No Arabic abstract
We present spectroscopic follow-up observations of 70{mu}m selected galaxies from the SWIRE XMMLSS and Lockman Hole fields. We have measured spectroscopic redshifts for 293 new sources down to a 70{mu}m flux limit of 9mJy and R < 22. The redshift distribution peaks at z ~ 0.3 and has a high redshift tail out to z = 3.5. We perform emission line diagnostics for 91 sources where [OIII], H{beta}, [NII], H{alpha} and [SII] emission lines are available to determine their power source. We find in our sample 13 QSOs, 1 Seyfert II galaxy, 33 star forming galaxies, 30 composite galaxies, 5 LINERs and 21 ambiguous galaxies. We fit single temperature dust spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to 81 70{mu}m sources with 160{mu}m photometry to estimate dust temperatures and masses. Assuming the dust emissivity factor ({beta}) as 1.5, we determine temperatures in the range ~ 20-60K and dust masses with a range of 10{^6}-10{^9} M{_odot}. Plotting these objects in the luminosity-temperature diagram suggests that these objects have lower dust temperatures than local IR luminous galaxies. The Herschel Space Observatory will be crucial in understanding the nature of these sources and to accurately determining the shape of the Rayleigh-Jeans tail of the dust SED. We then model SEDs from optical to far-IR for each source using a set of galaxy and quasar templates in the optical and near-IR (NIR) and with a set of dust emission templates (cirrus, M82 starburst, Arp 220 starburst and AGN dust torus) in the mid-IR (MIR) to far-IR (FIR). The number of objects fit with each dust template are: 57 Arp 220, 127 M82, 9 cirrus, 1 AGN dust torus, 70 M82 and cirrus, 26 M82 and AGN dust torus and 3 Arp 220 and AGN dust torus. We determine the total IR luminosity (LIR) in range 10{^8}-10{^{15}} L{_odot} by integrating the SED models from 8 to 1000{mu}m.
We present new observational determination of the evolution of the rest-frame 70 and 160 micron and total infrared (TIR) galaxy luminosity functions (LFs) using 70 micron data from the Spitzer Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic Legacy Survey (SWIRE). The LFs were constructed for sources with spectroscopic redshifts only in the XMM-LSS and Lockman Hole fields from the SWIRE photometric redshift catalogue. The 70 micron and TIR LFs were constructed in the redshift range 0<z<1.2 and the 160 micron LF was constructed in the redshift range 0<z<0.5 using a parametric Bayesian and the vmax methods. We assume in our models, that the faint-end power-law index of the LF does not evolve with redshifts. We find the the double power-law model is a better representation of the IR LF than the more commonly used power-law and Gaussian model. We model the evolution of the FIR LFs as a function of redshift where where the characteristic luminosity, $L^ast$ evolve as $propto(1+z)^{alpha_textsc{l}}$. The rest-frame 70 micron LF shows a strong luminosity evolution out to z=1.2 with alpha_l=3.41^{+0.18}_{-0.25}. The rest-frame 160 micron LF also showed rapid luminosity evolution with alpha_l=5.53^{+0.28}_{-0.23} out to z=0.5. The rate of evolution in luminosity is consistent with values estimated from previous studies using data from IRAS, ISO and Spitzer. The TIR LF evolves in luminosity with alpha_l=3.82^{+0.28}_{-0.16} which is in agreement with previous results from Spitzer 24 micron which find strong luminosity evolution. By integrating the LF we calculated the co-moving IR luminosity density out to z=1.2, which confirm the rapid evolution in number density of LIRGs and ULIRGs which contribute ~68^{+10}_{-07} % to the co-moving star formation rate density at z=1.2. Our results based on 70 micron data confirms that the bulk of the star formation at z=1 takes place in dust obscured objects.
We investigate the clustering of galaxies selected in the 3.6 micron band of the Spitzer Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic (SWIRE) legacy survey. The angular two-point correlation function is calculated for eleven samples with flux limits of S_3.6 > 4-400 mujy, over an 8 square degree field. The angular clustering strength is measured at >5-sigma significance at all flux limits, with amplitudes of A=(0.49-29)times10^{-3} at one degree, for a power-law model, Atheta^{-0.8}. We estimate the redshift distributions of the samples using phenomological models, simulations and photometric redshifts, and so derive the spatial correlation lengths. We compare our results with the GalICS (Galaxies In Cosmological Simulations) models of galaxy evolution and with parameterized models of clustering evolution. The GalICS simulations are consistent with our angular correlation functions, but fail to match the spatial clustering inferred from the phenomological models or the photometric redshifts. We find that the uncertainties in the redshift distributions of our samples dominate the statistical errors in our estimates of the spatial clustering. At low redshifts (median z<0.5) the comoving correlation length is approximately constant, r_0=6.1pm0.5h^{-1} Mpc, and then decreases with increasing redshift to a value of 2.9pm0.3h^{-1} Mpc for the faintest sample, for which the median redshift is z=1. We suggest that this trend can be attributed to a decrease in the average galaxy and halo mass in the fainter flux-limited samples, corresponding to changes in the relative numbers of early- and late-type galaxies. However, we cannot rule out strong evolution of the correlation length over 0.5<z<1.
We discuss the clustering properties of galaxies with signs of ongoing star formation detected by the Spitzer Space Telescope at 24mum band in the SWIRE Lockman Hole field. The sample of mid-IR-selected galaxies includes ~20,000 objects detected above a flux threshold of S24mum=310muJy. We adopt optical/near-IR color selection criteria to split the sample into the lower-redshift and higher-redshift galaxy populations. We measure the angular correlation function on scales of theta=0.01-3.5 deg, from which, using the Limber inversion along with the redshift distribution established for similarly selected source populations in the GOODS fields (Rodighiero et al. 2010), we obtain comoving correlation lengths of r0=4.98+-0.28 h^-1 Mpc and r0 =8.04+-0.69 h^-1 Mpc for the low-z (<z>=0.7) and high-z (<z>=1.7) subsamples, respectively. Comparing these measurements with the correlation functions of dark matter halos identified in the Bolshoi cosmological simulation (Klypin et al. 2011}, we find that the high-redshift objects reside in progressively more massive halos reaching Mtot>3e12 h^-1 Msun, compared to Mtot>7e11 h^-1 Msun for the low-redshift population. Approximate estimates of the IR luminosities based on the catalogs of 24mum sources in the GOODS fields show that our high-z subsample represents a population of distant ULIRGs with LIR>10^12Lsun, while the low-z subsample mainly consists of LIRGs, LIR~10^11Lsun. The comparison of number density of the 24mum selected galaxies and of dark matter halos with derived minimum mass Mtot shows that only 20% of such halos may host star-forming galaxies.
The Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) is designed to document the first third of galactic evolution, over the approximate redshift (z) range 8--1.5. It will image >250,000 distant galaxies using three separate cameras on the Hubble Space Telescope, from the mid-ultraviolet to the near-infrared, and will find and measure Type Ia supernovae at z>1.5 to test their accuracy as standardizable candles for cosmology. Five premier multi-wavelength sky regions are selected, each with extensive ancillary data. The use of five widely separated fields mitigates cosmic variance and yields statistically robust and complete samples of galaxies down to a stellar mass of 10^9 M_odot to z approx 2, reaching the knee of the ultraviolet luminosity function (UVLF) of galaxies to z approx 8. The survey covers approximately 800 arcmin^2 and is divided into two parts. The CANDELS/Deep survey (5sigma point-source limit H=27.7 mag) covers sim 125 arcmin^2 within GOODS-N and GOODS-S. The CANDELS/Wide survey includes GOODS and three additional fields (EGS, COSMOS, and UDS) and covers the full area to a 5sigma point-source limit of H gtrsim 27.0 mag. Together with the Hubble Ultra Deep Fields, the strategy creates a three-tiered wedding cake approach that has proven efficient for extragalactic surveys. Data from the survey are nonproprietary and are useful for a wide variety of science investigations. In this paper, we describe the basic motivations for the survey, the CANDELS team science goals and the resulting observational requirements, the field selection and geometry, and the observing design. The Hubble data processing and products are described in a companion paper.
The Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) has provided a uniform photometric catalog to search for previously unknown red AGN and QSOs. We have extended the search to the southern equatorial sky by obtaining spectra for 1182 AGN candidates using the 6dF multifibre spectrograph on the UK Schmidt Telescope. These were scheduled as auxiliary targets for the 6dF Galaxy Redshift Survey. The candidates were selected using a single color cut of J - Ks > 2 to Ks ~ 15.5 and a galactic latitude of |b|>30 deg. 432 spectra were of sufficient quality to enable a reliable classification. 116 sources (or ~27%) were securely classified as type 1 AGN, 20 as probable type 1s, and 57 as probable type 2 AGN. Most of them span the redshift range 0.05<z<0.5 and only 8 (or ~6%) were previously identified as AGN or QSOs. Our selection leads to a significantly higher AGN identification rate amongst local galaxies (>20%) than in any previous galaxy survey. A small fraction of the type 1 AGN could have their optical colors reddened by optically thin dust with A_V<2 mag relative to optically selected QSOs. A handful show evidence for excess far-IR emission. The equivalent width (EW) and color distributions of the type 1 and 2 AGN are consistent with AGN unified models. In particular, the EW of the [OIII] emission line weakly correlates with optical--near-IR color in each class of AGN, suggesting anisotropic obscuration of the AGN continuum. Overall, the optical properties of the 2MASS red AGN are not dramatically different from those of optically-selected QSOs. Our near-IR selection appears to detect the most near-IR luminous QSOs in the local universe to z~0.6 and provides incentive to extend the search to deeper near-IR surveys.