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At least 199 records · Page 11

Post-fire time series of sensor and geochemistry sample data from surface water, groundwater, precipitation, soil, and vegetation across Oak Creek watershed, Washington

This dataset supports a broader study examining wildfire impacts on hydrologic connectivity across 5 sites within the Oak Creek watershed and the resulting biogeochemical impacts. Stream sites were selected using the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS) hydrologic model to identify locations with varying groundwater contributions and hydrologic responses across different burn severity scenarios. The Retreat Fire burned from July 23 to August 2 in 2024, affecting the five study sites at varying burn severities. Each site is equipped with YSI EXO2 sondes logging sub-hourly throughout the year, and grab samples are collected approximately every six weeks. YSI sondes are used to measure temporally resolved proxies for groundwater inputs (specific conductivity) and organic matter (fluorescent dissolved organic matter; fDOM) along with basic water quality and depth. Grab samples of surface water, groundwater, and precipitation are analyzed for water stable isotopes and conductivity to understand endmembers for hydrologic mixing Grab samples of surface water, groundwater, soil water, and litter/vegetation/soil leachates are analyzed for organic matter composition measured by Fourier-Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FTICR-MS) to understand organic matter dynamics. Game camera photos are provided in a separate data package available at https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/datasets/doi:10.15485/3018598. Future versions of this dataset will include time series data from YSI EXO2 sondes (fDOM, dissolved oxygen, temperature, depth, specific conductance, turbidity, pH), BaroTROLL sensors (air temperature and barometric pressure), rain gauges (precipitation), and data from the soil and vegetation samples. Because this study is ongoing, this data package will be updated regularly to include newly collected data and the additional data types. For details on how to navigate data packages generated by this project, see https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/portals/PNNLRiverCorridorSFA/About. In addition to a readme, this data package also includes a file-level metadata (FLMD) file that describes each file and a data dictionary (DD) that describes all column/row headers and variable definitions. This dataset is comprised of (1) a folder of field photos; (2) a folder of surface water sample data; (3) a folder of raw Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) data; (4) a data checks report; (5) file-level metadata; (6) data dictionary; (7) field metadata; (8) readme; (9) international generic sample number (IGSN) mapping file; and (10) field protocols. The sample data subfolder contains (1) dissolved organic carbon (DOC, measured as non-purgeable organic carbon, NPOC) data and averages; (2) total dissolved nitrogen data and averages; (3) stable water isotopes and averages; (4) methods codes; (5) FTICR-MS methods; and (15) a subfolder of 9.4 Tesla (9.4T) FTICR-MS data. This folder contains the processed data and three subfolders, one containing the .xml files, one containing the water CoreMS output files, and the other containing instructions and scripts for processing the files in CoreMS (https://github.com/EMSL-Computing/CoreMS). All files are .csv, .pdf, .R, .xml, .d, .html, .Rmd, .py, .cal, .json, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .mov, or .mp4.

Biogeochemistry↗

Quantitative Modeling of High-Energy Electron Scattering in Thick Samples Using Monte Carlo Techniques

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a powerful tool for imaging biological samples but is typically limited by sample thickness, which is restricted to a few hundred nanometers depending on the electron energy. However, there is a growing need for imaging techniques capable of studying biological samples up to 10 µm in thickness while maintaining nanoscale resolution. This need motivates the use of mega-electron-volt scanning transmission electron microscopy (MeV-STEM), which leverages the high penetration power of MeV electrons to generate high-resolution images of thicker samples. In this study, we employ Monte Carlo simulations to model electron–sample interactions and explore the signal decay of imaging electrons through thick specimens. By incorporating material properties, interaction cross-sections for energy loss, and experimental parameters, we investigate the relationship between the incident and transmitted beam intensities. Key factors such as detector collection angle, convergence semi-angle, and the material properties of samples were analyzed. Our results demonstrate that the relationship between incident and transmitted beam intensities follows the Beer–Lambert law over thicknesses ranging from a few microns to several tens of microns, depending on material composition, electron energy, and collection angles. The linear depth of silicon dioxide reaches 3.9 µm at 3 MeV, about 6 times higher than that at 300 keV. Meanwhile, the linear depth of amorphous ice reaches 17.9 µm at 3 MeV, approximately 11.5 times higher than that at 300 keV. These findings are crucial for advancing the study of thick biological and semiconductor samples using MeV-STEM.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Meta-Study of Particulate Detection Losses on Radioactive Air Sample Filters

Several mathematical relationships between air sample filter mass loading and the correlated analytical self-absorption factor were developed using data from other published research in this meta-study. Gross-alpha and -beta applications are addressed for this research. As filter media becomes loaded with particulate matter, there is potential for measurement losses due to self-absorption by mass loading. Components contributing to absorption include particulate dust, radioactive particulates, and filter material. Standards indicate a correction factor should be used when the penetration of radioactive material into the collection media or self-absorption of radiation by the material collected would reduce the detection rate by more than 5%. Previously, losses due to self-absorption have been reported up to 100% over a range up to ~10 mg∙cm -2 mass loading. These absorption losses then can be used to determine a correction factor for sample results. For low mass loadings (e.g., ≤0.1 mg∙cm -2 ) corrections factors in the 0.85 - 1 range have been recommended and used, while at higher mass loadings nearer to 10 mg∙cm -2 correction factors closer to 0 (representing near 100% losses) are used. Based on data from published studies, the different methods for relating percent loss due to self-absorption to mass loading include linear, exponential, quadratic, and trinomial derived functions. Where applicable, both forced zero and non-forced zero results were evaluated. From the derived functions evaluated, the trinomial function provided the best fit. Once the sample filter mass loading is known, the trinomial function can be applied to estimate losses and the corresponding self-absorption factor. When applied to routine operating conditions for radiological facility stacks monitored at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for an average sample filter mass loading of 0.09 ± 0.12 (2σ) mg∙cm -2 (excluding negative values and outliers) and a range from 0 - 0.24 mg∙cm -2 , the estimated trinomial function nominal self-absorption losses are less than 5% at 0.09 mg∙cm -2 and less than 10% at 0.24 mg∙cm -2 . The trinomial function is one method that may be used to adjust the activity results of an air sample when the sample-specific mass loading is determined. The application of no correction factor when the ANSI/HPS N13.1-2021 guidance of a 5% threshold for loss is not reached with typical stack sample mass loadings may be reasonable in high-efficiency particulate air filtered systems. For simplicity, it would be conservative in assigning the self-absorption correction factor at the 5% threshold (i.e., 0.95) for general uses but in cases of heavy mass loading to calculate the factor.

air sampling↗

Brain‐age prediction: Systematic evaluation of site effects, and sample age range and size

Abstract Structural neuroimaging data have been used to compute an estimate of the biological age of the brain (brain‐age) which has been associated with other biologically and behaviorally meaningful measures of brain development and aging. The ongoing research interest in brain‐age has highlighted the need for robust and publicly available brain‐age models pre‐trained on data from large samples of healthy individuals. To address this need we have previously released a developmental brain‐age model. Here we expand this work to develop, empirically validate, and disseminate a pre‐trained brain‐age model to cover most of the human lifespan. To achieve this, we selected the best‐performing model after systematically examining the impact of seven site harmonization strategies, age range, and sample size on brain‐age prediction in a discovery sample of brain morphometric measures from 35,683 healthy individuals (age range: 5–90 years; 53.59% female). The pre‐trained models were tested for cross‐dataset generalizability in an independent sample comprising 2101 healthy individuals (age range: 8–80 years; 55.35% female) and for longitudinal consistency in a further sample comprising 377 healthy individuals (age range: 9–25 years; 49.87% female). This empirical examination yielded the following findings: (1) the accuracy of age prediction from morphometry data was higher when no site harmonization was applied; (2) dividing the discovery sample into two age‐bins (5–40 and 40–90 years) provided a better balance between model accuracy and explained age variance than other alternatives; (3) model accuracy for brain‐age prediction plateaued at a sample size exceeding 1600 participants. These findings have been incorporated into CentileBrain ( https://centilebrain.org/#/brainAGE2 ), an open‐science, web‐based platform for individualized neuroimaging metrics.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Improved sampling technique to collect natural gas from hydrate-bearing pressure cores

High quality gas compositional data are an important factor in interpreting the genetic source of natural gas hosted in hydrate-bearing sediments and other subsurface systems. In order to accurately characterize the composition of gas samples degassed from hydrate-bearing pressure cores, one must use a reproducible sampling technique that minimizes artifacts of the sampling process. Herein, we review sediment core degassing techniques and compare data obtained from a commonly used degassing approach, which we term the standard quantitative degassing (SQD) technique, to our newly developed modified quantitative degassing (MQD) method designed to minimize atmospheric contamination and gas-water interactions. The SQD method allows sample gas to interact with water in a bubbling chamber, which we hypothesize could alter the gas composition following mixing with water or dissolved gases in the bubbling chamber. Whereas, the MQD method allows for the collection of sample gas prior to the bubbling chamber. To compare the SQD and MQD methods, we performed a side-by-side comparison of noble (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe), major (H 2 , N 2 , O 2 , and CO 2 ), and hydrocarbon (CH 4 , C 2 H 6 , C 3 H 8 , i-C 4 H 10 , C 4 H 10 , i-C 5 H 12 , C 5 H 12 ) gas concentrations and select isotopic compositions obtained using both sample collection techniques. Gas samples were collected from hydrate-bearing pressure cores recovered and maintained under hydrate stable conditions from the northern Gulf of Mexico during the UT-GOM 2 -1 Expedition. The MQD method displayed significantly lower concentrations of atmospheric gases, higher proportions of hydrocarbon gases, lower ratios of C 1 /C 2 + , and heavier stable carbon and hydrogen isotopes of methane than the SQD method. These results demonstrate that the MQD method reduced air contamination and minimized alteration of the hydrocarbon gases. Finally, we conclude this method may be important for future work that seeks to determine the composition of natural gas from pressure cores using quantitative degassing experiments, especially those seeking to measure major (e.g., N 2 ) and noble gases.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Microbiomes of frozen blood plasma samples reveal potential pathogens in wild birds and rodents

The lack of genomic data on pathogens from wildlife severely limits our ability to track transmission patterns and trace the origins of an outbreak. There are currently millions of wildlife samples in biobanks around the world, including blood samples. Blood has traditionally been viewed as a sterile environment in healthy individuals, but recent evidence suggests that this is not the case, especially for wild animals. Our goal was to determine whether frozen plasma samples can be surveyed using 16S sequencing to provide information about potential hosts for pathogens for a more complete understanding of disease systems. We sequenced blood plasma from wild North American deer mice ( Peromyscus maniculatus ) and American kestrels ( Falco sparverius ) that were cryogenically stored for 7 and 13 years, respectively, and compared two DNA extraction kits. The kestrel samples contained a very high number of reads that could not be identified to phylum compared to the mouse samples. The two kits differed in the phyla and genera that were detected, and the Zymo kit, which is optimized for plasma and serum, produced more high-quality reads for both kestrel and mouse samples. We identified several pathogenic genera, including Mycoplasma, Escherichia-Shigella , and Bartonella . Sequencing blood samples for pathogens could potentially have broad applications for identifying important reservoir hosts for pathogen transmission and provide a reduced set of species on which to follow up.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Permutationally Invariant Networks for Enhanced Sampling (PINES): Discovery of Multimolecular and Solvent-Inclusive Collective Variables

The typically rugged nature of molecular free energy landscapes can frustrate efficient sampling of the thermodynamically relevant phase space due to the presence of high free energy barriers. Enhanced sampling techniques can improve phase space exploration by accelerating sampling along particular collective variables (CVs). A number of techniques exist for data-driven discovery of CVs parameterizing the important large scale motions of the system. A challenge to CV discovery is learning CVs invariant to symmetries of the molecular system, frequently rigid translation, rigid rotation, and permutational relabeling of identical particles. Of these, permutational invariance has proved a persistent challenge in frustrating the data-driven discovery of multi-molecular CVs in systems of self-assembling particles and solvent-inclusive CVs for solvated systems. In this work, we integrate Permutation Invariant Vector (PIV) featurizations with autoencoding neural networks to learn nonlinear CVs invariant to translation, rotation, and permutation, and perform interleaved rounds of CV discovery and enhanced sampling to iteratively expand sampling of configurational phase space and obtain converged CVs and free energy landscapes. Here, we demonstrate the Permutationally Invariant Network for Enhanced Sampling (PINES) approach in applications to the self-assembly of a 13-atom Argon cluster, association/dissociation of a NaCl ion pair in water, and hydrophobic collapse of a C 45 H 92 n-pentatetracontane polymer chain. We make the approach freely available as a new module within the PLUMED2 enhanced sampling libraries.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Opening doors to physical sample tracking and attribution in Earth and environmental sciences

Physical samples and their associated data and metadata underpin scientific discoveries across disciplines and can enable new science when appropriately archived. However, there are significant gaps in current practices and infrastructure that prevent accurate provenance tracking, reproducibility, and attribution. For most samples, descriptive metadata are often sparse, inaccessible, or absent. Samples and associated data and metadata may also be scattered across numerous physical collections, data repositories, laboratories, data files, and papers with no clear linkage or provenance tracking as new information is generated over time. The Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) Physical Samples Curation Cluster has therefore developed guidance for scientific authors on ‘Publishing Open Research Using Physical Samples.’ This involved synthesizing existing practices, gathering community feedback, and assessing real-world examples. We identified improvements needed to enable authors to efficiently cite and link Earth science samples and related data, and track their use. Our goal is to help improve discoverability, interoperability, and reuse of physical samples, and associated data and metadata. Though primarily focused on the needs of Earth and environmental sciences, these guidelines are broadly applicable.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

ZTF-SEDm Type Ia supernova sample for Twins Embedding spectrophotometric standardization

Aims. This paper has two aims: the first aim is to build a large homogeneous spectrophotometric sample of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from the second data release of the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF DR2). We used the spectrum sample from the low-resolution ( R ∼ 100) SEDmachine (SEDm) Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS) that gathered 3069 spectra. This is one of the largest samples of such collections that can attempt to reproduce the Twins Embedding (TE) spectrophotometric standardization method. This is our second objective. The method was developed based on high-quality spectra from 200 SNe Ia of the Nearby Supernova factory (SNfactory) and led to an exceptionally low value of 0.073 mag for the intrinsic scatter. Methods. As the SEDm is not designed as a spectrophotometric instrument, we first improved the flux-calibration accuracy of the SN Ia spectrum sample using the ZTF photometric data, which were calibrated at the percent level. We corrected the spectra for second-order polynomials, fitted by comparing the synthetic photometry in the ZTF g , r , i filters with the light-curve (LC) data. We then applied the three steps of the TE parameterization to a subset of 783 ZTF SN spectra near maximum light while comparing results from SNfactory and ZTF. We finally analyzed the standardization methods based on the TE parameters. Results. The precision of the phase-correction model, which is the first step of the TE, is estimated at 0.01 mag in g band based on ZTF data. Despite the challenge posed by the spectrum-extraction pipeline associated with the SEDm (flux calibration, leftover host signal, low signal-to-noise ratio, and low resolution), we applied a first standardization in color based on the second step of the TE, called read between the lines (RBTL), to the ZTF sample. We reached a Hubble residual scatter of 0.153 mag, all in normalized median absolute deviation, which is to be compared to the ∼0.11 mag obtained with the SNfactory data. The SALT color and stretch standardization reaches a scatter of 0.164 mag for the same ZTF SN Ia sample, and its host steps are ∼0.1 mag and zero for RBTL. When considering the scatter due to the redshift error and flux calibration error, we estimated a RBTL scatter of ∼0.129 mag for this ZTF sample as an upper limit because we identified an additional contribution from a systematic error in color. We tested the standardization based on the nonlinear TE parameters, and, as expected from the low spectrum quality, it did not improve the overall dispersion. Conclusions. We release 1897 flux calibrated spectra of 1607 SNe Ia with an estimated photometric accuracy of 0.07 mag. We further demonstrate that some amount of spectrophotometric SN Ia standardization can be done with limited-quality spectra. The RBTL standardization is more efficient than that of SALT with one parameter less, and the resulting host steps are consistent with zero. This makes it less prone to astrophysical bias. For future spectroscopic surveys, targeting the extraction pipeline for a thorough flux calibration and good signal-to-noise ratio would enable us to compute the full TE standardization, which would further reduce the scatter in the distance estimate.

Ganot, C↗

Heat capacity of microgram oxide samples by fast scanning calorimetry

Quantitative scanning calorimetry on microgram-sized samples opens a broad, new range of opportunities for studying the thermodynamic properties of quantity-limited materials, including those produced under extreme conditions or found as rare accessory minerals in nature. We calibrated the Mettler Toledo Flash DSC 2+ calorimeter to obtain quantitative heat capacities in the range 200–350 °C, using samples weighing between 2 and 11.5 μg. Our technique is applied to a new set of oxide materials to which it has never been used before, without the need for melting, glass transitions, or phase transformations. Heat capacity data were obtained for silica in the high pressure stishovite (rutile) structure, dense post-stishovite glass, standard fused quartz, and for TiO2 rutile. These heat capacities agree within 5%–15% with the literature values reported for rutile, stishovite, and fused SiO2 glass. The heat capacity of post-stishovite glass, made by heating stishovite to 1000 °C, is a newly reported value. After accurate calibrations, measured heat capacities were then used to calculate masses for samples in the microgram range, a substantial improvement over measurement in conventional microbalances, which have uncertainties approaching 50%–100% for such small samples. Since the typical uncertainty of heat capacities measured on 10–100 mg samples in conventional differential scanning calorimetry is typically 7% (1%–5% with careful work), flash differential scanning calorimetry, using samples a factor of 1000 smaller, increases the uncertainty of heat capacity measurements by a factor of <3, opening the door for meaningful measurements on ultra-small, high-pressure samples and other quantity-limited materials.

Instruments & Instrumentation↗

Sputter sample preparation for ion beam delivery of radium-223 at ATLAS

A radium-223 ion beam was delivered to an experiment from the electron cyclotron resonance ion source, ECR2, at the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS). Here, the radium-223 material was in a nitrate salt form within a vial, prior to being converted to a usable sputter sample. The sputter sample was produced using a new sample preparation method, where the radium nitrate was dissolved into a solution and pipetted onto pressed aluminum powder. This sample was then allowed to dry, distributing the radium-223 material throughout the sputter sample. Ion source operation using the radium sputter sample is described with the operating parameters listed. The intensity and energy requirements for this ion beam were 1 × 10 6 particles/s and 1.07 GeV, respectively. Because the intensity is relatively low compared to most experiments at ATLAS, previously developed accelerator mass spectrometry methods were used Scott et al. to avoid the need for tuning of the low-intensity beam of interest. Handling of the radium material, as well as loading and unloading of the sputter sample from ECR2, required collaboration with Health Physics. Procedures were used and dry runs were carried out before, during, and after the experiment to ensure the safety of the workers. The processes used and lessons learned are described within.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

A device for volatile organic compound (VOC) analysis from skin using heated dynamic headspace sampling

Abstract Human skin is an important source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) offering noninvasive methods to gain clinical metabolite information. This work was focused on the development of a skin sampling device based on a dynamic headspace sampling method with the addition of temperature to increase VOC metabolite recovery. The device preconcentrates skin VOC emissions onto a sorbent substrate, which can either be preserved for offline analysis or attached to a real time sensor downstream. In this work, skin VOC samples were analyzed offline using thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A list of 10 common skin VOCs was pre-selected to optimize parameters of sampling time, sampling temperature, and sorbent selection. Overall, this study highlights an effective skin VOC sampling technology with a heating dimension (40 °C, rather than 30 °C or no heating) with a sampling time of 15 min (rather than 5 or 30 mins) and onto Tenax TA sorbent (rather than PDMS), which collectively increases the recovery of compounds with lower vapor pressure and decreases the observed variability in skin VOC measurements. Finally, a list of 79 skin VOC compounds were detected and identified within a cohort of 20 young, healthy volunteers.

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology↗

Identifying Sample Provenance From SEM/EDS Automated Particle Analysis via Few-Shot Learning Coupled With Similarity Graph Clustering

Automated particle analysis (APA) provides a vast amount of compositional data via energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy along with size and shape data via scanning electron microscopy for individual particles in a sample. In many instances, APA data are leveraged to support identification of the source of a sample based on the detection of particles of a specific composition. Often, the particles that provide context make up a minuscule portion of the sample. Additionally, the interpretation of complex samples can be difficult due to the diversity of compositions both in the mixture and within a particle. In this work, we demonstrate a method to compute and cluster similarity graphs that describe inter-particle relationships within a sample using a multi-modal few-shot learning neural network. Here, as a proof-of-concept, we show that samples known to have been exposed to gunshot residue can be distinguished from samples occasionally mistaken for gunshot residue. Our workflow builds upon standard APA techniques and data processing methods to unveil additional information in a readily interpretable and quantitatively comparable format.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Propagating sample variance uncertainties in redshift calibration: simulations, theory, and application to the COSMOS2015 data

ABSTRACT Cosmological analyses of galaxy surveys rely on knowledge of the redshift distribution of their galaxy sample. This is usually derived from a spectroscopic and/or many-band photometric calibrator survey of a small patch of sky. The uncertainties in the redshift distribution of the calibrator sample include a contribution from shot noise, or Poisson sampling errors, but, given the small volume they probe, they are dominated by sample variance introduced by large-scale structures. Redshift uncertainties have been shown to constitute one of the leading contributions to systematic uncertainties in cosmological inferences from weak lensing and galaxy clustering, and hence they must be propagated through the analyses. In this work, we study the effects of sample variance on small-area redshift surveys, from theory to simulations to the COSMOS2015 data set. We present a three-step Dirichlet method of resampling a given survey-based redshift calibration distribution to enable the propagation of both shot noise and sample variance uncertainties. The method can accommodate different levels of prior confidence on different redshift sources. This method can be applied to any calibration sample with known redshifts and phenotypes (i.e. cells in a self-organizing map, or some other way of discretizing photometric space), and provides a simple way of propagating prior redshift uncertainties into cosmological analyses. As a worked example, we apply the full scheme to the COSMOS2015 data set, for which we also present a new, principled SOM algorithm designed to handle noisy photometric data. We make available a catalogue of the resulting resamplings of the COSMOS2015 galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Compact galaxies and the size–mass galaxy distribution from a colour-selected sample at 0.04 < z < 0.15 supplemented by ugrizYJHK photometric redshifts

ABSTRACT The size–mass galaxy distribution is a key diagnostic for galaxy evolution. Massive compact galaxies are potential surviving relics of a high-redshift phase of star formation. Some of these could be nearly unresolved in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging and thus not included in galaxy samples. To overcome this, a sample was selected from the combination of SDSS and UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) photometry to r < 17.8. This was done using colour–colour selection, and then by obtaining accurate photometric redshifts (photo-z) using scaled flux matching (SFM). Compared to spectroscopic redshifts (spec-z), SFM obtained a 1σ scatter of 0.0125 with only 0.3 per cent outliers (|Δln (1 + z)| > 0.06). A sample of 163 186 galaxies was obtained with 0.04 < z < 0.15 over $2300\, {\rm deg}^2$ using a combination of spec-z and photo-z. Following Barro et al. log Σ1.5 = log M* − 1.5log r50, maj was used to define compactness. The spectroscopic completeness was 76 per cent for compact galaxies (log Σ1.5 > 10.5) compared to 92 per cent for normal-sized galaxies. This difference is primarily attributed to SDSS ‘fibre collisions’ and not the completeness of the main galaxy sample selection. Using environmental overdensities, this confirms that compact quiescent galaxies are significantly more likely to be found in high-density environments compared to normal-sized galaxies. By comparison with a high-redshift sample from 3D-HST, log Σ1.5 distribution functions show significant evolution, with this being a compelling way to compare with simulations such as EAGLE. The number density of compact quiescent galaxies drops by a factor of about 30 from z ∼ 2 to log (n/Mpc−3) = − 5.3 ± 0.4 in the SDSS–UKIDSS sample. The uncertainty is dominated by the steep cut off in log Σ1.5, which is demonstrated conclusively using this complete sample.

Baldry, Ivan K.↗

Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: galaxy clustering and systematics treatment for lens galaxy samples

ABSTRACT In this work, we present the galaxy clustering measurements of the two DES lens galaxy samples: a magnitude-limited sample optimized for the measurement of cosmological parameters, maglim, and a sample of luminous red galaxies selected with the redmagic algorithm. maglim/redmagic sample contains over 10 million/2.5 million galaxies and is divided into six/five photometric redshift bins spanning the range z ∈ [0.20, 1.05]/z ∈ [0.15, 0.90]. Both samples cover 4143 $\deg ^2$ over which we perform our analysis blind, measuring the angular correlation function with an S/N ∼ 63 for both samples. In a companion paper, these measurements of galaxy clustering are combined with the correlation functions of cosmic shear and galaxy–galaxy lensing of each sample to place cosmological constraints with a 3 × 2pt analysis. We conduct a thorough study of the mitigation of systematic effects caused by the spatially varying survey properties and we correct the measurements to remove artificial clustering signals. We employ several decontamination methods with different configurations to ensure the robustness of our corrections and to determine the systematic uncertainty that needs to be considered for the final cosmology analyses. We validate our fiducial methodology using lognormal mocks, showing that our decontamination procedure induces biases no greater than 0.5σ in the (Ωm, b) plane, where b is the galaxy bias.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

B/PS bulges in DESI Legacy edge-on galaxies – I. Sample building

ABSTRACT We present the biggest up-to-date sample of edge-on galaxies with boxy/peanut-shaped (B/PS) bulges and X-structures. The sample was prepared using images from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy catalogue and contains about 2000 galaxies. To find suitable candidates in catalogue, we made the assumption that the residues (original images minus model) of galaxies with B/PS bulges should exhibit a characteristic X-shape. Galaxies with such features were selected by eye and then used as input data for a neural network training, which was applied to a bigger sample of edge-on galaxies. Using the available data and the photometric models from the literature, we investigated the observational and statistical properties of the sample created. Comparing the B/D ratios for galaxies with and without B/PS bulges, we found that the B/D ratio for galaxies from our sample is statistically higher, with typical values in the range ≈0.2–0.5 depending on the decomposition procedure. We studied how the opening angles φ of the X-structure and the length of its rays are distributed in the formed sample and found them to be consistent with previous measurements and predictions from N-body models, e.g. $\varphi \gtrsim 25{^\circ }$, but measured here for a much larger number of galaxies. We found a sharp increase in the B/PS bulge fraction for stellar masses log M⋆ ≳ 10.4, but for edge-on galaxies, which complements the results of previous works. The sample can be used in future work to test various bar models and their relationship with B/PS bulges, as well as to study their stability and evolution.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Amalgame: cosmological constraints from the first combined photometric supernova sample

ABSTRACT Future constraints of cosmological parameters from Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) will depend on the use of photometric samples, those samples without spectroscopic measurements of the SNe Ia. There is a growing number of analyses that show that photometric samples can be utilized for precision cosmological studies with minimal systematic uncertainties. To investigate this claim, we perform the first analysis that combines two separate photometric samples, SDSS and Pan-STARRS, without including a low-redshift anchor. We evaluate the consistency of the cosmological parameters from these two samples and find they are consistent with each other to under 1σ. From the combined sample, named Amalgame, we measure ΩM = 0.328 ± 0.024 with SN alone in a flat ΛCDM model, and ΩM = 0.330 ± 0.018 and w = $-1.016^{+0.055}_{-0.058}$ when combining with a Planck data prior and a flat wCDM model. These results are consistent with constraints from the Pantheon+ analysis of only spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia, and show that there are no significant impediments to analyses of purely photometric samples of SNe Ia. The data and results are made available at https://github.com/bap37/AmalgameDR.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗