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The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

Citation:

Ahn CP, Alexandroff R, Allende Prieto C, Anderson SF, Anderton T, Andrews BH, Aubourg É, Bailey S, Balbinot E, Barnes R, et al. The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 2012;203 :21.

Date Published:

December 1, 2012

Abstract:

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the firstspectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey(BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z ~ 0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra(median z ~ 2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the datapresented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained withthe new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determinesradial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, andmetallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvementsin temperature estimates for stars with T eff < 5000 K andin metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H] > -0.5. DR9 includesnew stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including starsfrom SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SEGUE-2.The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has beencorrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-IIIwill be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from theAPOGEE along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the finalSDSS-III data release in 2014 December.

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