No Arabic abstract
We present a detailed study of emission-line systems in the GAMA G23 region, making use of $textit{WISE}$ photometry that includes carefully measured resolved sources. After applying several cuts to the initial catalogue of $sim$41,000 galaxies, we extract a sample of 9,809 galaxies. We then compare the spectral diagnostic (BPT) classification of 1154 emission-line galaxies (38$%$ resolved in W1) to their location in the $textit{WISE}$ colour-colour diagram, leading to the creation of a new zone for mid-infrared warm galaxies located 2$sigma$ above the star-forming sequence, below the standard $textit{WISE}$ AGN region. We find that the BPT and $textit{WISE}$ diagrams agree on the classification for 85$%$ and 8$%$ of the galaxies as non-AGN (star forming = SF) and AGN, respectively, and disagree on $sim$7$%$ of the entire classified sample. 39$%$ of the AGN (all types) are broad-line systems for which the [ion{N}{ii}] and [H$alpha$] fluxes can barely be disentangled, giving in most cases spurious [ion{N}{ii}]/[H$alpha$] flux ratios. However, several optical AGN appear to be completely consistent with SF in $textit{WISE}$. We argue that these could be low power AGN, or systems whose hosts dominate the IR emission. Alternatively, given the sometimes high [ion{O}{iii}] luminosity in these galaxies, the emission lines may be generated by shocks coming from super-winds associated with SF rather than the AGN activity. Based on our findings, we have created a new diagnostic: [W1-W2] vs [ion{N}{ii}]/[H$alpha$], which has the virtue of separating SF from AGN and high-excitation sources. It classifies 3$sim$5 times more galaxies than the classic BPT
Recent work has suggested that mid-IR wavelengths are optimal for estimating the mass-to-light ratios of stellar populations and hence the stellar masses of galaxies. We compare stellar masses deduced from spectral energy distribution (SED) models, fitted to multi-wavelength optical-NIR photometry, to luminosities derived from {it WISE} photometry in the $W1$ and $W2$ bands at 3.6 and 4.5$mu$m for non-star forming galaxies. The SED derived masses for a carefully selected sample of low redshift ($z le 0.15$) passive galaxies agree with the prediction from stellar population synthesis models that $M_*/L_{W1} simeq 0.6$ for all such galaxies, independent of other stellar population parameters. The small scatter between masses predicted from the optical SED and from the {it WISE} measurements implies that random errors (as opposed to systematic ones such as the use of different IMFs) are smaller than previous, deliberately conservative, estimates for the SED fits. This test is subtly different from simultaneously fitting at a wide range of optical and mid-IR wavelengths, which may just generate a compromise fit: we are directly checking that the best fit model to the optical data generates an SED whose $M_*/L_{W1}$ is also consistent with separate mid-IR data. We confirm that for passive low redshift galaxies a fixed $M_*/L_{W1} = 0.65$ can generate masses at least as accurate as those obtained from more complex methods. Going beyond the mean value, in agreement with expectations from the models, we see a modest change in $M_*/L_{W1}$ with SED fitted stellar population age but an insignificant one with metallicity.
Combining high-fidelity group characterisation from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey and source-tailored $z<0.1$ photometry from the WISE survey, we present a comprehensive study of the properties of ungrouped galaxies, compared to 497 galaxy groups (4$leq$ N$_{rm FoF}$ $leq$ 20) as a function of stellar and halo mass. Ungrouped galaxies are largely unimodal in WISE color, the result of being dominated by star-forming, late-type galaxies. Grouped galaxies, however, show a clear bimodality in WISE color, which correlates strongly with stellar mass and morphology. We find evidence for an increasing early-type fraction, in stellar mass bins between $10^{10}lesssim$M$_{rm stellar} lesssim10^{11}$ M$_odot$, with increasing halo mass. Using ungrouped, late-type galaxies with star-forming colors (W2$-$W3$>$3), we define a star-forming main-sequence (SFMS), which we use to delineate systems that have moved below the sequence (quenched for the purposes of this work). We find that with increasing halo mass, the relative number of late-type systems on the SFMS decreases, with a corresponding increase in early-type, quenched systems at high stellar mass (M$_{rm stellar}>{10}^{10.5}$ M$_odot$), consistent with mass quenching. Group galaxies with masses M$_{rm stellar}<{10}^{10.5}$ M$_odot$ show evidence of quenching consistent with environmentally-driven processes. The stellar mass distribution of late-type, quenched galaxies suggests they may be an intermediate population as systems transition from being star-forming and late-type to the red sequence. Finally, we use the projected area of groups on the sky to extract groups that are (relatively) compact for their halo mass. Although these show a marginal increase in their proportion of high mass and early-type galaxies compared to nominal groups, a clear increase in quenched fraction is not evident.
The Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey furnishes a deep redshift catalog that, when combined with the Wide-field Infrared Explorer ($WISE$), allows us to explore for the first time the mid-infrared properties of $> 110, 000$ galaxies over 120 deg$^2$ to $zsimeq 0.5$. In this paper we detail the procedure for producing the matched GAMA-$WISE$ catalog for the G12 and G15 fields, in particular characterising and measuring resolved sources; the complete catalogs for all three GAMA equatorial fields will be made available through the GAMA public releases. The wealth of multiwavelength photometry and optical spectroscopy allows us to explore empirical relations between optically determined stellar mass (derived from synthetic stellar population models) and 3.4micron and 4.6micron WISE measurements. Similarly dust-corrected Halpha-derived star formation rates can be compared to 12micron and 22micron luminosities to quantify correlations that can be applied to large samples to $z<0.5$. To illustrate the applications of these relations, we use the 12micron star formation prescription to investigate the behavior of specific star formation within the GAMA-WISE sample and underscore the ability of WISE to detect star-forming systems at $zsim0.5$. Within galaxy groups (determined by a sophisticated friends-of-friends scheme), results suggest that galaxies with a neighbor within 100$,h^{-1} $kpc have, on average, lower specific star formation rates than typical GAMA galaxies with the same stellar mass.
We explore the clustering of galaxy groups in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey to investigate the dependence of group bias and profile on separation scale and group mass. Due to the inherent uncertainty in estimating the group selection function, and hence the group auto-correlation function, we instead measure the projected galaxy--group cross-correlation function. We find that the group profile has a strong dependence on scale and group mass on scales $r_bot lesssim 1 h^{-1} mathrm{Mpc}$. We also find evidence that the most massive groups live in extended, overdense, structures. In the first application of marked clustering statistics to groups, we find that group-mass marked clustering peaks on scales comparable to the typical group radius of $r_bot approx 0.5 h^{-1} mathrm{Mpc}$. While massive galaxies are associated with massive groups, the marked statistics show no indication of galaxy mass segregation within groups. We show similar results from the IllustrisTNG simulations and the L-Galaxies model, although L-Galaxies shows an enhanced bias and galaxy mass dependence on small scales.
The Galaxy And Mass Assembly Survey (GAMA) covers five fields with highly complete spectroscopic coverage ($>95$ per cent) to intermediate depths ($r<19.8$ or $i < 19.0$ mag), and collectively spans 250 square degrees of Equatorial or Southern sky. Four of the GAMA fields (G09, G12, G15 and G23) reside in the ESO VST KiDS and ESO VISTA VIKING survey footprints, which combined with our GALEX, WISE and Herschel data provide deep uniform imaging in the $FUV,NUV,ugriZYJHK_s,W1,W2,W3,W4,P100,P160,S250,S350,S500$ bands. Following the release of KiDS DR4, we describe the process by which we ingest the KiDS data into GAMA (replacing the SDSS data previously used for G09, G12 and G15), and redefine our core optical and near-IR catalogues to provide a complete and homogeneous dataset. The source extraction and analysis is based on the new ProFound image analysis package, providing matched-segment photometry across all bands. The data are classified into stars, galaxies, artefacts, and ambiguous objects, and objects are linked to the GAMA spectroscopic target catalogue. Additionally, a new technique is employed utilising ProFound to extract photometry in the unresolved MIR-FIR regime. The catalogues including the full FUV-FIR photometry are described and will be fully available as part of GAMA DR4. They are intended for both standalone science, selection for targeted follow-up with 4MOST, as well as an accompaniment to the upcoming and ongoing radio arrays now studying the GAMA $23^h$ field.