Context. Friends-of-friends algorithms are a common tool to detect galaxy groups and clusters in large survey data. In order to be as precise as possible, they have to be carefully calibrated using mock catalogues. Aims. We create an accurate and robust description of the matter distribution in the local Universe using the most up-to-date available data. This will provide the input for a specific cosmological test planned as follow-up to this work, and will be useful for general extragalactic and cosmological research. Methods. We created a set of galaxy group catalogues based on the 2MRS and SDSS DR12 galaxy samples using a friends-of-friends based group finder algorithm. The algorithm was carefully calibrated and optimised on a new set of wide-angle mock catalogues from the Millennium simulation, in order to provide accurate total mass estimates of the galaxy groups taking into account the relevant observational biases in 2MRS and SDSS. Results. We provide four different catalogues ⋆ (i) a 2MRS based group catalogue; (ii) an SDSS DR12 based group catalogue reaching out to a redshift z = 0.11 with stellar mass estimates for 70% of the galaxies; (iii) a catalogue providing additional fundamental plane distances for all groups of the SDSS catalogue that host elliptical galaxies; (iv) a catalogue of the mass distribution in the local Universe based on a combination of our 2MRS and SDSS catalogues. Conclusions. While motivated by a specific cosmological test, three of the four catalogues that we produced are well suited to act as reference databases for a variety of extragalactic and cosmological science cases. Our catalogue of fundamental plane distances for SDSS groups provides further added value to this paper.

We present a calibration of the fundamental plane using SDSS Data Release 8. We analysed about 93 000 elliptical galaxies up to z < 0.2, the largest sample used for the calibration of the fundamental plane so far. We incorporated up-to-date K-corrections and used GalaxyZoo data to classify the galaxies in our sample. We derived independent fundamental plane fits in all five Sloan filters u, g, r, i, and z. A direct fit using a volume-weighted least-squares method was applied to obtain the coefficients of the fundamental plane, which implicitly corrects for the Malmquist bias. We achieved an accuracy of 15% for the fundamental plane as a distance indicator. We provide a detailed discussion on the calibrations and their influence on the resulting fits. These re-calibrated fundamental plane relations form a well-suited anchor for large-scale peculiar-velocity studies in the nearby universe. In addition to the fundamental plane, we discuss the redshift distribution of the elliptical galaxies and their global parameters.

Context. Passive galaxies at high redshift are much smaller than equally massive early types today. If this size evolution is caused by stochastic merging processes, then a small fraction of the compact galaxies should persist until today. Up to now it has not been possible to systematically identify the existence of such objects in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Aims. We aim at finding potential survivors of these compact galaxies in SDSS, as targets for more detailed follow-up observations. Methods. From the virial theorem, it is expected that for a given mass, compact galaxies have stellar velocity dispersion higher than the mean owing to their smaller sizes. Therefore velocity dispersion, coupled with size (or mass), is an appropriate method of selecting relics, independent of the stellar population properties. Based on these considerations, we designed a set of criteria the use the distribution of early-type galaxies from SDSS on the log 10 (R 0 )−log 10 (σ 0 ) plane to find the most extreme objects on it. We thus selected compact massive galaxy candidates by restricting them to high velocity dispersions σ 0 > 323.2 km s −1 and small sizes R 0 < 2.18 kpc. Results. We find 76 galaxies at 0.05 < z < 0.2, which have properties that are similar to the typical quiescent galaxies at high redshift. We discuss how these galaxies relate to average present-day early-type galaxies. We study how well these galaxies fit on well-known local universe relations of early-type galaxies, such as the fundamental plane, the red sequence, or mass-size relations. As expected from the selection criteria, the candidates are located in an extreme corner of the mass-size plane. However, they do not extend as deeply into the so-called zone of exclusion as some of the red nuggets found at high redshift, since they are a factor 2−3 less massive on a given intrinsic scale size. Several of our candidates are close to the size resolution limit of SDSS, but are not so small that they are classified as point sources. We find that our candidates are systematically offset on a scaling relation compared to the average early-type galaxies, but still within the general range of other early-type galaxies. Furthermore, our candidates are similar to the mass-size range expected for passive evolution of the red nuggets from their high redshift to the present. Conclusions. The 76 selected candidates form an appropriate set of objects for further follow-up observations. They do not constitute a separate population of peculiar galaxies, but form the extreme tail of a continuous distribution of early-type galaxies. We argue that selecting a high-velocity dispersion is the best way to find analogues of compact high redshift galaxies in the local universe.

Over the next five years, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) will use 10 spectrographs equipped with 5000 fibers on the 4m Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory to conduct the first Stage-IV dark energy galaxy survey. At z < 0.6, the DESI Bright Galaxy Survey (BGS) will produce the most detailed map of the Universe during the dark energy dominated epoch with redshifts of >10 million galaxies spanning 14,000 deg 2 . In this work, we present and validate the final BGS target selection and survey design. From DR9 of the Legacy Surveys, BGS will target: a r < 19.5 magnitude-limited sample (BGS Bright); a fainter 19.5 < r < 20.175 sample, color-selected to have high redshift efficiency (BGS Faint); and a smaller low-z quasar sample (BGS AGN). BGS will observe these targets using exposure times that are dynamically scaled to achieve homogeneous completeness and visit each point of the footprint three times on average. We use early spectroscopic observations from the Survey Validation programs conducted prior to the main survey along with realistic simulations to show that BGS can successfully complete this strategy and make optimal use of 'bright' time, when the moon is above the horizon. Specifically, we demonstrate that BGS targets have stellar contamination below 1% and that their densities do not depend strongly on imaging properties. We also confirm that BGS Bright will achieve >80% fiber assignment efficiency. Finally, we show that the BGS Bright and Faint samples will achieve >95% redshift success rates across a broad range of galaxies, with no significant dependence on observing conditions. Overall, BGS meets the requirements necessary for an extensive range of scientific applications. BGS will yield the most precise Baryon Acoustic Oscillations and Redshift-Space Distortions (RSD) measurements at z < 0.4 to date. It also presents unique opportunities to exploit new methods that require highly complete and dense galaxy samples (e.g. N -point statistics, multi-tracer RSD). BGS further provides a powerful tool to study galaxy populations including dwarf galaxies, galaxy groups and clusters, and the relations between galaxies and dark matter.

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) embarked on an ambitious 5 yr survey in 2021 May to explore the nature of dark energy with spectroscopic measurements of 40 million galaxies and quasars. DESI will determine precise redshifts and employ the baryon acoustic oscillation method to measure distances from the nearby universe to beyond redshift z > 3.5, and employ redshift space distortions to measure the growth of structure and probe potential modifications to general relativity. We describe the significant instrumentation we developed to conduct the DESI survey. This includes: a wide-field, 3.°2 diameter prime-focus corrector; a focal plane system with 5020 fiber positioners on the 0.812 m diameter, aspheric focal surface; 10 continuous, high-efficiency fiber cable bundles that connect the focal plane to the spectrographs; and 10 identical spectrographs. Each spectrograph employs a pair of dichroics to split the light into three channels that together record the light from 360–980 nm with a spectral resolution that ranges from 2000–5000. We describe the science requirements, their connection to the technical requirements, the management of the project, and interfaces between subsystems. DESI was installed at the 4 m Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory and has achieved all of its performance goals. Some performance highlights include an rms positioner accuracy of better than 0.″1 and a median signal-to-noise ratio of 7 of the [O ii] doublet at 8 × 10−17 erg s−1 cm−2 in 1000 s for galaxies at z = 1.4–1.6. We conclude with additional highlights from the on-sky validation and commissioning, key successes, and lessons learned.

Over the next 5 yr, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) will use 10 spectrographs with 5000 fibers on the 4 m Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory to conduct the first Stage IV dark energy galaxy survey. At z < 0.6, the DESI Bright Galaxy Survey (BGS) will produce the most detailed map of the universe during the dark-energy-dominated epoch with redshifts of >10 million galaxies spanning 14,000 deg2. In this work, we present and validate the final BGS target selection and survey design. From the Legacy Surveys, BGS will target an r < 19.5 mag limited sample (BGS Bright), a fainter 19.5 < r < 20.175 color-selected sample (BGS Faint), and a smaller low-z quasar sample. BGS will observe these targets using exposure times scaled to achieve homogeneous completeness and cover the footprint three times. We use observations from the Survey Validation programs conducted prior to the main survey along with simulations to show that BGS can complete its strategy and make optimal use of “bright” time. BGS targets have stellar contamination <1%, and their densities do not depend strongly on imaging properties. BGS Bright will achieve >80% fiber assignment efficiency. Finally, BGS Bright and BGS Faint will achieve >95% redshift success over any observing condition. BGS meets the requirements for an extensive range of scientific applications. BGS will yield the most precise baryon acoustic oscillation and redshift-space distortion measurements at z < 0.4. It presents opportunities for new methods that require highly complete and dense samples (e.g., N-point statistics, multitracers). BGS further provides a powerful tool to study galaxy populations and the relations between galaxies and dark matter.

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Survey has obtained a set of spectroscopic measurements of galaxies to validate the final survey design and target selections. To assist in these tasks, we visually inspect DESI spectra of approximately 2500 bright galaxies, 3500 luminous red galaxies (LRGs), and 10,000 emission-line galaxies (ELGs) to obtain robust redshift identifications. We then utilize the visually inspected redshift information to characterize the performance of the DESI operation. Based on the visual inspection (VI) catalogs, our results show that the final survey design yields samples of bright galaxies, LRGs, and ELGs with purity greater than 99%. Moreover, we demonstrate that the precision of the redshift measurements is approximately 10 km s−1 for bright galaxies and ELGs and approximately 40 km s−1 for LRGs. The average redshift accuracy is within 10 km s−1 for the three types of galaxies. The VI process also helps improve the quality of the DESI data by identifying spurious spectral features introduced by the pipeline. Finally, we show examples of unexpected real astronomical objects, such as Lyα emitters and strong lensing candidates, identified by VI. These results demonstrate the importance and utility of visually inspecting data from incoming and upcoming surveys, especially during their early operation phases.

Context. Backreactions from large-scale inhomogeneities may provide an elegant explanation for the observed accelerated expansion of the universe without the need to introduce dark energy. Aims. We propose a cosmological test for a specific model of inhomogeneous cosmology, called timescape cosmology. Using largescale galaxy surveys such as SDSS and 2MRS, we test the variation of expansion expected in the Λ-CDM model versus a more generic differential expansion using our own calibrations of bounds suggested by timescape cosmology. Methods. Our test measures the systematic variations of the Hubble flow towards distant galaxies groups as a function of the matter distribution in the lines of sight to those galaxy groups. We compare the observed systematic variation of the Hubble flow to mock catalogues from the Millennium Simulation in the case of the Λ-CDM model, and a deformed version of the same simulation that exhibits more pronounced differential expansion. Results. We perform a series of statistical tests, ranging from linear regressions to Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, on the obtained data. They consistently yield results preferring Λ-CDM cosmology over our approximated model of timescape cosmology. Conclusions. Our analysis of observational data shows no evidence that the variation of expansion differs from that of the standard Λ-CDM model.