Imagen de Portada

The South Pole Telescope AGN Monitoring Campaign: First Release of SPTpol Bright AGN Light Curves

Fuente: arXiv

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Hood II, J. C., Ade, P. A. R., Anderson, A. J., Archipley, M., Austermann, J. E., Beall, J. A., Bender, A. N., Benson, B. A., Bianchini, F., Bleem, L. E., Carlstrom, J. E., Chang, C. L., Chaubal, P., Chiang, H. C., Chou, T-L., Citron, R., Moran, C. Corbett, Crawford, T. M., Crites, A. T., de Haan, T., Dobbs, M. A., Everett, W., Foster, A., Gallicchio, J., George, E. M., Gupta, N., Halverson, N. W., Hilton, G. C., Holder, G. P., Holzapfel, W. L., Hrubes, J. D., Huang, N., Hubmayr, J., Irwin, K. D., Jarvela, E., Knox, L., Lee, A. T., Li, D., Lowitz, A., Maccarone, T. J., Malkan, M., McMahon, J. J., Meyer, S. S., Montgomery, J., Natoli, T., Nibarger, J. P., Noble, G., Novosad, V., Padin, S., Patil, S., Phadke, K. A., Pryke, C., Reichardt, C. L., Ruhl, J. E., Saliwanchik, B. R., Schaffer, K. K., Sievers, C., Simpson, A., Smecher, G., Stark, A. A., Tandoi, C., Tucker, C., Veach, T., Vieira, J. D., Wang, G., Whitehorn, N., Wu, W. L. K., Yefremenko, V., Zebrowski, J. A.
Formato:	Preprint
Publicado:	2026
Materias:	Astrophysics of Galaxies
Acceso en línea:	Acceder al recurso
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

_version_	1866913000845213696
author	Hood II, J. C. Ade, P. A. R. Anderson, A. J. Archipley, M. Austermann, J. E. Beall, J. A. Bender, A. N. Benson, B. A. Bianchini, F. Bleem, L. E. Carlstrom, J. E. Chang, C. L. Chaubal, P. Chiang, H. C. Chou, T-L. Citron, R. Moran, C. Corbett Crawford, T. M. Crites, A. T. de Haan, T. Dobbs, M. A. Everett, W. Foster, A. Gallicchio, J. George, E. M. Gupta, N. Halverson, N. W. Hilton, G. C. Holder, G. P. Holzapfel, W. L. Hrubes, J. D. Huang, N. Hubmayr, J. Irwin, K. D. Jarvela, E. Knox, L. Lee, A. T. Li, D. Lowitz, A. Maccarone, T. J. Malkan, M. McMahon, J. J. Meyer, S. S. Montgomery, J. Natoli, T. Nibarger, J. P. Noble, G. Novosad, V. Padin, S. Patil, S. Phadke, K. A. Pryke, C. Reichardt, C. L. Ruhl, J. E. Saliwanchik, B. R. Schaffer, K. K. Sievers, C. Simpson, A. Smecher, G. Stark, A. A. Tandoi, C. Tucker, C. Veach, T. Vieira, J. D. Wang, G. Whitehorn, N. Wu, W. L. K. Yefremenko, V. Zebrowski, J. A.
author_facet	Hood II, J. C. Ade, P. A. R. Anderson, A. J. Archipley, M. Austermann, J. E. Beall, J. A. Bender, A. N. Benson, B. A. Bianchini, F. Bleem, L. E. Carlstrom, J. E. Chang, C. L. Chaubal, P. Chiang, H. C. Chou, T-L. Citron, R. Moran, C. Corbett Crawford, T. M. Crites, A. T. de Haan, T. Dobbs, M. A. Everett, W. Foster, A. Gallicchio, J. George, E. M. Gupta, N. Halverson, N. W. Hilton, G. C. Holder, G. P. Holzapfel, W. L. Hrubes, J. D. Huang, N. Hubmayr, J. Irwin, K. D. Jarvela, E. Knox, L. Lee, A. T. Li, D. Lowitz, A. Maccarone, T. J. Malkan, M. McMahon, J. J. Meyer, S. S. Montgomery, J. Natoli, T. Nibarger, J. P. Noble, G. Novosad, V. Padin, S. Patil, S. Phadke, K. A. Pryke, C. Reichardt, C. L. Ruhl, J. E. Saliwanchik, B. R. Schaffer, K. K. Sievers, C. Simpson, A. Smecher, G. Stark, A. A. Tandoi, C. Tucker, C. Veach, T. Vieira, J. D. Wang, G. Whitehorn, N. Wu, W. L. K. Yefremenko, V. Zebrowski, J. A.
contents	The South Pole Telescope (SPT) collaboration has recently embarked upon a campaign to monitor the brightness of a sample of active galactic nuclei (AGN), both in real time and in archival SPT data. The original design of the SPT was optimized for observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at arc-minute and larger angular scales, and it has been used for this purpose for nearly twenty years, using three generations of CMB cameras. Recently it has been recognized that data from CMB experiments have the potential to be used for AGN monitoring. In this paper, we present the first public release of data from a full sample of SPT-monitored AGN, comprising 158 AGN light curves and associated data from the SPTpol camera, which was operational from 2012-2016. These light curves were created using observations from the SPTpol 500 deg$^{2}$ survey, in which the instrument was used to scan a 500 deg$^2$ patch of the sky several times per day with detectors sensitive to radiation in bands centered at 90 and 150 GHz. We provide a comprehensive description of the observations, the data processing methods, and the resulting light curve catalog. As an example of analyses that these data enable, we searched for a correlation between variability and spectral index, and we looked for ``bluer-when-brighter'' trends in the sample. Our analysis finds $> 10 σ$ correlation between fractional intrinsic variance and mean spectral index in the sample, but no significant evidence for bluer-when-brighter trends. The datasets from this study can be accessed through the SPT Treasury Record of AGN With Historical Activity and Time-Series or STRAWHAT catalog. This initial data release includes SPTpol light curves at 90 and 150 GHz, focusing on total intensity. In later updates, SPTpol polarization data and new observations from the SPT-3G instrument at 90, 150, and 220 GHz will be included.
format	Preprint
id	arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_02529
institution	arXiv
publishDate	2026
record_format	arxiv
spellingShingle	The South Pole Telescope AGN Monitoring Campaign: First Release of SPTpol Bright AGN Light Curves Hood II, J. C. Ade, P. A. R. Anderson, A. J. Archipley, M. Austermann, J. E. Beall, J. A. Bender, A. N. Benson, B. A. Bianchini, F. Bleem, L. E. Carlstrom, J. E. Chang, C. L. Chaubal, P. Chiang, H. C. Chou, T-L. Citron, R. Moran, C. Corbett Crawford, T. M. Crites, A. T. de Haan, T. Dobbs, M. A. Everett, W. Foster, A. Gallicchio, J. George, E. M. Gupta, N. Halverson, N. W. Hilton, G. C. Holder, G. P. Holzapfel, W. L. Hrubes, J. D. Huang, N. Hubmayr, J. Irwin, K. D. Jarvela, E. Knox, L. Lee, A. T. Li, D. Lowitz, A. Maccarone, T. J. Malkan, M. McMahon, J. J. Meyer, S. S. Montgomery, J. Natoli, T. Nibarger, J. P. Noble, G. Novosad, V. Padin, S. Patil, S. Phadke, K. A. Pryke, C. Reichardt, C. L. Ruhl, J. E. Saliwanchik, B. R. Schaffer, K. K. Sievers, C. Simpson, A. Smecher, G. Stark, A. A. Tandoi, C. Tucker, C. Veach, T. Vieira, J. D. Wang, G. Whitehorn, N. Wu, W. L. K. Yefremenko, V. Zebrowski, J. A. Astrophysics of Galaxies The South Pole Telescope (SPT) collaboration has recently embarked upon a campaign to monitor the brightness of a sample of active galactic nuclei (AGN), both in real time and in archival SPT data. The original design of the SPT was optimized for observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at arc-minute and larger angular scales, and it has been used for this purpose for nearly twenty years, using three generations of CMB cameras. Recently it has been recognized that data from CMB experiments have the potential to be used for AGN monitoring. In this paper, we present the first public release of data from a full sample of SPT-monitored AGN, comprising 158 AGN light curves and associated data from the SPTpol camera, which was operational from 2012-2016. These light curves were created using observations from the SPTpol 500 deg$^{2}$ survey, in which the instrument was used to scan a 500 deg$^2$ patch of the sky several times per day with detectors sensitive to radiation in bands centered at 90 and 150 GHz. We provide a comprehensive description of the observations, the data processing methods, and the resulting light curve catalog. As an example of analyses that these data enable, we searched for a correlation between variability and spectral index, and we looked for ``bluer-when-brighter'' trends in the sample. Our analysis finds $> 10 σ$ correlation between fractional intrinsic variance and mean spectral index in the sample, but no significant evidence for bluer-when-brighter trends. The datasets from this study can be accessed through the SPT Treasury Record of AGN With Historical Activity and Time-Series or STRAWHAT catalog. This initial data release includes SPTpol light curves at 90 and 150 GHz, focusing on total intensity. In later updates, SPTpol polarization data and new observations from the SPT-3G instrument at 90, 150, and 220 GHz will be included.
title	The South Pole Telescope AGN Monitoring Campaign: First Release of SPTpol Bright AGN Light Curves
topic	Astrophysics of Galaxies
url	https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.02529