SDSS Photometric System Research Articles

Color Transformations of Photometric Measurements of Galaxies in Optical and Near-infrared Wide-field Imaging Surveys* *An online color transformation calculator is available at: https://colors.voxastro.org/.

Over the past 2 decades, wide-field photometric surveys in optical and infrared domains reached a nearly all-sky coverage thanks to numerous observational facilities operating in both hemispheres. However, subtle differences among exact realizations of Johnson and SDSS photometric systems require one to convert photometric measurements into the same system prior to analysis of composite data sets originating from multiple surveys. It turns out that the published photometric transformations lead to substantial biases when applied to integrated photometry of galaxies from the corresponding catalogs. Here we present photometric transformations based on piece-wise linear approximations of integrated photometry of galaxies in the optical surveys SDSS, DECaLS, BASS, MzLS, DES, DELVE, KiDS, VST ATLAS, and the near-infrared surveys UKIDSS, UHS, VHS, and VIKING. We validate our transformations by constructing k-corrected color–magnitude diagrams of non-active galaxies and measuring the position and tightness of the “red sequence.” We also provide transformations for aperture magnitudes and show how they are affected by the image quality difference among the surveys. We present the implementation of the derived transformations in python and idl and also a web-based color transformation calculator for galaxies. By comparing DECaLS and DES, we identified systematic issues in DECaLS photometry for extended galaxies, which we attribute to the photometric software package used by DECaLS. As an application of our method, we compiled two multi-wavelength photometric catalogs for over 200,000 low- and intermediate-redshift galaxies originating from CfA FAST and Hectospec spectral archives.

A Blueprint for the Milky Way’s Stellar Populations. II. Improved Isochrone Calibration in the SDSS and Pan-STARRS Photometric Systems

Abstract We improve the identification and isolation of individual stellar populations in the Galactic halo based on an updated set of empirically calibrated stellar isochrones in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Pan-STARRS 1 photometric systems. Along the Galactic prime meridian (l = 0° and 180°), where proper motions and parallaxes from Gaia DR2 can be used to compute rotational velocities of stars in the rest frame of the Milky Way, we use the observed double color–magnitude sequences of stars having large transverse motions, which are mostly attributed to groups of stars in the metal-poor halo and the thick disk with halo-like kinematics, respectively. The Gaia sequences directly constrain color–magnitude relations of model colors, and help to improve our previous calibration using Galactic star clusters. Based on these updated sets of stellar isochrones, we confirm earlier results on the presence of distinct groups of stars in the metallicity versus rotational-velocity plane, and find that the distribution of the most metal-poor ([Fe/H] < −2) stars in our sample can be modeled using two separate groups on prograde and retrograde orbits, respectively. At 4–6 kpc from the Galactic plane, we find approximately equal proportions of the Splashed Disk, and the metal-rich (〈[Fe/H]〉 ∼ −1.6) and metal-poor (〈[Fe/H]〉 ∼ −2.5) halos on prograde orbits. The Gaia–Sausage–Enceladus, the metal-weak thick disk, and the retrograde halo structure(s) (〈[Fe/H]〉 ∼ −2.2) constitute approximately 10% of the rest of the stellar populations at these distances.

Multicolor Photometry of Small Bodies of the Solar System: Performance Potential at the Robophot Telescope

We consider prospects for investigating asteroids with the multicolor photometric method at the Robophot telescope—a robotic telescope of the Dall–Kirkham system with a 0.6-m primary mirror and a focal length of 4.2 m. It is equipped with a three-channel photometer with the g', r', and i' filters of the SDSS photometric system, and the field of view is 20′. The use of a three-channel photometer in observations of small bodies will make it possible to construct multicolor light curves without phase delays. Diagrams of the r' – i' and g' – r' color indices will provide the means of classifying the C- and S-type asteroids. From the high-accuracy light curves, the rotation parameters of asteroids can be determined, for which it is necessary to take the Yarkovsky effect into account correctly. The results of multicolor photometric observations at the Robophot telescope will allow for solving complex scientific problems related to the studies of the physical and dynamic evolution of small bodies in the Solar System.

A PRECISION PHOTOMETRIC COMPARISON BETWEEN SDSS-II AND CSP TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA DATA

Consistency between Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP) and SDSS-II supernova (SN) survey ugri measurements has been evaluated by comparing SDSS and CSP photometry for nine spectroscopically confirmed Type Ia supernova observed contemporaneously by both programs. The CSP data were transformed into the SDSS photometric system. Sources of systematic uncertainty have been identified, quantified, and shown to be at or below the 0.023 magnitude level in all bands. When all photometry for a given band is combined, we find average magnitude differences of equal to or less than 0.011 magnitudes in ugri, with rms scatter ranging from 0.043 to 0.077 magnitudes. The u band agreement is promising, with the caveat that only four of the nine supernovae are well-observed in u and these four exhibit an 0.038 magnitude supernova-to-supernova scatter in this filter.

Transformations between the WISE, 2MASS, SDSS and BVRI photometric systems - I. Transformation equations for dwarfs

We present colour transformations for the conversion of the W1 and W2 magnitudes of WISE photometric system to the Johnson-Cousins' BVRI, SDSS (gri), and 2MASS (JHK_s) photometric systems, for dwarfs. The W3 and W4 magnitudes were not considered due to their insufficient signal to noise ratio (S/N). The coordinates of 825 dwarfs along with their BVRI, gri, and JHK_s data, taken from Bilir et al. (2008) were matched with the coordinates of stars in the preliminary data release of WISE (Wright et al., 2010) and a homogeneous dwarf sample with high S/N ratio have been obtained using the following constraints: 1) the data were dereddened, 2) giants were identified and excluded from the sample, 3) sample stars were selected according to data quality, 4) transformations were derived for sub samples of different metallicity range, and 5) transformations are two colour dependent. These colour transformations, coupled with known absolute magnitudes at shorter wavelenghts, can be used in space density evaluation for the Galactic (thin and thick) discs, at distances larger than the ones evaluated with JHK_s photometry.

A deep optical/near-infrared catalogue of Serpens

We present a deep optical/near-infrared imaging survey of the Serpens molecular cloud. This survey constitutes the complementary optical data to the Spitzer "Core To Disk" (c2d) Legacy survey in this cloud. The survey was conducted using the Wide Field Camera at the Isaac Newton Telescope. About 0.96 square degrees were imaged in the R and Z filters, covering the entire region where most of the young stellar objects identified by the c2d survey are located. 26524 point-like sources were detected in both R and Z bands down to R=24.5 mag and Z=23 mag with a signal-to-noise ratio better than 3. The 95% completeness limit of our catalog corresponds to 0.04 solar masses for members of the Serpens star forming region (age 2 Myr and distance 260 pc) in the absence of extinction. Adopting the typical extinction of the observed area (Av=7 mag), we estimate a 95% completeness level down to 0.1 solar masses. The astrometric accuracy of our catalog is 0.4 arcsec with respect to the 2MASS catalog. Our final catalog contains J2000 celestial coordinates, magnitudes in the R and Z bands calibrated to the SDSS photometric system and, where possible, JHK magnitudes from 2MASS for sources in 0.96 square degrees in the direction of Serpens. This data product has been already used within the frame of the c2d Spitzer Legacy Project analysis in Serpens to study the star/disk formation and evolution in this cloud; here we use it to obtain new indications of the disk-less population in Serpens.

Reddening Behaviors of Galaxies in the SDSS Photometric System

ABSTRACTWe analyze the behaviors of reddening vectors in the SDSS photometric system for galaxies of different morphologies, ages, and redshifts. As seen in other photometric systems, the dependence of reddening on the spectral energy distribution (SED) and the nonlinearity of reddening are likewise nonnegligible for the SDSS system if extinction is significant (≳1 mag). These behaviors are most significant for the g filter, which has the largest bandwidth–to–central-wavelength ratio among SDSS filters. The SDSS colors involving adjacent filters show greater SED dependence and nonlinearity. A procedure for calculating the correct amount of extinction from an observed color excess is provided. The relative extinctions between (i.e., the extinction law for) SDSS filters given by Schlegel et al., which were calculated with an older version of filter response functions, would underestimate the amount of extinction in most cases by ∼5% to 10% (maximum ∼20%). We recommend A/A5500 Å values of 1.574, 1.191, 0.876, 0.671, and 0.486 for the u, g, r, i, and z filters, respectively, as a representative extinction law for the SDSS galaxies with a small extinction (i.e., for cases where the nonlinearity and SED dependence of the reddening is not important). The dependence of reddening on redshift at low extinction is the largest for colors involving the g filter as well, a phenomenon that is due to the Balmer break.

Sloan Digital Sky Survey Standard Star Catalog for Stripe 82: The Dawn of Industrial 1% Optical Photometry

We describe a standard star catalog constructed using multiple SDSS photometric observations (at least four per band, with a median of 10) in the ugriz system. The catalog includes 1.01 million nonvariable unresolved objects from the equatorial stripe 82 (|δJ2000.0| < 1.266°) in the right ascension range 20h34m-4h00m and with the corresponding r-band (approximately Johnson V-band) magnitudes in the range 14-22. The distributions of measurements for individual sources demonstrate that the photometric pipeline correctly estimates random photometric errors, which are below 0.01 mag for stars brighter than 19.5, 20.5, 20.5, 20, and 18.5 in ugriz, respectively (about twice as good as for individual SDSS runs). Several independent tests of the internal consistency suggest that the spatial variation of photometric zero points is not larger than ∼0.01 mag (rms). In addition to being the largest available data set with optical photometry internally consistent at the ∼1% level, this catalog provides a practical definition of the SDSS photometric system. Using this catalog, we show that photometric zero points for SDSS observing runs can be calibrated within a nominal uncertainty of 2% even for data obtained through 1 mag thick clouds, and we demonstrate the existence of He and H white dwarf sequences using photometric data alone. Based on the properties of this catalog, we conclude that upcoming large-scale optical surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will be capable of delivering robust 1% photometry for billions of sources.

Predicted properties of RR Lyrae stars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometric system

The luminosities and effective temperatures, as well as the whole bolometric lightcurves of nonlinear convective RR Lyrae models with 0.00016Z60.006 are transformed into the SDSS photometric system. The obtained ugriz lightcurves, mean magnitudes and colors, pulsation amplitudes and color-colorloops are shown and analytical relations connecting pulsational to intrinsic stellar parameters, similarly to the ones currently used in the Johnson-Cousins filters, are derived. Finally the behaviour in the color-color planes is compared with available observations in the literature and possible systematic uncertainties affecting this comparison are discussed.

Photometric Identification of Type Ia Supernovae at Moderate Redshift

Large photometric surveys with the aim of identifying many Type Ia supernovae (SNe) at moderate redshift are challenged in separating these SNe from other SN types. We are motivated to identify Type Ia SNe based only on broadband photometric information, since spectroscopic determination of the SN type, the traditional method, requires significant amounts of time on large telescopes. We consider the possible observables provided by a large synoptic photometry survey. We examine the optical colors and magnitudes of many SN types from z=0.1 to z=1.0, using space-based ultraviolet spectra and ground-based optical spectra to simulate the photometry. We also discuss the evolution of colors over the SN outburst and the use of host galaxy characteristics to aid in the identification of Type Ia SNe. We consider magnitudes in both the SDSS photometric system and in a proposed filter system with logarithmically spaced bandpasses. We find that photometric information in four bands covering the entire optical spectrum appears capable of providing identification of Type Ia SNe based on their colors at a single observed epoch soon after maximum light, even without independent estimates of the SN redshift. Very blue filters are extremely helpful, as at moderate redshift they sample the restframe ultraviolet spectrum where the SN types are very different. We emphasize the need for further observations of SNe in the restframe ultraviolet to fully characterize, refine, and improve this method of SN type identification.

The colours of the Sun

We compile a sample of Sun-like stars with accurate effective temperatures, metallicities and colours (from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared). A crucial improvement is that the effective temperature scale of the stars has recently been established as both accurate and precise through direct measurement of angular diameters obtained with stellar interferometers. We fit the colours as a function of effective temperature and metallicity, and derive colour estimates for the Sun in the Johnson—Cousins, Tycho, Stromgren, 2MASS and SDSS photometric systems. For (B-V) ⊙ , we favour the ‘red’ colour 0.64 versus the ‘blue’ colour 0.62 of other recent papers, but both values are consistent within the errors; we ascribe the difference to the selection of Sun-like stars versus interpolation of wider colour—T eff —metallicity relations.

Color-Redshift Relations and Photometric Redshift Estimations of Quasars in Large Sky Surveys

With a recently constructed composite quasar spectrum and the \chi^2 minimization technique, we demonstrated a general method to estimate the photometric redshifts of a large sample of quasars by deriving the theoretical color-redshift relations and comparing the theoretical colors with the observed ones. We estimated the photometric redshifts from the 5-band SDSS photometric data of 18678 quasars in the first major data release of SDSS and compare them with the spectroscopic redshifts. The redshift difference is smaller than 0.1 for 47% of quasars and 0.2 for 68 % of them. Based on the calculation of the theoretical color-color diagrams of stars, galaxies and quasars in both the SDSS and BATC photometric systems, we expected that with the BATC system of 15 intermediate filters we would be able to select candidates of high redshift quasars more efficiently than in the SDSS, provided the BATC survey could detect objects with magnitude fainter than 21.