The Red-sequence Cluster Survey-2 (RCS-2): survey details and photometric catalog construction

Abstract

The second Red-sequence Cluster Survey (RCS-2) is a ~1000 square degree, multi-color imaging survey using the square-degree imager, MegaCam, on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). It is designed to detect clusters of galaxies over the redshift range 0.1<~z<~1. The primary aim is to build a statistically complete, large (~10^4) sample of clusters, covering a sufficiently long redshift baseline to be able to place constraints on cosmological parameters via the evolution of the cluster mass function. Other main science goals include building a large sample of high surface brightness, strongly gravitationally-lensed arcs associated with these clusters, and an unprecedented sample of several tens of thousands of galaxy clusters and groups, spanning a large range of halo mass, with which to study the properties and evolution of their member galaxies. This paper describes the design of the survey and the methodology for acquiring, reducing and calibrating the data for the production of high-precision photometric catalogs. We describe the method for calibrating our griz imaging data using the colors of the stellar locus and overlapping Two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) photometry. This yields an absolute accuracy of <0.03 mag on any color and ~0.05 mag in the r-band magnitude, verified with respect to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). RCS-2 reaches average 5 sigma point source limiting magnitudes of griz = [24.4, 24.3, 23.7, 22.8], approximately 1-2 magnitudes deeper than the SDSS. Due to the queue-scheduled nature of the observations, the data are highly uniform and taken in excellent seeing, mostly FWHM<~0.7" in the r-band. In addition to the main science goals just described, these data form the basis for a number of other planned and ongoing projects (including the WiggleZ survey), making RCS-2 an important next-generation imaging survey. [abridged]

Accepted for publication in AJ. 18 pages, 16 figures. Some figures reduced resolution. Full resolution version available at http://www.astro.uwaterloo.ca/~dgilbank/papers/rcs2_survey.pdf

References in corpus (7)

• The UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS)
• Cosmological Constraints from the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey
• The Red-Sequence Luminosity Function in Galaxy Clusters since z~1
• First results of the XI Groups Project: Studying an unbiased sample of galaxy groups
• Chandra X-ray Observations of the 0.6 < z < 1.1 Red-Sequence Cluster Survey Sample
• The Color Bimodality in Galaxy Clusters since z = 0.9
• Spectroscopy of moderately high-redshift RCS-1 clusters

Cited by in corpus (108)

• The Hubble Space Telescope Cluster Supernova Survey: V. Improving the Dark Energy Constraints Above z>1 and Building an Early-Type-Hosted Supernova Sample
• The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: mapping the distance-redshift relation with baryon acoustic oscillations
• Eight Ultra-faint Galaxy Candidates Discovered in Year Two of the Dark Energy Survey
• The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: the growth rate of cosmic structure since redshift z=0.9
• The Gemini Cluster Astrophysics Spectroscopic Survey (GCLASS): The Role of Environment and Self-Regulation in Galaxy Evolution at z ~ 1
• The realm of the galaxy protoclusters
• The halo mass function through the cosmic ages
• The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: Final data release and cosmological results
• Cluster Lenses
• The Blanco Cosmology Survey: Data Acquisition, Processing, Calibration, Quality Diagnostics and Data Release
• CFHTLenS: The relation between galaxy dark matter haloes and baryons from weak gravitational lensing
• CFHTLenS: Testing the Laws of Gravity with Tomographic Weak Lensing and Redshift Space Distortions
• The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: The Two-Season ACTPol Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Selected Cluster Catalog
• The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: measuring the cosmic expansion history using the Alcock-Paczynski test and distant supernovae
• Scaling Relations and Overabundance of Massive Clusters at z>~1 from Weak-Lensing Studies with HST
• What can Cosmology tell us about Gravity? Constraining Horndeski with Sigma and Mu
• The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: High Resolution Kinematics of Luminous Star-Forming Galaxies
• The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: constraining galaxy bias and cosmic growth with 3-point correlation functions
• The X-ray luminous galaxy cluster population at 0.9<z<~1.6 as revealed by the XMM-Newton Distant Cluster Project
• Larger sizes of massive quiescent early-type galaxies in clusters than in the field at 0.8 < z < 1.5
• Galaxy-galaxy lensing constraints on the relation between baryons and dark matter in galaxies in the Red Sequence Cluster Survey 2
• RCSLenS: The Red Cluster Sequence Lensing Survey
• PSZ2LenS. Weak lensing analysis of the Planck clusters in the CFHTLenS and in the RCSLenS
• Surveying Galaxy Proto-clusters in Emission: A Large-scale Structure at z=2.44 and the Outlook for HETDEX
• The 2-degree Field Lensing Survey: design and clustering measurements
• Weighing the Giants II: Improved Calibration of Photometry from Stellar Colors and Accurate Photometric Redshifts
• RCSLenS: Testing gravitational physics through the cross-correlation of weak lensing and large-scale structure
• The DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey Data Release 2
• The Physical Conditions of a Lensed Star-forming Galaxy at z=1.7
• Estimating Luminosities and Stellar Masses of Galaxies Photometrically without Determining Redshifts
• The Blanco Cosmology Survey: An Optically-Selected Galaxy Cluster Catalog and a Public Release of Optical Data Products
• Cross-correlating Planck tSZ with RCSLenS weak lensing: Implications for cosmology and AGN feedback
• A Magnified View of the Kinematics and Morphology of RCSGA 032727-132609: Zooming in on a Merger at z=1.7
• Constraints on the shapes of galaxy dark matter haloes from weak gravitational lensing
• Source Plane Reconstruction of The Bright Lensed Galaxy RCSGA 032727-132609
• The Magellan Evolution of Galaxies Spectroscopic and Ultraviolet Reference Atlas (MEGaSaURA) I: The Sample and the Spectra
• The stellar mass function of galaxies in Planck-selected clusters at 0.5 < z < 0.7: new constraints on the timescale and location of satellite quenching
• CFHTLenS and RCSLenS: Testing Photometric Redshift Distributions Using Angular Cross-Correlations with Spectroscopic Galaxy Surveys
• Morpho-z: improving photometric redshifts with galaxy morphology
• Halo ellipticity of GAMA galaxy groups from KiDS weak lensing
• The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: Final Data Release and the Metallicity of UV-Luminous Galaxies
• Forecasts on dark energy from the X-ray cluster survey with eROSITA: constraints from counts and clustering
• The red-sequence of 72 WINGS local galaxy clusters
• Spatially Resolved Galactic Wind in Lensed Galaxy RCSGA 032727-132609
• The GEEC2 spectroscopic survey of Galaxy Groups at $0.8<z<1$
• The GOGREEN and GCLASS Surveys: First Data Release
• Stellar Populations of Highly Magnified Lensed Galaxies: Young Starbursts at z~2
• Broadband Photometry of 105 Giant Arcs: Redshift Constraints and Implications for Giant Arc Statistics
• Sunyaev Zel'dovich Effect Observations of Strong Lensing Galaxy Clusters: Probing the Over-Concentration Problem
• X-Ray Groups of Galaxies in the Aegis Deep and Wide Fields
• The Hubble Space Telescope Cluster Supernova Survey: II. The Type Ia Supernova Rate in High-Redshift Galaxy Clusters
• CFHTLenS and RCSLenS Cross-Correlation with Planck Lensing Detected in Fourier and Configuration Space
• CFHT Legacy Ultraviolet Extension (CLUE): Witnessing Galaxy Transformations up to 7 Mpc from Rich Cluster Cores
• PICS: Simulations of Strong Gravitational Lensing in Galaxy Clusters
• Establishing a New Technique for Discovering Large-Scale Structure Using the ORELSE Survey
• The BOSS-WiggleZ overlap region II: dependence of cosmic growth on galaxy type
• RELICS: A Strong Lens Model for SPT-CLJ0615-5746, a z=0.972 Cluster
• Cosmological constraints on dark matter annihilation and decay: Cross-correlation analysis of the extragalactic $\gamma$-ray background and cosmic shear
• Weak-lensing-inferred scaling relations of galaxy clusters in the RCS2: mass-richness, mass-concentration, mass-bias, and more
• The Chandra Deep Group Survey -- cool core evolution in groups and clusters of galaxies
• Euclid preparation III. Galaxy cluster detection in the wide photometric survey, performance and algorithm selection
• MAMMOTH: Confirmation of Two Massive Galaxy Overdensities at $z=2.24$ with H$\alpha$ Emitters
• Precise weak lensing constraints from deep high-resolution $K_{\mathrm{s}}$ images: VLT/HAWK-I analysis of the super-massive galaxy cluster RCS2$J$232727.7$-$020437 at $z=0.70$
• Photometric Classification of quasars from RCS-2 using Random Forest
• Optical & Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Observations of a New Sample of Distant Rich Galaxy Clusters in the ROSAT All Sky Survey
• Identification of RR Lyrae stars in multiband, sparsely-sampled data from the Dark Energy Survey using template fitting and Random Forest classification
• Cosmology with the largest galaxy cluster surveys: Going beyond Fisher matrix forecasts
• Describing galaxy weak lensing measurements from tenths to tens of Mpc and up to z~0.6 with a single model
• Evolution of Group Galaxies from the First Red-Sequence Cluster Survey
• On the lack of correlation between Mg II 2796, 2803 Angstrom and Lyman alpha emission in lensed star-forming galaxies
• Evolution of the luminosity-to-halo mass relation of LRGs from a combined SDSS-DR10+RCS2 analysis
• Prospects for high-z cluster detections with Planck, based on a follow-up of 28 candidates using MegaCam@CFHT
• A Multi-Wavelength Mass Analysis of RCS2 J232727.6-020437, a ~3x10${}^{15}$M${}_{\odot }$ Galaxy Cluster at z=0.7
• GMRT 610 MHz observations of galaxy clusters in the ACT equatorial sample
• II. Apples to apples $A^2$: cluster selection functions for next-generation surveys
• VLT/Magellan spectroscopy of 29 strong lensing selected galaxy clusters
• A 30 kpc Spatially Extended Clumpy and Asymmetric Galactic Outflow at z $\sim$ 1.7
• The X-ray-Optical Relations for Nine Clusters at z = 0.7-1.1
• Stellar mass versus velocity dispersion as tracer of the lensing signal around bulge-dominated galaxies
• The SOAR Gravitational Arc Survey - I: Survey overview and photometric catalogs
• Anisotropy in the matter distribution beyond the baryonic acoustic oscillation scale
• Measuring the surface mass density ellipticity of redMaPPer galaxy clusters using weak-lensing
• Rest-frame UV and optical emission line diagnostics of ionised gas properties: a test case in a star-forming knot of a lensed galaxy at z~1.7
• Galaxy cluster scaling relations measured with APEX-SZ
• RCSLenS: A new estimator for large-scale galaxy-matter correlations
• Velocity Dispersions of Massive Quiescent Galaxies from Weak Lensing and Spectroscopy
• Relativistic Effects on Galaxy Redshift Samples due to Target Selection
• Probing the cluster pressure profile with thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect and weak lensing cross-correlation
• Tightening weak lensing constraints on the ellipticity of galaxy-scale dark matter haloes
• RCS2 J232727.6-020437: An Efficient Cosmic Telescope at $z=0.6986$
• The abundance and colours of galaxies in high redshift clusters in the cold dark matter cosmology
• On the weak lensing masses of a new sample of galaxy groups
• Galaxy Halo Masses from Weak Gravitational Lensing
• Line-of-sight Elongation and Hydrostatic Mass Bias of the Frontier Fields Galaxy Cluster Abell 370
• AStroLens: Automatic Strong-Lens Modeling of X-ray Selected Galaxy Clusters
• Galaxy scale lenses in the RCS2: I. First Catalog of Candidate Strong Lenses
• Detecting Massive Galaxies at High Redshift using the Dark Energy Survey
• Low-redshift quasars in the SDSS Stripe 82 II: associated companion galaxies and signature of star formation
• The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: Galaxy Evolution at 0.25 < z < 0.75 Using The Second Red-Sequence Cluster Survey (RCS-2)
• Environmental impact on star-forming galaxies in a $z\sim 0.9$ cluster during course of galaxy accretion
• A search for HI absorption in distant star-forming galaxies with ASKAP-FLASH -- I. Selection and analysis of the radio sample
• On the accuracy of the Perturbative Approach for Strong Lensing: Local Distortion for Pseudo-Elliptical Models
• The mass distribution in an assembling super galaxy group at $z=0.37$
• Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Photometric Data Set for Cosmology
• Analytic Solutions for Navarro--Frenk--White Lens Models for Low Characteristic Convergences
• The first astrophysical result of HISAKI: a search for the EUV He I lines a massive cool core cluster at z=0.7
• AMiBA: Cluster Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Observations with the Expanded 13-Element Array
• AMICO-WL: an optimal filtering algorithm for galaxy cluster detections with weak lensing