35667083
Status of ANITA and ANITA-lite
We describe a new experiment to search for neutrinos with energies above 3 × 1018 eV based on the observation of short duration radio pulses that are emitted from neutrino-initiated cascades. The primary objective of the ANtarctic Impulse Transient Antenna (ANITA) mission is to measure the flux of Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) neutrinos and search for neutrinos from Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). We present first results obtained from the successful launch of a 2-antenna prototype instrument (called ANITA-lite) that circled Antarctica for 18 days during the 03/04 Antarctic campaign and show preliminary results from attenuation length studies of electromagnetic waves at radio frequencies in Antarctic ice. The ANITA detector is funded by NASA, and the first flight is scheduled for December 2006.
19032720
Search for MSSM Higgses at the Tevatron
We present an overview of searches for MSSM Higgs at the Tevatron, concentrating on searches probing the high tan {beta} region. We discuss the search for A/H {yields} {tau}{tau} which is soon to be completed in the Run I data and review the new tau triggers implemented by CDF and D0 in Run II, which will greatly impact this analysis. We also present the results of a Run I search for A/Hbb {yields} bbbb performed by CDF and highlight expected improvements in this channel by both experiments in Run II.
126012638
Studies of hadron-electron separators for the ZEUS barrel calorimeter
Abstract Two possible upgrades, a shower maximum detector and a presampler, designed to improve the low energy electron/hadron separation capabilities of the ZEUS barrel calorimeter are described and test-beam results are reported. The presampler can also be used to correct for energy loss of particles traversing the dead material in front of the calorimeter.
122312631
Design and initial performance of the Askaryan Radio Array prototype EeV neutrino detector at the South Pole
Abstract We report on studies of the viability and sensitivity of the Askaryan Radio Array (ARA), a new initiative to develop a Teraton-scale ultra-high energy neutrino detector in deep, radio-transparent ice near Amundsen-Scott station at the South Pole. An initial prototype ARA detector system was installed in January 2011, and has been operating continuously since then. We describe measurements of the background radio noise levels, the radio clarity of the ice, and the estimated sensitivity of the planned ARA array given these results, based on the first five months of operation. Anthropogenic radio interference in the vicinity of the South Pole currently leads to a few-percent loss of data, but no overall effect on the background noise levels, which are dominated by the thermal noise floor of the cold polar ice, and galactic noise at lower frequencies. We have also successfully detected signals originating from a 2.5 km deep impulse generator at a distance of over 3 km from our prototype detector, confirming prior estimates of kilometer-scale attenuation lengths for cold polar ice. These are also the first such measurements for propagation over such large slant distances in ice. Based on these data, ARA-37, the ∼200 km 2 array now in its initial construction phase, will achieve the highest sensitivity of any planned or existing neutrino detector in the 10 16 –10 19  eV energy range.
119205836
Status of SalSA
We report on the status of the Salt Sensor Array (SalSA), a proposed experiment for detecting ultra-high energy neutrinos through the radio \v{C}erenkov technique with an array of radio-microwave antennas embedded in a large, naturally occurring salt formation. We review the measurements to date aimed at assessing SalSA's feasibility, including a return visit of the Hockley Salt Mine in Hockley, Texas, and discuss the current status of the project.
120257634
Review of underground salt attenuation measurements for SalSA
Abstract We report on the status of the Salt Sensor Array (SalSA), a proposed experiment for detecting ultra-high energy neutrinos through the radio Cherenkov technique with an array of radio-microwave antennas embedded in a large, naturally occurring salt formation. We review the measurements to date aimed at assessing SalSA's feasibility, including a return visit of the Hockley Salt Mine in Hockley, Texas, and discuss the current status of the project.
16712090
The DRaGONS Survey: A Search for High Redshift Radio Galaxies And Heavily Obscured AGNs
We present the first results from the Distant Radio Galaxies Optically Non-detected in the SDSS (DRaGONS) Survey. Using a novel selection technique for identifying high redshift radio galaxy (HzRG) candidates, a large sample of bright (S_{1.4GHz} > 100mJy) radio sources from the FIRST survey having no optical counterpart in the SDSS is compiled. K-band imaging with the FLAMINGOS instrument on the 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak for 96 such candidates allows preliminary identification of HzRG candidates through the well-known K-z relation. Of the initial candidates, we identify 70 with magnitudes brighter than K \approx 19.5, and compute limiting magnitudes for the remainder. Assigning redshifts based on the K-z Hubble diagram gives a mean redshift for our sample of z=2.5 and a median redshift of z=2.0. This selection is also sensitive to a previously unseen population of anomalously red radio galaxies (r-K > 6.5-7), which may indicate significant obscuration at moderate redshifts. These obscured objects can be used to test the completeness of QSO surveys to the effects of reddenning. More than ten percent of our sample falls into this category, which may represent a sizable radio loud population missing from current optically selected AGN samples. We additionally identify 479 bright Extremely Red Objects (EROs) in the fields surrounding our HzRG candidates, to a magnitude of K=17.5, within a non-contiguous area of 2.38 square degrees. This constitutes a small overdensity of EROs surrounding the radio galaxy candidates over random fields, and we see possible evidence for a physical association of the EROs with the radio galaxies. However, examining the clustering of all K < 19.0 galaxies around the radio targets reveals no evidence of a global galaxy excess.
8278022
First Results from the SPICES Survey
We present first results from SPICES, the Spectroscopic, Photometric, Infrared-Chosen Extragalactic Survey. SPICES is comprised of four ~30 square arcminute high Galactic latitude fields with deep BRIzJK imaging reaching depths of ~25th magnitude (AB) in the optical and ~23rd magnitude (AB) in the near-infrared. To date we have 626 spectroscopic redshifts for infrared-selected SPICES sources with K 1. One of the SPICES fields has been the target of a deep 190 ksec Chandra exposure; we discuss initial results from analysis of that data set. Finally, we briefly discuss a successful campaign to identify high-redshift sources in the SPICES fields.
2811507
Measuring the matter density using baryon oscillations in the SDSS
We measure the cosmological matter density by observing the positions of baryon acoustic oscillations in the clustering of galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We jointly analyze the main galaxies and LRGs in the SDSS DR5 sample, using over half a million galaxies in total. The oscillations are detected with 99.74% confidence (3.0 σ assuming Gaussianity) compared to a smooth power spectrum. When combined with the observed scale of the peaks within the CMB, we find a best-fit value of ΩM = 0.256 (68% confidence interval) for a flat Λ cosmology when marginalizing over the Hubble parameter and the baryon density. This value of the matter density is derived from the locations of the baryon oscillations in the galaxy power spectrum and in the CMB, and does not include any information from the overall shape of the power spectra. This is an extremely clean cosmological measurement, as the physics of the baryon acoustic oscillation production is well understood, and the positions of the oscillations are expected to be independent of systematics such as galaxy bias.
14603611
SPICES II: Optical and Near-Infrared Identifications of Faint X-Ray Sources from Deep Chandra Observations of Lynx
We present our first results on field X-ray sources detected in a deep, 184.7 ks observation with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS-I) on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The observations target the Lynx field (? = 08h48m, ? = +44?54') of SPICES, the Spectroscopic Photometric Infrared-Chosen Extragalactic Survey, which contains three known X-ray?emitting clusters at redshifts of z = 0.57, 1.26, and 1.27. Not including the known clusters, in the 17' ? 17' ACIS-I field we detect 132 sources in the 0.5?2 keV (soft) X-ray band down to a limiting flux of ?1.7 ? 10-16 ergs cm-2 s-1 and 111 sources in the 2?10 keV (hard) X-ray band down to a limiting flux of ?1.3 ? 10-15 ergs cm-2 s-1. The combined catalog contains a total of 153 sources, of which 42 are detected only in the soft band and 21 are detected only in the hard band. Confirming previous Chandra results, we find that the fainter sources have harder X-ray spectra, providing a consistent solution to the long-standing spectral paradox. From deep optical and near-infrared follow-up data, 77% of the X-ray sources have optical counterparts to I = 24, and 71% of the X-ray sources have near-infrared counterparts to Ks = 20. Four of the 24 sources in the near-IR field are associated with extremely red objects (EROs; I-Ks ? 4). We have obtained spectroscopic redshifts with the Keck telescopes of 18 of the Lynx Chandra sources. These sources comprise a mix of broad-lined active galaxies, apparently normal galaxies, and two late-type Galactic dwarfs. Intriguingly, one Galactic source is identified with an M7 dwarf exhibiting nontransient, hard X-ray emission. Thirteen of the Chandra sources are located within regions for which we have Hubble Space Telescope imaging. Nine of the sources are detected, showing a range of morphologies: several show compact cores embedded within diffuse emission, while others are spatially extended showing typical galaxy morphologies. Two of the Chandra sources in this subsample appear to be associated with mergers. We briefly review non?active galactic nucleus mechanisms to produce X-ray emission and discuss properties of the Lynx Chandra sample in relation to other samples of X-ray and non?X-ray sources.
7956880
The Revolution in Astronomy Education: Data Science for the Masses
As our capacity to study ever-expanding domains of our science has increased (including the time domain, non-electromagnetic phenomena, magnetized plasmas, and numerous sky surveys in multiple wavebands with broad spatial coverage and unprecedented depths), so have the horizons of our understanding of the Universe been similarly expanding. This expansion is coupled to the exponential data deluge from multiple sky surveys, which have grown from gigabytes into terabytes during the past decade, and will grow from terabytes into Petabytes (even hundreds of Petabytes) in the next decade. With this increased vastness of information, there is a growing gap between our awareness of that information and our understanding of it. Training the next generation in the fine art of deriving intelligent understanding from data is needed for the success of sciences, communities, projects, agencies, businesses, and economies. This is true for both specialists (scientists) and non-specialists (everyone else: the public, educators and students, workforce). Specialists must learn and apply new data science research techniques in order to advance our understanding of the Universe. Non-specialists require information literacy skills as productive members of the 21st century workforce, integrating foundational skills for lifelong learning in a world increasingly dominated by data. We address the impact of the emerging discipline of data science on astronomy education within two contexts: formal education and lifelong learners.