Digitization of Astronomical Photographic Plates of China and Astrometric Measurement of Single-exposure Plates

From the mid-19th century to the end of the 20th century, photographic plates served as the primary detectors for astronomical observations. Astronomical photographic observations in China began in 1901, and over a century, a total of approximately 30,000 astronomical photographic plates were captured. These historical plates play an irreplaceable role in conducting long-term, time-domain astronomical research. To preserve and explore these valuable original astronomical observational data, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory has organized the transportation of plates, taken during nighttime observations from various stations across the country, to the Sheshan Plate Archive for centralized preservation. For the first time, plate information statistics were calculated. On this basis, the plates were cleaned and digitally scanned, and finally digitized images were acquired for 29,314 plates. In this study, using Gaia DR2 as the reference star catalog, astrometric processing was carried out successfully on 15,696 single-exposure plates, including object extraction, stellar identification,and plate model computation. As a result, for long focal length telescopes, such as the 40 cm double-tube refractor telescope, the 1.56 m reflector telescope at Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, and the 1m reflecting telescope at Yunnan Astronomical Observatory, the astrometric accuracy obtained for their plates is approximately 0."1–0."3. The distribution of astrometric accuracy for medium and short focal length telescopes ranges from 0."3 to 1."0. The relevant data of this batch of plates, including digitized images and a stellar catalog of the plates, are archived and released by the National Astronomical Data Center. Users can access and download plate data based on keywords such as station, telescope, observation year, and observed celestial coordinates.

The first data release(DR1) of the LAMOST regular survey

The Large sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope（LAMOST） general survey is a spectroscopic survey that will eventually cover approximately half of the celestial sphere and collect 10 million spectra of stars, galaxies and QSOs. Objects in both the pilot survey and the first year regular survey are included in the LAMOST DR1. The pilot survey started in October 2011 and ended in June 2012, and the data have been released to the public as the LAMOST Pilot Data Release in August 2012. The regular survey started in September 2012, and completed its first year of operation in June 2013. The LAMOST DR1 includes a total of 1202 plates containing 2 955 336 spectra, of which 1 790 879 spectra have observed signalto-noise ratio（SNR） ≥ 10. All data with SNR ≥ 2 are formally released as LAMOST DR1 under the LAMOST data policy. This data release contains a total of 2 204 696 spectra, of which 1 944 329 are stellar spectra, 12 082 are galaxy spectra and 5017 are quasars. The DR1 not only includes spectra, but also three stellar catalogs with measured parameters： late A,FGK-type stars with high quality spectra（1 061 918 entries）, A-type stars（100 073 entries）, and M-type stars（121 522 entries）. This paper introduces the survey design, the observational and instrumental limitations, data reduction and analysis, and some caveats. A description of the FITS structure of spectral files and parameter catalogs is also provided.

A very bright (i=16.44) quasar in the ‘redshift desert’ discovered by the Guoshoujing Telescope (LAMOST)

The redshift range from 2.2 to 3 is known as the ＇redshift desert＇ of quasars because quasars with redshifts in this range have similar optical colors as normal stars and are thus difficult to find in optical sky surveys. A quasar candidate, SDSS J085543.40-001517.7, which was selected by a recently proposed criterion involving near-IR Y - K and optical g - z colors, was identified spectroscopically as a new quasar with a redshift of 2.427 by the Guoshoujing Telescope （LAMOST） commissioning observation in 2009 December and confirmed by the observation made with the NAOC/Xinglong 2.16 m telescope in 2010 March. This quasar was not identified in the SDSS spectroscopic survey. Comparing with other SDSS quasars, we found that this new quasar, with an i magnitude of 16.44, is apparently the brightest one in the redshift range from 2.3 to 2.7. From its spectral properties, we derived its central black hole mass to be （1.4 - 3.9） × 10^110 M⊙ and its bolometric luminosity to be 3.7 × 10^48 erg s^-1, which indicates that this new quasar is intrinsically very bright and belongs to the class of the most luminous quasars in the universe. Our identification supports the notion that quasars in the redshift desert can be found by the quasar selection criterion involving the near-IR colors. More missing quasars are expected to be uncovered by future LAMOST spectroscopic surveys, which is important to the study of the cosmological evolution of quasars at redshifts higher than 2.2.

Eight new quasars discovered by the Guoshoujing Telescope (LAMOST) in one extragalactic field

We report the discovery of eight new quasars in one extragalactic field （a five-degree field centered at RA=08^h58^m08.2^s, Dec=01°32′29.7″） with the Guoshoujing Telescope （LAMOST） commissioning observations made on 2009 December 18. These quasars, with i magnitudes from 16.44 to 19.34 and redshifts from 0.898 to 2.773, were not identified in the SDSS spectroscopic survey, though six of them with redshifts less than 2.5 were selected as quasar targets in SDSS. Except for one source without near-IR Y-band data, seven of these eight new quasars satisfy a newly proposed quasar selection criterion involving both near-IR and optical colors. Two of them were found in the ＇redshift desert＇ for quasars （z from 2.2 to 3）, indicating that the new criterion is efficient for uncovering missing quasars with similar optical colors to stars. Although LAMOST encountered some problems during the commissioning observations, we were still able to identify 38 other known SDSS quasars in this field, with i magnitudes from 16.24 to 19.10 and redshifts from 0.297 to 4.512. Our identifications imply that a substantial fraction of quasars may be miss- ing in previous quasar surveys. The implication of our results to the future LAMOST quasar survey is discussed.

South Galactic Cap u-band Sky Survey(SCUSS):Project Overview

The South Galactic Cap u-band Sky Survey （SCUSS） was established in 2009 in order to provide a photometric input catalog for target selection of the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope （LAMOST） project. SCUSS is an international cooperative project between National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, using the 90 inch （2.3 m） Bok telescope on Kitt Peak. The telescope is equipped with a prime focus camera that is composed of a mosaic of four 4096 × 4096 CCDs and has a field of view of about 1 deg2. From 2009 to 2013, SCUSS performed a sky survey of an approximately 5000 deg2 field of the South Galactic Cap in u band, including the Galactic anticenter area and the SDSS-IV extended imaging area. The limiting magnitude of SCUSS is deeper than 23 mag （at a signal-to-noise ratio of 5）. In this paper, we briefly describe the goals of this project, method of observations and data reduction, and we also introduce current and potential scientific activities related to the SCUSS project.

A sample of galaxy pairs identified from the LAMOST spectral survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

A small fraction （〈 10%） of the SDSS main galaxy （MG） sample has not been targeted with spectroscopy due to the effect of fiber collisions. These galaxies have been compiled into the input catalog of the LAMOST ExtraGAlactic Surveys and named the complementary galaxy sample. In this paper, we introduce this project and status of the spectroscopies associated with the complementary galaxies in the first two years of the LAMOST spectral survey （till Sep. of 2014）. Moreover, we present a sample of 1102 galaxy pairs identified from the LAMOST complementary galaxies and SDSS MGs, which are defined as two members that have a projected distance smaller than 100 h^-01kpc and a recessional velocity difference smaller than 500 km s-1. Compared with galaxy pairs that are only selected from SDSS, the LAMOST- SDSS pairs have the advantages of not being biased toward large separations and therefore act as a useful supplement in statistical studies of galaxy interaction and galaxy merging.

The galaxy luminosity function in the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area at the Southern Galactic Cap

We present optical luminosity functions(LFs) of galaxies in the0.1 g,0.1 r,0.1 i bands, calculated using data in40 deg2 sky area of the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area(LaCoSSPAr) in the Southern Galactic Cap. Redshifts for galaxies brighter than r = 18.1 were obtained mainly with LAMOST. In each band, LFs derived using both parametric and non-parametric maximum likelihood methods agree well with each other. In the0.1 r band, our fitting parameters of the Schechter function are φ*=(1.65 ± 0.36) × 10-2 h3 Mpc-3, M*=-20.69 ± 0.06 mag and α =-1.12 ± 0.08,which agree with previous studies. Separate LFs are also derived for emission line galaxies and absorption line galaxies. The LFs of absorption line galaxies show a dip at0.1 r 18.5 and can be fitted well by a double-Gaussian function, suggesting a bimodality in passive galaxies.

Color gradients of spiral disks in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We investigate the radial color gradients of galactic disks using a sample of - 20 000 face-on spiral galaxies selected from the fourth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey （SDSS-DR4）. We combine galaxies with similar concentrations, sizes and luminosities to construct composite galaxies, and then measure their color profiles by stacking the azimuthally averaged radial color profiles of all the member galaxies. Except for the smallest galaxies （R50 〈 3 kpc）, almost all galaxies show negative disk color gradients with mean 9 - r gradient Ggr = -0.006 magkpc-1 and r - z gradient Grz = -0.018 mag kpc^-1. The disk color gradients are independent of the morphological types of galaxies and strongly dependent on the disk surface brightness μd, with lower surface brightness galactic disks having steeper color gradients. We quantify the intrinsic correlation between color gradients and surface brightness as Ggr = -0.011μd ＋ 0.233 and Grz - -0.015μd ＋ 0.324. These quantified correlations provide tight observational constraints on the formation and evolution models of spiral galaxies.

A search for double-peaked narrow emission line galaxies and AGNs in the LAMOST DR1

The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope （LAMOST） has released more than two million spectra, which provide the opportunity to search for double-peaked narrow emission line （NEL） galaxies and active galactic nuclei （AGNs）. The double-peaked narrow-line profiles can be well modeled by two velocity components, respectively blueshifted and redshifted with respect to the sys- temic recession velocity. This paper presents 20 double-peaked NEL galaxies and AGNs found from LAMOST DR1 using a search method based on a multi-Gaussian fit of the narrow emission lines. Among them, ten have already been published by other authors, either listed as genuine double-peaked NEL objects or as asymmetric NEL objects, and the remaining ten are original discoveries. We discuss some pos- sible origins for the double-peaked narrow-line features, such as interaction between jet and narrow line regions, interaction with companion galaxies, and black hole bina- ries. Spatially resolved optical imaging and/or follow-up observations in other spectral bands are needed to further discuss the physical mechanisms at work.

The discovery of 64 luminous infrared galaxies in the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area at the Southern Galactic Cap

We report the discovery of 64 luminous infrared galaxies, based on new observations of 20 square degrees from the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area at the Southern Galactic Cap and the WISE 22 μm catalog from the AllW ISE Data Release. Half of them are classified as late-type spirals and the others are classified as peculiar/compact galaxies. The peculiar/compact galaxies tend to exhibit higher luminosities and lower stellar masses. We also separate AGNs from HII galaxies in a simple way by examining LAMOST spectra. Those cases show that host AGNs are easily distinguished from others in the mid-infrared color-color diagrams.

An isolated compact galaxy triplet

We report the discovery of an isolated compact galaxy triplet SDSS J084843.45＋164417.3, which is first detected by the LAMOST spectral survey and then confirmed by a spectroscopic observation of the BFOSC mounted on the 2.16 meter telescope located at Xinglong Station, which is administered by National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is found that this triplet is an iso- lated and extremely compact system, which has an aligned configuration and very small radial velocity dispersion. The member galaxies have similar colors and show marginal star formation activities. These results support the opinion that the compact triplets are well-evolved systems rather than hierarchically forming structures. This serendipitous discovery reveals the limitations of fiber spectral redshift surveys in studying such a compact system, and demonstrates the necessity of additional observations to complete the current redshift sample.

A sample of E+A galaxy candidates in the Second Data Release of LAMOST Survey

A sample of 70 E＋A galaxies is selected from 37 206 galaxies in the second data release of the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope（LAMOST）. This sample is selected according to the criteria for E＋A galaxies defined by Goto, and each of these objects is further visually identified. In this sample, most objects are low redshift E＋A galaxies with z 〈 0.25, and are located in an area of the sky with high Galactic latitude and magnitude from 14 to 18 mag in the g, r and i bands. A stellar population analysis of the whole sample indicates that the E＋A galaxies are characterized by both young and old stellar populations（SPs）, and the metalrich SPs have relatively higher contributions than the metal-poor ones. Additionally, a morphological classification of these objects is performed based on images taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

The LEGUE disk targets for LAMOST's pilot survey

We describe the target selection algorithm for the low latitude disk por- tion of the LAMOST Pilot Survey, which aims to test systems in preparation for the LAMOST spectroscopic survey. We use the PPMXL astrometric catalog, which provides positions, proper motions, B/R/I magnitudes （mostly） from USNO-B and d/H/Ks from the Two Micron All Sky Survey （2MASS） as well. We chose eight plates along the Galactic plane, in the region 0° 〈 α° 〈 67° and 42° 〈 δ 〈 59°, which cover 22 known open clusters with a range of ages. Adjacent plates may have some small overlapping area. Each plate covers an area of 2.5° in radius, with its cen- tral star （for the Shack-Hartmann guider） brighter than 8th magnitude. For each plate, we create an input catalog in the magnitude range 11.3 〈 Imag 〈 16.3 and Bmag available from PPMXL. The stars are selected to satisfy the requirements of the fiber positioning system and have a uniform distribution in the I vs. B - I color-magnitude diagram. Our final input catalog consists of 12 000 objects on each of eight plates that are observable during the winter observing season from the Xinglong Station of the National Astronomical Observatory of China.

A versatile framework for analyzing galaxy image data by incorporating Human-in-the-loop in a large vision model

The exponential growth of astronomical datasets provides an unprecedented opportunity for humans to gain insight into the Universe.However,effectively analyzing this vast amount of data poses a significant challenge.In response,astronomers are turning to deep learning techniques,but these methods are limited by their specific training sets,leading to considerable duplicate workloads.To overcome this issue,we built a framework for the general analysis of galaxy images based on a large vision model(LVM)plus downstream tasks(DST),including galaxy morphological classification,image restoration object detection,parameter extraction,and more.Considering the low signal-to-noise ratios of galaxy images and the imbalanced distribution of galaxy categories,we designed our LVM to incorporate a Human-in-the-loop(HITL)module,which leverages human knowledge to enhance the reliability and interpretability of processing galaxy images interactively.The proposed framework exhibits notable fewshot learning capabilities and versatile adaptability for all the abovementioned tasks on galaxy images in the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys.In particular,for the object detection task,which was trained using 1000 data points,our DST in the LVM achieved an accuracy of 96.7%,while ResNet50 plus Mask R-CNN reached an accuracy of 93.1%.For morphological classification,to obtain an area under the curve(AUC)of~0.9,LVM plus DST and HITL only requested 1/50 of the training sets that ResNet18 requested.In addition,multimodal data can be integrated,which creates possibilities for conducting joint analyses with datasets spanning diverse domains in the era of multi-messenger astronomy.