Dr David J Turner

| Research Associate | Michigan State University | turne540@msu.edu |

This is the personal website of Dr David J. Turner, an astrophysicist, open source software developer, and research associate at Michigan State University's department of Physics and Astronomy with Professor Megan Donahue. Currently, I am a member of the Local Volume Complete Cluster Survey (LoVoCCS), the X-ray Cluster Survey (XCS; formerly the XMM Cluster Survey), the Dark Energy Survey (DES), and the LSST-DESC collaboration.

My scientific interests and expertise centre on X-ray astronomy and multi-wavelength analyses of galaxy clusters to provide constraints on their mass, temperature, density, and the relations between these properties. Such measurements tell us a lot about individual clusters, and when you consider a population of clusters the scatter of the total mass with respect to these different properties becomes very important; for instance to successfully constrain cosmology using galaxy clusters. My other research interests include active galaxies, and low-metallicity, star-forming galaxies known as 'Peas'.

While working on XCS, a serindipitious survey of galaxy clusters, I also became interested in very large-scale analyses of sources, to search for unusual or discrepant behaviours. There are more than likely objects of a type previously unknown to us in the large archives of telescopes like XMM, and the scale of the data we can search is only ever going to increase. To this end, I led the development of the open-source Python X-ray astronomy modules XGA and DAXA. These types of accessible software have the power to democratise astronomy specialisms!

If you would like to discuss any of my research/software tools or invite me to give a talk at your institution about galaxy clusters, X-ray astronomy, or open-source science/software please feel free to send me an email at turne540@msu.edu; new ideas for collaborations are also always welcome!


Ongoing Research Projects

X-ray Local Volume Complete Cluster Survey (X-LoVoCCS)

I am the X-ray lead for the LoVoCCS collaboration, using archival X-ray observations to probe the the ICM (measuring temperature, metallicity, gas/total mass, etc.), complementing the extraordinary 2D weak-lensing mass maps being measured. This project involves making the X-ray analysis entirely reproducible and open; read more in the the LoVoCCS collaboration repository.

Hydrostatic Masses of SDSS Selected Galaxy Clusters

This involves the measurement of hydrostatic masses (and thus temperature and hot baryon density radial profiles) for ~120 galaxy clusters observed by the XMM-Newton X-ray telescope, but selected from the SDSS redMaPPer catalogue. These clusters are a subset of the SDSSRM-XCS sample created by Paul Giles for XCS. This project makes use of X-ray: Generate and Analyse (XGA).

XMM Analysis of LOFAR (LoLSS/LoTSS) radio sources

I am leveraging XGA's ability to easily analyse X-ray data for large samples to produce an X-ray property catalogue for LOFAR selected objects, with upper-limits for non-detections. It will be reproducible as XGA is open-source, and a 'cookbook' for analysing LOFAR sources with XGA will be included. This catalogue is intended as a resource for the community, with myraid scientific uses; my initial focus is on using high-dimensional clustering of X-ray/radio characteristics to search for unusual sources.

Searching for Pea Galaxies and Examining Their X-ray Emission

Pea galaxies are curious objects, a possible analogue for high-redshift galaxies, they are minimally enriched and have significant star formation. I am studying their X-ray emission, in order to probe whether they have an enhanced X-ray luminosity over the value expected from their SFR. The sample sizes are still very limited, so the first step is finding more of them. I am achieving this through the use of the SDSS database and an ensemble of machine learning techniques.

Mass-Observable Relations for DES and ACT Clusters

As a member of the Dark Energy Survey, I am using XGA to measure spatially resolved ICM properties for galaxy clusters selected from DES and ACT that have archival XMM observations. This is a continuation of my work on hydrostatic masses of SDSSRM-XCS clusters, and the combined sample of hydrostatic masses is the largest ever measured. The overarching goal is the calibration of mass-observable relation normalisation and scatter, to enable cluster cosmology efforts.


Open Source Astrophysics Software

X-ray: Generate and Analyse (XGA)

An open source Python package for generalised X-ray analysis, with current support for XMM-Newton and eROSITA Calibration and Performance Verification data (more to come). XGA greatly simplifies X-ray analyses for both individual objects and large samples, providing comprehensive X-ray data product generation/analysis abilities through a Python interface. XGA uses a 'source based' paradigm, where different Python classes represent different types of astrophysical object, and the user only needs to pass a position to start their exploration.

Democratising Archival X-ray Astronomy (DAXA)

An open source Python package for the acquisition of X-ray data and creation of multi-mission X-ray archives, for use with XGA and other analysis software. All X-ray observations from multiple telescopes can be downloaded and processed, or observations can be filtered to those relevant to a user's work. All data are filtered and downloaded through a simple Python interface, and all telescopes can be searched simultaneously. Currently DAXA can download data from XMM, Chandra, eROSITA, NuSTAR, Swift, ROSAT, Suzaku, ASCA, and INTEGRAL archives; only XMM data can be fully processed.


Publications

First Author

DAXA: Traversing the X-ray desert by Democratising Archival X-ray Astronomy (2024)
Turner, David J., Pilling, Jessica E., Donahue, Megan, Giles, Paul A., Romer, Kathy, Gupta, Agrim, Wallage, Toby, & Wang, Ray
arXiv e-prints

The XMM Cluster Survey: Automating the estimation of hydrostatic mass for large samples of galaxy clusters I -- Methodology, Validation, & Application to the SDSSRM-XCS sample (2024)
Turner, D. J., Giles, P. A., Romer, A. K., Pilling, J., Lingard, T. K., Wilkinson, R., Hilton, M., Upsdell, E. W., Al-Serkal, R., Cheng, T., Eappen, R., Rooney, P. J., Bhargava, S., Collins, C. A., Mayers, J., Miller, C., Nichol, R. C., Sahén, M., & Viana, P. T. P.
arXiv e-prints

The XMM Cluster Survey: an independent demonstration of the fidelity of the eFEDS galaxy cluster data products and implications for future studies (2022)
Turner, D. J., Giles, P. A., Romer, A. K., Wilkinson, R., Upsdell, E. W., Klein, M., Viana, P. T. P., Hilton, M., Bhargava, S., Collins, C. A., Mann, R. G., Sahlén, M., & Stott, J. P.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

XGA: A module for the large-scale scientific exploitation of archival X-ray astronomy data (2022)
Turner, D. J., Giles, P. A., Romer, A. K., & Korbina, V.
arXiv e-prints

Second Author

A Multiwavelength Dynamical State Analysis of ACT-CL J0019.6+0336 (2021)
Pillay, Denisha S., Turner, David J., Hilton, Matt, Knowles, Kenda, Kesebonye, Kabelo C., Moodley, Kavilan, Mroczkowski, Tony, Oozeer, Nadeem, Pfrommer, Christoph, Sikhosana, Sinenhlanhla P., & Wollack, Edward J.
Galaxies

Made Contributions

LoVoCCS -- II. Weak Lensing Mass Distributions, Red-Sequence Galaxy Distributions, and Their Alignment with the Brightest Cluster Galaxy in 58 Nearby X-ray-Luminous Galaxy Clusters (2024)
Fu, Shenming, Dell'Antonio, Ian, Escalante, Zacharias, Nelson, Jessica, Englert, Anthony, Helhoski, Søren, Shinde, Rahul, Brockland, Julia, LaDuca, Philip, Larkin, Christelyn, Paris, Lucca, Weiner, Shane, Black, William K., Chary, Ranga-Ram, Clowe, Douglas, Cooper, M. C., Donahue, Megan, Evrard, August, Lacy, Mark, Lauer, Tod, Liu, Binyang, McCleary, Jacqueline, Meneghetti, Massimo, Miyatake, Hironao, Montes, Mireia, Natarajan, Priyamvada, Ntampaka, Michelle, Pierpaoli, Elena, Postman, Marc, Sohn, Jubee, Turner, David, Umetsu, Keiichi, Utsumi, Yousuke, & Wilson, Gillian
arXiv e-prints

Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Mis-centering calibration and X-ray-richness scaling relations in redMaPPer clusters (2023)
Kelly, P., Jobel, J., Eiger, O., Abd, A., Jeltema, T. E., Giles, P., Hollowood, D. L., Wilkinson, R. D., Turner, D. J., Bhargava, S., Everett, S., Farahi, A., Romer, A. K., Rykoff, E. S., Wang, F., Bocquet, S., Cross, D., Faridjoo, R., Franco, J., Gardner, G., Kwiecien, M., Laubner, D., McDaniel, A., O'Donnell, J. H., Sanchez, L., Schmidt, E., Sripada, S., Swart, A., Upsdell, E., Webber, A., Aguena, M., Allam, S., Alves, O., Bacon, D., Brooks, D., Burke, D. L., Carnero Rosell, A., Carretero, J., Collins, C. A., Costanzi, M., da Costa, L. N., Pereira, M. E. S., Davis, T. M., Doel, P., Ferrero, I., Frieman, J., García-Bellido, J., Giannini, G., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R. A., Hilton, M., Hinton, S. R., Honscheid, K., James, D. J., Kuehn, K., Mann, R. G., Marshall, J. L., Mena-Fernández, J., Miller, C. J., Miquel, R., Myles, J., Palmese, A., Pieres, A., Plazas Malagón, A. A., Rooney, P. J., Sahlen, M., Sanchez, E., Sanchez Cid, D., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Stott, J. P., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M. E. C., Tarle, G., To, C., Viana, P. T. P., Weaverdyck, N., & Wiseman, P.
arXiv e-prints

The XMM cluster survey: exploring scaling relations and completeness of the dark energy survey year 3 redMaPPer cluster catalogue (2023)
Upsdell, E. W., Giles, P. A., Romer, A. K., Wilkinson, R., Turner, D. J., Hilton, M., Rykoff, E., Farahi, A., Bhargava, S., Jeltema, T., Klein, M., Bermeo, A., Collins, C. A., Ebrahimpour, L., Hollowood, D., Mann, R. G., Manolopoulou, M., Miller, C. J., Rooney, P. J., Sahlén, Martin, Stott, J. P., Viana, P. T. P., Allam, S., Alves, O., Bacon, D., Bertin, E., Bocquet, S., Brooks, D., Burke, D. L., Carrasco Kind, M., Carretero, J., Costanzi, M., da Costa, L. N., Pereira, M. E. S., De Vicente, J., Desai, S., Diehl, H. T., Dietrich, J. P., Everett, S., Ferrero, I., Frieman, J., García-Bellido, J., Gerdes, D. W., Gutierrez, G., Hinton, S. R., Honscheid, K., James, D. J., Kuehn, K., Kuropatkin, N., Lima, M., Marshall, J. L., Mena-Fernández, J., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J. J., Ogando, R. L. C., Pieres, A., Raveri, M., Rodriguez-Monroy, M., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M. E. C., Tarle, G., To, C., Weaverdyck, N., Weller, J., & Wiseman, P.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

The XMM Cluster Survey analysis of the SDSS DR8 redMaPPer catalogue: implications for scatter, selection bias, and isotropy in cluster scaling relations (2022)
Giles, P. A., Romer, A. K., Wilkinson, R., Bermeo, A., Turner, D. J., Hilton, M., Upsdell, E. W., Rooney, P. J., Bhargava, S., Ebrahimpour, L., Farahi, A., Mann, R. G., Manolopoulou, M., Mayers, J., Vergara, C., Viana, P. T. P., Collins, C. A., Hollowood, D., Jeltema, T., Miller, C. J., Nichol, R. C., Noorali, R., Splettstoesser, M., & Stott, J. P.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Dwarf AGNs from Optical Variability for the Origins of Seeds (DAVOS): insights from the dark energy survey deep fields (2022)
Burke, Colin J., Liu, Xin, Shen, Yue, Phadke, Kedar A., Yang, Qian, Hartley, Will G., Harrison, Ian, Palmese, Antonella, Guo, Hengxiao, Zhang, Kaiwen, Kron, Richard, Turner, David J., Giles, Paul A., Lidman, Christopher, Chen, Yu-Ching, Gruendl, Robert A., Choi, Ami, Amon, Alexandra, Sheldon, Erin, Aguena, M., Allam, S., Andrade-Oliveira, F., Bacon, D., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Conselice, C., Costanzi, M., da Costa, L. N., Pereira, M. E. S., Davis, T. M., De Vicente, J., Desai, S., Diehl, H. T., Everett, S., Ferrero, I., Flaugher, B., García-Bellido, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Hinton, S. R., Hollowood, D. L., Honscheid, K., Hoyle, B., James, D. J., Kuehn, K., Maia, M. A. G., Marshall, J. L., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Morgan, R., Paz-Chinchón, F., Pieres, A., Malagón, A. A. Plazas, Reil, K., Romer, A. K., Sanchez, E., Schubnell, M., Serrano, S., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Suchyta, E., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., To, C., Varga, T. N., Wilkinson, R. D., & DES Collaboration
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Velocity dispersions of clusters in the Dark Energy Survey Y3 redMaPPer catalogue (2022)
Wetzell, V., Jeltema, T. E., Hegland, B., Everett, S., Giles, P. A., Wilkinson, R., Farahi, A., Costanzi, M., Hollowood, D. L., Upsdell, E., Saro, A., Myles, J., Bermeo, A., Bhargava, S., Collins, C. A., Cross, D., Eiger, O., Gardner, G., Hilton, M., Jobel, J., Kelly, P., Laubner, D., Liddle, A. R., Mann, R. G., Martinez, V., Mayers, J., McDaniel, A., Romer, A. K., Rooney, P., Sahlen, M., Stott, J., Swart, A., Turner, D. J., Viana, P. T. P., Abbott, T. M. C., Aguena, M., Allam, S., Andrade-Oliveira, F., Annis, J., Asorey, J., Bertin, E., Burke, D. L., Calcino, J., Carnero Rosell, A., Carollo, D., Carrasco Kind, M., Carretero, J., Choi, A., Crocce, M., da Costa, L. N., Pereira, M. E. S., Davis, T. M., De Vicente, J., Desai, S., Diehl, H. T., Dietrich, J. P., Doel, P., Evrard, A. E., Ferrero, I., Fosalba, P., Frieman, J., García-Bellido, J., Gaztanaga, E., Glazebrook, K., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R. A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Hinton, S. R., Honscheid, K., James, D. J., Kuehn, K., Kuropatkin, N., Lahav, O., Lewis, G. F., Lidman, C., Lima, M., Maia, M. A. G., Marshall, J. L., Melchior, P., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Morgan, R., Palmese, A., Paz-Chinchón, F., Plazas Malagón, A. A., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Serrano, S., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Soares-Santos, M., Suchyta, E., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Tucker, B. E., Tucker, D. L., Varga, T. N., Weller, J., & DES Collaboration
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

The XXL Survey. XLII. The L<SUB>X</SUB> - σ<SUB>v</SUB> relation of galaxy groups and clusters detected in the XXL and GAMA surveys (2022)
Giles, P. A., Robotham, A., Ramos-Ceja, M. E., Maughan, B. J., Sereno, M., McGee, S., Phillipps, S., Iovino, A., Turner, D. J., Adami, C., Brough, S., Chiappetti, L., Driver, S. P., Evrard, A. E., Farahi, A., Gastaldello, F., Holwerda, B. W., Hopkins, A. M., Koulouridis, E., Pacaud, F., Pierre, M., & Pimbblet, K. A.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

The Dark Energy Survey Data Release 2 (2021)
Abbott, T. M. C., Adamów, M., Aguena, M., Allam, S., Amon, A., Annis, J., Avila, S., Bacon, D., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Becker, M. R., Bernstein, G. M., Bertin, E., Bhargava, S., Bridle, S. L., Brooks, D., Burke, D. L., Carnero Rosell, A., Carrasco Kind, M., Carretero, J., Castander, F. J., Cawthon, R., Chang, C., Choi, A., Conselice, C., Costanzi, M., Crocce, M., da Costa, L. N., Davis, T. M., De Vicente, J., DeRose, J., Desai, S., Diehl, H. T., Dietrich, J. P., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eckert, K., Elvin-Poole, J., Everett, S., Evrard, A. E., Ferrero, I., Ferté, A., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Friedel, D., Frieman, J., García-Bellido, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gelman, L., Gerdes, D. W., Giannantonio, T., Gill, M. S. S., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R. A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Hartley, W. G., Hinton, S. R., Hollowood, D. L., Honscheid, K., Huterer, D., James, D. J., Jeltema, T., Johnson, M. D., Kent, S., Kron, R., Kuehn, K., Kuropatkin, N., Lahav, O., Li, T. S., Lidman, C., Lin, H., MacCrann, N., Maia, M. A. G., Manning, T. A., Maloney, J. D., March, M., Marshall, J. L., Martini, P., Melchior, P., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Morgan, R., Myles, J., Neilsen, E., Ogando, R. L. C., Palmese, A., Paz-Chinchón, F., Petravick, D., Pieres, A., Plazas, A. A., Pond, C., Rodriguez-Monroy, M., Romer, A. K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E. S., Sako, M., Sanchez, E., Santiago, B., Scarpine, V., Serrano, S., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, J. Allyn, Smith, M., Soares-Santos, M., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M. E. C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., To, C., Tremblay, P. E., Troxel, M. A., Tucker, D. L., Turner, D. J., Varga, T. N., Walker, A. R., Wechsler, R. H., Weller, J., Wester, W., Wilkinson, R. D., Yanny, B., Zhang, Y., Nikutta, R., Fitzpatrick, M., Jacques, A., Scott, A., Olsen, K., Huang, L., Herrera, D., Juneau, S., Nidever, D., Weaver, B. A., Adean, C., Correia, V., de Freitas, M., Freitas, F. N., Singulani, C., Vila-Verde, G., & Linea Science Server
The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series


Grants and Awards

Doctoral Open Research Prize

This was awarded near the end of my PhD, for my work developing open-source research tools for X-ray astronomy.
2022

NVIDIA Academic Grant

Principal Investigator
This grant included an NVIDIA RTX 8000 graphics card, to use for the creation of machine learning tools to locate Pea Galaxies.
2021

STFC DISCNet PhD Studentship

This scholarship fully funded my PhD.
2018-2022

Education

University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

Doctor of Philosophy
Astronomy and Astrophysics

Advisor: Professor Kathy Romer

September 2018 - September 2022

University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

MPhys
Astrophysics

1st Class Degree

September 2014 - September 2018

CV

A recent CV