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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

🔭 New planetarium film alert! SDSS-V: Mapping the Hidden Universe is a 10-minute fulldome film produced in collaboration with Fiske Planetarium. This film is the first of a four-part series. Stay tuned for films about each of our Mappers! sdss.org/education/sd...

youtube.com

SDSS-V: Mapping the Hidden Universe (English)

YouTube video by Sloan Digital Sky Surveys

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

We are releasing a value added catalog of updated redshifts and classifications of Fermi-detected sources within SDSS-V using multi-component fits. www.sdss.org/dr20/data_ac... arxiv.org/abs/2607.26175

sdss.org

Value Added Catalogs - SDSS

In addition to the primary SDSS photometry and spectroscopy, there are a few extra catalogs created by our collaborators that are distributed through the SAS. These Value-Added Catalogs (VACs) are lis...

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

We are releasing a value added catalog that disentangles the influence of the host galaxy in quasar spectra as presented in Negrete+2025. www.sdss.org/dr20/data_ac... ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025MNRA...

sdss.org

Value Added Catalogs - SDSS

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

We are releasing a value added catalog of optical spectral properties of X-ray selected AGN in the eFEDS fields, with associated X-ray and multiwavelength photometric public data: www.sdss.org/dr20/data_ac... doi.org/10.1051/0004...

sdss.org

Value Added Catalogs - SDSS

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

We are releasing a value added Visual Inspection Catalog of DR20 BOSS spectra including redshifts, classifications, and confidence flags for BOSS ‘allepoch’ coadded spectra. www.sdss.org/dr20/data_ac...

sdss.org

Value Added Catalogs - SDSS

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

SDSS-V DR20 includes the first release of BOSS spectra for the southern sky taken from LCO

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

We are releasing a total of 1.1M BOSS spectra in DR20 for ~490,000 distinct objects primarily targeted for spectroscopy by BHM, a 3-4x expansion vs DR19. www.sdss.org/dr20/bhm/dat... www.sdss.org/dr20/bhm/dat...

sdss.org

BHM Data - SDSS

New data for BHM in DR20 BOSS spectra SDSS DR20 includes the release of a total of ~1.1M spectra for ~490,000 distinct objects primarily targeted for spectroscopy by BHM (a 3-4x expansion vs. DR19). T...

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Reposted by SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper

Sloan Digital Sky Surveys @sdssurveys.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Big day for us today at the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: it's Data Release Day! Our twentieth(!!!) data release will go out later today, with lots of spectra and catalogs of stars, galaxies and quasars, and some new webtools! Our DR20 paper has all the details: arxiv.org/abs/2607.26149 #DR20

arxiv.org

The Twentieth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First All-Sky BOSS Spectra, eROSITA-SDSS-V Mapper Coordinated Observations, and a Preview of the Local Volume Mapper

This paper presents the twentieth data release (DR20) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the third data release of its fifth generation (SDSS-V). SDSS-V is a panoptic spectroscopy survey that is mappi...

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Thank you to AAS Nova for highlighting the recent SDSS-V overview paper! Check out their article (and the overview paper!) to learn how SDSS is expanding our view of the universe through panoptic, spectroscopic mapping of the night sky. 🌌

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Sloan Digital Sky Surveys @sdssurveys.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

All @blackholemapper.bsky.social science programs are available here, www.sdss.org/dr19/bhm/pro..., and they include time domain programs such AQMES (All-Quasar Multi-Epoch Spectroscopy and reverberation mapping, X-ray follow-up programs.

This image shows at the bottom a cartoon of an Active Galactic Nucleus, with X-rays produced by the central hot corona, and then the accretion disc and broad line region clouds further out. The top shows three images highlighting the science that Black Hole Mapper is focusing on, with X-ray follow-up in the centre, and reverberation mapping and multi-epoch spectroscopy located above the broad line regions on either side. Figure taken from https://www.sdss.org/dr19/bhm/about/

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Sloan Digital Sky Surveys @sdssurveys.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

@blackholemapper.bsky.social had already released a few spectra in DR18, but they are going all out for DR19, with lots of galaxy and quasar spectra #DR19

This image shows the location of Black Hole Mapper targets on the sky, with each purple point depicting an object. All fields are in the North taken with the Sloan Telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, US. Fields in the South by the du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory will be part of the next data release, DR20. There is a pink blob around right ascension = 9 hours, which are the eFEDS fields (eROSITA Full Equatorial Depth Survey) released in DR18. Figure taken from https://www.sdss.org/dr19/bhm/

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Sloan Digital Sky Surveys @sdssurveys.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Yesterday we released our nineteenth data release into the wild: www.sdss.org/dr19, let’s now take a closer look on what is in this data release. #DR19

The figure is the banner from the SDSS website www.sdss.org. In the middle it has an image of the Milky Way, showing the bulge, disc and dust lanes. On the left we see an stylised version of the Hertzsprung Russel diagram, while on the right the image transforms into the cosmic web. This image showcases the range of science covered by the three mapper programs in SDSS-V.

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Niall Deacon @nialldeacon.com · 11/07/2025

First we have a tutorial around some basic themes relating to @blackholemapper.bsky.social . This introduces quasar spectra and redshift before moving in to time domain astronomy and looking at spectroscopic variability. You can find it here www.sdss.org/dr19/tutoria... 2/4

sdss.org

BHM In the Classroom - SDSS

This notebook aims to introduce some topics around quasar spectra, redshift and spectral variability. It is suitable for introductory level physics or astronomy majors at the tertiary level but could ...

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

We are releasing a total of ~380,000 BOSS spectra in DR19 for ~120,000 distinct objects primarily targeted for spectroscopy by BHM, an order of magnitude expansion vs. DR18. www.sdss.org/dr19/bhm/dat... www.sdss.org/dr19/bhm/dat...

sdss.org

BHM Data - SDSS

Previous SDSS data most relevant to BHM Please also see earlier SDSS data releases, including DR16, DR17, and DR18 which e.g., include BHM relevant science and data, from other earlier SDSS programs a...

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Reposted by SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper

Sloan Digital Sky Surveys @sdssurveys.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Today is a big day for us: it's DATA RELEASE DAY!!! And to celebrate our nineteenth data release, we have not one, but two papers for you to read all about our data: we have a DR19 paper (arxiv.org/abs/2507.07093) and an SDSS-V Overview paper (arxiv.org/abs/2507.06989) #DR19

arxiv.org

Sloan Digital Sky Survey-V: Pioneering Panoptic Spectroscopy

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-V (SDSS-V) is pioneering panoptic spectroscopy: it is the first all-sky, multi-epoch, optical-to-infrared spectroscopic survey. SDSS-V is mapping the sky with multi-object...

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 25/09/2024

about the BLR structure and how they change based on the luminosity state of the quasar. This has implications for the use of reverberation mapping in this source to measure a black hole mass, and more! (3/3)

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 25/09/2024

This paper presents a velocity-resolved analysis of reverberation mapping data of the quasar SDSS-RM 160, which is a hypervariable quasar found to display odd/interesting behavior in its BLR. The team uses reverberation mapping techniques to uncover details (2/3)

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 14/08/2024

They use this sample to look for and report on trends in various properties of AGN that show this behavior, such as accretion rate, and examine the behavior of different emission lines. (3/3)

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 14/08/2024

This work reports the results of a large-scale search for changing-look AGN (AGN that show dramatic variability and/or changes in "type") with first-year SDSS-V BHM spectroscopy. They found 116 changing-look AGN, the largest number of changing-look AGN ever reported! (2/3)

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 14/08/2024

This week's BHM paper highlight is "Exploring Changing-look Active Galactic Nuclei with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey V: First Year Results" by Zeltyn et al. (2024). The paper can be found here: arxiv.org/abs/2401.01933 (1/3)

arxiv.org

Exploring Changing-look Active Galactic Nuclei with the Sloan...

"Changing-look" active galactic nuclei (CL-AGNs) challenge our basic ideas about the physics of accretion flows and circumnuclear gas around supermassive black holes. Using first-year Sloan...

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 07/08/2024

Accelerating quasar winds have been reported before, but with 130 observations from SDSS spread over 8 years, researchers were able to show the acceleration at high confidence. These results were also reported by several news outlets: For example, see www.newsweek.com/supermassive... (3/3)

newsweek.com

Supermassive black hole's "wind" shapes surrounding galaxy

Astronomers analyzed observations of a quasar to find changes in the winds surrounding it.

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 07/08/2024

This paper reports an investigation of variability in a broad absorption-line quasar that was observed by the BHM program. Researchers discovered that a prominent absorption line, which indicates a wind being launched off the quasar accretion disk, is accelerating.

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 07/08/2024

This week's BHM paper highlight is "The SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper Reverberation Mapping Project: CIV BAL Acceleration in the Quasar SBS 1408+544" by Wheatley et al. (2024). The paper can be found here: arxiv.org/abs/2406.08622 (1/3)

arxiv.org

The SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper Reverberation Mapping Project: CIV...

We present the results of an investigation of a highly variable CIV broad absorption-line feature in the quasar SBS 1408+544 (z=2.337) that shows a significant shift in velocity over time. This...

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 02/08/2024

This paper analyzes the X-ray (eROSITA) and optical (SDSS and other) properties of the X-ray sources found and is meant as a demonstration of what is to come with the full eROSITA all-sky survey data that may come in future years. (3/3)

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 02/08/2024

This paper presents a sample of hard X-ray sources detected by the eROSITA satellite, focusing specifically on extragalactic sources, which primarily include AGN. These sources were targeted in the optical by SDSS-V as a part of the BHM program!

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 23/07/2024

from the BHM program (along with data), they identified 26 accreting compact white dwarf binaries, some of which are new discoveries, and include dwarf novae and different types of cataclysmic variables. 3/3

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 23/07/2024

This work reports on observations taken as a part of SDSS-IV and SDSS-V (BHM) eROSITA followup program! While much of the BHM focus is on quasars, it turns out that some of the X-ray sources from eROSITA are compact white dwarf binaries. Using spectra 2/3

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 23/07/2024

After a bit of a hiatus, we are returning with more weekly-ish BHM Science Paper Highlights! This week's paper highlight is "Compact White Dwarf Binaries in the combined SRG/eROSITA/SDSS eFEDs Survey", by A. Schwope et al. (2024): arxiv.org/abs/2401.17304 1/3

arxiv.org

Compact white-dwarf binaries in the combined SRG/eROSITA/SDSS eFEDS survey

Aims. Compact white-dwarf binaries are selected from spectra obtained in the early SDSS-V plate program. A dedicated set of SDSS plate observations were carried out in the eFEDS field, providing...

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 28/11/2023

and look for "clustering", which tells us about their placement within dark matter halos. Constraints can then be placed on the evolution and fueling of AGN and the galaxies in which they reside! 3/3

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 28/11/2023

This paper reports on active galactic nuclei (AGN) that have been identified using a combination of X-ray data from the eROSITA satellite and SDSS-V data (as well as other sources). The authors used these data to learn about the environments in which AGN are found 2/3

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 28/11/2023

This week's BHM paper highlight is "The Cosmic Web of X-ray Active Galactic Nuclei seen through the eROSITA Final Equatorial Depth Survey (eFEDS)", by Johan Comparat et al. (2023). The paper can be found here: arxiv.org/abs/2301.01388 1/3

arxiv.org

The cosmic web of X-ray active galactic nuclei seen through the...

Which galaxies in the general population turn into active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is a keystone of galaxy formation and evolution. Thanks to SRG/eROSITA's contiguous 140 square degree pilot survey...

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 20/11/2023

allows us to learn more about the accretion of material onto quasars and about the structure of the region called the "broad line region" that is used in measurements of supermassive black hole masses, which are important for our understanding of the evolution of galaxies! 3/3

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 20/11/2023

This work reports on SDSS-V observations of a quasar that is a part of our BHM reverberation mapping program. This quasar shows unique variability in its broad emission lines -- they appear to shift back and forth over time, among other things! "Unusual" behavior like this 2/3

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 20/11/2023

This week's BHM science paper highlight is "The SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper Reverberation Mapping Project: Unusual Broad-Line Variability in a Luminous Quasar", by @loganfries Fries et al. (2023). The paper can be found here: arxiv.org/abs/2301.10252 1/3

arxiv.org

The SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper Reverberation Mapping Project:...

We present a high-cadence multi-epoch analysis of dramatic variability of three broad emission lines (MgII, H$β$, and H$α$) in the spectra of the luminous quasar ($λ...

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 14/11/2023

This work used X-ray observations from the eROSITA satellite in combination with optical spectroscopy from the Black Hole Mapper (and other sources) to fit physical models to AGN data and learn about the processes behind the observed X-ray properties in AGN. 2/2

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 14/11/2023

This week's BHM paper highlight is "The eROSITA Final Equatorial Depth Survey (eFEDS): Complex Absorption and soft excesses in hard X-ray-selected Active Galactic Nuclei", by Waddell et al. (2023). The paper can be found here: arxiv.org/pdf/2306.009... 1/2

arxiv.org

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 07/11/2023

Changing-look quasars (or AGN) are quasars that undergo a dramatic change in luminosity compared to "usual" quasars, and also show changes in their spectra, with features appearing or disappearing, making the quasars look different. We use these objects to learn about quasar accretion processes! 2/2

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SDSS-V Black Hole Mapper @blackholemapper.bsky.social · 07/11/2023

Today is our first BHM Science Paper Day! The first science results to be published using BHM data were those of Zeltyn et al. (2022). This paper reports the discovery of a "changing-look quasar" using SDSS-V monitoring. The paper can be found here: arxiv.org/abs/2210.07258 1/

arxiv.org

A Transient "Changing-look'' Active Galactic Nucleus...

We report the discovery of a new ``changing-look'' active galactic nucleus (CLAGN) event, in the quasar SDSS J162829.17+432948.5 at z=0.2603, identified through repeat spectroscopy from the fifth...

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