Pan-STARRS1: Galaxy clustering in the Small Area Survey 2

Farrow, Daniel J.; Cole, Shaun; Metcalfe, N.; Draper, P.W.; Norberg, Peder; Foucaud, Sébastien; Burgett, W.S.; Chambers, K.C.; Kaiser, N.; Kudritzki, R.P.; Magnier, E.A.; Price, P.A.; Tonry, J.L.; Waters, C.

Abstract

The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System 1 survey is currently obtaining imaging in five bands (gP1, rP1, iP1, zP1 and yP1) for the 3π steradian survey, one of the largest optical surveys ever conducted. The finished survey will have spatially varying depth, due to the survey strategy. This paper presents a method to correct galaxy number counts and galaxy clustering for this potential systematic based on a simplified signal-to-noise ratio measurement. A star and galaxy separation method calibrated using realistic synthetic images is also presented, along with an approach to mask bright stars. By using our techniques on a 69 square degree region of science verification data this paper shows PS1 measurements of the two-point angular correlation function as a function of apparent magnitude agree with measurements from deeper, smaller surveys. Clustering measurements appear reliable down to a magnitude limit of rP1 < 22.5. Additionally, stellar contamination and false detection issues are discussed and quantified. This work is the second of two papers which pave the way for the exploitation of the full 3π survey for studies of large-scale structure.

Citation

Farrow, D. J., Cole, S., Metcalfe, N., Draper, P., Norberg, P., Foucaud, S., …Waters, C. (2014). Pan-STARRS1: Galaxy clustering in the Small Area Survey 2. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 437(1), 748-770. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt1933

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 7, 2013
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: Feb 13, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 19, 2014
• Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Print ISSN: 0035-8711
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2966
• Publisher: Royal Astronomical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 437
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 748-770
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt1933
• Keywords: Methods: observational, Surveys, Large-scale structure of Universe.