No Arabic abstract
We present a study of the classification of z ~1 extremely red objects (EROs), using a combination of HST/ACS, Spitzer/IRAC, and ground-based images of the COSMOS field. Our sample includes about 5300 EROs with i-Ks>2.45 (AB, equivalently I-Ks=4 in Vega) and Ks<=21.1 (AB). For EROs in our sample, we compute, using the ACS F814W images, their concentration, asymmetry, as well as their Gini coefficient and the second moment of the brightest 20% of their light. Using those morphology parameters and the Spitzer/IRAC [3.6]-[8.0] color, the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting method, we classify EROs into two classes: old galaxies (OGs) and young, dusty starburst galaxies (DGs). We found that the fraction of OGs and DGs in our sample is similar, about 48 percentages of EROs in our sample are OGs, and 52 percentages of them are DGs. To reduce the redundancy of these three different classification methods, we performed a principal component analysis on the measurements of EROs, and find that morphology parameters and SEDs are efficient in segregating OGs and DGs. The [3.6]-[8.0] color, which depends on reddening, redshift, and photometric accuracy, is difficult to separate EROs around the discriminating line between starburst and elliptical. We investigate the dependence of the fraction of EROs on their observational properties, and the results suggest that DGs become increasingly important at fainter magnitudes, redder colors, and higher redshifts.
We investigate Extremely Red Objects (EROs) using near- and mid-infrared observations in five passbands (3.6 to 24 micron) obtained from the Spitzer Space Telescope, and deep ground-based R and K imaging. The great sensitivity of the IRAC camera allows us to detect 64 EROs in only 12 minutes of IRAC exposure time, by means of an R-[3.6] color cut (analogous to the traditional red R-K cut). A pure infrared K-[3.6] red cut detects a somewhat different population and may be more effective at selecting z > 1.3 EROs. We find 17% of all galaxies detected by IRAC at 3.6 or 4.5 micron to be EROs. These percentages rise to about 40% at 5.8 micron, and about 60% at 8.0 micron. We utilize the spectral bump at 1.6 micron to divide the EROs into broad redshift slices using only near-infrared colors (2.2/3.6/4.5 micron). We conclude that two-thirds of all EROs lie at redshift z > 1.3. Detections at 24 micron imply that at least 11% of 0.6 < z < 1.3 EROs and at least 22% of z > 1.3 EROs are dusty star-forming galaxies.
In order to find the most extreme dust-hidden high-redshift galaxies, we select 196 extremely red objects in the Ks and IRAC bands (KIEROs, [Ks-4.5um](AB)>1.6) in the 0.06 deg^2 GOODS-N region. This selection avoids the Balmer breaks of galactic spectra at z<4 and picks up red galaxies with strong dust extinction. The photometric redshifts of KIEROs are between 1.5 and 5, with ~70% at z~2-4. KIEROs are very massive, with M*~10^10-10^12 Msun. They are optically faint and usually cannot be picked out by the Lyman break selection. On the other hand, the KIERO selection includes approximately half of the known millimeter and submillimeter galaxies in the GOODS-N. Stacking analyses in the radio, millimeter, and submillimeter all show that KIEROs are much more luminous than average 4.5um selected galaxies. Interestingly, the stacked fluxes for ACS-undetected KIEROs in these wavebands are 2.5-5 times larger than those for ACS-detected KIEROs. With the stacked radio fluxes and the local radio-FIR correlation, we derive mean infrared luminosities of 2-7x10^12 Lsun and mean star formation rates of 300-1200 Msun/yr for KIEROs with redshifts. We do not find evidence of a significant subpopulation of passive KIEROs. The large stellar masses and star formation rates imply that KIEROs are $z>2$ massive galaxies in rapid formation. Our results show that a large sample of dusty ultraluminous sources can be selected in this way and that a large fraction of high-redshift star formation is hidden by dust.
We have mapped the submillimetre wavelength continuum emission from the Subaru Deep Field (SDF) at 450 and 850 microns with the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) detector on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). The near-IR image of the SDF is one of the deepest near-IR images available and contains four `hyper extremely red objects (HEROs). These data allow us to test the connection between `extremely red objects (EROs) found in IR surveys and the population of bright submillimetre sources found with SCUBA. We present a weak measurement of the average flux of the four K-band selected HEROs of 1.15 (+/-0.46) mJy, which fails to support the hypothesis that HEROs should be bright SCUBA sources. Our data are consistent with the HEROs being objects with SEDs like that of Arp220 out to z~1.7, however, the extinction in the HEROs must be about 1 magnitude greater in the J-band than is the case for Arp220 and they would need to be 1.7 times as luminous as Arp220. On the other hand, an evolutionary model of elliptical galaxies at z~2-3 in a dusty starburst phase is also in agreement with the submillimetre data, as was originally proposed for the HEROs.
We present photometric analysis and follow-up spectroscopy for a population of extremely red stellar objects extracted from the point-source catalogue of the INT Photometric H-Alpha Survey (IPHAS) of the northern galactic plane. The vast majority of these objects have no previous identification. Analysis of optical, near- and mid-infrared photometry reveals that they are mostly highly-reddened asymptotic giant branch stars, with significant levels of circumstellar material. We show that the distribution of these objects traces galactic extinction, their highly reddened colours being a product of both interstellar and circumstellar reddening. This is the first time that such a large sample of evolved low-mass stars has been detected in the visual and allows optical counterparts to be associated with sources from recent infrared surveys. Follow-up spectroscopy on some of the most interesting objects in the sample has found significant numbers of S-type stars which can be clearly separated from oxygen-rich objects in the IPHAS colour-colour diagram. We show that this is due to the positions of different molecular bands relative to the narrow-band H-alpha filter used for IPHAS observations. The IPHAS (r - H-alpha) colour offers a valuable diagnostic for identifying S-type stars. A selection method for identifying S-type stars in the galactic plane is briefly discussed and we estimate that over a thousand new objects of this type may be discovered, potentially doubling the number of known objects in this short but important evolutionary phase.
We have discovered a concentration of extremely red objects (EROs; R-K>6) in the field of the z=2.69 quasar QSO 1213-0017 (UM 485), which is significantly overabundant compared to the field ERO surface density. The optical/near-IR colors of the EROs and numerous other red galaxies in this field are consistent with elliptical galaxies at z=1-2. HST optical images for a subset of galaxies show regular morphologies, most of them being disky or diffuse and without any obvious evidence for interactions. Ground-based IR images show similar morphologies, indicating any dust reddening in these objects is spatially uniform. Optical spectroscopy with the W. M. Keck Telescope has found that four of the red galaxies lie at <z>=1.31, and a fifth lies in the foreground at z=1.20. Of the <z>=1.31 galaxies, one is a reddened AGN while the remaining three have rest-frame UV absorption-line spectra characteristic of old (few Gyr) stellar populations, similar to the old red galaxy LBDS 53W091 at z=1.55. Including the MgII absorber seen in the QSO spectrum, we find five galaxies at <z>=1.31 spread over 1.5 h_50^{-1} Mpc on the sky. These results suggest we have discovered a coherent structure of old galaxies at high-redshift, possibly associated with a massive galaxy cluster.