Reviewer Response: The HETDEX Survey Emission-line Exploration and Source Classification* * Based on observations obtained with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, which is a joint project of the University of Texas at Austin, the Pennsylvania State University, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. The HET is named in honor of its principal benefactors, William P. Hobby and Robert E. Eberly.

Dustin Davis, Karl Gebhardt, Erin Mentuch Cooper, Robin Ciardullo, Maximilian Fabricius, Daniel J. Farrow, John J. Feldmeier, Steven L. Finkelstein, Eric Gawiser, Caryl Gronwall, Gary J. Hill, Ulrich Hopp, Lindsay R. House, Donghui Jeong, Wolfram Kollatschny, Eiichiro Komatsu, Martin Landriau, Chenxu Liu, Shun Saito, Sarah TuttleIsak G.B. Wold, Gregory R. Zeimann, Yechi Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) is an untargeted spectroscopic survey that aims to measure the expansion rate of the universe at z ∼ 2.4 to 1% precision for both H(z) and D A (z). HETDEX is in the process of mapping in excess of one million Lyα emitting (LAE) galaxies and a similar number of lower-z galaxies as a tracer of the large-scale structure. The success of the measurement is predicated on the post-observation separation of galaxies with Lyα emission from the lower-z interloping galaxies, primarily [O ii], with low contamination and high recovery rates. The Emission Line eXplorer (ELiXer) is the principal classification tool for HETDEX, providing a tunable balance between contamination and completeness as dictated by science needs. By combining multiple selection criteria, ELiXer improves upon the 20 Å rest-frame equivalent width cut commonly used to distinguish LAEs from lower-z [O ii] emitting galaxies. Despite a spectral resolving power, R ∼ 800, that cannot resolve the [O ii] doublet, we demonstrate the ability to distinguish LAEs from foreground galaxies with 98.1% accuracy. We estimate a contamination rate of Lyα by [O ii] of 1.2% and a Lyα recovery rate of 99.1% using the default ELiXer configuration. These rates meet the HETDEX science requirements.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number86
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume946
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2023

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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