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 Tuttle
  • Isak G.B. Wold, Gregory R. Zeimann, Yechi Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 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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