First Cosmology Results using Supernovae Ia from the Dark Energy Survey: Survey Overview, Performance, and Supernova Spectroscopy

Smith, M.; D'Andrea, C. B.; Sullivan, M.; Moller, A.; Nichol, R. C.; Thomas, R. C.; Kim, A. G.; Sako, M.; Castander, F. J.; Filippenko, A. V.; Foley, R. J.; Galbany, L.; Gonzalez-Gaitan, S.; Kasai, E.; Kirshner, R. P.; Lidman, C.; Scolnic, D.; Brout, D.; Davis, T. M.; Gupta, R. R.; Hinton, S. R.; Kessler, R.; Lasker, J.; Macaulay, E.; Wolf, R. C.; Zhang, B.; Asorey, J.; Avelino, A.; Bassett, B. A.; Calcino, J.; Carollo, D.; Casas, R.; Challis, P.; Childress, M.; Clocchiatti, A.; Crawford, S.; Frohmaier, C.; Glazebrook, K.; Goldstein, D. A.; Graham, M. L.; Hoormann, J. K.; Kuehn, K.; Lewis, G. F.; Mandel, K. S.; Morganson, E.; Muthukrishna, D.; Nugent, P.; Pan, Y.-C.; Pursiainen, M.; Sharp, R.; Sommer, N. E.; Swann, E.; Thomas, B. P.; Tucker, B. E.; Uddin, S. A.; Wiseman, P.; Zheng, W.; Abbott, T. M. C.; Annis, J.; Avila, S.; Bechtol, K.; Bernstein, G. M.; Bertin, E.; Brooks, D.; Burke, D. L.; Rosell, A. Carnero; Kind, M. Carrasco; Carretero, J.; Cunha, C. E.; da Costa, L. N.; Davis, C.; De Vicente, J.; Diehl, H. T.; Eifler, T. F.; Estrada, J.; Frieman, J.; Garcia-Bellido, J.; Gaztanaga, E.; Gerdes, D. W.; Gruen, D.; Gruendl, R. A.; Gschwend, J.; Gutierrez, G.; Hartley, W. G.; Hollowood, D. L.; Honscheid, K.; Hoyle, B.; James, D. J.; Johnson, M. W. G.; Johnson, M. D.; Kuropatkin, N.; Li, T. S.; Lima, M.; Maia, M. A. G.; March, M.; Marshall, J. L.; Martini, P.; Menanteau, F.; Miller, C. J.; Miquel, R.; Neilsen, E.; Ogando, R. L. C.; Plazas, A. A.; Romer, A. K.; Sanchez, E.; Scarpine, V.; Schubnell, M.; Serrano, S.; Sevilla-Noarbe, I.; Soares-Santos, M.; Sobreira, F.; Suchyta, E.; Tarle, G.; Tucker, D. L.; Wester, W. (2020): First Cosmology Results using Supernovae Ia from the Dark Energy Survey: Survey Overview, Performance, and Supernova Spectroscopy. In: Astronomical Journal, Vol. 160, No. 6, 267

Abstract

We present details on the observing strategy, data-processing techniques, and spectroscopic targeting algorithms for the first three years of operation for the Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program (DES-SN). This five-year program using the Dark Energy Camera mounted on the 4 m Blanco telescope in Chile was designed to discover and follow supernovae (SNe) Ia over a wide redshift range (0.05 z < 1.2) to measure the equation-of-state parameter of dark energy. We describe the SN program in full: strategy, observations, data reduction, spectroscopic follow-up observations, and classification. From three seasons of data, we have discovered 12,015 likely SNe, 308 of which have been spectroscopically confirmed, including 251 SNe Ia over a redshift range of 0.017 z < 0.85. We determine the effective spectroscopic selection function for our sample and use it to investigate the redshift-dependent bias on the distance moduli of SNe Ia we have classified. The data presented here are used for the first cosmology analysis by DES-SN ("DES-SN3YR"), the results of which are given in Dark Energy Survey Collaboration et al. The 489 spectra that are used to define the DES-SN3YR sample are publicly available at .

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Physics
• Subjects: 500 Science > 530 Physics
• ISSN: 0004-6256
• Language: English