We present an absorption-line survey of optically thick gas clouds-Lyman Limit Systems (LLSs)-observed at high dispersion with spectrometers on the Keck and Magellan telescopes. We measure column densities of neutral hydrogen N-H I and associated metal-line transitions for 157 LLSs at z(LLS) = 1.76-4.39 restricted to 10(17.3) cm(-2) <= N-H I < 10(20.3) cm(-2). An empirical analysis of ionic ratios indicates an increasing ionization state of the gas with decreasing N-H I and that the majority of LLSs are highly ionized, confirming previous expectations. The Si+/H-0 ratio spans nearly four orders of magnitude, implying a large dispersion in the gas metallicity. Fewer than 5% of these LLSs have no positive detection of a metal transition; by z similar to 3, nearly all gas that is dense enough to exhibit a very high Lyman limit opacity has previously been polluted by heavy elements. We add new measurements to the small subset of LLS (approximate to 5%-10%) that may have super-solar abundances. High Si+/Fe+ ratios suggest an alpha-enhanced medium, whereas the Si+/C+ ratios do not exhibit the super-solar enhancement inferred previously for the Ly alpha forest.

We measure the evolution of the velocity dispersion-temperature (sigma(v)-T-X) relation up to z = 1 using a sample of 38 galaxy clusters drawn from the XMM Cluster Survey. This work improves upon previous studies by the use of a homogeneous cluster sample and in terms of the number of high-redshift clusters included. We present here new redshift and velocity dispersion measurements for 12 z > 0.5 clusters observed with the Gemini Multi Object Spectographs instruments on the Gemini telescopes. Using an orthogonal regression method, we find that the slope of the relation is steeper than that expected if clusters were self-similar, and that the evolution of the normalization is slightly negative, but not significantly different from zero (sigma(v) alpha T0.86+/-0.14E(z)(-0.37+/-0.33)). We verify our results by applying our methods to cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. The lack of evolution seen in our data is consistent with simulations that include both feedback and radiative cooling.

We present abundances of globular clusters (GCs) in the Milky Way and Fornax from integrated-light (IL) spectra. Our goal is to evaluate the consistency of the IL analysis relative to standard abundance analysis for individual stars in those same clusters. This sample includes an updated analysis of seven clusters from our previous publications and results for five new clusters that expand the metallicity range over which our technique has been tested. We find that the [Fe/H] measured from IL spectra agrees to similar to 0.1 dex for GCs with metallicities as high as [Fe/H] = -0.3, but the abundances measured for more metal-rich clusters may be underestimated. In addition we systematically evaluate the accuracy of abundance ratios, [X/Fe], for Na I, Mg I, Al I, Si I, Ca I, Ti I, Ti II, Sc II, V I, Cr I, Mn I, Co I, Ni I, Cu I, Y II, Zr I, Ba II, La II, Nd II, and Eu II. The elements for which the IL analysis gives results that are most similar to analysis of individual stellar spectra are Fe I, Ca I, Si I, Ni I, and Ba II. The elements that show the greatest differences include Mg I and Zr I. Some elements show good agreement only over a limited range in metallicity. More stellar abundance data in these clusters would enable more complete evaluation of the IL results for other important elements.

Chemically peculiar stars in dwarf galaxies provide a window for exploring the birth environment of stars with varying chemical enrichment. We present a chemical abundance analysis of the brightest star in the newly discovered ultra-faint dwarf galaxy candidate Tucana III. Because it is particularly bright for a star in an ultra-faint Milky Way (MW) satellite, we are able to measure the abundance of 28 elements, including 13 neutron-capture species. This star, DES. J235532.66-593114.9 (DES J235532), shows a mild enhancement in neutron-capture elements associated with the r-process and can be classified as an r-I star. DES. J235532 is the first r-I star to be discovered in an ultra-faint satellite, and Tuc. III is the second extremely low-luminosity system found to contain r-process enriched material, after Reticulum. II. Comparison of the abundance pattern of DES. J235532 with r-I and r-II stars found in other dwarf galaxies and in the MW halo suggests a common astrophysical origin for the neutron-capture elements seen in all r-process enhanced stars. We explore both internal and external scenarios for the r-process enrichment of Tuc. III and show that with abundance patterns for additional stars, it should be possible to distinguish between them.

We present the survey strategy and early results of the "Satellites Around Galactic Analogs" (SAGA) Survey. The SAGA. Survey's goal is to measure the distribution of satellite galaxies around 100 systems analogous to the Milky Way down to the luminosity of the Leo I dwarf galaxy (M-r < -12.3). We define a Milky Way analog based on K-band luminosity and local environment. Here, we present satellite luminosity functions for eight Milky-Way-analog galaxies between 20 and 40. Mpc. These systems have nearly complete spectroscopic coverage of candidate satellites within the projected host virial radius down to r(o) < 20.75 using low-redshift gri color criteria. We have discovered a total of 25 new satellite galaxies: 14. new satellite galaxies meet our formal criteria around our complete host systems, plus 11 additional satellites in either incompletely surveyed hosts or below our formal magnitude limit. Combined with 13 previously known satellites, there are a total of 27 satellites around 8 complete Milky-Way-analog hosts. We find a wide distribution in the number of satellites per host, from 1 to 9, in the luminosity range for which there are 5 Milky Way satellites. Standard abundance matching extrapolated from higher luminosities predicts less scatter between hosts and a steeper luminosity function slope than observed. We find that the majority of satellites (26 of 27) are star-forming. These early results indicate that the Milky Way has a different satellite population than typical in our sample, potentially changing the physical interpretation of measurements based only on the Milky Way's satellite galaxies.

On 17 August 2017, Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a) was discovered as the optical counterpart of the binary neutron star gravitational wave event GW170817. We report time-series spectroscopy of SSS17a from 11.75 hours until 8.5 days after the merger. Over the first hour of observations, the ejecta rapidly expanded and cooled. Applying blackbody fits to the spectra, we measured the photosphere cooling from 11,000(900)(+3400) to 9300(300)(+300) kelvin, and determined a photospheric velocity of roughly 30% of the speed of light. The spectra of SSS17a began displaying broad features after 1.46 days and evolved qualitatively over each subsequent day, with distinct blue (early-time) and red (late-time) components. The late-time component is consistent with theoretical models of r-process-enriched neutron star ejecta, whereas the blue component requires high-velocity, lanthanide-free material.

On 17 August 2017, gravitational waves (GWs) were detected from a binary neutron star merger, GW170817, along with a coincident short gamma-ray burst, GRB 170817A. An optical transient source, Swope Supernova Survey 17a (SSS17a), was subsequently identified as the counterpart of this event. We present ultraviolet, optical, and infrared light curves of SSS17a extending from 10.9 hours to 18 days postmerger. We constrain the radioactively powered transient resulting from the ejection of neutron-rich material. The fast rise of the light curves, subsequent decay, and rapid color evolution are consistent with multiple ejecta components of differing lanthanide abundance. The late-time light curve indicates that SSS17a produced at least similar to 0.05 solar masses of heavy elements, demonstrating that neutron star mergers play a role in rapid neutron capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis in the universe.

We combine Dark Energy Survey Year 1 clustering and weak lensing data with baryon acoustic oscillations and Big Bang nucleosynthesis experiments to constrain the Hubble constant. Assuming a flat Lambda CDM model with minimal neutrino mass (Sigma m(v), = 0.06 eV), we find H-0 = 67.4(-1.2)(+1.1) km s(-1) Mpc(-1) (68 per cent CL). This result is completely independent of Hubble constant measurements based on the distance ladder, cosmic microwave background anisotropies (both temperature and polarization), and strong lensing constraints. There are now five data sets that: (a) have no shared observational systematics; and (b) each constrains the Hubble constant with fractional uncertainty at the few-per cent level. We compare these five independent estimates, and find that, as a set, the differences between them are significant at the 2.5 sigma level (chi(2)/dof = 24/11, probability to exceed = 1.1 per cent). Having set the threshold for consistency at 30 sigma we combine all five data sets to arrive at H-0 = 69.3(-0.6)(+0.4) km s(-1) Mpc(-1).

We present calibrations of the redshift distributions of redMaGiC galaxies in the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 (DES Y1) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR8 data. These results determine the priors of the redshift distribution of redMaGiC galaxies, which were used for galaxy clustering measurements and as lenses for galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements in DES Y1 cosmological analyses. We empirically determine the bias in redMaGiC photometric redshift estimates using angular cross-correlations with Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) galaxies. For DES, we calibrate a single-parameter redshift bias in three photometric redshift bins: z is an element of [0.15, 0.3], [0.3,0.45], and [0.45,0.6]. Our best-fit results in each bin give photometric redshift biases of vertical bar Delta z vertical bar < 0.01. To further test the redMaGiC algorithm, we apply our calibration procedure to SDSS redMaGiC galaxies, where the statistical precision of the cross-correlation measurement is much higher due to a greater overlap with BOSS galaxies. For SDSS, we also find best-fit results of vertical bar Delta z vertical bar < 0.01. We compare our results to other analyses of redMaGiC photometric redshifts.

We report the discovery, spectroscopic confirmation, and first lens models of the first, strongly lensed quasars from a combined search in WISE and Gaia-DR1 over the DES footprint. Their Einstein radii span a range between approximate to 2.0 arcsec and approximate to 0.4 arcsec. Two of these (WGD2038-4008, RA = 20: 38: 02.65, Dec. = -40: 08: 14.64; WGD2021-4115, RA = 20: 21: 39.45, Dec. = -41:15:57.11) also have confirmed deflector redshifts. The four-image lens WGD2038-4008, with source and deflector redshifts s = 0.777 +/- 0.001 and z(l) = 0.230 +/- 0.002, respectively, has a deflector with radius R-eff approximate to 3.4 arcsec, stellar mass log(M-star /M-circle dot) = 11.64(-0.43)(+ 0.20), and extended isophotal shape variation. Simple lens models yield Einstein radii R-E = (1.30 +/- 0.04) arcsec, axis ratio q = 0.75 +/- 0.1 (compatible with that of the starlight) and considerable shear-ellipticity degeneracies. The two-image lens WGD2021-4115 has z(s) = 1.390 +/- 0.001 and z(l) = 0.335 +/- 0.002, and Einstein radius R-E = (1.1 +/- 0.1) arcsec, but higher-resolution imaging is needed to accurately separate the deflector and faint quasar image. Analogous lens model degeneracies hold for the other six lenses (J0146-1133, J0150-4041, J0235-2433, J0245-0556, J0259-2338, and J0508-2748) shown in this paper.