The BOSS Lyα Forest Sample from SDSS Data Release 9
type: Dataset
description: We present the BOSS Lyman-α (Lyα) Forest Sample from SDSS Data Release 9, comprising 54,468 quasar spectra with z qso > 2.15 suitable for Lyα forest analysis. This data set probes the intergalactic medium with absorption redshifts 2.0 < z α < 5.7 over an area of 3275 deg2, and encompasses an approximate comoving volume of 20 h -3 Gpc3. With each spectrum, we have included several products designed to aid in Lyα forest analysis: improved sky masks that flag pixels where data may be unreliable, corrections for known biases in the pipeline estimated noise, masks for the cores of damped Lyα systems and corrections for their wings, and estimates of the unabsorbed continua so that the observed flux can be converted to a fractional transmission. The continua are derived using a principal component fit to the quasar spectrum redward of rest-frame Lyα (λ > 1216 Å), extrapolated into the forest region and normalized by a linear function to fit the expected evolution of the Lyα forest mean flux. The estimated continuum errors are <~ 5% rms. We also discuss possible systematics arising from uncertain spectrophotometry and artifacts in the flux calibration; global corrections for the latter are provided. Our sample provides a convenient starting point for users to analyze clustering in BOSS Lyα forest data, and it provides a fiducial data set that can be used to compare results from different analyses of baryon acoustic oscillations in the Lyα forest. The full data set is available from the SDSS-III DR9 Web site.
landing page: 0004-6256
keyword: infoeu-reposemanticsarticle
keyword: intergalactic-medium
keyword: journal-articles
keyword: methods-data-analysis
keyword: physastrcophysics-physicsastrophysics-astro-phcosmology-and-extra-galactic-astrophysics-a
keyword: quasars-absorption-lines
keyword: quasars-emission-lines
keyword: sduastrcosciences-of-the-universe-physicsastrophysics-astro-phcosmology-and-extra-galactic
issued: 2026-05-11T02:36:21.689996
modified: 2026-05-11T02:36:21.690001
language: en
contact point: Organization
  fn: CCSD

test_moissonnage_selune
type: Agent

The BOSS Lyα Forest Sample from SDSS Data Release 9
type: Distribution
format: HTML
access URL: https://in2p3.hal.science/in2p3-00823680
issued: 2026-05-11T02:36:21.691564
modified: 2026-05-11T02:36:21.679536