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Cited by 659

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 29 of the 29 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The Luminosity Function of Galaxies in SDSS Commissioning Data

Open access
Blanton, Michael R., Dalcanton, Julianne, Eisenstein, Daniel, Loveday, Jon, Strauss, Michael A., SubbaRao, Mark, Weinberg, David H., Anderson, Jr., John E., Annis, James, Bahcall, Neta A., Bernardi, Mariangela, Brinkmann, J., Brunner, Robert J., Burles, Scott, Carey, Larry, Castander, Francisco J., Connolly, Andrew J., Csabai, István, Doi, Mamoru, Finkbeiner, Douglas, Friedman, Scott, Frieman, Joshua A., Fukugita, Masataka, Gunn, James E., Hennessy, G. S., Hindsley, Robert B., Hogg, David W., Ichikawa, Takashi, Ivezić, Željko, Kent, Stephen, Knapp, G. R., Lamb, D. Q., Leger, R. French, Long, Daniel C., Lupton, Robert H., McKay, Timothy A., Meiksin, Avery, Merelli, Aronne, Munn, Jeffrey A., Narayanan, Vijay, Newcomb, Matt, Nichol, R. C., Okamura, Sadanori, Owen, Russell, Pier, Jeffrey R., Pope, Adrian, Postman, Marc, Quinn, Thomas, Rockosi, Constance M., Schlegel, David J., Schneider, Donald P., Shimasaku, Kazuhiro, Siegmund, Walter A., Smee, Stephen, Snir, Yehuda, Stoughton, Chris, Stubbs, Christopher, Szalay, Alexander S., Szokoly, Gyula P., Thakar, Aniruddha R., Tremonti, Christy, Tucker, Douglas L., Uomoto, Alan, Vanden Berk, Dan, Vogeley, Michael S., Waddell, Patrick, Yanny, Brian, Yasuda, Naoki, York, Donald G.·2001·The Astronomical Journal
DOI 10.1086/320405
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Abstract

In the course of its commissioning observations, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has produced one of the largest redshift samples of galaxies selected from CCD images. Using 11,275 galaxies complete to r * = 17.6 over 140 deg 2 , we compute the luminosity function of galaxies in the r * band over a range -23 < M < -16 (for h = 1). The result is well-described by a Schechter function with parameters ϕ * = (1.46 ± 0.12) × 10 -2 h 3 Mpc -3 , M * = -20.83 ± 0.03, and α = -1.20 ± 0.03. The implied luminosity density in r * is j ≈ (2.6 ± 0.3) × 10 8 h L ⊙ Mpc -3 . We find that the surface brightness selection threshold has a negligible impact for M < -18. Using subsets of the data, we measure the luminosity function in the u *, g *, i *, and z * bands as well; the slope at low luminosities ranges from α = -1.35 to α = -1.2. We measure the bivariate distribution of r * luminosity with half-light surface brightness, intrinsic g *- r * color, and morphology. In agreement with previous studies, we find that high surface brightness, red, highly concentrated galaxies are on average more luminous than low surface brightness, blue, less concentrated galaxies. An important feature of the SDSS luminosity function is the use of Petrosian magnitudes, which measure a constant fraction of a galaxy's total light regardless of the amplitude of its surface brightness profile. If we synthesize results for R GKC band or b j band using these Petrosian magnitudes, we obtain luminosity densities 2 times that found by the Las Campanas Redshift Survey in R GKC and 1.4 times that found by the Two Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey in b j . However, we are able to reproduce the luminosity functions obtained by these surveys if we also mimic their isophotal limits for defining galaxy magnitudes, which are shallower and more redshift dependent than the Petrosian magnitudes used by the SDSS.

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Metadata

Authors
Blanton, M. R., Dalcanton, J., Eisenstein, D., Loveday, J., Strauss, M. A., SubbaRao, M., Weinberg, D. H., Anderson, Jr., Annis, J., Bahcall, N. A., Bernardi, M., Brinkmann, J., Brunner, R. J., Burles, S., Carey, L., Castander, F. J., Connolly, A. J., Csabai, I., Doi, M., Finkbeiner, D., Friedman, S., Frieman, J. A., Fukugita, M., Gunn, J. E., Hennessy, G. S., Hindsley, R. B., Hogg, D. W., Ichikawa, T., Ivezić, Ž., Kent, S., Knapp, G. R., Lamb, D. Q., Leger, R. F., Long, D. C., Lupton, R. H., McKay, T. A., Meiksin, A., Merelli, A., Munn, J. A., Narayanan, V., Newcomb, M., Nichol, R. C., Okamura, S., Owen, R., Pier, J. R., Pope, A., Postman, M., Quinn, T., Rockosi, C. M., Schlegel, D. J., Schneider, D. P., Shimasaku, K., Siegmund, W. A., Smee, S., Snir, Y., Stoughton, C., Stubbs, C., Szalay, A. S., Szokoly, G. P., Thakar, A. R., Tremonti, C., Tucker, D. L., Uomoto, A., Vanden Berk, D., Vogeley, M. S., Waddell, P., Yanny, B., Yasuda, N., & York, D. G.
Venue
The Astronomical Journal
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Published
2001-05
Volume
121
Issue
5
Pages
2358-2380
ISSN
0004-6256 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1086/320405
OpenAlex
W2154263420
Cited by
659
References
29
FWCI
46.84
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
bronze

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: The Luminosity Function of Galaxies in SDSS Commissioning Data. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1086/320405
The paper
Blanton, M. R., Dalcanton, J., Eisenstein, D., Loveday, J., Strauss, M. A., SubbaRao, M., Weinberg, D. H., Anderson, Jr., Annis, J., Bahcall, N. A., Bernardi, M., Brinkmann, J., Brunner, R. J., Burles, S., Carey, L., Castander, F. J., Connolly, A. J., Csabai, I., Doi, M., . . . York, D. G. (2001). The Luminosity Function of Galaxies in SDSS Commissioning Data. The Astronomical Journal. https://doi.org/10.1086/320405

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