We present the first direct and unbiased measurement of the evolution of the dust mass function of galaxies over the past 5 billion years of cosmic history using data from the Science Demonstration ...Phase of the Herschel-Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (Herschel-ATLAS). The sample consists of galaxies selected at 250
m which have reliable counterparts from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) at z < 0.5, and contains 1867 sources. Dust masses are calculated using both a single-temperature grey-body model for the spectral energy distribution and also a model with multiple temperature components. The dust temperature for either model shows no trend with redshift. Splitting the sample into bins of redshift reveals a strong evolution in the dust properties of the most massive galaxies. At z= 0.4-0.5, massive galaxies had dust masses about five times larger than in the local Universe. At the same time, the dust-to-stellar mass ratio was about three to four times larger, and the optical depth derived from fitting the UV-sub-mm data with an energy balance model was also higher. This increase in the dust content of massive galaxies at high redshift is difficult to explain using standard dust evolution models and requires a rapid gas consumption time-scale together with either a more top-heavy initial mass function (IMF), efficient mantle growth, less dust destruction or combinations of all three. This evolution in dust mass is likely to be associated with a change in overall interstellar medium mass, and points to an enhanced supply of fuel for star formation at earlier cosmic epochs.
Exploiting the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey Science Demonstration Phase survey data, we have determined the luminosity functions (LFs) at rest-frame wavelengths of 100 and 250 ...Delta *mm and at several redshifts z 1, for bright submillimeter galaxies with star formation rates (SFRs) 100 M yr--1. We find that the evolution of the comoving LF is strong up to z 2.5, and slows down at higher redshifts. From the LFs and the information on halo masses inferred from clustering analysis, we derived an average relation between SFR and halo mass (and its scatter). We also infer that the timescale of the main episode of dust-enshrouded star formation in massive halos (M H 3 X 1012 M ) amounts to ~7 X 108 yr. Given the SFRs, which are in the range of 102-103 M yr--1, this timescale implies final stellar masses of the order of 1011-1012 M . The corresponding stellar mass function matches the observed mass function of passively evolving galaxies at z 1. The comparison of the statistics for submillimeter and UV-selected galaxies suggests that the dust-free, UV bright phase is 102 times shorter than the submillimeter bright phase, implying that the dust must form soon after the onset of star formation. Using a single reference spectral energy distribution (SED; the one of the z 2.3 galaxy SMM J2135-0102), our simple physical model is able to reproduce not only the LFs at different redshifts >1 but also the counts at wavelengths ranging from 250 Delta *mm to 1 mm. Owing to the steepness of the counts and their relatively broad frequency range, this result suggests that the dispersion of submillimeter SEDs of z > 1 galaxies around the reference one is rather small.
ABSTRACT
We present a pan‐chromatic analysis of an unprecedented sample of 1402 250 μm selected galaxies at z < 0.5 (z¯=0.24) from the Herschel‐ATLAS survey. We complement our Herschel 100–500 μm ...data with UV–K‐band photometry from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey and apply the magphys energy‐balance technique to produce pan‐chromatic spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for a representative sample of 250 μm selected galaxies spanning the most recent 5 Gyr of cosmic history. We derive estimates of physical parameters, including star formation rates, stellar masses, dust masses and infrared (IR) luminosities. The typical H‐ATLAS galaxy at z < 0.5 has a far‐infrared luminosity in the range 1010–1012 L⊙ (SFR: 1–50 M⊙ yr−1) and thus is broadly representative of normal star‐forming galaxies over this redshift range. We show that 250 μm selected galaxies contain a larger mass of dust at a given IR luminosity or star formation rate than previous samples selected at 60 μm from the IRAS. We derive typical SEDs for H‐ATLAS galaxies, and show that the emergent SED shape is most sensitive to specific star formation rate. The optical–UV SEDs also become more reddened due to dust at higher redshifts. Our template SEDs are significantly cooler than existing IR templates. They may therefore be most appropriate for inferring total IR luminosities from moderate redshift sub‐millimetre selected samples and for inclusion in models of the lower redshift sub‐millimetre galaxy populations.
We report ground-based follow-up observations of the exceptional source, ID 141, one of the brightest sources detected so far in the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey cosmological ...survey. ID 141 was observed using the IRAM 30 m telescope and Plateau de Bure interferometer (PdBI), the Submillimeter Array, and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment submillimeter telescope to measure the dust continuum and emission lines of the main isotope of carbon monoxide and carbon (C I and C II). The detection of strong CO emission lines with the PdBI confirms that ID 141 is at high redshift (z = 4.243 ? 0.001). The strength of the continuum and emission lines suggests that ID 141 is gravitationally lensed. The width ( Delta *DV FWHM ~ 800 km s--1) and asymmetric profiles of the CO and carbon lines indicate orbital motion in a disk or a merger. The properties derived for ID 141 are compatible with an ultraluminous (L FIR ~ (8.5 ? 0.3) X 1013 Delta *m--1 L L , where Delta *mL is the amplification factor), dense (n 104 cm--3), and warm (T kin 40 K) starburst galaxy, with an estimated star formation rate of (0.7-1.7) X 104 Delta *m--1 L M yr--1. The carbon emission lines indicate a dense (n 104 cm--3) photon-dominated region, illuminated by a far-UV radiation field a few thousand times more intense than that in our Galaxy. In conclusion, the physical properties of the high-z galaxy ID 141 are remarkably similar to those of local ultraluminous infrared galaxies.
We report on deep near-infrared observations obtained with the Wide Field Camera-3 (WFC3) onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) of the first five confirmed gravitational lensing events discovered ...by the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS). We succeed in disentangling the background galaxy from the lens to gain separate photometry of the two components. The HST data allow us to significantly improve on previous constraints of the mass in stars of the lensed galaxy and to perform accurate lens modelling of these systems, as described in the accompanying paper by Dye et al. We fit the spectral energy distributions of the background sources from near-IR to millimetre wavelengths and use the magnification factors estimated by Dye et al. to derive the intrinsic properties of the lensed galaxies. We find these galaxies to have star-formations rates (SFR) ~ 400-2000 M... yr..., with ~(6-25) x ... of their baryonic mass already turned into stars. At these rates of star formation, all remaining molecular gas will be exhausted in less than ~100 Myr, reaching a final mass in stars of a few ... These galaxies are thus proto-ellipticals caught during their major episode of star formation, and observed at the peak epoch (z ~ 1.5-3) of the cosmic star formation history of the Universe. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
The Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (Herschel-ATLAS) is a survey of 550 deg2 with the Herschel Space Observatory in five far-infrared and submillimetre bands. The first data for ...the survey, observations of a field 4 × 4 deg2 in size, were taken during the Science Demonstration Phase (SDP), and reach a 5σ noise level of 33.5 mJy beam−1 at 250 μm. This paper describes the source extraction methods used to create the corresponding SDP catalogue, which contains 6876 sources, selected at 250 μm, within ∼14 deg2. Spectral and Photometric Imaging REciever (SPIRE) sources are extracted using a new method specifically developed for Herschel data and Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) counterparts of these sources are identified using circular apertures placed at the SPIRE positions. Aperture flux densities are measured for sources identified as extended after matching to optical wavelengths. The reliability of this catalogue is also discussed, using full simulated maps at the three SPIRE bands. These show that a significant number of sources at 350 and 500 μm have undergone flux density enhancements of up to a factor of ∼2, due mainly to source confusion. Correction factors are determined for these effects. The SDP data set and corresponding catalogue will be available from http://www.h-atlas.org.
We present a technique to identify optical counterparts of 250-μm-selected sources from the Herschel-ATLAS survey. Of the 6621 250 μm > 32-mJy sources in our science demonstration catalogue we find ...that ∼60 per cent have counterparts brighter than r = 22.4 mag in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Applying a likelihood ratio technique we are able to identify 2423 of the counterparts with a reliability R > 0.8. This is approximately 37 per cent of the full 250-μm catalogue. We have estimated photometric redshifts for each of these 2423 reliable counterparts, while 1099 also have spectroscopic redshifts collated from several different sources, including the GAMA survey. We estimate the completeness of identifying counterparts as a function of redshift, and present evidence that 250-μm-selected Herschel-ATLAS galaxies have a bimodal redshift distribution. Those with reliable optical identifications have a redshift distribution peaking at z ≈ 0.25 ± 0.05, while submillimetre colours suggest that a significant fraction with no counterpart above the r-band limit have z > 1. We also suggest a method for selecting populations of strongly lensed high-redshift galaxies. Our identifications are matched to UV-NIR photometry from the GAMA survey, and these data are available as part of the Herschel-ATLAS public data release.
We report measurements of the carbon monoxide ground state rotational transition ( super(12)C super(16)O J = 1-0) with the Zpectrometer ultrawideband spectrometer on the 100 m diameter Green Bank ...Telescope. The sample comprises 11 galaxies with redshifts between z = 2.1 and 3.5 from a total sample of 24 targets identified by Herschel-ATLAS photometric colors from the SPIRE instrument. Nine of the CO measurements are new redshift determinations, substantially adding to the number of detections of galaxies with rest-frame peak submillimeter emission near 100 mu m. The CO detections confirm the existence of massive gas reservoirs within these luminous dusty starforming galaxies (DSFGs). The CO redshift distribution of the 350 mu m selected galaxies is strikingly similar to the optical redshifts of 850 mu -selected submillimeter galaxies in 2.1 < or =, slanted z < or = z, slanted 3.5. Spectroscopic redshifts break a temperature-redshift degeneracy; optically thin dust models fit to the far-infrared photometry indicate characteristic dust temperatures near 34 K for most of the galaxies we detect in CO. Detections of two warmer galaxies, and statistically significant nondetections, hint at warmer or molecule-poor DSFGs with redshifts that are difficult to determine from Herschel-SPIRE photometric colors alone. Many of the galaxies identified by H-ATLAS photometry are expected to be amplified by foreground gravitational lenses. Analysis of CO linewidths and luminosities provides a method for finding approximate gravitational lens magnifications mu from spectroscopic data alone, yielding mu ~ 3-20. Corrected for magnification, most galaxy luminosities are consistent with an ultraluminous infrared galaxy classification, but three are candidate hyper-LIRGs with luminosities greater than 10 super(13) L sub(middot in circle).
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