The sixth data release of the sloan digital sky survey

Jennifer K. Adelman-McCarthy; Marcel A. Agüeros; Sahar S. Allam; Carlos Allende Prieto; Kurt S.J. Anderson; Scott F. Anderson; James Annis; Neta A. Bahcall; C. A.L. Bailer-Jones; Ivan K. Baldry; J. C. Barentine; Bruce A. Bassett; Andrew C. Becker; Timothy C. Beers; Eric F. Bell; Andreas A. Berlind; Mariangela Bernardi; Michael R. Blanton; John J. Bochanski; William N. Boroski; Jarle Brinchmann; J. Brinkmann; Robert J. Brunner; Tamas Budavári; Samuel Carliles; Michael A. Carr; Francisco J. Castander; David Cinabro; R. J. Cool; Kevin R. Covey; István Csabai; Carlos E. Cunha; James R.A. Davenport; Ben Dilday; Mamoru Doi; Daniel J. Eisenstein; Michael L. Evans; Xiaohui Fan; Douglas P. Finkbeiner; Scott D. Friedman; Joshua A. Frieman; Masataka Fukugita; Boris T. Gänsicke; Evalyn Gates; Bruce Gillespie; Karl Glazebrook; Jim Gray; Eva K. Grebel; James E. Gunn; Vijay K. Gurbani; Patrick B. Hall; Paul Harding; Michael Harvanek; Suzanne L. Hawley; Jeffrey Hayes; Timothy M. Heckman; John S. Hendry; Robert B. Hindsley; Christopher M. Hirata; Craig J. Hogan; David W. Hogg; Joseph B. Hyde; Shin Ichi Ichikawa; Željko Ivezić; Sebastian Jester; Jennifer A. Johnson; Anders M. Jorgensen; Mario Jurić; Stephen M. Kent; R. Kessler; S. J. Kleinman; G. R. Knapp; Richard G. Krön; Jurek Krzesinski; Nikolay Kuropatkin; Donald Q. Lamb; Hubert Lampeitl; Svetlana Lebedeva; Young Sun Lee; R. French Leger; Sébastien Lépine; Marcos Lima; Huan Lin; Daniel C. Long; Craig P. Loomis; Jon Loveday; Robert H. Lupton; Olena Malanushenko; Viktor Malanushenko; Rachel Mandelbaum; Bruce Margon; John P. Marriner; David Martínez-Delgado; Takahiko Matsubara; Peregrine M. McGehee; Timothy A. McKay; Avery Meiksin; Heather L. Morrison; Jeffrey A. Munn; Reiko Nakajima; Eric H. Neilsen; Heidi Jo Newberg; Robert C. Nichol; Tom Nicinski; Maria Nieto-Santisteban; Atsuko Nitta; Sadanori Okamura; Russell Owen; Hiroaki Oyaizu; Nikhil Padmanabhan; Kaike Pan; Changbom Park; John Peoples; Jeffrey R. Pier; Adrian C. Pope; Norbert Purger; M. Jordan Raddick; Paola Re Fiorentin; Gordon T. Richards; Michael W. Richmond; Adam G. Riess; Hans Walter Rix; Constance M. Rockosi; Masao Sako; David J. Schlegel; Donald P. Schneider; Matthias R. Schreiber; Axel D. Schwope; Uroš Seljak; Branimir Sesar; Erin Sheldon; Kazu Shimasaku; Thirupathi Sivarani; J. Allyn Smith; Stephanie A. Snedden; Matthias Steinmetz; Michael A. Strauss; Mark Subbarao; Yasushi Suto; Alexander S. Szalay; István Szapudi; Paula Szkody; Max Tegmark; Aniruddha R. Thakar; Christy A. Tremonti; Douglas L. Tucker; Alan Uomoto; Daniel E. Vanden Berk; Jan Vandenberg; S. Vidrih; Michael S. Vogeley; Wolfgang Voges; Nicole P. Vogt; Yogesh Wadadekar; David H. Weinberg; Andrew A. West; Simon D.M. White; Brian C. Wilhite; Brian Yanny; D. R. Yocum; Donald G. York; Idit Zehavi; Daniel B. Zucker

doi:10.1086/524984

The sixth data release of the sloan digital sky survey

Jennifer K. Adelman-McCarthy, Marcel A. Agüeros, Sahar S. Allam, Carlos Allende Prieto, Kurt S.J. Anderson, Scott F. Anderson, James Annis, Neta A. Bahcall, C. A.L. Bailer-Jones, Ivan K. Baldry, J. C. Barentine, Bruce A. Bassett, Andrew C. Becker, Timothy C. Beers, Eric F. Bell, Andreas A. Berlind, Mariangela Bernardi, Michael R. Blanton, John J. Bochanski, William N. BoroskiJarle Brinchmann, J. Brinkmann, Robert J. Brunner, Tamas Budavári, Samuel Carliles, Michael A. Carr, Francisco J. Castander, David Cinabro, R. J. Cool, Kevin R. Covey, István Csabai, Carlos E. Cunha, James R.A. Davenport, Ben Dilday, Mamoru Doi, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Michael L. Evans, Xiaohui Fan, Douglas P. Finkbeiner, Scott D. Friedman, Joshua A. Frieman, Masataka Fukugita, Boris T. Gänsicke, Evalyn Gates, Bruce Gillespie, Karl Glazebrook, Jim Gray, Eva K. Grebel, James E. Gunn, Vijay K. Gurbani, Patrick B. Hall, Paul Harding, Michael Harvanek, Suzanne L. Hawley, Jeffrey Hayes, Timothy M. Heckman, John S. Hendry, Robert B. Hindsley, Christopher M. Hirata, Craig J. Hogan, David W. Hogg, Joseph B. Hyde, Shin Ichi Ichikawa, Željko Ivezić, Sebastian Jester, Jennifer A. Johnson, Anders M. Jorgensen, Mario Jurić, Stephen M. Kent, R. Kessler, S. J. Kleinman, G. R. Knapp, Richard G. Krön, Jurek Krzesinski, Nikolay Kuropatkin, Donald Q. Lamb, Hubert Lampeitl, Svetlana Lebedeva, Young Sun Lee, R. French Leger, Sébastien Lépine, Marcos Lima, Huan Lin, Daniel C. Long, Craig P. Loomis, Jon Loveday, Robert H. Lupton, Olena Malanushenko, Viktor Malanushenko, Rachel Mandelbaum, Bruce Margon, John P. Marriner, David Martínez-Delgado, Takahiko Matsubara, Peregrine M. McGehee, Timothy A. McKay, Avery Meiksin, Heather L. Morrison, Jeffrey A. Munn, Reiko Nakajima, Eric H. Neilsen, Heidi Jo Newberg, Robert C. Nichol, Tom Nicinski, Maria Nieto-Santisteban, Atsuko Nitta, Sadanori Okamura, Russell Owen, Hiroaki Oyaizu, Nikhil Padmanabhan, Kaike Pan, Changbom Park, John Peoples, Jeffrey R. Pier, Adrian C. Pope, Norbert Purger, M. Jordan Raddick, Paola Re Fiorentin, Gordon T. Richards, Michael W. Richmond, Adam G. Riess, Hans Walter Rix, Constance M. Rockosi, Masao Sako, David J. Schlegel, Donald P. Schneider, Matthias R. Schreiber, Axel D. Schwope, Uroš Seljak, Branimir Sesar, Erin Sheldon, Kazu Shimasaku, Thirupathi Sivarani, J. Allyn Smith, Stephanie A. Snedden, Matthias Steinmetz, Michael A. Strauss, Mark Subbarao, Yasushi Suto, Alexander S. Szalay, István Szapudi, Paula Szkody, Max Tegmark, Aniruddha R. Thakar, Christy A. Tremonti, Douglas L. Tucker, Alan Uomoto, Daniel E. Vanden Berk, Jan Vandenberg, S. Vidrih, Michael S. Vogeley, Wolfgang Voges, Nicole P. Vogt, Yogesh Wadadekar, David H. Weinberg, Andrew A. West, Simon D.M. White, Brian C. Wilhite, Brian Yanny, D. R. Yocum, Donald G. York, Idit Zehavi, Daniel B. Zucker

Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

1232 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper describes the Sixth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. With this data release, the imaging of the northern Galactic cap is now complete. The survey contains images and parameters of roughly 287 million objects over 9583 deg², including scans over a large range of Galactic latitudes and longitudes. The survey also includes 1.27 million spectra of stars, galaxies, quasars, and blank sky (for sky subtraction) selected over 7425 deg². This release includes much more stellar spectroscopy than was available in previous data releases and also includes detailed estimates of stellar temperatures, gravities, and metallicities. The results of improved photometric calibration are now available, with uncertainties of roughly 1% in g, r, i, and z, and 2% in u, substantially better than the uncertainties in previous data releases. The spectra in this data release have improved wavelength and flux calibration, especially in the extreme blue and extreme red, leading to the qualitatively better determination of stellar types and radial velocities. The spectrophotometric fluxes are now tied to point-spread function magnitudes of stars rather than fiber magnitudes. This gives more robust results in the presence of seeing variations, but also implies a change in the spectrophotometric scale, which is now brighter by roughly 0.35 mag. Systematic errors in the velocity dispersions of galaxies have been fixed, and the results of two independent codes for determining spectral classifications and redshifts are made available. Additional spectral outputs are made available, including calibrated spectra from individual 15 minute exposures and the sky spectrum subtracted from each exposure. We also quantify a recently recognized underestimation of the brightnesses of galaxies of large angular extent due to poor sky subtraction; the bias can exceed 0.2 mag for galaxies brighter than r = 14 mag.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	297-313
Number of pages	17
Journal	Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series
Volume	175
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/524984
State	Published - Apr 2008

Keywords

Atlases
Catalogs
Surveys

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

Access to Document

10.1086/524984

Cite this

Adelman-McCarthy, J. K., Agüeros, M. A., Allam, S. S., Prieto, C. A., Anderson, K. S. J., Anderson, S. F., Annis, J., Bahcall, N. A., Bailer-Jones, C. A. L., Baldry, I. K., Barentine, J. C., Bassett, B. A., Becker, A. C., Beers, T. C., Bell, E. F., Berlind, A. A., Bernardi, M., Blanton, M. R., Bochanski, J. J., ... Zucker, D. B. (2008). The sixth data release of the sloan digital sky survey. Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, 175(2), 297-313. https://doi.org/10.1086/524984

Adelman-McCarthy, JK, Agüeros, MA, Allam, SS, Prieto, CA, Anderson, KSJ, Anderson, SF, Annis, J, Bahcall, NA, Bailer-Jones, CAL, Baldry, IK, Barentine, JC, Bassett, BA, Becker, AC, Beers, TC, Bell, EF, Berlind, AA, Bernardi, M, Blanton, MR, Bochanski, JJ, Boroski, WN, Brinchmann, J, Brinkmann, J, Brunner, RJ, Budavári, T, Carliles, S, Carr, MA, Castander, FJ, Cinabro, D, Cool, RJ, Covey, KR, Csabai, I, Cunha, CE, Davenport, JRA, Dilday, B, Doi, M, Eisenstein, DJ, Evans, ML, Fan, X, Finkbeiner, DP, Friedman, SD, Frieman, JA, Fukugita, M, Gänsicke, BT, Gates, E, Gillespie, B, Glazebrook, K, Gray, J, Grebel, EK, Gunn, JE, Gurbani, VK, Hall, PB, Harding, P, Harvanek, M, Hawley, SL, Hayes, J, Heckman, TM, Hendry, JS, Hindsley, RB, Hirata, CM, Hogan, CJ, Hogg, DW, Hyde, JB, Ichikawa, SI, Ivezić, Ž, Jester, S, Johnson, JA, Jorgensen, AM, Jurić, M, Kent, SM, Kessler, R, Kleinman, SJ, Knapp, GR, Krön, RG, Krzesinski, J, Kuropatkin, N, Lamb, DQ, Lampeitl, H, Lebedeva, S, Lee, YS, Leger, RF, Lépine, S, Lima, M, Lin, H, Long, DC, Loomis, CP, Loveday, J, Lupton, RH, Malanushenko, O, Malanushenko, V, Mandelbaum, R, Margon, B, Marriner, JP, Martínez-Delgado, D, Matsubara, T, McGehee, PM, McKay, TA, Meiksin, A, Morrison, HL, Munn, JA, Nakajima, R, Neilsen, EH, Newberg, HJ, Nichol, RC, Nicinski, T, Nieto-Santisteban, M, Nitta, A, Okamura, S, Owen, R, Oyaizu, H, Padmanabhan, N, Pan, K, Park, C, Peoples, J, Pier, JR, Pope, AC, Purger, N, Raddick, MJ, Fiorentin, PR, Richards, GT, Richmond, MW, Riess, AG, Rix, HW, Rockosi, CM, Sako, M, Schlegel, DJ, Schneider, DP, Schreiber, MR, Schwope, AD, Seljak, U, Sesar, B, Sheldon, E, Shimasaku, K, Sivarani, T, Smith, JA, Snedden, SA, Steinmetz, M, Strauss, MA, Subbarao, M, Suto, Y, Szalay, AS, Szapudi, I, Szkody, P, Tegmark, M, Thakar, AR, Tremonti, CA, Tucker, DL, Uomoto, A, Vanden Berk, DE, Vandenberg, J, Vidrih, S, Vogeley, MS, Voges, W, Vogt, NP, Wadadekar, Y, Weinberg, DH, West, AA, White, SDM, Wilhite, BC, Yanny, B, Yocum, DR, York, DG, Zehavi, I & Zucker, DB 2008, 'The sixth data release of the sloan digital sky survey', Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, vol. 175, no. 2, pp. 297-313. https://doi.org/10.1086/524984

@article{6f14b9399e5d4e48bf198fdd1d217040,

title = "The sixth data release of the sloan digital sky survey",

abstract = "This paper describes the Sixth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. With this data release, the imaging of the northern Galactic cap is now complete. The survey contains images and parameters of roughly 287 million objects over 9583 deg2, including scans over a large range of Galactic latitudes and longitudes. The survey also includes 1.27 million spectra of stars, galaxies, quasars, and blank sky (for sky subtraction) selected over 7425 deg2. This release includes much more stellar spectroscopy than was available in previous data releases and also includes detailed estimates of stellar temperatures, gravities, and metallicities. The results of improved photometric calibration are now available, with uncertainties of roughly 1% in g, r, i, and z, and 2% in u, substantially better than the uncertainties in previous data releases. The spectra in this data release have improved wavelength and flux calibration, especially in the extreme blue and extreme red, leading to the qualitatively better determination of stellar types and radial velocities. The spectrophotometric fluxes are now tied to point-spread function magnitudes of stars rather than fiber magnitudes. This gives more robust results in the presence of seeing variations, but also implies a change in the spectrophotometric scale, which is now brighter by roughly 0.35 mag. Systematic errors in the velocity dispersions of galaxies have been fixed, and the results of two independent codes for determining spectral classifications and redshifts are made available. Additional spectral outputs are made available, including calibrated spectra from individual 15 minute exposures and the sky spectrum subtracted from each exposure. We also quantify a recently recognized underestimation of the brightnesses of galaxies of large angular extent due to poor sky subtraction; the bias can exceed 0.2 mag for galaxies brighter than r = 14 mag.",

keywords = "Atlases, Catalogs, Surveys",

author = "Adelman-McCarthy, {Jennifer K.} and Ag{\"u}eros, {Marcel A.} and Allam, {Sahar S.} and Prieto, {Carlos Allende} and Anderson, {Kurt S.J.} and Anderson, {Scott F.} and James Annis and Bahcall, {Neta A.} and Bailer-Jones, {C. A.L.} and Baldry, {Ivan K.} and Barentine, {J. C.} and Bassett, {Bruce A.} and Becker, {Andrew C.} and Beers, {Timothy C.} and Bell, {Eric F.} and Berlind, {Andreas A.} and Mariangela Bernardi and Blanton, {Michael R.} and Bochanski, {John J.} and Boroski, {William N.} and Jarle Brinchmann and J. Brinkmann and Brunner, {Robert J.} and Tamas Budav{\'a}ri and Samuel Carliles and Carr, {Michael A.} and Castander, {Francisco J.} and David Cinabro and Cool, {R. J.} and Covey, {Kevin R.} and Istv{\'a}n Csabai and Cunha, {Carlos E.} and Davenport, {James R.A.} and Ben Dilday and Mamoru Doi and Eisenstein, {Daniel J.} and Evans, {Michael L.} and Xiaohui Fan and Finkbeiner, {Douglas P.} and Friedman, {Scott D.} and Frieman, {Joshua A.} and Masataka Fukugita and G{\"a}nsicke, {Boris T.} and Evalyn Gates and Bruce Gillespie and Karl Glazebrook and Jim Gray and Grebel, {Eva K.} and Gunn, {James E.} and Gurbani, {Vijay K.} and Hall, {Patrick B.} and Paul Harding and Michael Harvanek and Hawley, {Suzanne L.} and Jeffrey Hayes and Heckman, {Timothy M.} and Hendry, {John S.} and Hindsley, {Robert B.} and Hirata, {Christopher M.} and Hogan, {Craig J.} and Hogg, {David W.} and Hyde, {Joseph B.} and Ichikawa, {Shin Ichi} and {\v Z}eljko Ivezi{\'c} and Sebastian Jester and Johnson, {Jennifer A.} and Jorgensen, {Anders M.} and Mario Juri{\'c} and Kent, {Stephen M.} and R. Kessler and Kleinman, {S. J.} and Knapp, {G. R.} and Kr{\"o}n, {Richard G.} and Jurek Krzesinski and Nikolay Kuropatkin and Lamb, {Donald Q.} and Hubert Lampeitl and Svetlana Lebedeva and Lee, {Young Sun} and Leger, {R. French} and S{\'e}bastien L{\'e}pine and Marcos Lima and Huan Lin and Long, {Daniel C.} and Loomis, {Craig P.} and Jon Loveday and Lupton, {Robert H.} and Olena Malanushenko and Viktor Malanushenko and Rachel Mandelbaum and Bruce Margon and Marriner, {John P.} and David Mart{\'i}nez-Delgado and Takahiko Matsubara and McGehee, {Peregrine M.} and McKay, {Timothy A.} and Avery Meiksin and Morrison, {Heather L.} and Munn, {Jeffrey A.} and Reiko Nakajima and Neilsen, {Eric H.} and Newberg, {Heidi Jo} and Nichol, {Robert C.} and Tom Nicinski and Maria Nieto-Santisteban and Atsuko Nitta and Sadanori Okamura and Russell Owen and Hiroaki Oyaizu and Nikhil Padmanabhan and Kaike Pan and Changbom Park and John Peoples and Pier, {Jeffrey R.} and Pope, {Adrian C.} and Norbert Purger and Raddick, {M. Jordan} and Fiorentin, {Paola Re} and Richards, {Gordon T.} and Richmond, {Michael W.} and Riess, {Adam G.} and Rix, {Hans Walter} and Rockosi, {Constance M.} and Masao Sako and Schlegel, {David J.} and Schneider, {Donald P.} and Schreiber, {Matthias R.} and Schwope, {Axel D.} and Uro{\v s} Seljak and Branimir Sesar and Erin Sheldon and Kazu Shimasaku and Thirupathi Sivarani and Smith, {J. Allyn} and Snedden, {Stephanie A.} and Matthias Steinmetz and Strauss, {Michael A.} and Mark Subbarao and Yasushi Suto and Szalay, {Alexander S.} and Istv{\'a}n Szapudi and Paula Szkody and Max Tegmark and Thakar, {Aniruddha R.} and Tremonti, {Christy A.} and Tucker, {Douglas L.} and Alan Uomoto and {Vanden Berk}, {Daniel E.} and Jan Vandenberg and S. Vidrih and Vogeley, {Michael S.} and Wolfgang Voges and Vogt, {Nicole P.} and Yogesh Wadadekar and Weinberg, {David H.} and West, {Andrew A.} and White, {Simon D.M.} and Wilhite, {Brian C.} and Brian Yanny and Yocum, {D. R.} and York, {Donald G.} and Idit Zehavi and Zucker, {Daniel B.}",

year = "2008",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1086/524984",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "175",

pages = "297--313",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series",

issn = "0067-0049",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The sixth data release of the sloan digital sky survey

AU - Adelman-McCarthy, Jennifer K.

AU - Agüeros, Marcel A.

AU - Allam, Sahar S.

AU - Prieto, Carlos Allende

AU - Anderson, Kurt S.J.

AU - Anderson, Scott F.

AU - Annis, James

AU - Bahcall, Neta A.

AU - Bailer-Jones, C. A.L.

AU - Baldry, Ivan K.

AU - Barentine, J. C.

AU - Bassett, Bruce A.

AU - Becker, Andrew C.

AU - Beers, Timothy C.

AU - Bell, Eric F.

AU - Berlind, Andreas A.

AU - Bernardi, Mariangela

AU - Blanton, Michael R.

AU - Bochanski, John J.

AU - Boroski, William N.

AU - Brinchmann, Jarle

AU - Brinkmann, J.

AU - Brunner, Robert J.

AU - Budavári, Tamas

AU - Carliles, Samuel

AU - Carr, Michael A.

AU - Castander, Francisco J.

AU - Cinabro, David

AU - Cool, R. J.

AU - Covey, Kevin R.

AU - Csabai, István

AU - Cunha, Carlos E.

AU - Davenport, James R.A.

AU - Dilday, Ben

AU - Doi, Mamoru

AU - Eisenstein, Daniel J.

AU - Evans, Michael L.

AU - Fan, Xiaohui

AU - Finkbeiner, Douglas P.

AU - Friedman, Scott D.

AU - Frieman, Joshua A.

AU - Fukugita, Masataka

AU - Gänsicke, Boris T.

AU - Gates, Evalyn

AU - Gillespie, Bruce

AU - Glazebrook, Karl

AU - Gray, Jim

AU - Grebel, Eva K.

AU - Gunn, James E.

AU - Gurbani, Vijay K.

AU - Hall, Patrick B.

AU - Harding, Paul

AU - Harvanek, Michael

AU - Hawley, Suzanne L.

AU - Hayes, Jeffrey

AU - Heckman, Timothy M.

AU - Hendry, John S.

AU - Hindsley, Robert B.

AU - Hirata, Christopher M.

AU - Hogan, Craig J.

AU - Hogg, David W.

AU - Hyde, Joseph B.

AU - Ichikawa, Shin Ichi

AU - Ivezić, Željko

AU - Jester, Sebastian

AU - Johnson, Jennifer A.

AU - Jorgensen, Anders M.

AU - Jurić, Mario

AU - Kent, Stephen M.

AU - Kessler, R.

AU - Kleinman, S. J.

AU - Knapp, G. R.

AU - Krön, Richard G.

AU - Krzesinski, Jurek

AU - Kuropatkin, Nikolay

AU - Lamb, Donald Q.

AU - Lampeitl, Hubert

AU - Lebedeva, Svetlana

AU - Lee, Young Sun

AU - Leger, R. French

AU - Lépine, Sébastien

AU - Lima, Marcos

AU - Lin, Huan

AU - Long, Daniel C.

AU - Loomis, Craig P.

AU - Loveday, Jon

AU - Lupton, Robert H.

AU - Malanushenko, Olena

AU - Malanushenko, Viktor

AU - Mandelbaum, Rachel

AU - Margon, Bruce

AU - Marriner, John P.

AU - Martínez-Delgado, David

AU - Matsubara, Takahiko

AU - McGehee, Peregrine M.

AU - McKay, Timothy A.

AU - Meiksin, Avery

AU - Morrison, Heather L.

AU - Munn, Jeffrey A.

AU - Nakajima, Reiko

AU - Neilsen, Eric H.

AU - Newberg, Heidi Jo

AU - Nichol, Robert C.

AU - Nicinski, Tom

AU - Nieto-Santisteban, Maria

AU - Nitta, Atsuko

AU - Okamura, Sadanori

AU - Owen, Russell

AU - Oyaizu, Hiroaki

AU - Padmanabhan, Nikhil

AU - Pan, Kaike

AU - Park, Changbom

AU - Peoples, John

AU - Pier, Jeffrey R.

AU - Pope, Adrian C.

AU - Purger, Norbert

AU - Raddick, M. Jordan

AU - Fiorentin, Paola Re

AU - Richards, Gordon T.

AU - Richmond, Michael W.

AU - Riess, Adam G.

AU - Rix, Hans Walter

AU - Rockosi, Constance M.

AU - Sako, Masao

AU - Schlegel, David J.

AU - Schneider, Donald P.

AU - Schreiber, Matthias R.

AU - Schwope, Axel D.

AU - Seljak, Uroš

AU - Sesar, Branimir

AU - Sheldon, Erin

AU - Shimasaku, Kazu

AU - Sivarani, Thirupathi

AU - Smith, J. Allyn

AU - Snedden, Stephanie A.

AU - Steinmetz, Matthias

AU - Strauss, Michael A.

AU - Subbarao, Mark

AU - Suto, Yasushi

AU - Szalay, Alexander S.

AU - Szapudi, István

AU - Szkody, Paula

AU - Tegmark, Max

AU - Thakar, Aniruddha R.

AU - Tremonti, Christy A.

AU - Tucker, Douglas L.

AU - Uomoto, Alan

AU - Vanden Berk, Daniel E.

AU - Vandenberg, Jan

AU - Vidrih, S.

AU - Vogeley, Michael S.

AU - Voges, Wolfgang

AU - Vogt, Nicole P.

AU - Wadadekar, Yogesh

AU - Weinberg, David H.

AU - West, Andrew A.

AU - White, Simon D.M.

AU - Wilhite, Brian C.

AU - Yanny, Brian

AU - Yocum, D. R.

AU - York, Donald G.

AU - Zehavi, Idit

AU - Zucker, Daniel B.

PY - 2008/4

Y1 - 2008/4

N2 - This paper describes the Sixth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. With this data release, the imaging of the northern Galactic cap is now complete. The survey contains images and parameters of roughly 287 million objects over 9583 deg2, including scans over a large range of Galactic latitudes and longitudes. The survey also includes 1.27 million spectra of stars, galaxies, quasars, and blank sky (for sky subtraction) selected over 7425 deg2. This release includes much more stellar spectroscopy than was available in previous data releases and also includes detailed estimates of stellar temperatures, gravities, and metallicities. The results of improved photometric calibration are now available, with uncertainties of roughly 1% in g, r, i, and z, and 2% in u, substantially better than the uncertainties in previous data releases. The spectra in this data release have improved wavelength and flux calibration, especially in the extreme blue and extreme red, leading to the qualitatively better determination of stellar types and radial velocities. The spectrophotometric fluxes are now tied to point-spread function magnitudes of stars rather than fiber magnitudes. This gives more robust results in the presence of seeing variations, but also implies a change in the spectrophotometric scale, which is now brighter by roughly 0.35 mag. Systematic errors in the velocity dispersions of galaxies have been fixed, and the results of two independent codes for determining spectral classifications and redshifts are made available. Additional spectral outputs are made available, including calibrated spectra from individual 15 minute exposures and the sky spectrum subtracted from each exposure. We also quantify a recently recognized underestimation of the brightnesses of galaxies of large angular extent due to poor sky subtraction; the bias can exceed 0.2 mag for galaxies brighter than r = 14 mag.

AB - This paper describes the Sixth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. With this data release, the imaging of the northern Galactic cap is now complete. The survey contains images and parameters of roughly 287 million objects over 9583 deg2, including scans over a large range of Galactic latitudes and longitudes. The survey also includes 1.27 million spectra of stars, galaxies, quasars, and blank sky (for sky subtraction) selected over 7425 deg2. This release includes much more stellar spectroscopy than was available in previous data releases and also includes detailed estimates of stellar temperatures, gravities, and metallicities. The results of improved photometric calibration are now available, with uncertainties of roughly 1% in g, r, i, and z, and 2% in u, substantially better than the uncertainties in previous data releases. The spectra in this data release have improved wavelength and flux calibration, especially in the extreme blue and extreme red, leading to the qualitatively better determination of stellar types and radial velocities. The spectrophotometric fluxes are now tied to point-spread function magnitudes of stars rather than fiber magnitudes. This gives more robust results in the presence of seeing variations, but also implies a change in the spectrophotometric scale, which is now brighter by roughly 0.35 mag. Systematic errors in the velocity dispersions of galaxies have been fixed, and the results of two independent codes for determining spectral classifications and redshifts are made available. Additional spectral outputs are made available, including calibrated spectra from individual 15 minute exposures and the sky spectrum subtracted from each exposure. We also quantify a recently recognized underestimation of the brightnesses of galaxies of large angular extent due to poor sky subtraction; the bias can exceed 0.2 mag for galaxies brighter than r = 14 mag.

KW - Atlases

KW - Catalogs

KW - Surveys

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=42649109365&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=42649109365&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1086/524984

DO - 10.1086/524984

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:42649109365

SN - 0067-0049

VL - 175

SP - 297

EP - 313

JO - Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series

JF - Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series

IS - 2

ER -

The sixth data release of the sloan digital sky survey

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