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We present a method for estimating the amount of matter in large-scale (approximately 50 Mpc) filaments using the surrounding velocity infall pattern, based on 242 filaments in the Millennium simulation. We identify filaments using a minimal spanning tree to link large groups and clusters, and find the axis of each filament using a weighted principle component analysis. We improve our previous determination of a typical infall velocity profile by rescaling the profile for each filament by the distance where the infall speed reaches a maximum. We use the resulting average profile to determine a two-parameter piecewise function that can be used to estimate the maximum infall speed and location for individual filaments. Finally, we present the correlation between the maximum infall speed and the mass of the filament. These results will be used as part of the Arecibo Pisces-Perseus Supercluster Survey (APPSS), a project to map the infall pattern around the Pisces-Perseus Supercluster filament. This work is supported by NSF grant AST-1637339. 

The Arecibo Pisces-Perseus Supercluster Survey(APPSS) aims to measure the infall and mass density along the PPS filament using red-shift independent distances obtained from the Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation (BTFR). We will combine photometric data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with HI line spectroscopy obtained with the Arecibo telescope to derive BTFR distances and peculiar velocities over the PPS volume and its immediate foreground and background. To supplement the ALFALFA detections in the PPS volume, we have conducted new HI line observations with the Arecibo L-band Wide receiver system of blue, low surface brightness galaxies identified by their photometric properties in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). These targets are predicted to lie in the PPS volume but with HI masses of 8.0 < log HI mass < 9.0, putting them below the ALFALFA detection limit at that distance. We compare a preliminary sample of 634 galaxies detected as part from the APPSS survey with the main ALFALFA survey and other public catalogs of local galaxies, confirming that the new APPSS HI line detections are rotation-dominated, HI bearing galaxies with low stellar mass. Nearly all are star-forming, bluer, and of lower surface brightness, extinction and metallicity than optically selected samples. Preliminary BTFRs were calculated for both APPSS and ALFALFA galaxies and compared with BTFRs of simulated galaxies similar to those found in APPSS and ALFALFA using simulations such as IllustrisTNG (see poster by J. Borden). This work has been supported by NSF/AST-1714828 and the Brinson Foundation. 

The Pisces-Perseus Supercluster is one of the most massive and cosmologically significant structures in the local universe. The Arecibo Pisces-Perseus Supercluster Survey (APPSS) will provide observational constraints as to the mass-infall rate onto the main filament of the Supercluster through a detailed analysis of the mass and motion of galaxies within and around the cluster. The APPSS galaxy sample consists of over 2,000 galaxies detected during the ALFALFA survey (a blind, HI 21-cm emission line survey of the local universe) combined with galaxies identified through our recent targeted observing campaign - designed to probe below the HI mass cutoff of the ALFALFA survey. These APPSS-candidates were observed using the L-band Wide receiver at the Arecibo Observatory over the last 4 years; to date the APPSS targeted observing has led to an HI 21-cm emission line detection rate of ~70% - corresponding to ~500 galaxies with cz < 9,000 km/s. Combining these new observations with the ALFALFA galaxies gives a total of ~2,500 galaxies in the current APPSS sample. Here, we describe and demonstrate the methods used by the APPSS team to reduce and analyze these targeted observations and explore the properties of the entire APPSS galaxy sample (while comparing the properties of the ALFALFA galaxies with the detections from the APPSS targeted observing campaign). This work has been supported by NSF AST-1637339. 

Developments in open-source high-level programming languages enable undergraduate students to make vital contributions to modern astronomical surveys. The Arecibo Pisces-Perseus Supercluster Survey (APPSS) currently uses data analysis software written in Interactive Data Language (IDL). We discuss the conversion of this software to the Python programming language, which uses freely available standard libraries, and the conversion of the data to a standard form of the Single-Dish FITS (SDFITS) standard. Data Reduction Integrated Python Protocol (DRIPP) provides user-guided data reduction with an interface similar to the former software written in IDL. Converting to DRIPP would provide researchers with more accessible data processing capabilities for APPSS (or any similar radio spectral survey). This work has been supported by NSF AST-1637339. 

In preparation for comparison with the Arecibo Pisces-Perseus Supercluster Survey (APPSS), we present the theoretically expected density and velocity profiles for large-scale (~ 50 Mpc) filaments from the Millennium simulation. We use an observationally-friendly method to identify filaments using the positions of large groups of galaxies, and average filaments together to find the typical structure of a filament in terms of cylindrical density profile and velocity infall profile. Both profiles can be fit by simple functions, but show a large scatter across the population of filaments. We are in the process of categorizing filaments to facilitate comparison with observations of specific filaments, like the Pisces-Perseus Supercluster filament. This work has been supported by NSF grant AST-1637339. 

The Arecibo Pisces Perseus Supercluster Survey (APPSS) is an HI survey measuring galaxy infall into the filament and clusters. Galaxies were selected for HI observations based on their location within the Pisces Perseus supercluster and SDSS and GALEX colors predictive of cold gas content. Most of the HI observations were conducted at Arecibo using the L Band Wide receiver, with some high-declination coverage provided by Green Bank. The observations provide increased sensitivity compared to ALFALFA blind survey data. For this project, we investigated a subset of 132 APPSS galaxies with declinations near 27 degrees. Using custom data reduction and analysis tools developed for the Undergraduate ALFALFA Team, we determined the following information for galaxies in our subset: systemic velocity, line width, integrated flux density, HI mass, and gas fraction (or corresponding limits for non-detections). We calculate our HI detection fraction and mean gas fraction as a function of stellar mass and compare to previous results. We investigate the distribution of systemic velocities for our galaxies with their location on the sky. Finally, we discuss several interesting sources from our subset of APPSS galaxies. This work has been supported by NSF grants AST-1211005, AST-1637299, and AST-1637339 

The Arecibo Pisces-Perseus Supercluster Survey (APPSS) is an observing project by the Undergraduate ALFALFA Team, aimed at determining the mass of the Pisces Perseus Supercluster through measurement of peculiar velocities from HI line detections. The survey targeted approximately 600 galaxies selected based on SDSS and GALEX photometry as likely to contain HI. We reduced Arecibo L-Band Wide observations for 90 galaxies near declination 25 degrees, 40 of which showed HI emission. 58% of those 40 galaxies were below 10,000 km/s recession velocity and thus will provide useful information to draw conclusions from. We determined the recession velocity, velocity width, and HI line flux for each detection. We discuss our results for APPSS galaxies and for ALFALFA detections near this declination strip. By combining results from all strips, APPSS will determine which galaxies are associated with the Pisces-Perseus Supercluster, and their peculiar velocities will be measured via the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation. This work has been supported by NSF grants AST-1211005 and AST-1637339. 

The Arecibo Pisces-Perseus Supercluster Survey (APPSS) will provide strong observational constraints on the mass-infall rate onto the main filament of the Pisces-Perseus Supercluster. The survey data consist of HI emission-line spectra of cluster galaxy candidates, obtained primarily at the Arecibo Observatory (with ALFA as part of the ALFALFA Survey and with the L-Band Wide receiver as part of APPSS observations). Here we present the details of the data reduction process and spectral-analysis techniques used to determine if a galaxy candidate is at a velocity consistent with the Supercluster, as well as the detected HI-flux and rotational velocity of the galaxy, which will be used to estimate the corresponding HI-mass. We discuss the results of a preliminary analysis on a subset of the APPSS sample, corresponding to 98 galaxies located within ~1.5° of DEC = +35.0°, with 65 possible detections. We also highlight several interesting emission-line features and galaxies discovered during the reduction and analysis process and layout the future of the APPSS project. This work has been supported by NSF grants AST-1211005 and AST-1637339. 

The Arecibo Pisces-Perseus Supercluster Survey (APPSS) aims to exploit the Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation to derive distances and peculiar velocities of galaxies in and near the main ridge of the Pisces-Perseus Supercluster (PPS), one of the most prominent features of the Cosmic Web in the nearby Universe. The sample of galaxies contains ~ 600 sources in the low-mass range (8 < log MHI / M⊙ < 9). The source selection was based on the ALFALFA HI survey, SDSS and GALEX photometric data. The sample galaxies have HI masses just below the ALFALFA detection threshold, and were selected to be blue disk systems (low surface brightness sources from optical photometry data). The HI data were obtained at the Arecibo Observatory between the years 2015 and 2016. With this sample, the nature of the galaxy population in and around the PPS will be investigated. The HIMF to log MHI ~ 8.0 along the PPS filament will be measured and using the Tully-Fisher relation it will be possible to make a robust measurement of the infall and backflow onto the filamentary structure.APPSS is collaborative project between more than 10 Undergraduate ALFALFA Team institutions in which each group contributes to the analysis of a subset of the HI PPS data. In this poster, we will present the contributions of the U.P.R. team to the APPSS project. We will show the procedure used for the Arecibo HI data analysis, including some examples, and will show our preliminary results. 

We report on results of the Arecibo Pisces-Perseus Supercluster Survey (APPSS) along and near declination 23 degrees. APPSS is a targeted HI survey using the L-band wide receiever at the NAIC Arecibo observatory. It is designed to detect infall onto the Pisces-Perseus Supercluster (PPS) using a statistical comparison to models of the peculiar velocity flow field. We have investigated a subset of 67 galaxies in the PPS sky region along declination 23 degrees. For detected galaxies we have determined their systemic velocity, line width, integrated flux density, and HI mass. We will illustrate HI spectral properties of interesting detections in our region and will compare them with available optical and UV data from SDSS and the GALEX archives. We will also describe the data reduction process and the ongoing collaboration among faculty and undergraduate students of the Undergraduate ALFALFA Team.