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Register a new userLuminosity Functions beyond the spectroscopic limit. I. Method and near-infrared LFs in the HDF-N and HDF-S
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Micol Bolzonella
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We have developed a Monte Carlo method to compute the luminosity function of galaxies, based on photometric redshifts, which takes into account the non-gaussianity of the probability functions, and the presence of degenerate solutions in redshift. In this paper we describe the method and the mock tests performed to check its reliability. The NIR luminosity functions and the redshift distributions are determined for near infrared subsamples on the HDF-N and HDF-S. The results on the evolution of the NIR LF, the stellar mass function, and the luminosity density, are presented and discussed in view of the implications for the galaxy formation models. The main results are the lack of substantial evolution of the bright end of the NIR LF and the absence of decline of the luminosity density up to a redshift z ~ 2, implying that most of the stellar population in massive galaxies was already in place at such redshift.
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We describe an object in the Hubble Deep Field North with very unusual near-infrared properties. It is readily visible in Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS images at 1.6um and from the ground at 2.2um, but is undetected (with signal-to-noise <~ 2) in very deep WFPC2 and NICMOS data from 0.3 to 1.1um. The f_nu flux density drops by a factor >~ 8.3 (97.7% confidence) from 1.6 to 1.1um. The object is compact but may be slightly resolved in the NICMOS 1.6um image. In a low-resolution, near-infrared spectrogram, we find a possible emission line at 1.643um, but a reobservation at higher spectral resolution failed to confirm the line, leaving its reality in doubt. We consider various hypotheses for the nature of this object. Its colors are unlike those of known galactic stars, except perhaps the most extreme carbon stars or Mira variables with thick circumstellar dust shells. It does not appear to be possible to explain its spectral energy distribution as that of a normal galaxy at any redshift without additional opacity from either dust or intergalactic neutral hydrogen. The colors can be matched by those of a dusty galaxy at z >~ 2, by a maximally old elliptical galaxy at z >~ 3 (perhaps with some additional reddening), or by an object at z >~ 10 whose optical and 1.1um light have been suppressed by the intergalactic medium. Under the latter hypothesis, if the luminosity results from stars and not an AGN, the object would resemble a classical, unobscured protogalaxy, with a star formation rate >~ 100 M_sun/yr. Such UV-bright objects are evidently rare at 2 < z < 12.5, however, with a space density several hundred times lower than that of present-day L* galaxies.
We use ~88 arcmin**2 of deep (>~26.5 mag at 5 sigma) NICMOS data over the two GOODS fields and the HDF South to conduct a search for bright z>~7 galaxy candidates. This search takes advantage of an efficient preselection over 58 arcmin**2 of NICMOS H-band data where only plausible z>~7 candidates are followed up with NICMOS J-band observations. ~248 arcmin**2 of deep ground-based near-infrared data (>~25.5 mag, 5 sigma) is also considered in the search. In total, we report 15 z-dropout candidates over this area -- 7 of which are new to these search fields. Two possible z~9 J-dropout candidates are also found, but seem unlikely to correspond to z~9 galaxies. The present z~9 search is used to set upper limits on the prevalence of such sources. Rigorous testing is undertaken to establish the level of contamination of our selections by photometric scatter, low mass stars, supernovae (SNe), and spurious sources. The estimated contamination rate of our z~7 selection is ~24%. Through careful simulations, the effective volume available to our z>~7 selections is estimated and used to establish constraints on the volume density of luminous (L*(z=3), or -21 mag) galaxies from these searches. We find that the volume density of luminous star-forming galaxies at z~7 is 13_{-5}^{+8}x lower than at z~4 and >25x lower (1 sigma) at z~9 than at z~4. This is the most stringent constraint yet available on the volume density of >~L* galaxies at z~9. The present wide-area, multi-field search limits cosmic variance to <20%. The evolution we find at the bright end of the UV LF is similar to that found from recent Subaru Suprime-Cam, HAWK-I or ERS WFC3/IR searches. The present paper also includes a complete summary of our final z~7 z-dropout sample (18 candidates) identified from all NICMOS observations to date (over the two GOODS fields, the HUDF, galaxy clusters).
We present deep near-infrared (NIR) Js, H, and Ks-band ISAAC imaging of the WFPC2 field of the HDF-S. The 2.5x 2.5 high Galactic latitude field was observed with the VLT under the best seeing conditions with integration times amounting to 33.6 hours in Js, 32.3 hours in H, and 35.6 hours in Ks. We reach total AB magnitudes for point sources of 26.8, 26.2, and 26.2 respectively (3 sigma), which make it the deepest ground-based NIR observations to date, and the deepest Ks-band data in any field. The effective seeing of the coadded images is ~0.45 in Js, ~0.48 in H, and ~0.46 in Ks. Using published WFPC2 optical data, we constructed a Ks-limited multicolor catalog containing 833 sources down to Ks,tot ~< 26 (AB), of which 624 have seven-band optical-to-NIR photometry. These data allow us to select normal galaxies from their rest-frame optical properties to high redshift (z ~< 4). The observations, data reduction and properties of the final images are discussed, and we address the detection and photometry procedures that were used in making the catalog. In addition, we present deep number counts, color distributions and photometric redshifts of the HDF-S galaxies. We find that our faint Ks-band number counts are flatter than published counts in other deep fields, which might reflect cosmic variations or different analysis techniques. Compared to the HDF-N, we find many galaxies with very red V-H colors at photometric redshifts 1.95 < z < 3.5. These galaxies are bright in Ks with infrared colors redder than Js-Ks > 2.3 (in Johnson magnitudes). Because they are extremely faint in the observed optical, they would be missed by ultraviolet-optical selection techniques, such as the U-dropout method.
(abridged) We present multiwavelength observations for a large sample of microjansky radio sources detected in ultradeep 1.4GHz maps centered on the Hubble Deep Field-North (HDF-N) and the Hawaii Survey Fields SSA13 and SSA22. Our spectroscopic redshifts for 169 radio sources reveal a flat median redshift distribution, and these sources are hosted by similarly luminous optical L* galaxies, regardless of redshift. This is a serious concern for radio estimates of the local star formation rate density, as a substantial fraction of the ultraviolet luminosity density is generated by sub-L* galaxies at low redshifts. From our submillimeter measurements for 278 radio sources, we find error-weighted mean 850micron fluxes of 1.72$pm$0.09 mJy for the total sample, 2.37$pm$0.13 mJy for the optically-faint (I>23.5) subsample, and 1.04$pm$0.13 mJy for the optically-bright (I<23.5) subsample. We significantly (>3sigma) detect in the submillimeter 50 of the radio sources, 38 with I>23.5. Spectroscopic redshifts for three of the I<23.5 submillimeter-detected radio sources are in the range z=1.0-3.4, and all show AGN signatures. Using only the submillimeter mapped regions we find that 69pm9% of the submillimeter-detected radio population are at I>23.5. We also find that 66pm7% of the S850>5 mJy (>4sigma) sources are radio-identified. We find that millimetric redshift estimates at low redshifts are best made with a FIR template intermediate between a Milky Way type galaxy and a starburst galaxy, and at high redshifts with an Arp220 template.
We present recent and ongoing results from extremely deep 18 day MERLIN + VLA 1.4GHz observations (rms: 3.3microJy/bm) of an 8.5-by-8.5 arcminute field centred upon the Hubble Deep Field North. This area of sky has been the subject of some of the deepest observations ever made over a wide range of frequencies, from X-rays to the radio. The results presented here use our deep, sub-arcsecond radio imaging of this field to characterise the radio structures of the several hundred GOODS Spitzer MIR sources in this field. These MIR sources primarily trace the luminous starburst sources. A significant proportion of the MIR sources are detected and resolved by our radio observations, allowing these observations to trace the IR/Radio correlation for galaxies over ~7 orders of magnitude, extending it to ever lower luminosities.
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