The eighth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: first data from SDSS-III
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) started a new phase in 2008 August, with new instrumentation and new surveys focused on Galactic structure and chemical evolution, measurements of the baryon oscillation feature in the clustering of galaxies and the quasar Lyα forest, and a radial velocity search for planets around ~8000 stars. This paper describes the first data release of SDSS-III (and the eighth counting from the beginning of the SDSS). The release includes five-band imaging of roughly 5200 deg2 in the southern Galactic cap, bringing the total footprint of the SDSS imaging to 14,555 deg2, or over a third of the Celestial Sphere. All the imaging data have been reprocessed with an improved sky-subtraction algorithm and a final, self-consistent photometric recalibration and flat-field determination. This release also includes all data from the second phase of the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE-2), consisting of spectroscopy of approximately 118,000 stars at both high and low Galactic latitudes. All the more than half a million stellar spectra obtained with the SDSS spectrograph have been reprocessed through an improved stellar parameter pipeline, which has better determination of metallicity for high-metallicity stars.

title: APPLICATION OF THE GIGE VISION DIGITAL CAMERA FOR BEAM DIAGNOSTICS IN HLS
abstract: Ethernet vision standard) is a new interface standard for the latest vision of cameras with higher performance compared to analogue vision standard and other digital vision standard. In recent years, the market of industrial vision components is evolving towards GigE Vision. The cameras comply with GigE Vision are capable of providing low distortion for image transmission over long distance with high image rate. This paper will present applications of GigE Vision digital camera for the measurement of beam profile and emittance at the storage ring of HLS (Hefei Light Source).

title: Accurate Group Delay Measurement for Radial Velocity Instruments Using the Dispersed Fixed Delay Interferometer Method. II. Application of Heterodyne Combs Using an External Interferometer Filter
abstract: A fixed delay interferometer is the key component in a DFDI (dispersed fixed delay interferometer) instrument for an exoplanet search using the radial velocity (RV) technique. Although the group delay (GD) of the interferometer can be measured with white light combs (WLCs), the measurement precision is limited by the comb visibility, and the wavelength coverage is constrained by the comb sampling. For instance, this method can calibrate only half of the SDSS-III MARVELS spectra and reach a precision of 2.2 m s-1. This article introduces an innovative method using a sine source for precision delay calibration over very broad wavelengths. The sine source is made of a monolithic Michelson interferometer fed with white light. The interferometer modulated white light (in a sinusoidal form) is fed into a DFDI instrument for calibration. Due to an optimal GD of the sine source, Fourier components from the DFDI interferometer, the sine source, and their frequency beating can be clearly separated and effectively extracted with a chirped Fourier transform to allow precision measurements of the interferometer GD over the entire range of operation wavelengths. The measurements of the MARVELS interferometer with a sine source show that this new calibration method has improved the wavelength coverage by a factor of 2 and the precision by a factor of 3. The RV measurement error induced by GD measurement uncertainties is controlled to be less than 1 m s-1, which has met the requirements for MARVELS moderate-to-high Doppler precision (~5-30 m s-1) for exoplanet search around V ~ 8-12 solar-type stars. Heterodyne combs using an external interferometer source can be applied in other areas of optics measurement and calibration.

title: MARVELS-1: A FACE-ON DOUBLE-LINED BINARY STAR MASQUERADING AS A RESONANT PLANETARY SYSTEM AND CONSIDERATION OF RARE FALSE POSITIVES IN RADIAL VELOCITY PLANET SEARCHES
abstract: We have analyzed new and previously published radial velocity (RV) observations of MARVELS-1, known to have an ostensibly substellar companion in a ~6 day orbit. We find significant (~100 m s–1) residuals to the best-fit model for the companion, and these residuals are naively consistent with an interior giant planet with a P = 1.965 days in a nearly perfect 3:1 period commensurability (|Pb /Pc – 3| < 10–4). We have performed several tests for the reality of such a companion, including a dynamical analysis, a search for photometric variability, and a hunt for contaminating stellar spectra. We find many reasons to be critical of a planetary interpretation, including the fact that most of the three-body dynamical solutions are unstable. We find no evidence for transits, and no evidence of stellar photometric variability. We have discovered two apparent companions to MARVELS-1 with adaptive optics imaging at Keck; both are M dwarfs, one is likely bound, and the other is likely a foreground object. We explore false-alarm scenarios inspired by various curiosities in the data. Ultimately, a line profile and bisector analysis lead us to conclude that the ~100 m s–1 residuals are an artifact of spectral contamination from a stellar companion contributing ~15%-30% of the optical light in the system. We conclude that origin of this contamination is the previously detected RV companion to MARVELS-1, which is not, as previously reported, a brown dwarf, but in fact a G dwarf in a face-on orbit.

title: FUNDAMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF A DISPERSED FIXED DELAY INTERFEROMETER IN SEARCHING FOR PLANETS AROUND M DWARFS
abstract: We present a new method to calculate fundamental Doppler measurement limits with a dispersed fixed delay interferometer (DFDI) in the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength region for searching for exoplanets around M dwarfs in the coming decade. It is based on calculating the Q factor, a measure of flux-normalized Doppler sensitivity in the fringing spectra created with DFDI. We calculate the Q factor as a function of spectral resolution R, stellar-projected rotational velocity Vsin i, stellar effective temperature T eff, and optical path difference (OPD) of the interferometer. We also compare the DFDI Q factor to that for the popular cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph method (the direct echelle (DE) method). We find that (1) Q DFDI is a factor of 1.5-3 higher than Q DE at R ranging from 5000 to 20,000; (2) Q DFDI and Q DE converge at a very high R (R ≥ 100,000); (3) Q DFDI increases as R increases and Vsin i deceases; (4) for a given R, Q DFDI increases as T eff drops from 3100 K to 2400 K (M4V to M9V). We also investigate how Q DFDI is affected by OPD and find that a 5 mm deviation from the optimal OPD does not significantly affect Q DFDI (10% or less) for a wide range of R. Given that the NIR Doppler measurement is likely to be detector-limited for a while, we introduce new merit functions, which is directly related to photon-limited radial velocity (RV) uncertainty, to evaluate Doppler performance with the DFDI and DE methods. We find that DFDI has strength in wavelength coverage and multi-object capability over the DE for a limited detector resource. We simulate the performance of the InfraRed Exoplanet Tracker (IRET) based on the DFDI design, being considered for the next generation IR Doppler measurements. The predicted photon-limited RV uncertainty suggests that IRET is capable of detecting Earth-like exoplanets in habitable zone around nearby bright M dwarfs if they exist. A new method is developed to quantitatively estimate the influence of telluric lines on RV uncertainty. Our study shows that photon-limited RV uncertainty can be reached if 99% of the strength of telluric lines can be removed from the measured stellar spectra. At low to moderate levels of telluric line strength removal (50%-90%), the optimal RV uncertainty is typically a factor of two to three times larger than photon-limited RV uncertainty.

title: A Third Planet Orbiting HIP 14810
abstract: We present new precision radial velocities and a three-planet Keplerian orbit fit for the V = 8.5, G5 V star HIP 14810. We began observing this star at Keck Observatory as part of the N2K Planet Search Project. Wright et al. (2007) announced the inner two planets to this system, and subsequent observations have revealed the outer planet planet and the proper orbital solution for the middle planet. The planets have minimum masses of 3.9, 1.3, and 0.6 M_Jup and orbital periods of 6.67, 147.7, and 952 d, respectively. We have numerically integrated the family of orbital solutions consistent with the data and find that they are stable for at least 10^6 yr. Our photometric search shows that the inner planet does not transit.

title: A Comprehensive Study of 2000 Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. I. The Sample
abstract: This is the first paper in a series dedicated to the study of the emission-line and continuum properties of narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s). We carried out a systematic search for NLS1s from objects assigned as "QSOs'' or "galaxies'' in the spectroscopic sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 3 (SDSS DR3) by a careful modeling of their emission lines and continua. The result is a uniform sample comprising similar to 2000 NLS1s. This sample dramatically increases the number of known NLS1s by a factor of similar to 10 over previous compilations. This paper presents the parameters of the prominent emission lines and continua, which were measured accurately with typical uncertainties < 10%. Taking advantage of such an unprecedented large and uniform sample with accurately measured spectral parameters, we carried out various statistical analyses, some of which were only possible for the first time. The main results found are as follows. (1) Within the overall Seyfert 1 population, the incidence of NLS1s is strongly dependent on the optical, X-ray, and radio luminosities as well as the radio loudness. The fraction of NLS1s peaks around SDSS g-band absolute magnitude M-g similar to -22 mag in the optical and similar to 10(43.2) ergs s(-1) in the soft X-ray band, and decreases quickly as the radio loudness increases. (2) On average the relative Fe II emission, R-4570 = Fe II lambda lambda 4434-4684/H beta, in NLS1s is about twice that in normal active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and is anticorrelated with the broad component width of the Balmer emission lines. (3) The well-known anticorrelation between the width of broad low-ionization lines and the soft X-ray spectral slope for broad line AGNs extends down to FWHM similar to 1000 km s(-1) in NLS1s, but the trend appears to reverse at still smaller line widths. (4) The equivalent width of H beta and Fe II emission lines are strongly correlated with the H beta and continuum luminosities. (5) We do not find any difference between NLS1s and normal AGNs in regard to the narrow line region. (6) We have examined the black hole mass versus stellar velocity dispersion (M-BH-sigma(*)) relation for a subsample of 308 NLS1s for which sigma(*) could be measured directly from fitting the starlight in the SDSS spectra with our stellar spectral templates. A significant correlation between M-BH and sigma(*) is found, but with the bulk of black hole masses falling below the values expected from the M-BH-sigma(*) relation for normal galaxies and normal AGNs. This result indicates that NLS1s are underage AGNs, where the growth of the SMBH lags behind the formation of the galactic bulge. (7) We also find that the FWHM of [N II] line is well correlated with sigma(*) in 206 NLS1s, for which both parameters could be derived with reasonable accuracy. The [N II] width can predict the stellar velocity dispersion to an accuracy of similar to 30%. A similar M-BH-sigma(*) relation could be found for a larger sample of 613 NLS1s on making use of the more reliable measurements of FWHM[N II].

title: THE VARIABILITY OF OPTICAL Fe II EMISSION IN PG QSO 1700+518
abstract: It is found that Fe II emission contributes significantly to the optical and ultraviolet spectra of most active galactic nuclei. The origin of the optical/UV Fe II emission is still open to debate. The variability of Fe II would give clues to this origin. Using 7.5 yr spectroscopic monitoring data of one Palomar-Green (PG) quasi-stellar object (QSO), PG 1700+518, with strong optical Fe II emission, we obtain the light curves of the continuum f λ(5100 A), Fe II, the broad component of Hβ, and the narrow component of Hβ by spectral decomposition. Through the interpolation cross-correlation method, we calculate the time lags for the light curves of Fe II, the total Hβ, the broad component of Hβ, and the narrow component of Hβ with respect to the continuum light curve. We find that the Fe II time lag in PG 1700+518 is 209+100 –147 days, while the Hβ time lag cannot be determined. Assuming that the Fe II and Hβ emission regions follow the virial relation between the time lag and the FWHM for the Hβ and Fe II emission lines, we can derive the Hβ time lag to be 148+72 –104 days. The Hβ time lag calculated from the empirical luminosity-size relation is 222 days, which is consistent with our measured Fe II time lag. Considering the optical Fe II contribution, PG 1700+518 shares the same spectral slope variability characteristic, i.e., harder spectrum during brighter phase, as the other 15 PG QSOs in our previous work.

title: Beam Position Monitoring Using the Hom-Signals from a Damped and Detuned Accelerating Structure
abstract: The Next and Global Linear Collider (NLC/GLC) designs require precision alignment of the beam in the accelerator structures to reduce short range wakefields. The moderately damped and detuned structures themselves provide suitable higher order mode (HOM) signals to measure this alignment. The modes in the lowest dipole band, whose frequencies range from 14-16 GHz, provide the strongest signals. To determine the position resolution they provide, an NLC/GLC prototype structure that was installed in the ASSET facility of the SLAC Linac was instrumented to downmix and digitize these signals. The beam position within the structure was determined by simultaneously measuring the signals at three frequencies (14.3, 15, 15.7 GHz) corresponding to modes localized at the beginning, the middle and the end of the 60 cm long structure. A resolution of 1 micron was achieved even with 28 dB signal attenuation, which is better than the 5 micron resolution required for the NLC/GLC.

title: Growth of supermassive black holes and metallicity in quasars
abstract: The strong correlation between the mass of the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) and the bulge in some galaxies and quasars implies that the formation of the black hole is somehow linked to the bulge. The measurement of metallicity by NV=CIV or NV=HeII in quasars allows to discuss a possible way of formation of the black hole. In this letter we trace the metallicity along the possible routes in Rees' diagram in order to test the ways by which SMBHs can form. We derive a relation between the metallicity and the mass of the SMBH as Z / MBH based on the numerical simulation of the evolution of star clusters. It is in good agreement with the relation determined by the metallicity measured by NV=CIV or NV=HeII in Hamann & Ferland's sample. This lends observational support to the formation of SMBHs via routes R4 or R5, namely, the evolution of dense star clusters.

title: A note on black hole masses estimated by the second moment in narrow-line Seyfert 1 Galaxies
abstract: The second moment of the H beta emission line is calculated for 329 narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), which is used to calculate the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass of each. We find that the second moment depends strongly on the broader component of the H beta line profile. We find that for the NLS1s requiring two Gaussians to fit the H beta line, the mean value of the SMBH mass from the H beta second moment is larger by about 0.50 dex than that from the full width at half-maximum. Using the gas velocity dispersion of the core/narrow component of [O III]lambda 5007 to estimate the stellar velocity dispersion sigma*, the new mass makes NLS1s fall very close to the M(BH)-sigma* relation for normal active galactic nuclei. By using sigma* measured directly from SDSS spectra with a simple stellar population synthesis method, we find that for NLS1s with mass lower than 10(7) M(circle dot), they fall only marginally below the M(BH)-sigma* relation considering the large scatter in the mass calculation.