Browsing by Subject "sky"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Open Access
    A more general model for the intrinsic scatter in type Ia supernova distance moduli
    (2011) Marriner, John; Bernstein, J P; Kessler, Richard; Lampeitl, Hubert; Miquel, Ramon; Mosher, Jennifer; Nichol, Robert C; Sako, Masao; Schneider, Donald P; Smith, Mathew
    We describe a new formalism to fit the parameters {alpha} and {beta} that are used in the SALT2 model to determine the standard magnitudes of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). The new formalism describes the intrinsic scatter in SNe Ia by a covariance matrix in place of the single parameter normally used. We have applied this formalism to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Supernova Survey (SDSS-II) data and conclude that the data are best described by {alpha} = 0.135{sup +.033} - .017 and {beta} = 3.19{sup +0.14} - 0.24, where the error is dominated by the uncertainty in the form of the intrinsic scatter matrix. Our result depends on the introduction of a more general form for the intrinsic scatter of the distance moduli of SNe Ia than is conventional, resulting in a larger value of {beta} and a larger uncertainty than the conventional approach. Although this analysis results in a larger value of {beta} and a larger error, the SDSS data differ (at a 98% confidence level) from {beta} = 4.1, the value expected for extinction by the type of dust found in the Milky Way. We have modeled the distribution of SNe Ia in terms of their colormore » and conclude that there is strong evidence that variation in color is a significant contributor to the scatter of SNe Ia around their standard candle magnitude.« less
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    Open Access
    DEGREE OF POLARIZATION AND SOURCE COUNTS OF FAINT RADIO SOURCES FROM STACKING POLARIZED INTENSITY
    (2014) Stil, J M; Keller, B W; George, S J; Taylor, A R
    We present stacking polarized intensity as a means to study the polarization of sources that are too faint to be detected individually in surveys of polarized radio sources. Stacking offers not only high sensitivity to the median signal of a class of radio sources, but also avoids a detection threshold in polarized intensity, and therefore an arbitrary exclusion of source with a low percentage of polarization. Correction for polarization bias is done through a Monte Carlo analysis and tested on a simulated survey. We show that the non-linear relation between the real polarized signal and the detected signal requires knowledge of the shape of the distribution of fractional polarization, which we constrain using the ratio of the upper quartile to the lower quartile of the distribution of stacked polarized intensities. Stacking polarized intensity for NVSS sources down to the detection limit in Stokes I, we find a gradual increase in median fractional polarization that is consistent with a trend that was noticed before for bright NVSS sources, but is much more gradual than found by previous deep surveys of radio polarization. Consequently, the polarized radio source counts derived from our stacking experiment predict fewer polarized radio sources for future surveys with the Square Kilometre Array and its pathfinders.
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    Open Access
    Improved constraints on type Ia supernova host galaxy properties using multi-wavelength photometry and their correlations with supernova properties
    (2011) Gupta, Ravi R; D’Andrea, Chris B; Sako, Masao; Conroy, Charlie; Smith, Mathew; Bassett, Bruce; Frieman, Joshua A; Garnavich, Peter M; Jha, Saurabh W; Kessler, Richard; Lampeitl, Hubert; Marriner, John; Nichol, Robert C; Schneider, Donald P
    We improve estimates of the stellar mass and mass-weighted average age of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) host galaxies by combining UV and near-IR photometry with optical photometry in our analysis. Using 206 SNe Ia drawn from the full three-year Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-II) Supernova Survey (median redshift of z 0.2) and multi-wavelength host-galaxy photometry from SDSS, the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, and the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope Infrared Deep Sky Survey, we present evidence of a correlation (1.9σ confidence level) between the residuals of SNe Ia about the best-fit Hubble relation and the mass-weighted average age of their host galaxies. The trend is such that older galaxies host SNe Ia that are brighter than average after standard light-curve corrections are made. We also confirm, at the 3.0σ level, the trend seen by previous studies that more massive galaxies often host brighter SNe Ia after light-curve correction.