The CASSOWARY spectroscopy survey: A new sample of gravitationally
  lensed galaxies in SDSS
  Bright gravitationally lensed galaxies provide our most detailed view of
galaxies at high redshift. Yet as a result of the small number of ultra-bright
z~2 lensed systems with confirmed redshifts, most detailed spectroscopic
studies have been limited in their scope. With the goal of increasing the
number of bright lensed galaxies available for detailed follow-up, we have
undertaken a spectroscopic campaign targeting wide separation (>3 arcsec)
galaxy-galaxy lens candidates within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS).
Building on the earlier efforts of our CASSOWARY survey, we target a large
sample of candidate galaxy-galaxy lens systems in SDSS using a well-established
search algorithm which identifies blue arc-like structures situated around
luminous red galaxies. In this paper, we present a new redshift catalog
containing 25 lensed sources in SDSS confirmed through spectroscopic follow-up
of candidate galaxy-galaxy lens systems. Included in this new sample are two of
the brightest galaxies (r=19.6 and 19.7) galaxies known at z~2, a low
metallicity (12 + log (O/H)~8.0) extreme nebular line emitting galaxy at
z=1.43, and numerous systems for which detailed follow-up will be possible. The
source redshifts span 0.9<z<2.5 (median redshift of 1.9), and their optical
magnitudes are in the range 19.6<r<22.3. We present a brief source-by-source
discussion of the spectroscopic properties extracted from our confirmatory
spectra and discuss some initial science results. With more than 50
gravitationally lensed z>1 galaxies now confirmed within SDSS, it will soon be
possible for the first time to develop generalized conclusions from detailed
spectroscopic studies of the brightest lensed systems at high redshift.
