THE SEVENTH DATA RELEASE OF THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States)
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States)
- Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States)
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury SL Mary, Surrey, RH5 6NT (United Kingdom)
- Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States)
- Apache Point Observatory, P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States)
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)
- Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astronomie, Koenigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
- McDonald Observatory and Dept. of Astronomy, University of Texas, 1 University Station, C1400, Austin, TX 78712-0259 (United States)
- South African Astronomical Observatory, Observatory, Cape Town (South Africa)
- Dept. of Physics and Astrophysics, CSCE: Center for the Study of Cosmic Evolution, and JINA: Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI 48824 (United States)
- Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA (United Kingdom)
- Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235 (United States)
- Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States)
This paper describes the Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), marking the completion of the original goals of the SDSS and the end of the phase known as SDSS-II. It includes 11,663 deg{sup 2} of imaging data, with most of the {approx}2000 deg{sup 2} increment over the previous data release lying in regions of low Galactic latitude. The catalog contains five-band photometry for 357 million distinct objects. The survey also includes repeat photometry on a 120 deg. long, 2.{sup 0}5 wide stripe along the celestial equator in the Southern Galactic Cap, with some regions covered by as many as 90 individual imaging runs. We include a co-addition of the best of these data, going roughly 2 mag fainter than the main survey over 250 deg{sup 2}. The survey has completed spectroscopy over 9380 deg{sup 2}; the spectroscopy is now complete over a large contiguous area of the Northern Galactic Cap, closing the gap that was present in previous data releases. There are over 1.6 million spectra in total, including 930,000 galaxies, 120,000 quasars, and 460,000 stars. The data release includes improved stellar photometry at low Galactic latitude. The astrometry has all been recalibrated with the second version of the USNO CCD Astrograph Catalog, reducing the rms statistical errors at the bright end to 45 milliarcseconds per coordinate. We further quantify a systematic error in bright galaxy photometry due to poor sky determination; this problem is less severe than previously reported for the majority of galaxies. Finally, we describe a series of improvements to the spectroscopic reductions, including better flat fielding and improved wavelength calibration at the blue end, better processing of objects with extremely strong narrow emission lines, and an improved determination of stellar metallicities.
- OSTI ID:
- 21269148
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, Vol. 182, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0067-0049/182/2/543; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0067-0049
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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