The Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey: Variable Object Selection and Anticipated Results

TL;DR

The Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS) aims to spectroscopically identify and analyze approximately 220,000 variable objects, including stars and AGN, across 7,500 square degrees, serving as a pathfinder for future large-scale variability surveys.

Contribution

This paper introduces the selection algorithm for TDSS and predicts its results, highlighting its large scale and unbiased approach to variable object identification.

Findings

Target sample will be 95% pure in genuine variability.

Spectroscopic sample will include ~135,000 quasars and 85,000 stellar variables.

TDSS will provide a diverse and wide-ranging dataset for variable objects.

Abstract

We present the selection algorithm and anticipated results for the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS). TDSS is an SDSS-IV eBOSS subproject that will provide initial identification spectra of approximately 220,000 luminosity-variable objects (variable stars and AGN) across 7,500 square degrees selected from a combination of SDSS and multi-epoch Pan-STARRS1 photometry. TDSS will be the largest spectroscopic survey to explicitly target variable objects, avoiding pre-selection on the basis of colors or detailed modeling of specific variability characteristics. Kernel Density Estimate (KDE) analysis of our target population performed on SDSS Stripe 82 data suggests our target sample will be 95% pure (meaning 95% of objects we select have genuine luminosity variability of a few magnitudes or more). Our final spectroscopic sample will contain roughly 135,000 quasars and 85,000 stellar variables, approximately 4,000 of which will be RR Lyrae stars which may be used as outer Milky Way probes. The variability-selected quasar population has a smoother redshift distribution than a color-selected sample, and variability measurements similar to those we develop here may be used to make more uniform quasar samples in large surveys. The stellar variable targets are distributed fairly uniformly across color space, indicating that TDSS will obtain spectra for a wide variety of stellar variables including pulsating variables, stars with significant chromospheric activity, cataclysmic variables and eclipsing binaries. TDSS will serve as a pathfinder mission to identify and characterize the multitude of variable objects that will be detected photometrically in even larger variability surveys such as LSST.