Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV: Mapping the Milky Way, Nearby Galaxies, and the Distant Universe

We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratios in the ne...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Astronomical journal Vol. 154; no. 1
Main Authors Blanton, Michael R., Bershady, Matthew A., Abolfathi, Bela, Albareti, Franco D., Prieto, Carlos Allende, Almeida, Andres, Alonso-García, Javier, Anders, Friedrich, Anderson, Scott F., Andrews, Brett, Aquino-Ortíz, Erik, others, and
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.07.2017
Subjects
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
COSMOLOGY
DISTRIBUTION
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
MILKY WAY
OSCILLATIONS
QUASARS
RED SHIFT
RESOLUTION
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO
SPACE
SPECTRA
SPECTROSCOPY
STARS
TELESCOPES
UNIVERSE
X RADIATION
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Summary:We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratios in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey is obtaining spatially resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies (median z∼0.03). The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is mapping the galaxy, quasar, and neutral gas distributions between z∼0.6 and 3.5 to constrain cosmology using baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, and the shape of the power spectrum. Within eBOSS, we are conducting two major subprograms: the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS), investigating X-ray AGNs and galaxies in X-ray clusters, and the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS), obtaining spectra of variable sources. All programs use the 2.5 m Sloan Foundation Telescope at the Apache Point Observatory; observations there began in Summer 2014. APOGEE-2 also operates a second near-infrared spectrograph at the 2.5 m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, with observations beginning in early 2017. Observations at both facilities are scheduled to continue through 2020. In keeping with previous SDSS policy, SDSS-IV provides regularly scheduled public data releases; the first one, Data Release 13, was made available in 2016 July.
ISSN:1538-3881
1538-3881