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M. Casali

Bio: M. Casali is an academic researcher from UK Astronomy Technology Centre. The author has contributed to research in topics: Quasar & Population. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 2391 citations.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The final version published in MNRAS August 2007 included significant revisions including significant revisions to the original version April 2006.
Abstract: Final published version including significant revisions. Twenty four pages, fourteen figures. Original version April 2006; final version published in MNRAS August 2007

2,562 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) as mentioned in this paper is a seven-year sky survey which began in May 2005, using the UKIRT Wide Field Camera.
Abstract: We describe the goals, design, implementation, and initial progress of the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS), a seven year sky survey which began in May 2005, using the UKIRT Wide Field Camera. It is a portfolio of five survey components covering various combinations of the filter set ZYJHK and H_2. The Large Area Survey, the Galactic Clusters Survey, and the Galactic Plane Survey cover approximately 7000 square degrees to a depth of K~18; the Deep Extragalactic Survey covers 35 square degrees to K~21, and the Ultra Deep Survey covers 0.77 square degrees to K~23. Summed together UKIDSS is 12 times larger in effective volume than the 2MASS survey. The prime aim of UKIDSS is to provide a long term astronomical legacy database; the design is however driven by a series of specific goals -- for example to find the nearest and faintest sub-stellar objects; to discover Population II brown dwarfs, if they exist; to determine the substellar mass function; to break the z=7 quasar barrier; to determine the epoch of re-ionisation; to measure the growth of structure from z=3 to the present day; to determine the epoch of spheroid formation; and to map the Milky Way through the dust, to several kpc. The survey data are being uniformly processed, and released in stages through the WFCAM Science Archive (WSA : this http URL). Before the formal survey began, UKIRT and the UKIDSS consortium collaborated in obtaining and analysing a series of small science verification (SV) projects to complete the commissioning of the camera. We show some results from these SV projects in order to demonstrate the likely power of the eventual complete survey. Finally, using the data from the First Data Release we assess how well UKIDSS is meeting its design targets so far.

3 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Dec 2010
TL;DR: The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is mapping the whole sky following its launch on 14 December 2009 and completed its first full coverage of the sky on July 17 as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The all sky surveys done by the Palomar Observatory Schmidt, the European Southern Observatory Schmidt, and the United Kingdom Schmidt, the InfraRed Astronomical Satellite and the 2 Micron All Sky Survey have proven to be extremely useful tools for astronomy with value that lasts for decades. The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is mapping the whole sky following its launch on 14 December 2009. WISE began surveying the sky on 14 Jan 2010 and completed its first full coverage of the sky on July 17. The survey will continue to cover the sky a second time until the cryogen is exhausted (anticipated in November 2010). WISE is achieving 5 sigma point source sensitivities better than 0.08, 0.11, 1 and 6 mJy in unconfused regions on the ecliptic in bands centered at wavelengths of 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 micrometers. Sensitivity improves toward the ecliptic poles due to denser coverage and lower zodiacal background. The angular resolution is 6.1", 6.4", 6.5" and 12.0" at 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 micrometers, and the astrometric precision for high SNR sources is better than 0.15".

7,182 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: SDSS-III as mentioned in this paper is a program of four spectroscopic surveys on three scientific themes: dark energy and cosmological parameters, the history and structure of the Milky Way, and the population of giant planets around other stars.
Abstract: Building on the legacy of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-I and II), SDSS-III is a program of four spectroscopic surveys on three scientific themes: dark energy and cosmological parameters, the history and structure of the Milky Way, and the population of giant planets around other stars. In keeping with SDSS tradition, SDSS-III will provide regular public releases of all its data, beginning with SDSS DR8 (which occurred in Jan 2011). This paper presents an overview of the four SDSS-III surveys. BOSS will measure redshifts of 1.5 million massive galaxies and Lya forest spectra of 150,000 quasars, using the BAO feature of large scale structure to obtain percent-level determinations of the distance scale and Hubble expansion rate at z 100 per resolution element), H-band (1.51-1.70 micron) spectra of 10^5 evolved, late-type stars, measuring separate abundances for ~15 elements per star and creating the first high-precision spectroscopic survey of all Galactic stellar populations (bulge, bar, disks, halo) with a uniform set of stellar tracers and spectral diagnostics. MARVELS will monitor radial velocities of more than 8000 FGK stars with the sensitivity and cadence (10-40 m/s, ~24 visits per star) needed to detect giant planets with periods up to two years, providing an unprecedented data set for understanding the formation and dynamical evolution of giant planet systems. (Abridged)

2,265 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Norman A. Grogin1, Dale D. Kocevski2, Sandra M. Faber2, Henry C. Ferguson1, Anton M. Koekemoer1, Adam G. Riess3, Viviana Acquaviva4, David M. Alexander5, Omar Almaini6, Matthew L. N. Ashby7, Marco Barden8, Eric F. Bell9, Frédéric Bournaud10, Thomas M. Brown1, Karina Caputi11, Stefano Casertano1, Paolo Cassata12, Marco Castellano, Peter Challis7, Ranga-Ram Chary13, Edmond Cheung2, Michele Cirasuolo14, Christopher J. Conselice6, Asantha Cooray15, Darren J. Croton16, Emanuele Daddi10, Tomas Dahlen1, Romeel Davé17, Duilia F. de Mello18, Duilia F. de Mello19, Avishai Dekel20, Mark Dickinson, Timothy Dolch3, Jennifer L. Donley1, James Dunlop11, Aaron A. Dutton21, David Elbaz10, Giovanni G. Fazio7, Alexei V. Filippenko22, Steven L. Finkelstein23, Adriano Fontana, Jonathan P. Gardner18, Peter M. Garnavich24, Eric Gawiser4, Mauro Giavalisco12, Andrea Grazian, Yicheng Guo12, Nimish P. Hathi25, Boris Häussler6, Philip F. Hopkins22, Jiasheng Huang26, Kuang-Han Huang3, Kuang-Han Huang1, Saurabh Jha4, Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe, Robert P. Kirshner7, David C. Koo2, Kamson Lai2, Kyoung-Soo Lee27, Weidong Li22, Jennifer M. Lotz1, Ray A. Lucas1, Piero Madau2, Patrick J. McCarthy25, Elizabeth J. McGrath2, Daniel H. McIntosh28, Ross J. McLure11, Bahram Mobasher29, Leonidas A. Moustakas13, Mark Mozena2, Kirpal Nandra30, Jeffrey A. Newman31, Sami Niemi1, Kai G. Noeske1, Casey Papovich23, Laura Pentericci, Alexandra Pope12, Joel R. Primack2, Abhijith Rajan1, Swara Ravindranath32, Naveen A. Reddy29, Alvio Renzini, Hans-Walter Rix30, Aday R. Robaina33, Steven A. Rodney3, David J. Rosario30, Piero Rosati34, S. Salimbeni12, Claudia Scarlata35, Brian Siana29, Luc Simard36, Joseph Smidt15, Rachel S. Somerville4, Hyron Spinrad22, Amber Straughn18, Louis-Gregory Strolger37, Olivia Telford31, Harry I. Teplitz13, Jonathan R. Trump2, Arjen van der Wel30, Carolin Villforth1, Risa H. Wechsler38, Benjamin J. Weiner17, Tommy Wiklind39, Vivienne Wild11, Grant W. Wilson12, Stijn Wuyts30, Hao Jing Yan40, Min S. Yun12 
TL;DR: The Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) as discussed by the authors was designed to document the first third of galactic evolution, from z approx. 8 - 1.5 to test their accuracy as standard candles for cosmology.
Abstract: The Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) is designed to document the first third of galactic evolution, from z approx. 8 - 1.5. It will image > 250,000 distant galaxies using three separate cameras on the Hubble Space Tele8cope, from the mid-UV to near-IR, and will find and measure Type Ia supernovae beyond z > 1.5 to test their accuracy as standard candles for cosmology. Five premier multi-wavelength sky regions are selected, each with extensive ancillary data. The use of five widely separated fields mitigates cosmic variance and yields statistically robust and complete samples of galaxies down to a stellar mass of 10(exp 9) solar mass to z approx. 2, reaching the knee of the UV luminosity function of galaxies to z approx. 8. The survey covers approximately 800 square arc minutes and is divided into two parts. The CANDELS/Deep survey (5(sigma) point-source limit H =27.7mag) covers approx. 125 square arcminutes within GOODS-N and GOODS-S. The CANDELS/Wide survey includes GOODS and three additional fields (EGS, COSMOS, and UDS) and covers the full area to a 50(sigma) point-source limit of H ? or approx. = 27.0 mag. Together with the Hubble Ultradeep Fields, the strategy creates a three-tiered "wedding cake" approach that has proven efficient for extragalactic surveys. Data from the survey are non-proprietary and are useful for a wide variety of science investigations. In this paper, we describe the basic motivations for the survey, the CANDELS team science goals and the resulting observational requirements, the field selection and geometry, and the observing design.

2,088 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Anton M. Koekemoer1, Sandra M. Faber2, Henry C. Ferguson1, Norman A. Grogin1, Dale D. Kocevski2, David C. Koo2, Kamson Lai2, Jennifer M. Lotz1, Ray A. Lucas1, Elizabeth J. McGrath2, Sara Ogaz1, Abhijith Rajan1, Adam G. Riess3, S. Rodney3, L. G. Strolger4, Stefano Casertano1, Marco Castellano, Tomas Dahlen1, Mark Dickinson, Timothy Dolch3, Adriano Fontana, Mauro Giavalisco5, Andrea Grazian, Yicheng Guo5, Nimish P. Hathi6, Kuang-Han Huang3, Kuang-Han Huang1, Arjen van der Wel7, Hao Jing Yan8, Viviana Acquaviva9, David M. Alexander10, Omar Almaini11, Matthew L. N. Ashby12, Marco Barden13, Eric F. Bell14, Frédéric Bournaud15, Thomas M. Brown1, Karina Caputi16, Paolo Cassata5, Peter Challis17, Ranga-Ram Chary18, Edmond Cheung2, Michele Cirasuolo16, Christopher J. Conselice11, Asantha Cooray19, Darren J. Croton20, Emanuele Daddi15, Romeel Davé21, Duilia F. de Mello22, Loic de Ravel16, Avishai Dekel23, Jennifer L. Donley1, James Dunlop16, Aaron A. Dutton24, David Elbaz25, Giovanni Fazio12, Alexei V. Filippenko26, Steven L. Finkelstein27, Chris Frazer19, Jonathan P. Gardner22, Peter M. Garnavich28, Eric Gawiser9, Ruth Gruetzbauch11, Will G. Hartley11, B. Haussler11, Jessica Herrington14, Philip F. Hopkins26, J.-S. Huang29, Saurabh Jha9, Andrew Johnson2, Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe3, Ali Ahmad Khostovan19, Robert P. Kirshner12, Caterina Lani11, Kyoung-Soo Lee30, Weidong Li26, Piero Madau2, Patrick J. McCarthy6, Daniel H. McIntosh31, Ross J. McLure, Conor McPartland2, Bahram Mobasher32, Heidi Moreira9, Alice Mortlock11, Leonidas A. Moustakas18, Mark Mozena2, Kirpal Nandra33, Jeffrey A. Newman34, Jennifer L. Nielsen31, Sami Niemi1, Kai G. Noeske1, Casey Papovich27, Laura Pentericci, Alexandra Pope, Joel R. Primack2, Swara Ravindranath35, Naveen A. Reddy, Alvio Renzini, Hans Walter Rix7, Aday R. Robaina, David J. Rosario2, Piero Rosati7, S. Salimbeni5, Claudia Scarlata18, Brian Siana18, Luc Simard36, Joseph Smidt19, D. Snyder2, Rachel S. Somerville1, Hyron Spinrad26, Amber N. Straughn22, Olivia Telford34, Harry I. Teplitz18, Jonathan R. Trump2, Carlos J. Vargas9, Carolin Villforth1, C. Wagner31, P. Wandro2, Risa H. Wechsler37, Benjamin J. Weiner21, Tommy Wiklind1, Vivienne Wild, Grant W. Wilson5, Stijn Wuyts12, Min S. Yun5 
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the Hubble Space Telescope imaging data products and data reduction procedures for the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS).
Abstract: This paper describes the Hubble Space Telescope imaging data products and data reduction procedures for the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS). This survey is designed to document the evolution of galaxies and black holes at z 1.5-8, and to study Type Ia supernovae at z > 1.5. Five premier multi-wavelength sky regions are selected, each with extensive multi-wavelength observations. The primary CANDELS data consist of imaging obtained in the Wide Field Camera 3 infrared channel (WFC3/IR) and the WFC3 ultraviolet/optical channel, along with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The CANDELS/Deep survey covers ~125 arcmin2 within GOODS-N and GOODS-S, while the remainder consists of the CANDELS/Wide survey, achieving a total of ~800 arcmin2 across GOODS and three additional fields (Extended Groth Strip, COSMOS, and Ultra-Deep Survey). We summarize the observational aspects of the survey as motivated by the scientific goals and present a detailed description of the data reduction procedures and products from the survey. Our data reduction methods utilize the most up-to-date calibration files and image combination procedures. We have paid special attention to correcting a range of instrumental effects, including charge transfer efficiency degradation for ACS, removal of electronic bias-striping present in ACS data after Servicing Mission 4, and persistence effects and other artifacts in WFC3/IR. For each field, we release mosaics for individual epochs and eventual mosaics containing data from all epochs combined, to facilitate photometric variability studies and the deepest possible photometry. A more detailed overview of the science goals and observational design of the survey are presented in a companion paper.

2,011 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) as discussed by the authors was designed to measure the scale of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of matter over a larger volume than the combined efforts of all previous spectroscopic surveys of large-scale structure.
Abstract: The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) is designed to measure the scale of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of matter over a larger volume than the combined efforts of all previous spectroscopic surveys of large-scale structure. BOSS uses 1.5 million luminous galaxies as faint as i = 19.9 over 10,000 deg2 to measure BAO to redshifts z < 0.7. Observations of neutral hydrogen in the Lyα forest in more than 150,000 quasar spectra (g < 22) will constrain BAO over the redshift range 2.15 < z < 3.5. Early results from BOSS include the first detection of the large-scale three-dimensional clustering of the Lyα forest and a strong detection from the Data Release 9 data set of the BAO in the clustering of massive galaxies at an effective redshift z = 0.57. We project that BOSS will yield measurements of the angular diameter distance dA to an accuracy of 1.0% at redshifts z = 0.3 and z = 0.57 and measurements of H(z) to 1.8% and 1.7% at the same redshifts. Forecasts for Lyα forest constraints predict a measurement of an overall dilation factor that scales the highly degenerate DA (z) and H –1(z) parameters to an accuracy of 1.9% at z ~ 2.5 when the survey is complete. Here, we provide an overview of the selection of spectroscopic targets, planning of observations, and analysis of data and data quality of BOSS.

1,938 citations