~ 0 mass–metallicity relationship, but is offset to higher star formation rates by roughly 2 dex, similar to z ≳ 2 galaxies. This unique set of properties makes the CLASSY atlas the benchmark training set for star-forming galaxies across cosmic time.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗