The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey: The alpha.40 HI source catalog, its characteristics and their impact on the derivation of the HI mass function
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Abstract
- We present a current catalog of 21 cm HI line sources extracted from the Arecibo Legacy Fast Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFALFA) survey over similar to 2800 deg(2) of sky: the alpha.40 catalog. Covering 40% of the final survey area, the a. 40 catalog contains 15,855 sources in the regions 07(h)30(m) < R.A. < 16(h)30(m), +04 degrees < decl. < +16 degrees, and +24 degrees < decl. < + 28 degrees and 22(h) < R.A.< 03(h), + 14 degrees < decl. < + 16 degrees, and + 24 degrees < decl. < + 32 degrees. Of those, 15,041 are certainly extragalactic, yielding a source density of 5.3 galaxies per deg2, a factor of 29 improvement over the catalog extracted from the HI Parkes All-Sky Survey. In addition to the source centroid positions, HI line flux densities, recessional velocities, and line widths, the catalog includes the coordinates of the most probable optical counterpart of each HI line detection, and a separate compilation provides a cross-match to identifications given in the photometric and spectroscopic catalogs associated with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7. Fewer than 2% of the extragalactic HI line sources cannot be identified with a feasible optical counterpart; some of those may be rare OH megamasers at 0.16 < z < 0.25. A detailed analysis is presented of the completeness, width-dependent sensitivity function and bias inherent of the alpha.40 catalog. The impact of survey selection, distance errors, current volume coverage, and local large-scale structure on the derivation of the HI mass function is assessed. While alpha.40 does not yet provide a completely representative sampling of cosmological volume, derivations of the HI mass function using future data releases from ALFALFA will further improve both statistical and systematic uncertainties.
Title | The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey: The alpha.40 HI source catalog, its characteristics and their impact on the derivation of the HI mass function |
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Creator | Koopmann, R. A. |
Stierwalt, S. | |
Craig, D. W. | |
O'Donoghue, A. A. | |
Olowin, R. P. | |
Miller, J. R. | |
Huang, S. | |
Rosenberg, J. L. | |
Martin, A. M. | |
Saintonge, A. | |
Troischt, P. | |
Higdon, S. J. U. | |
Balonek, T. J. | |
Hallenbeck, G. | |
Giovanelli, R. | |
Papastergis, E. | |
Spekkens, K. | |
Hoffman, G. Lyle | |
Haynes, M. P. | |
Kornreich, D. A. | |
Adams, E. A. K. | |
Wilcots, E. M. | |
Kent, B. R. | |
Hess, K. M. | |
Publisher | Astronomical Journal |
Academic Department | Physics |
Division | Natural Sciences |
Organization | Lafayette College |
Date Issued | November 2011 |
Date Available | 2015-03-27T15:35:36Z |
Type | Article |
Language | English |
Keyword | galaxies: spiral |
galaxies: luminosity function, mass function | |
catalogs | |
galaxies: distances and redshifts | |
surveys | |
radio lines: galaxies | |
Bibliographic Citation | Haynes, et al. (2011 Nov.) "The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey: The alpha.40 HI source catalog, its characteristics and their impact on the derivation of the HI mass function." Astronomical Journal 142 (5): 170 (28 pp). |
Standard Identifier | DOI 10.1088/0004-6256/142/5/170 |
Handle 10385/1742 | |
Permalink | http://hdl.handle.net/10385/1742 |
Rights Statement | In Copyright |
Rights Holders | American Astronomical Society |
Contains
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