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Accounting for Observational Biases in SEGUE

SEGUE selects targets from SDSS for spectroscopic observation based on a series of photometric and proper-motion cuts. For each line-of-sight, SEGUE randomly assigns spectroscopic fibers to photometric targets which fulfill the criteria of different stellar categories. Each line-of-sight, regardless of the number density of stars, is probed with the same number of spectroscopic fibers. Thus, many of the SEGUE categories will oversample stars in regions of low stellar density, like the halo.

Many of the SEGUE Target Selection criteria overlap with one another. SEGUE categories often focus on specific ranges in parameter space, such as stars with low metallicity or small proper motions. The overlap between different target categories can bias individual target categories in parameter space.

Each SEGUE category is affected by the observational bias against regions of the sky with high stellar density. However, the biases due to target selection criteria vary for the different target types. Thus far, there have been a number of SEGUE publications that have constrained and corrected for the biases in different SEGUE categories. Cheng et al. 2012 examined the observational biases of the main sequence turn-off stars on low-latitude plates, and Ma et al. (in prep) are currently investigating the biases in the K-giant sample. Finally, Schlesinger et al. 2012 determined and corrected for the effect of SEGUE target selection on cool dwarf stars (G and K). A portion of this sample was also studied and corrected in a different way by Bovy et al. 2012 and Liu & van de Ven 2012.

Here, we provide the complete sample of G- and K-dwarf stars in SEGUE (e.g., every star that meets the appropriate photometric criteria) and explain how to correct for the various observational biases in the sample using the methods of Schlesinger et al. 2012. Although this page provides information for only two stellar categories, the techniques used to correct for biases are applicable for many other types of SEGUE stars.

The G- and K-dwarf Sample

We select the G- and K-dwarf stars from DR9 using bitmasks in segueTargetAll. Many of these targets are observed multiple times, both in SEGUE-1 and SEGUE-2. We use a multi-part query to extract the best version of unique SEGUE-1 G and K dwarfs (note that these categories were not explicitly targeted by SEGUE-2). We have included the appropriate queries here. If you are new to SEGUE, please use the available SEGUE, SQL, CASJobs Tutorial.

Observational Biases in the Sample

There are three main observational biases in the SEGUE G- and K-dwarf sample:

Due to the variation in the stellar sample over the SEGUE footprint, we must correct for these biases separately along each individual line-of-sight. We detail each of the observational biases that affect the G- and K-dwarf sample and how we correct for them below.

Mass Function

The color cuts used to select the G- and K-dwarf sample probe a different portion of the mass function over the range of metallicities. For example, the G-dwarf color cut isolates stars with mass near 0.7 M⊙ for [Fe/H] of −1.0 and near-solar mass stars for solar metallicity. Mass functions for the Galaxy predict a larger number of less-massive stars; thus, the color cut of SEGUE will result in a metallicity bias.

As detailed in Schlesinger et al. 2012, each metallicity range must be scaled as if it probed the same portion of the mass function to correct for this effect. The masses probed by the G- and K-dwarf color and metallicity range are typically from 0.5 to 1.0 Msolar , but do not necessarily overlap for each metallicity bin. As this is not a large range in mass, the metallicity bias introduced by the color cuts is a small effect compared to other observational biases that affect the sample. There are numerous different mass functions one can use to make these adjustments. Different groups prefer using different mass functions, and we leave this correction for each group to do individually.

Overlapping Target Types

The SEGUE G and K dwarfs are selected based on a range in (g-r) and r. There are numerous other SEGUE target categories that overlap this parameter space. SEGUE categories often focus on specific ranges in parameter space, such as stars with low metallicity or small proper motions. Targets that fulfill multiple target- type criteria have multiple opportunities to be assigned a spectroscopic fiber. This leads to an overabundance of other stellar categories in the G- and K-dwarf sample. For example, the SEGUE low-metallicity star and K-giant categories use a ugr selection based around UV excess to identify targets, overlapping with the G and K dwarf criteria in (g-r). These target categories will bias the SEGUE G- and K-dwarf sample toward metal-poor stars.

As described in the Guide to SEGUE Bitmasks, every stellar target observed photometrically by SDSS is labeled with the SEGUE categories it fulfills in segueTargetAll. Any individual star that passes the selection criteria for more than one target type is labeled as being a candidate for more than one SEGUE spectroscopic category. When we select the SEGUE G- and K-dwarf sample, we extract every star that meets the color and magnitude criteria, regardless of whether or not it also fulfills the criteria of other categories. Thus, we must account for the biases in metallicity space that these overlapping categories produce.

Overlapping Target Type Example
Targets that are in multiple SEGUE categories will bias the G- and K-dwarf sample.
Click on the figure for a larger view.

The figure to the right compares the sample of SEGUE K-dwarfs that meet only the K-dwarf criteria (left) to those that meet the criteria of the K-dwarf and low-metallicity targets (right). The solid black line shows the distribution in dereddened r of all photometric stars along the SEGUE lines of sight that meet the color and magnitude criteria of a K dwarf. On the left hand side, we show the distribution of all photometric stars that meet only the criteria of a K dwarf as the dotted line. We also present the r0 distribution of all SEGUE spectroscopic observations that meet only the criteria of a K dwarf (grey line). In contrast, on the right hand side we show the photometric and spectroscopic sample of stars that meet the criteria of a K dwarf and a low-metallicity target. It has a significantly different distribution than the K-dwarf targets alone, which will manifest as a bias in the SEGUE K-dwarf sample.

For each individual star, we assign a target-type weight. Along each individual line-of-sight, we compare the number of stars identified as photometric candidates for each target type and each combination of target types (i.e., a K-dwarf and a low-metallicity target) with the number of those candidates that have spectra. The "target-type weight" adjusts the sample proportions such that the two distributions match. This removes biases due to the overlapping target types in SEGUE, be they over- or under-sampled by the spectroscopic fibers, ensuring that the types of stars probed by SEGUE reflects that of the underlying photometric sample.

The target-type weights for G and K dwarfs.
The K-dwarf sample is more contaminated by other target types than the G-dwarf sample.
Click on the figure for a larger view.

G dwarfs are allotted more SEGUE fibers than K dwarfs; as a result, the K-dwarf sample is more contaminated by stars that meet the criteria of other categories, resulting in larger target-type weights.

Limited Spectroscopic Fibers

SEGUE probes each line of sight with a limited number of fibers; the survey cannot spectroscopically observe every target in a field. Lower latitude pointings are closer to the plane of the Galaxy; they have many more stars and tend to be more metal rich than high latitude lines of sight. SEGUE assigns the same number of fibers to each line of sight, regardless of latitude and stellar density. This leads to a bias against low-latitude, typically metal-rich, stars in the spectroscopic sample.

In addition to latitude effects, along any given line-of-sight, there will be more faint than bright targets, as the fainter stars probe a larger volume of space. To accurately reflect the properties of the Milky Way, we must ensure that fainter spectroscopic targets are weighted more heavily in the sample, as they are representative of more stars. The spectroscopic sample must reflect the apparent-magnitude distribution of the underlying photometry along each line of sight.

We separate the spectroscopic and photometric sample into G and K dwarfs based on (g-r) color for each individual line-of-sight. We examine the distribution in r magnitude for each individual spectral type, binning up the spectroscopic and photometric targets in 0.5 magnitude bins from r of 13 to 21.5 magnitudes. We compare the number of spectroscopic targets in each bin to the number of potential targets in the photometric sample. The inverse of this ratio is the weight assigned to each spectroscopic target with a measurable [Fe/H] and S/N ≥10 to recreate the parent photometric distribution. This quantity, which we refer to as the "r-magnitude weight", accounts for the fact that SEGUE does not have unlimited fibers.

Bin sizes of 0.5 mag ensure that we typically have multiple spectroscopic targets associated with each group of photometric stars. At the faint end of the r distribution, there are typically very few spectra with S/N of 10 or higher. Similarly, once we apply more stringent S/N criteria, there are bins at a range of r with very few targets. If there are only one or two spectroscopic targets in a bin, they will have anomalously large r-magnitude weights because they represent many, many stars observed in the photometry. To avoid this issue, we remove the stars in any r bin with only 1 or 2 spectroscopic targets from the sample.

As K-dwarf stars are more common than G-dwarf stars, and sampled more sparsely in SEGUE, these targets tend to have higher r-magnitude weights. Both G- and K-dwarf stars also have high r-magnitude weights for lines-of-sight that probe lower Galactic latitudes.

Description of the Provided Sample

We have included here the sample of SEGUE G and K dwarfs, along with their associated weights to account for SEGUE observational biases. This sample contains the best observation for all stars that meet the criteria of a G or K dwarf from SEGUE-1. All stars with valid target selection weights (e.g., not 0) meet the following criteria:

For each star, we provide various different target-type and r-magnitude weights:

When adjusting a sample for observational biases, you scale it by its r-magnitude and target-type weight. For example, a G-dwarf with a target-type weight of 1.5 and an r-magnitude weight of 20 should be counted 1.5x20=30 times to reflect the underlying distribution of stars. Stars that don't meet the selection criteria (noisy, inappropriate flags, no valid SSPP values, etc.) are assigned r-magnitude and target-type weights of 0 such that they will not be counted.

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