Target Selection and Validation of DESI Luminous Red Galaxies

Abstract The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is carrying out a five-year survey that aims to measure the redshifts of tens of millions of galaxies and quasars, including 8 million luminous red galaxies (LRGs) in the redshift range 0.4 < z ≲ 1.0. Here we present the selection of the DESI LRG sample and assess its spectroscopic performance using data from Survey Validation (SV) and the first two months of the Main Survey. The DESI LRG sample, selected using g , r , z , and W 1 photometry from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, is highly robust against imaging systematics. The sample has a target density of 605 deg −2 and a comoving number density of 5 × 10 −4 h 3 Mpc −3 in 0.4 < z < 0.8; this…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: No. AST-0950945, AST-0950945, DE-AC02-05CH11231, 0950945, 11433005
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy

  Awards: -AC02-05CH11231, 05CH11231, AC02-05CH11231, DE-SC0019022, DE-AC02, DE-AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC02-
• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  Award: DE-AC02-05CH11231
• GA
  Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
• CI
  California Institute of Technology
• CA
  Chinese Academy of Sciences

  Awards: 114A11KYSB20160057, XDB09000000
• CN
  Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
• MD
  Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
• CÀ
  Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives
• OO
  Office of Science

  Awards: DE-SC0019022, AC02-05CH11231, -AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC02
• JP
  Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• DO
  Division of Astronomical Sciences

  Award: AST-0950945
• HE
  High Energy Physics

  Awards: DE-SC0019022, DE-AC02-05CH11231
• LB
  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

  Awards: DE-AC02-05CH11231, 05CH11231, AC02-05CH11231