Optical spectroscopic observations of blazars and γ-ray blazar candidates in the Sloan digital sky survey data release nine
- Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics Department, Yale University, P.O. Box 208120, New Haven, CT 06520-8120 (United States)
- INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna, via Gobetti 101, I-40129, Bologna (Italy)
- Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- SLAC National Laboratory and Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States)
We present an analysis of the optical spectra available in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data release nine (SDSS DR9) for the blazars listed in the ROMA-BZCAT and for the γ-ray blazar candidates selected according to their IR colors. First, we adopt a statistical approach based on Monte Carlo simulations to find the optical counterparts of the blazars listed in the ROMA-BZCAT catalog. Then, we crossmatched the SDSS spectroscopic catalog with our selected samples of blazars and γ-ray blazar candidates, searching for those with optical spectra available to classify our blazar-like sources and, whenever possible, to confirm their redshifts. Our main objectives are to determine the classification of uncertain blazars listed in the ROMA-BZCAT and to discover new gamma-ray blazars. For the ROMA-BZCAT sources, we investigated a sample of 84 blazars, confirming the classification for 20 of them and obtaining 18 new redshift estimates. For the γ-ray blazars, indicated as potential counterparts of unassociated Fermi sources or with uncertain nature, we established the blazar-like nature of 8 out of the 27 sources analyzed and confirmed 14 classifications.
- OSTI ID:
- 22342246
- Journal Information:
- Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Vol. 148, Issue 4; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
An Optical Overview of Blazars with LAMOST. II. Gamma-Ray Blazar Candidates and Updated Classifications
An Optical Overview of Blazars with LAMOST. I. Hunting Changing-look Blazars and New Redshift Estimates