The Nineteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

TL;DR

The SDSS DR19 release provides the most comprehensive dataset to date from SDSS-V, including data from three scientific mappers and nine value-added catalogs, enabling advanced astronomical research.

Contribution

This paper details the scope, content, and access methods for SDSS DR19, the largest SDSS data release incorporating all three SDSS-V mappers and additional value-added catalogs.

Findings

First data release to include all three SDSS-V mappers

Contains nine value-added catalogs enhancing data utility

Provides tutorials and access instructions for researchers

Abstract

Mapping the local and distant Universe is key to our understanding of it. For decades, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has made a concerted effort to map millions of celestial objects to constrain the physical processes that govern our Universe. The most recent and fifth generation of SDSS (SDSS-V) is organized into three scientific ``mappers". Milky Way Mapper (MWM) that aims to chart the various components of the Milky Way and constrain its formation and assembly, Black Hole Mapper (BHM), which focuses on understanding supermassive black holes in distant galaxies across the Universe, and Local Volume Mapper (LVM), which uses integral field spectroscopy to map the ionized interstellar medium in the local group. This paper describes and outlines the scope and content for the nineteenth data release (DR19) of SDSS and the most substantial to date in SDSS-V. DR19 is the first to contain data from all three mappers. Additionally, we also describe nine value added catalogs (VACs) that enhance the science that can be conducted with the SDSS-V data. Finally, we discuss how to access SDSS DR19 and provide illustrative examples and tutorials.