In this paper, we describe the first data release of the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) Deep Extragalactic Observations (VIDEO) survey. VIDEO is a ∼12 deg2 survey in the ...near-infrared Z, Y, J, H and K
s bands, specifically designed to enable the evolution of galaxies and large structures to be traced as a function of both epoch and environment from the present day out to z = 4, and active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and the most massive galaxies up to and into the epoch of reionization. With its depth and area, VIDEO will be able to fully explore the period in the Universe where AGN and starburst activity were at their peak and the first galaxy clusters were beginning to virialize. VIDEO therefore offers a unique data set with which to investigate the interplay between AGN, starbursts and environment, and the role of feedback at a time when it was potentially most crucial.
We provide data over the VIDEO-XMM3 tile, which also covers the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey Deep-1 field (CFHTLS-D1). The released VIDEO data reach a 5σ AB-magnitude depth of Z = 25.7, Y = 24.5, J = 24.4, H = 24.1 and K
s = 23.8 in 2 arcsec diameter apertures (the full depth of Y = 24.6 will be reached within the full integration time in future releases). The data are compared to previous surveys over this field and we find good astrometric agreement with the Two Micron All Sky Survey, and source counts in agreement with the recently released UltraVISTA survey data. The addition of the VIDEO data to the CFHTLS-D1 optical data increases the accuracy of photometric redshifts and significantly reduces the fraction of catastrophic outliers over the redshift range 0 < z < 1 from 5.8 to 3.1 per cent in the absence of an i-band luminosity prior. However, we expect that the main improvement in photometric redshifts will come in the redshift range 1 < z < 4 due to the sensitivity to the Balmer and 4000 Å breaks provided by the near-infrared VISTA filters. All images and catalogues presented in this paper are publicly available through ESO's phase 3 archive and the VISTA Science Archive.
It has been speculated that low-luminosity radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) have the potential to serve as an important source of AGN feedback, and may be responsible for suppressing star ...formation activity in massive elliptical galaxies at late times. As such the cosmic evolution of these sources is vitally important to understand the significance of such AGN feedback processes and their influence on the global star formation history of the Universe.
In this paper, we present a new investigation of the evolution of faint radio sources out to z ∼ 2.5. We combine a 1 square degree Very Large Array radio survey, complete to a depth of 100 μJy, with accurate 10 band photometric redshifts from the following surveys: Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy Deep Extragalactic Observations and Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey. The results indicate that the radio population experiences mild positive evolution out to z ∼ 1.2 increasing their space density by a factor of ∼3, consistent with results of several previous studies. Beyond z = 1.2, there is evidence of a slowing down of this evolution. Star-forming galaxies drive the more rapid evolution at low redshifts, z < 1.2, while more slowly evolving AGN populations dominate at higher redshifts resulting in a decline in the evolution of the radio luminosity function at z > 1.2. The evolution is best fitted by pure luminosity evolution with star-forming galaxies evolving as (1 + z)2.47 ± 0.12 and AGN as (1 + z)1.18 ± 0.21.
We report the results of a comprehensive study of the relationship between galaxy size, stellar mass and specific star formation rate (sSFR) at redshifts 1.3 < z < 1.5. Based on a mass-complete (M
≥ ...6 × 1010 M), spectroscopic sample from the UK Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Ultradeep Survey, with accurate stellar-mass measurements derived from spectro-photometric fitting, we find that at z 1.4 the location of massive galaxies on the size-mass plane is determined primarily by their sSFR. At this epoch, we find that massive galaxies which are passive (sSFR ≤ 0.1 Gyr−1) follow a tight size-mass relation, with half-light radii a factor of f
g = 2.4 ± 0.2 smaller than their local counterparts. Moreover, amongst the passive sub-sample we find no evidence that the off-set from the local size-mass relation is a function of stellar population age. In contrast, we find that massive star-forming galaxies at this epoch lie closer to the local late-type size-mass relation and are only a factor of f
g = 1.6 ± 0.2 smaller than observed locally. Based on a sub-sample with dynamical-mass estimates, which consists of both passive and star-forming objects, we also derive an independent estimate of f
g = 2.3 ± 0.3 for the typical growth in half-light radius between z 1.4 and the present day. Focusing on the passive sub-sample, we conclude that to produce the necessary evolution predominantly via major mergers would require an unfeasible number of merger events and overpopulate the high-mass end of the local stellar-mass function. In contrast, we find that a scenario in which mass accretion is dominated by minor mergers can comfortably produce the necessary evolution, whereby an increase in stellar mass of only a factor of 2, accompanied by size growth of a factor of 3.5, is required to reconcile the size-mass relation at z 1.4 with that observed locally. Finally, we note that a significant fraction (44 ± 12 per cent) of the passive galaxies in our sample have a disc-like morphology, providing additional evidence that separate physical processes are responsible for the quenching of star formation and morphological transformation in massive galaxies.
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 investigate the O ii emission-line properties of 18 508 quasars at z < 1.6 drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasar sample. The quasar sample has been separated into 1692 ...radio-loud and 16 816 radio-quiet quasars (hereafter RLQs and RQQs) matched in both redshift and i′-band absolute magnitude.
We use the O iiλ3726 + 3729 line as an indicator of star formation. Based on these measurements we find evidence that star formation activity is higher in the RLQ population. The mean equivalent widths (EW) for O ii are EW(O ii)RL = 7.80 ± 0.30 Å and EW(O ii)RQ = 4.77 ± 0.06 Å for the RLQ and RQQ samples, respectively. The mean O ii luminosities are log10L(O ii)RL/W = 34.31 ± 0.01 and log10L(O ii)RQ/W = 34.192 ± 0.004 for the samples of RLQs and RQQs, respectively. Finally, to overcome possible biases in the EW measurements due to the continuum emission below the O ii line being contaminated by young stars in the host galaxy, we use the ratio of the O ii luminosity to rest-frame i′-band luminosity; in this case, we find for the RLQs log10L(O ii)RL/L
opt = −3.89 ± 0.01 and log10L(O ii)RQ/L
opt = −4.011 ± 0.004 for RQQs. However the results depend upon the optical luminosity of the quasar. RLQs and RQQs with the same high optical luminosity log10(L
opt/W) > 38.6 tend to have the same level of O ii emission. On the other hand, at lower optical luminosities log10(L
opt/W) < 38.6, there is a clear O ii emission excess for the RLQs. As an additional check of our results we use the O iii emission line as a tracer of the bolometric accretion luminosity, instead of the i′-band absolute magnitude, and we obtain similar results.
Radio jets appear to be the main reason for the O ii emission excess in the case of RLQs. In contrast, we suggest active galactic nuclei feedback ensures that the two populations acquire the same O ii emission at higher optical luminosities.
We present the results of a search for galaxy clusters in the Subaru–XMM Deep Field (SXDF). We reach a depth for a total cluster flux in the 0.5–2 keV band of 2 × 10−15 erg cm−2 s−1 over one of the ...widest XMM–Newton contiguous raster surveys, covering an area of 1.3 deg2. Cluster candidates are identified through a wavelet detection of extended X-ray emission. The red-sequence technique allows us to identify 57 cluster candidates. We report on the progress with the cluster spectroscopic follow-up and derive their properties based on the X-ray luminosity and cluster scaling relations. In addition, three sources are identified as X-ray counterparts of radio lobes, and in three further sources, an X-ray counterpart of the radio lobes provides a significant fraction of the total flux of the source. In the area covered by near-infrared data, our identification success rate achieves 86 per cent. We detect a number of radio galaxies within our groups, and for a luminosity-limited sample of radio galaxies we compute halo occupation statistics using a marked cluster mass function. We compare the cluster detection statistics in the SXDF with that in the literature and provide the modelling using the concordance cosmology combined with current knowledge of the X-ray cluster properties. The joint cluster log(N) − log(S) is overpredicted by the model, and an agreement can be achieved through a reduction of the concordance σ8 value by 5 per cent. Having considered the dn/dz and the X-ray luminosity function of clusters, we conclude that to pin down the origin of disagreement a much wider (50 deg2) survey is needed.
We use data from the Herschel-ATLAS to investigate the evolution of the far-infrared–radio correlation over the redshift range 0 < z < 0.5. Using the total far-infrared luminosity of all >5σ sources ...in the Herschel-ATLAS Science Demonstration Field and cross-matching these data with radio data from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimetres (FIRST) survey and the NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) Northern Sky Survey (NVSS), we obtain 104 radio counterparts to the Herschel sources. With these data we find no evidence for evolution in the far-infrared–radio correlation over the redshift range 0 < z < 0.5, where the median value for the ratio between far-infrared and radio luminosity, qIR, over this range is qIR= 2.40 ± 0.12 (and a mean of qIR= 2.52 ± 0.03 accounting for the lower limits), consistent with both the local value determined from IRAS and values derived from surveys targeting the high-redshift Universe. By comparing the radio fluxes of our sample measured from both FIRST and NVSS we show that previous results suggesting an increase in the value of qIR from high to low redshift may be the result of resolving out extended emission of the low-redshift sources with relatively high-resolution interferometric data, although contamination from active galactic nuclei could still play a significant role. We also find tentative evidence that the longer wavelength cooler dust is heated by an evolved stellar population which does not trace the star formation rate as closely as the shorter wavelength ≲ 250 μm emission or the radio emission, supporting suggestions based on detailed models of individual galaxies.
Gravitational lensing is a powerful astrophysical and cosmological probe and is particularly valuable at submillimeter wavelengths for the study of the statistical and individual properties of dusty ...star-forming galaxies. However, the identification of gravitational lenses is often time-intensive, involving the sifting of large volumes of imaging or spectroscopic data to find few candidates. We used early data from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey to demonstrate that wide-area submillimeter surveys can simply and easily detect strong gravitational lensing events, with close to 100% efficiency.
Isothermal dust models of Herschel-ATLAS galaxies Smith, D. J. B; Hardcastle, M. J; Jarvis, M. J ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
12/2013, Letnik:
436, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We use galaxies from the Herschel-ATLAS (H-ATLAS) survey, and a suite of ancillary simulations based on an isothermal dust model, to study our ability to determine the effective dust temperature, ...luminosity and emissivity index of 250 μm selected galaxies in the local Universe (z < 0.5). As well as simple far-infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting of individual galaxies based on χ2 minimization, we attempt to derive the best global isothermal properties of 13 826 galaxies with reliable optical counterparts and spectroscopic redshifts. Using our simulations, we highlight the fact that applying traditional SED fitting techniques to noisy observational data in the Herschel Space Observatory bands introduces artificial anti-correlation between derived values of dust temperature and emissivity index. This is true even for galaxies with the most robust statistical detections in our sample, making the results of such fitting difficult to interpret. We apply a method to determine the best-fitting global values of isothermal effective temperature and emissivity index for z < 0.5 galaxies in H-ATLAS, deriving T
eff = 22.3 ± 0.1 K and β = 1.98 ± 0.02 (or T
eff = 23.5 ± 0.1 K and β = 1.82 ± 0.02 if we attempt to correct for bias by assuming that T
eff and βeff are independent and normally distributed). We use our technique to test for an evolving emissivity index, finding only weak evidence. The median dust luminosity of our sample is log10(L
dust/L) = 10.72 ± 0.05, which (unlike T
eff) shows little dependence on the choice of β used in our analysis, including whether it is variable or fixed. In addition, we use a further suite of simulations based on a fixed emissivity index isothermal model to emphasize the importance of the H-ATLAS PACS data for deriving dust temperatures at these redshifts, even though they are considerably less sensitive than the SPIRE data. Finally, we show that the majority of galaxies detected by H-ATLAS are normal star-forming galaxies, though with a substantial minority (∼31 per cent) falling in the Luminous Infrared Galaxy category.