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LSST: From Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products
Aubourg, Éric; Strauss, Michael A.; Anderson, Scott F. +324 more
We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the solar system, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a large, wide-fiel…
Large Magellanic Cloud Cepheid Standards Provide a 1% Foundation for the Determination of the Hubble Constant and Stronger Evidence for Physics beyond ΛCDM
Casertano, Stefano; Riess, Adam G.; Yuan, Wenlong +2 more
We present an improved determination of the Hubble constant from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of 70 long-period Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). These were obtained with the same WFC3 photometric system used to measure extragalactic Cepheids in the hosts of SNe Ia. Gyroscopic control of HST was employed to reduce overhead…
A 3D Dust Map Based on Gaia, Pan-STARRS 1, and 2MASS
Speagle, Joshua S.; Zucker, Catherine; Finkbeiner, Douglas +2 more
We present a new three-dimensional map of dust reddening, based on Gaia parallaxes and stellar photometry from Pan-STARRS 1 and 2MASS. This map covers the sky north of a decl. of -30°, out to a distance of a few kiloparsecs. This new map contains three major improvements over our previous work. First, the inclusion of Gaia parallaxes dramatically …
The Carnegie-Chicago Hubble Program. VIII. An Independent Determination of the Hubble Constant Based on the Tip of the Red Giant Branch
Madore, Barry F.; Freedman, Wendy L.; Beaton, Rachael L. +10 more
We present a new and independent determination of the local value of the Hubble constant based on a calibration of the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) applied to Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). We find a value of H 0 = 69.8 ± 0.8 (±1.1% stat) ± 1.7 (±2.4% sys) km s-1 Mpc-1. The TRGB method is both precise and accur…
The Optical to Mid-infrared Extinction Law Based on the APOGEE, Gaia DR2, Pan-STARRS1, SDSS, APASS, 2MASS, and WISE Surveys
Wang, Shu; Chen, Xiaodian
A precise interstellar dust extinction law is critically important to interpret observations. There are two indicators of extinction: the color excess ratio (CER) and the relative extinction. Compared to the CER, the wavelength-dependent relative extinction is more challenging to be determined. In this work, we combine spectroscopic, astrometric, …
The Circular Velocity Curve of the Milky Way from 5 to 25 kpc
Hogg, David W.; Rix, Hans-Walter; Ness, Melissa K. +1 more
We measure the circular velocity curve v c(R) of the Milky Way with the highest precision to date across Galactocentric distances of 5 ≤ R ≤ 25 kpc. Our analysis draws on the six-dimensional phase-space coordinates of ≳23,000 luminous red giant stars, for which we previously determined precise parallaxes using a data-driven model that c…
Kinematics in Young Star Clusters and Associations with Gaia DR2
Sills, Alison; Feigelson, Eric D.; Hillenbrand, Lynne A. +2 more
The Gaia mission has opened a new window into the internal kinematics of young star clusters at the sub-km s-1 level, with implications for our understanding of how star clusters form and evolve. We use a sample of 28 clusters and associations with ages from ∼1-5 Myr, where lists of members are available from previous X-ray, optical, an…
How to Constrain Your M Dwarf. II. The Mass-Luminosity-Metallicity Relation from 0.075 to 0.70 Solar Masses
Gaidos, Eric; Rizzuto, Aaron C.; Kraus, Adam L. +11 more
The mass-luminosity relation for late-type stars has long been a critical tool for estimating stellar masses. However, there is growing need for both a higher-precision relation and a better understanding of systematic effects (e.g., metallicity). Here we present an empirical relationship between {M}{KS} and M * sp…
Water Vapor and Clouds on the Habitable-zone Sub-Neptune Exoplanet K2-18b
Fortney, Jonathan J.; Knutson, Heather A.; Howard, Andrew W. +13 more
Results from the Kepler mission indicate that the occurrence rate of small planets (<3 R ⊕) in the habitable zone of nearby low-mass stars may be as high as 80%. Despite this abundance, probing the conditions and atmospheric properties on any habitable-zone planet is extremely difficult and has remained elusive to date. Here, we repo…
A Large Catalog of Accurate Distances to Local Molecular Clouds: The Gaia DR2 Edition
Alves, João; Speagle, Joshua S.; Zucker, Catherine +4 more
We present a uniform catalog of accurate distances to local molecular clouds informed by the Gaia DR2 data release. Our methodology builds on that of Schlafly et al. First, we infer the distance and extinction to stars along sightlines toward the clouds using optical and near-infrared photometry. When available, we incorporate knowledge of the ste…