In 2021 May, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) began a 5 yr survey of approximately 50 million total extragalactic and Galactic targets. The primary DESI dark-time targets are emission line galaxies, luminous red galaxies, and quasars. In bright time, DESI will focus on two surveys known as the Bright Galaxy Survey and the Milky Way Survey. DESI also observes a selection of “secondary” targets for bespoke science goals. This paper gives an overview of the publicly available pipeline ( desitarget ) used to process targets for DESI observations. Highlights include details of the different DESI survey targeting phases, the targeting ID ( TARGETID ) used to define unique targets, the bitmasks used to indicate a particular type of target, the data model and structure of DESI targeting files, and examples of how to access and use the desitarget code base. This paper will also describe “supporting” DESI target classes, such as standard stars, sky locations, and random catalogs that mimic the angular selection function of DESI targets. The DESI target-selection pipeline is complex and sizable; this paper attempts to summarize the most salient information required to understand and work with DESI targeting data.
Myers, Adam D., et al. "The Target-selection Pipeline for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument." The Astronomical Journal, vol. 165, no. 2, Jan. 2023. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aca5f9
Myers, Adam D., Moustakas, John, Bailey, Stephen, Weaver, Benjamin A., Cooper, Andrew P., Forero-Romero, Jaime E., Abolfathi, Bela, Alexander, David M., Brooks, David, Chaussidon, Edmond, Chuang, Chia-Hsun, Dawson, Kyle, Dey, Arjun, Dey, Biprateep, Dhungana, Govinda, Doel, Peter, Fanning, Kevin, Gaztañaga, Enrique, ... Zou, Hu (2023). The Target-selection Pipeline for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. The Astronomical Journal, 165(2). https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aca5f9
Myers, Adam D., Moustakas, John, Bailey, Stephen, et al., "The Target-selection Pipeline for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument," The Astronomical Journal 165, no. 2 (2023), https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aca5f9
@article{osti_1908889,
author = {Myers, Adam D. and Moustakas, John and Bailey, Stephen and Weaver, Benjamin A. and Cooper, Andrew P. and Forero-Romero, Jaime E. and Abolfathi, Bela and Alexander, David M. and Brooks, David and Chaussidon, Edmond and others},
title = {The Target-selection Pipeline for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument},
annote = {Abstract In 2021 May, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) began a 5 yr survey of approximately 50 million total extragalactic and Galactic targets. The primary DESI dark-time targets are emission line galaxies, luminous red galaxies, and quasars. In bright time, DESI will focus on two surveys known as the Bright Galaxy Survey and the Milky Way Survey. DESI also observes a selection of “secondary” targets for bespoke science goals. This paper gives an overview of the publicly available pipeline ( desitarget ) used to process targets for DESI observations. Highlights include details of the different DESI survey targeting phases, the targeting ID ( TARGETID ) used to define unique targets, the bitmasks used to indicate a particular type of target, the data model and structure of DESI targeting files, and examples of how to access and use the desitarget code base. This paper will also describe “supporting” DESI target classes, such as standard stars, sky locations, and random catalogs that mimic the angular selection function of DESI targets. The DESI target-selection pipeline is complex and sizable; this paper attempts to summarize the most salient information required to understand and work with DESI targeting data. },
doi = {10.3847/1538-3881/aca5f9},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1908889},
journal = {The Astronomical Journal},
issn = {ISSN 0004-6256},
number = {2},
volume = {165},
place = {United States},
publisher = {American Astronomical Society},
year = {2023},
month = {01}}