Publications (27)
Periodic Variability of Low-Mass Stars in SDSS Stripe 82
A. C. Becker, J. J. Bochanski, S. L. Hawley +4
We present a catalog of periodic stellar variability in the "Stripe 82" region of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). After aggregating and recalibrating catalog-level data from t…
Modeling the Time Variability of SDSS Stripe 82 Quasars as a Damped Random Walk
C. L. MacLeod, Ž. IveziÄ, C. S. Kochanek +10
We model the time variability of ~9,000 spectroscopically confirmed quasars in SDSS Stripe 82 as a damped random walk. Using 2.7 million photometric measurements collected over 10…
Time Variability of Quasars: the Structure Function Variance
C. MacLeod, Z. Ivezic, W. de Vries +2
Significant progress in the description of quasar variability has been recently made by employing SDSS and POSS data. Common to most studies is a fundamental assumption that photom…
On the use of field RR Lyrae as Galactic probes: I. The Oosterhoff dichotomy based on fundamental variables
M. Fabrizio, G. Bono, V. F. Braga +21
We collected a large data set of field RR Lyrae stars (RRLs) by using catalogues already available in the literature and Gaia DR2. We estimated the iron abundances for a sub-sample…
Stacking the Invisibles: A Guided Search for Low-Luminosity Milky Way Satellites
B. Sesar, S. R. Banholzer, J. G. Cohen +9
Almost every known low-luminosity Milky Way dwarf spheroidal (dSph) satellite galaxy contains at least one RR Lyrae star. Assuming that a fraction of distant (60 < d_{helio} < 100…
Two More Candidate AM Canum Venaticorum (AM CVn) Binaries from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
S. F. Anderson, A. C. Becker, D. Haggard +18
AM CVn systems are a select group of ultracompact binaries with the shortest orbital periods of any known binary subclass; mass-transfer is likely from a low-mass (partially-)degen…
X-ray emission from supernovae in dense circumstellar matter environments: A search for collisionless shocks
E. O. Ofek, D. Fox, S. B. Cenko +21
(Abridged). The optical light curve of some SNe may be powered by the outward diffusion of the energy deposited by the explosion shock in optically thick circumstellar matter (CSM)…
The Palomar Transient Factory photometric calibration
E. O. Ofek, R. Laher, N. Law +20
The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) provides multiple epoch imaging for a large fraction of the sky. Here we describe the photometric calibration of the PTF data products that rela…
The Milky Way Tomography with SDSS: III. Stellar Kinematics
N. A. Bond, Z. Ivezic, B. Sesar +2
We study Milky Way kinematics using a sample of 18.8 million main-sequence stars with r<20 and proper-motion measurements derived from SDSS and POSS astrometry, including ~170,000…
M Dwarfs in SDSS Stripe 82: Photometric Light Curves and Flare Rate Analysis
A. F. Kowalski, S. L. Hawley, E. J. Hilton +4
We present a flare rate analysis of 50,130 M dwarf light curves in SDSS Stripe 82. We identified 271 flares using a customized variability index to search ~2.5 million photometric…
Search for high-amplitude Delta Scuti and RR Lyrae stars in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82 using principal component analysis
M. Süveges, B. Sesar, M. Váradi +9
We propose a robust principal component analysis (PCA) framework for the exploitation of multi-band photometric measurements in large surveys. Period search results are improved us…
Supplement: Localization and broadband follow-up of the gravitational-wave transient GW150914
B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott +1538
This Supplement provides supporting material for arXiv:1602.08492 . We briefly summarize past electromagnetic (EM) follow-up efforts as well as the organization and policy of the c…
Localization and broadband follow-up of the gravitational-wave transient GW150914
B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott +1538
A gravitational-wave (GW) transient was identified in data recorded by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors on 2015 September 14. The e…
High-precision 2MASS JHKs light curves and other data for RR Lyrae star SDSS J015450+001501: strong constraints for non-linear pulsation models
R. Szabó, Z. IveziÄ, L. L. Kiss +6
We present and discuss an extensive data set for the non-Blazhko ab-type RR Lyrae star SDSSJ015450+001501, including optical SDSS ugriz light curves and spectroscopic data, LINEAR…
The complex case of V445 Lyr observed with Kepler: Two Blazhko modulations, a non-radial mode, possible triple mode RR Lyrae pulsation, and more
E. Guggenberger, K. Kolenberg, J. M. Nemec +13
Rapid and strong changes in the Blazhko modulation of RR Lyrae stars, as they have recently been detected in high precision satellite data, have become a crucial topic in finding a…
A Larger Extent for the Ophiuchus Stream
N. Caldwell, A. Bonaca, A. Price-Whelan +2
We present new kinematic data for the Ophiuchus stellar stream. Spectra have been taken of member candidates at the MMT telescope using Hectospec, Hectochelle and Binospec, which p…
The Palomar Transient Factory photometric catalog 1.0
E. O. Ofek, R. Laher, J. Surace +22
We construct a photometrically calibrated catalog of non-variable sources from the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) observations. The first version of this catalog presented here, t…
A Global Astrometric Solution for Pan-STARRS referenced to ICRF2
C. T. Berghea, V. V. Makarov, J. Frouard +13
We describe development and application of a Global Astrometric Solution (GAS) to the problem of Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) astrometry. Current PS1 astrometry is based on differential astro…
A multi-wavelength investigation of the radio-loud supernova PTF11qcj and its circumstellar environment
A. Corsi, E. O. Ofek, A. Gal-Yam +20
We present the discovery, classification, and extensive panchromatic (from radio to X-ray) follow-up observations of PTF11qcj, a supernova discovered by the Palomar Transient Facto…
iPTF Search for an Optical Counterpart to Gravitational Wave Trigger GW150914
M. M. Kasliwal, S. B. Cenko, L. P. Singer +28
The intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) autonomously responded to and promptly tiled the error region of the first gravitational wave event GW150914 to search for an opti…
Two Distant Halo Velocity Groups Discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory
B. Sesar, J. G. Cohen, D. Levitan +8
We report the discovery of two new halo velocity groups (Cancer groups A and B) traced by 8 distant RR Lyrae stars and observed by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) survey at R.A…
The Nature and Orbit of the Ophiuchus Stream
B. Sesar, J. Bovy, E. J. Bernard +20
The Ophiuchus stream is a recently discovered stellar tidal stream in the Milky Way. We present high-quality spectroscopic data for 14 stream member stars obtained using the Keck a…
Variable Faint Optical Sources Discovered by Comparing POSS and SDSS Catalogs
B. Sesar, D. Svilkovic, Z. Ivezic +14
We present a study of variable faint optical sources discovered by comparing the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS) catalogs. We use SDSS…
The fastest unbound star in our Galaxy ejected by a thermonuclear supernova
S. Geier, F. Fürst, E. Ziegerer +17
Hypervelocity stars (HVS) travel with velocities so high, that they exceed the escape velocity of the Galaxy. Several acceleration mechanisms have been discussed. Only one HVS (US…
Connection between optical and gamma-ray variability in blazars
T. Hovatta, V. Pavlidou, O. G. King +14
We use optical data from the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) and the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey (CRTS) to study the variability of gamma-ray detected and non-detected obje…
Quasar Selection Based on Photometric Variability
C. L. MacLeod, K. Brooks, Z. Ivezic +7
We develop a method for separating quasars from other variable point sources using SDSS Stripe 82 light curve data for ~10,000 variable objects. To statistically describe quasar va…
Evidence of Fanning in the Ophiuchus Stream
B. Sesar, A. M. Price-Whelan, J. G. Cohen +11
The Ophiuchus stellar stream presents a dynamical puzzle: its old stellar populations ( Gyr) cannot be reconciled with (1) its orbit in a simple model for the Milky Way po…