ALBERT

Description: We describe the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Deep Fields, a set of images and associated multi-wavelength catalogue (ugrizJHKs) built from Dark Energy Camera (DECam) and Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) data. The DES Deep Fields comprise 11 fields (10 DES supernova fields plus COSMOS), with a total area of ∼30 square degrees in ugriz bands and reaching a maximum i-band depth of 26.75 (AB, 10σ, 2″). We present a catalogue for the DES 3-year cosmology analysis of those four fields with full 8-band coverage, totalling 5.88 sq. deg. after masking. Numbering 2.8million objects (1.6million post masking), our catalogue is drawn from images coadded to consistent depths of r = 25.7, i = 25, z = 24.3 mag. We use a new model-fitting code, built upon established methods, to deblend sources and ensure consistent colours across the u-band to Ks-band wavelength range. We further detail the tight control we maintain over the point-spread function modelling required for the model fitting, astrometry and consistency of photometry between the four fields. The catalogue allows us to perform a careful star-galaxy separation and produces excellent photometric redshift performance (NMAD = 0.023 at i 〈 23). The Deep-Fields catalogue will be made available as part of the cosmology data products release, following the completion of the DES 3-year weak lensing and galaxy clustering cosmology work.

Description: In this paper we present and validate the galaxy sample used for the analysis of the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation signal (BAO) in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Y3 data. The definition is based on a colour and redshift-dependent magnitude cut optimized to select galaxies at redshifts higher than 0.5, while ensuring a high quality determination. The sample covers ∼ 4100 square degrees to a depth of i = 22.3 (AB) at 10σ. It contains 7,031,993 galaxies in the redshift range from z= 0.6 to 1.1, with a mean effective redshift of 0.835. Redshifts are estimated with the machine learning algorithm DNF, and are validated using the VIPERS PDR2 sample. We find a mean redshift bias of zbias ∼  0.01 and a mean uncertainty, in units of 1 + z, of σ68 ∼  0.03. We evaluate the galaxy population of the sample, showing it is mostly built upon Elliptical to Sbc types. Furthermore, we find a low level of stellar contamination of $lesssim 4{{ m per cent}}$. We present the method used to mitigate the effect of spurious clustering coming from observing conditions and other large-scale systematics. We apply it to the BAO sampleand calculate weights that are used to get a robust estimate of the galaxy clustering signal. This paper is one of a series dedicated to the analysis of the BAO signal in DES Y3. In the companion papers we present the galaxy mock catalogues used to calibrate the analysis and the angular diameter distance constraints obtained through the fitting to the BAO scale.

Description: Voyager 2 images of Neptune reveal a windy planet characterized by bright clouds of methane ice suspended in an exceptionally clear atmosphere above a lower deck of hydrogen sulfide or ammonia ices. Neptune's atmosphere is dominated by a large anticyclonic storm system that has been named the Great Dark Spot (GDS). About the same size as Earth in extent, the GDS bears both many similarities and some differences to the Great Red Spot of Jupiter. Neptune's zonal wind profile is remarkably similar to that of Uranus. Neptune has three major rings at radii of 42,000, 53,000, and 63,000 kilometers. The outer ring contains three higher density arc-like segments that were apparently responsible for most of the ground-based occultation events observed during the current decade. Like the rings of Uranus, the Neptune rings are composed of very dark material; unlike that of Uranus, the Neptune system is very dusty. Six new regular satellites were found, with dark surfaces and radii ranging from 200 to 25 kilometers. All lie inside the orbit of Triton and the inner four are located within the ring system. Triton is seen to be a differentiated body, with a radius of 1350 kilometers and a density of 2.1 grams per cubic centimeter; it exhibits clear evidence of early episodes of surface melting. A now rigid crust of what is probably water ice is overlain with a brilliant coating of nitrogen frost, slightly darkened and reddened with organic polymer material. Streaks of organic polymer suggest seasonal winds strong enough to move particles of micrometer size or larger, once they become airborne. At least two active plumes were seen, carrying dark material 8 kilometers above the surface before being transported downstream by high level winds. The plumes may be driven by solar heating and the subsequent violent vaporization of subsurface nitrogen.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Smith, B A -- Soderblom, L A -- Banfield, D -- Barnet, C -- Basilevsky, A T -- Beebe, R F -- Bollinger, K -- Boyce, J M -- Brahic, A -- Briggs, G A -- Brown, R H -- Chyba, C -- Collins, S A -- Colvin, T -- Cook, A F 2nd -- Crisp, D -- Croft, S K -- Cruikshank, D -- Cuzzi, J N -- Danielson, G E -- Davies, M E -- De Jong, E -- Dones, L -- Godfrey, D -- Goguen, J -- Grenier, I -- Haemmerle, V R -- Hammel, H -- Hansen, C J -- Helfenstein, C P -- Howell, C -- Hunt, G E -- Ingersoll, A P -- Johnson, T V -- Kargel, J -- Kirk, R -- Kuehn, D I -- Limaye, S -- Masursky, H -- McEwen, A -- Morrison, D -- Owen, T -- Owen, W -- Pollack, J B -- Porco, C C -- Rages, K -- Rogers, P -- Rudy, D -- Sagan, C -- Schwartz, J -- Shoemaker, E M -- Showalter, M -- Sicardy, B -- Simonelli, D -- Spencer, J -- Sromovsky, L A -- Stoker, C -- Strom, R G -- Suomi, V E -- Synott, S P -- Terrile, R J -- Thomas, P -- Thompson, W R -- Verbiscer, A -- Veverka, J -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1989 Dec 15;246(4936):1422-49.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17755997" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The DMASS sample is a photometric sample from the DES Year 1 data set designed to replicate the properties of the CMASS sample from BOSS, in support of a joint analysis of DES and BOSS beyond the small overlapping area. In this paper, we present the measurement of galaxy-galaxy lensing using the DMASS sample as gravitational lenses in the DES Y1 imaging data. We test a number of potential systematics that can bias the galaxy-galaxy lensing signal, including those from shear estimation, photometric redshifts, and observing conditions. After careful systematic tests, we obtain a highly significant detection of the galaxy-galaxy lensing signal, with total S/N = 25.7. With the measured signal, we assess the feasibility of using DMASS as gravitational lenses equivalent to CMASS, by estimating the galaxy-matter cross-correlation coefficient rcc. By jointly fitting the galaxy-galaxy lensing measurement with the galaxy clustering measurement from CMASS, we obtain $r_{ m cc}=1.09^{+0.12}_{-0.11}$ for the scale cut of 4h−1 Mpc and $r_{ m cc}=1.06^{+0.13}_{-0.12}$ for 12h−1 Mpc in fixed cosmology. By adding the angular galaxy clustering of DMASS, we obtain rcc = 1.06 ± 0.10 for the scale cut of 4h−1 Mpc and rcc = 1.03 ± 0.11 for 12h−1 Mpc. The resulting values of rcc indicate that the lensing signal of DMASS is statistically consistent with the one that would have been measured if CMASS had populated the DES region within the given statistical uncertainty. The measurement of galaxy-galaxy lensing presented in this paper will serve as part of the data vector for the forthcoming cosmology analysis in preparation.

Description: Few concepts have captured the imagination of the conflict and development communities in recent years as powerfully as the idea of a ‘political settlement’. At its most ambitious, ‘political settlements analysis’ (PSA) promises to explain why conflicts occur and states collapse, the conditions for their successful rehabilitation, different developmental pathways from peace, and how to better fit development policy to country context. Yet despite the meteoric rise of the term and its tremendous promise, not all is well in the world of PSA. Rival definitions of the concept abound; there are disagreements about its scope and the way it should be used; a growing schism between conflict specialists and economists; basic concepts are ambiguous; and little progress has been made on measurement. This book consequently has three main aims. The first is to argue for a revised definition of a political settlement, capable of unifying its diverse strands. The second is to put the concept on a more solid theoretical and scientific footing, providing a method for measuring and categorizing political settlements, using both qualitative case studies and a large-n statistical analysis to illustrate its potential. And the third is to examine the implications of the findings for mainstream social science analysis and for policymakers.

Description: In Catholic doctrine, the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is the belief that Mary, the mother of Christ, was exempt from original sin from the moment of her conception, and thereby a co-redeemer alongside her son. Praise for this complicated devotion took place in Europe throughout the medieval period and resounded in the Americas with the founding of the first convent in Mexico City under the Order of the Immaculate Conception in 1540. All other orders of nuns in New Spain branched out from this convent, spreading the Marian devotion throughout the region. In this book, author Cesar D. Favila argues that the sonification of virginity and the Virgin Mary was fundamental to the promotion of the Immaculate Conception doctrine, and that this was part of a complex network of sonified practices in the lives of New Spanish nuns. These ""immaculate sounds,"" a term Favila uses for the cloistered nuns' idealized vocalizations as well as the expression of doctrinal rhetoric through musical metaphors, echoed the highly regulated realm of the convent and played a pivotal role in mediating between the lives of New Spanish nuns and the expectation that they would save the secular world with their vocalized prayers. In addition to the sonification of discipline, Favila shows that immaculate sounds also enhanced the nuns' engagement with their religious practices and facilitated embodied and spiritual engagement with Catholic doctrines. Throughout his study, he delves into rarely studied music sources from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New Spain alongside the rulebooks, devotional literature, and nuns' biographies that regulated convent life and inspired nuns' hymns. In doing so, Favila brings together a narrative of salvation that shines a light on the musical lives of nuns and locates women's agency within a hierarchical society that silenced some women and required others to sing.

Description: Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Reviews of Geophysics 58(3), (2020): e2019RG000672, doi:10.1029/2019RG000672.

Description: Global sea level provides an important indicator of the state of the warming climate, but changes in regional sea level are most relevant for coastal communities around the world. With improvements to the sea‐level observing system, the knowledge of regional sea‐level change has advanced dramatically in recent years. Satellite measurements coupled with in situ observations have allowed for comprehensive study and improved understanding of the diverse set of drivers that lead to variations in sea level in space and time. Despite the advances, gaps in the understanding of contemporary sea‐level change remain and inhibit the ability to predict how the relevant processes may lead to future change. These gaps arise in part due to the complexity of the linkages between the drivers of sea‐level change. Here we review the individual processes which lead to sea‐level change and then describe how they combine and vary regionally. The intent of the paper is to provide an overview of the current state of understanding of the processes that cause regional sea‐level change and to identify and discuss limitations and uncertainty in our understanding of these processes. Areas where the lack of understanding or gaps in knowledge inhibit the ability to provide the needed information for comprehensive planning efforts are of particular focus. Finally, a goal of this paper is to highlight the role of the expanded sea‐level observation network—particularly as related to satellite observations—in the improved scientific understanding of the contributors to regional sea‐level change.

Description: The research was carried out in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The authors acknowledge support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Grants 80NSSC17K0565, 80NSSC170567, 80NSSC17K0566, 80NSSC17K0564, and NNX17AB27G. A. A. acknowledges support under GRACE/GRACEFO Science Team Grant (NNH15ZDA001N‐GRACE). T. W. acknowledges support by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under the New (Early Career) Investigator Program in Earth Science (Grant: 80NSSC18K0743). C. G. P was supported by the J. Lamar Worzel Assistant Scientist Fund and the Penzance Endowed Fund in Support of Assistant Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.