| Abstract: | Twenty years have passed since first light for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
(SDSS). Here, we release data taken by the fourth phase of SDSS (SDSS-IV)
across its first three years of operation (July 2014-July 2017). This is the
third data release for SDSS-IV, and the fifteenth from SDSS (Data Release
Fifteen; DR15). New data come from MaNGA - we release 4824 datacubes, as well
as the first stellar spectra in the MaNGA Stellar Library (MaStar), the first
set of survey-supported analysis products (e.g. stellar and gas kinematics,
emission line, and other maps) from the MaNGA Data Analysis Pipeline (DAP), and
a new data visualisation and access tool we call "Marvin". The next data
release, DR16, will include new data from both APOGEE-2 and eBOSS; those
surveys release no new data here, but we document updates and corrections to
their data processing pipelines. The release is cumulative; it also includes
the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since
first light. In this paper we describe the location and format of the data and
tools and cite technical references describing how it was obtained and
processed. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has also been updated, providing
links to data downloads, tutorials and examples of data use. While SDSS-IV will
continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by
SDSS-V (2020-2025), we end this paper by describing plans to ensure the
sustainability of the SDSS data archive for many years beyond the collection of
data. |
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