1. |
- Prusti, T., et al.
(author)
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The Gaia mission
- 2016
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 595
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Gaia is a cornerstone mission in the science programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). The spacecraft construction was approved in 2006, following a study in which the original interferometric concept was changed to a direct-imaging approach. Both the spacecraft and the payload were built by European industry. The involvement of the scientific community focusses on data processing for which the international Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) was selected in 2007. Gaia was launched on 19 December 2013 and arrived at its operating point, the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth-Moon system, a few weeks later. The commissioning of the spacecraft and payload was completed on 19 July 2014. The nominal five-year mission started with four weeks of special, ecliptic-pole scanning and subsequently transferred into full-sky scanning mode. We recall the scientific goals of Gaia and give a description of the as-built spacecraft that is currently (mid-2016) being operated to achieve these goals. We pay special attention to the payload module, the performance of which is closely related to the scientific performance of the mission. We provide a summary of the commissioning activities and findings, followed by a description of the routine operational mode. We summarise scientific performance estimates on the basis of in-orbit operations. Several intermediate Gaia data releases are planned and the data can be retrieved from the Gaia Archive, which is available through the Gaia home page.
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2. |
- Clerc, N., et al.
(author)
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SPIDERS : overview of the X-ray galaxy cluster follow-up and the final spectroscopic data release
- 2020
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 497:3, s. 3976-3992
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- SPIDERS (The SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources) is a large spectroscopic programme for X-ray selected galaxy clusters as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-IV (SDSS-IV). We describe the final data set in the context of SDSS Data Release 16 (DR16): the survey overall characteristics, final targeting strategies, achieved completeness, and spectral quality, with special emphasis on its use as a galaxy cluster sample for cosmology applications. SPIDERS now consists of about 27 000 new optical spectra of galaxies selected within 4000 photometric red sequences, each associated with an X-ray source. The excellent spectrograph efficiency and a robust analysis pipeline yield a spectroscopic redshift measurement success rate exceeding 98 per cent, with a median velocity accuracy of 20 km s−1 (at z = 0.2). Using the catalogue of 2740 X-ray galaxy clusters confirmed with DR16 spectroscopy, we reveal the 3D map of the galaxy cluster distribution in the observable Universe up to z ∼ 0.6. We highlight the homogeneity of the member galaxy spectra among distinct regions of the galaxy cluster phase space. Aided by accurate spectroscopic redshifts and by a model of the sample selection effects, we compute the galaxy cluster X-ray luminosity function and we present its lack of evolution up to z = 0.6. Finally we discuss the prospects of forthcoming large multiplexed spectroscopic programmes dedicated to follow up the next generation of all-sky X-ray source catalogues.
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3. |
- Kirkpatrick, C. C., et al.
(author)
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SPIDERS : an overview of the largest catalogue of spectroscopically confirmed x-ray galaxy clusters
- 2021
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 503:4, s. 5763-5777
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- SPIDERS is the spectroscopic follow-up effort of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV) project for the identification of X-ray selected galaxy clusters. We present our catalogue of 2740 visually inspected galaxy clusters as part of the SDSS Data Release 16 (DR16). Here we detail the target selection, our methods for validation of the candidate clusters, performance of the survey, the construction of the final sample, and a full description of what is found in the catalogue. Of the sample, the median number of members per cluster is approximately 10, with 818 having 15 or greater. We find that we are capable of validating over 99 per cent of clusters when five redshifts are obtained below z < 0.3 and when nine redshifts are obtained above z > 0.3. We discuss the improvements in this catalogue’s identification of cluster using 33 340 redshifts, with Δzphot/Δzspec ∼ 100, over other photometric and spectroscopic surveys, as well as presenting an update to previous (σ–LX) and (σ–λ) relations. Finally, we present our cosmological constraints derived using the velocity dispersion function.
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4. |
- Mpetha, C. T., et al.
(author)
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Gravitational redshifting of galaxies in the SPIDERS cluster catalogue
- 2021
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 503:1, s. 669-678
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Data from the SPectroscopic IDentification of ERosita Sources (SPIDERS) are searched for a detection of the gravitational redshifting of light from ∼20000 galaxies in ∼2500 galaxy clusters using three definitions of the cluster centre: its Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG), the redMaPPer identified Central Galaxy (CG), or the peak of X-ray emission. Distributions of velocity offsets between galaxies and their host cluster’s centre, found using observed redshifts, are created. The quantity ˆΔ, the average of the radial velocity difference between the cluster members and the cluster systemic velocity, reveals information on the size of a combination of effects on the observed redshift, dominated by gravitational redshifting. The change of ˆΔ with radial distance is predicted for SPIDERS galaxies in General Relativity (GR), and f(R) gravity, and compared to the observations. The values of ˆΔ=−13.5±4.7 km s−1, ˆΔ=−12.5±5.1 km s−1, and ˆΔ=−18.6±4.8 km s−1 for the BCG, X-ray, and CG cases, respectively, broadly agree with the literature. There is no significant preference of one gravity theory over another, but all cases give a clear detection (>2.5σ) of ˆΔ. The BCG centroid is deemed to be the most robust method in this analysis, due to no well-defined central redshift when using an X-ray centroid, and CGs identified by redMaPPer with no associated spectroscopic redshift. For future gravitational redshift studies, an order-of-magnitude more galaxies, ∼500000, will be required – a possible feat with the forthcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory, Euclid and eROSITA.
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