The Astronomical Journal (Jan 2023)
The DESI Survey Validation: Results from Visual Inspection of the Quasar Survey Spectra
- David M. Alexander,
- Tamara M. Davis,
- E. Chaussidon,
- V. A. Fawcett,
- Alma X. Gonzalez-Morales,
- Ting-Wen Lan,
- Christophe Yèche,
- S. Ahlen,
- J. N. Aguilar,
- E. Armengaud,
- S. Bailey,
- D. Brooks,
- Z. Cai,
- R. Canning,
- A. Carr,
- S. Chabanier,
- Marie-Claude Cousinou,
- K. Dawson,
- A. de la Macorra,
- A. Dey,
- Biprateep Dey,
- G. Dhungana,
- A. C. Edge,
- S. Eftekharzadeh,
- K. Fanning,
- James Farr,
- A. Font-Ribera,
- J. Garcia-Bellido,
- Lehman Garrison,
- E. Gaztañaga,
- Satya Gontcho A Gontcho,
- C. Gordon,
- Stefany Guadalupe Medellin Gonzalez,
- J. Guy,
- Hiram K. Herrera-Alcantar,
- L. Jiang,
- S. Juneau,
- N. G. Karaçaylı,
- R. Kehoe,
- T. Kisner,
- A. Kovács,
- M. Landriau,
- Michael E. Levi,
- C. Magneville,
- P. Martini,
- Aaron M. Meisner,
- M. Mezcua,
- R. Miquel,
- P. Montero Camacho,
- J. Moustakas,
- Andrea Muñoz-Gutiérrez,
- Adam D. Myers,
- S. Nadathur,
- L. Napolitano,
- J. D. Nie,
- N. Palanque-Delabrouille,
- Z. Pan,
- W. J. Percival,
- I. Pérez-Ràfols,
- C. Poppett,
- F. Prada,
- César Ramírez-Pérez,
- C. Ravoux,
- D. J. Rosario,
- M. Schubnell,
- Gregory Tarlé,
- M. Walther,
- B. Weiner,
- S. Youles,
- Zhimin Zhou,
- H. Zou,
- Siwei Zou
Affiliations
- David M. Alexander
- ORCiD
- Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK ; [email protected]
- Tamara M. Davis
- ORCiD
- School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland , 4072, Australia
- E. Chaussidon
- ORCiD
- IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay , F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- V. A. Fawcett
- ORCiD
- Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK ; [email protected]
- Alma X. Gonzalez-Morales
- ORCiD
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología , Av. Insurgentes Sur 1582. Colonia Crédito Constructor, Del. Benito Juárez C.P. 03940, México D.F. MÉxico; Departamento de Física, Universidad de Guanajuato—DCI , C.P. 37150, Leon, Guanajuato, México
- Ting-Wen Lan
- ORCiD
- Graduate Institute of Astrophysics and Department of Physics, National Taiwan University , No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
- Christophe Yèche
- ORCiD
- IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay , F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- S. Ahlen
- ORCiD
- Physics Dept., Boston University , 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- J. N. Aguilar
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- E. Armengaud
- ORCiD
- IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay , F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- S. Bailey
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- D. Brooks
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London , Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Z. Cai
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California , Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95065, USA; Department of Astronomy, Tsinghua University , 30 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100190, People's Republic of China
- R. Canning
- Institute of Cosmology & Gravitation, University of Portsmouth , Dennis Sciama Building, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX, UK
- A. Carr
- ORCiD
- School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland , 4072, Australia
- S. Chabanier
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Marie-Claude Cousinou
- Aix Marseille Univ , CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille, France
- K. Dawson
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Utah , 115 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
- A. de la Macorra
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Cd. de México C.P. 04510, México
- A. Dey
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Biprateep Dey
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy and Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Center (PITT PACC), University of Pittsburgh , 3941 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
- G. Dhungana
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University , 3215 Daniel Avenue, Dallas, TX 75275, USA
- A. C. Edge
- ORCiD
- Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK ; [email protected]
- S. Eftekharzadeh
- Universities Space Research Association , NASA Ames Research Centre, USA
- K. Fanning
- Department of Physics, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Physics Department, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- James Farr
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London , Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- A. Font-Ribera
- ORCiD
- Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) , The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, E-08193 Bellaterra Barcelona, Spain
- J. Garcia-Bellido
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) UAM/CSIC, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , Cantoblanco, E-28049, Madrid, Spain
- Lehman Garrison
- ORCiD
- Center for Computational Astrophysics Flatiron Institute 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA
- E. Gaztañaga
- ORCiD
- Institute of Space Sciences , ICE-CSIC, Campus UAB, Carrer de Can Magrans s/n, E-08913 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
- Satya Gontcho A Gontcho
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester , 500 Joseph C. Wilson Boulevard, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
- C. Gordon
- Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) , The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, E-08193 Bellaterra Barcelona, Spain
- Stefany Guadalupe Medellin Gonzalez
- Departamento de Física, Universidad de Guanajuato—DCI , C.P. 37150, Leon, Guanajuato, México
- J. Guy
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Hiram K. Herrera-Alcantar
- ORCiD
- Departamento de Física, Universidad de Guanajuato—DCI , C.P. 37150, Leon, Guanajuato, México
- L. Jiang
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University , PKU, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
- S. Juneau
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- N. G. Karaçaylı
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, The Ohio State University , 191 West Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, The Ohio State University , 191 West Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University , 4055 McPherson Laboratory, 140 W 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- R. Kehoe
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University , 3215 Daniel Avenue, Dallas, TX 75275, USA
- T. Kisner
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- A. Kovács
- ORCiD
- Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL) , E-38206, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain; Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias , C/ Vía Láctea, s/n, E-38205 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
- M. Landriau
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Michael E. Levi
- ORCiD
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- C. Magneville
- IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay , F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- P. Martini
- ORCiD
- Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, The Ohio State University , 191 West Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University , 4055 McPherson Laboratory, 140 W 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Aaron M. Meisner
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- M. Mezcua
- ORCiD
- Institute of Space Sciences , ICE-CSIC, Campus UAB, Carrer de Can Magrans s/n, E-08913 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
- R. Miquel
- ORCiD
- Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) , The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, E-08193 Bellaterra Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats , Passeig de Lluís Companys, 23, E-08010 Barcelona, Spain
- P. Montero Camacho
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Tsinghua University , 30 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100190, People's Republic of China
- J. Moustakas
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Siena College , 515 Loudon Road, Loudonville, NY 12211, USA
- Andrea Muñoz-Gutiérrez
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Cd. de México C.P. 04510, México
- Adam D. Myers
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Wyoming , 1000 E. University, Dept. 3905, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
- S. Nadathur
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London , Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK; Institute of Cosmology & Gravitation, University of Portsmouth , Dennis Sciama Building, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX, UK
- L. Napolitano
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Wyoming , 1000 E. University, Dept. 3905, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
- J. D. Nie
- ORCiD
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , A20 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100012, People's Republic of China
- N. Palanque-Delabrouille
- ORCiD
- IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay , F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Z. Pan
- Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University , PKU, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
- W. J. Percival
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo , 200 University Avenue W, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada; Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics , 31 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, ON N2L 2Y5, Canada; Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics, University of Waterloo , 200 University Avenue W, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
- I. Pérez-Ràfols
- ORCiD
- Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) , The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, E-08193 Bellaterra Barcelona, Spain; Sorbonne Université , CNRS/IN2P3, Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Energies (LPNHE), F-75005 Paris, France
- C. Poppett
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California , Berkeley, 7 Gauss Way, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; University of California , Berkeley, 110 Sproul Hall #5800 Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- F. Prada
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucía , Glorieta de la Astronomía, s/n, E-18008 Granada, Spain
- César Ramírez-Pérez
- Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) , The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, E-08193 Bellaterra Barcelona, Spain
- C. Ravoux
- IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay , F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- D. J. Rosario
- ORCiD
- Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK ; [email protected]
- M. Schubnell
- Department of Physics, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Physics Department, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Gregory Tarlé
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- M. Walther
- ORCiD
- Excellence Cluster ORIGINS , Boltzmannstrasse 2, D-85748 Garching, Germany; University Observatory , Faculty of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Scheinerstr. 1, D-81677 München, Germany
- B. Weiner
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N, Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- S. Youles
- ORCiD
- Institute of Cosmology & Gravitation, University of Portsmouth , Dennis Sciama Building, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX, UK
- Zhimin Zhou
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , A20 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100012, People's Republic of China
- H. Zou
- ORCiD
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , A20 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100012, People's Republic of China
- Siwei Zou
- Department of Astronomy, Tsinghua University , 30 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100190, People's Republic of China; Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University , PKU, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/acacfc
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 165,
no. 3
p. 124
Abstract
A key component of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey validation (SV) is a detailed visual inspection (VI) of the optical spectroscopic data to quantify key survey metrics. In this paper we present results from VI of the quasar survey using deep coadded SV spectra. We show that the majority (≈70%) of the main-survey targets are spectroscopically confirmed as quasars, with ≈16% galaxies, ≈6% stars, and ≈8% low-quality spectra lacking reliable features. A nonnegligible fraction of the quasars are misidentified by the standard spectroscopic pipeline, but we show that the majority can be recovered using post-pipeline “afterburner” quasar-identification approaches. We combine these “afterburners” with our standard pipeline to create a modified pipeline to increase the overall quasar yield. At the depth of the main DESI survey, both pipelines achieve a good-redshift purity (reliable redshifts measured within 3000 km s ^−1 ) of ≈99%; however, the modified pipeline recovers ≈94% of the visually inspected quasars, as compared to ≈86% from the standard pipeline. We demonstrate that both pipelines achieve a median redshift precision and accuracy of ≈100 km s ^−1 and ≈70 km s ^−1 , respectively. We constructed composite spectra to investigate why some quasars are missed by the standard pipeline and find that they are more host-galaxy dominated (i.e., distant analogs of “Seyfert galaxies”) and/or more dust reddened than the standard-pipeline quasars. We also show example spectra to demonstrate the overall diversity of the DESI quasar sample and provide strong-lensing candidates where two targets contribute to a single spectrum.
Keywords
