No Arabic abstract
We present an infrared adaptation of the Cluster Red-Sequence method. We modify the two filter technique of Gladders & Yee (2000) to identify clusters based on their R-[3.6] color. We apply the technique to the 4 degree^2 Spitzer First Look Survey and detect 123 clusters spanning the redshift range 0.09 < z < 1.4. Our results demonstrate that the Spitzer Space Telescope will play an important role in the discovery of large samples of high redshift galaxy clusters.
We investigate the properties of massive galaxies at z=1-3.5 using HST observations, ground-based near-IR imaging, and Spitzer Space Telescope observations at 3-24 micron. We identify 153 distant red galaxies (DRGs) with J-K > 2.3 mag (Vega) in the southern GOODS field. This sample is approximately complete in stellar mass for passively evolving galaxies above 10^11 solar masses and z < 3. The galaxies identified by this selection are roughly split between objects whose optical and near-IR rest-frame light is dominated by evolved stars combined with ongoing star formation, and galaxies whose light is dominated by heavily reddened starbursts. Very few of the galaxies (< 10%) have no indication of current star formation. Using SFR estimates that include the reradiated IR emission, the DRGs at z=1.5-3 with stellar masses > 10^11 solar masses have specific SFRs (SFRs per unit stellar mass) ranging from 0.2 to 10 Gyr^-1, with a mean value of ~2.4 Gyr^-1. The DRGs with stellar masses > 10^11 solar masses and 1.5 < z < 3 have integrated specific SFRs greater the global value over all galaxies. In contrast, we find that galaxies at z = 0.3-0.75 with these stellar masses have integrated specific SFRs less than the global value, and more than an order of magnitude lower than that for massive DRGs at z = 1.5-3. At z < 1, lower-mass galaxies dominate the overall cosmic mass assembly. This suggests that the bulk of star formation in massive galaxies occurs at early cosmic epochs and is largely complete by z~1.5. [Abridged]
We present new Hubble Space Telescope STIS, high-resolution optical imaging of a sample of 13 submillimeter (submm) luminous galaxies, for which the optical emission has been pinpointed either through radio-1.4 GHz or millimeter interferometry. We find a predominance of irregular and complex morphologies in the sample, suggesting that mergers are likely common for submm galaxies. The component separation in these objects are on average a factor two larger than local galaxies with similarly high bolometric luminosities. The sizes and star formation rates of the submm galaxies are consistent with the maximal star formation rate densities of 20 Msun kpc^{-2} in local starburst galaxies (Lehnert & Heckman 1996). We derive quantitative morphological information for the optical galaxies hosting the submm emission; total and isophotal magnitudes, Petrosian radius, effective radius, concentration, aspect ratio, surface brightness, and asymmetry. We compare these morphological indices with those of other galaxies lying within the same STIS images. Most strikingly, we find ~70% of the submm galaxies to be extraordinarily large and elongated relative to the field population, regardless of optical magnitude. Comparison of the submm galaxy morphologies with those of optically selected galaxies at z~2-3 reveal the submm galaxies to be a morphologically distinct population, with generally larger sizes, higher concentrations and more prevalent major-merger configurations.
We present the results of a comprehensive Spitzer survey of 70 radio galaxies across 1<z<5.2. Using IRAC, IRS and MIPS imaging we determine the rest-frame AGN contribution to the stellar emission peak at 1.6um. The stellar luminosities are found to be consistent with that of a giant elliptical with a stellar mass of 10^11-12Msun. The mean stellar mass remains constant at ~10^11.5Msun up to z=3 indicating that the upper end of the mass function is already in place by this redshift. The mid-IR luminosities imply bolometric IR luminosities that would classify all sources as ULIRGs. The mid-IR to radio luminosity generally correlate implying a common origin for these emissions. The ratio is higher than that found for lower redshift, ie z<1, radio galaxies.
Small galaxies consisting entirely of population III (pop III) stars may form at high redshifts, and could constitute one of the best probes of such stars. Here, we explore the prospects of detecting gravitationally lensed pop III galaxies behind the galaxy cluster J0717.5+3745 (J0717) with both the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). By projecting simulated catalogs of pop III galaxies at z~7-15 through the J0717 magnification maps, we estimate the lensed number counts as a function of flux detection threshold. We find that the ongoing HST survey CLASH, targeting a total of 25 galaxy clusters including J0717, potentially could detect a small number of pop III galaxies if ~1% of the baryons in these systems have been converted into pop III stars. Using JWST exposures of J0717, this limit can be pushed to ~0.1% of the baryons. Ultra-deep JWST observations of unlensed fields are predicted to do somewhat worse, but will be able to probe pop III galaxies with luminosities intermediate between those detectable in HST/CLASH and in JWST observations of J0717. We also explain how current measurements of the galaxy luminosity function at z=7-10 can be used to constrain pop III galaxy models with very high star formation efficiencies (~10% of the baryons converted into pop III stars).
The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of dust-enshrouded galaxies with powerful restframe far-infrared emission have been constrained by a range of ground-based and space-borne surveys. The IRAS catalog provides a reasonably complete picture of the dust emission from nearby galaxies (at redshifts of order 0.1) that are typically less luminous than about 10 to the 12 solar luminosities. However, at higher redshifts, the observational coverage from all existing far-IR and submillimeter surveys is much less complete. Here we investigate the SEDs of a new sample of high-redshift submillimeter-selected galaxies (SMGs), for which redshifts are known, allowing us to estimate reliable luminosities and characteristic dust temperatures. We demonstrate that a wide range of SEDs is present in the population, and that a substantial number of luminous dusty galaxies with hotter dust temperatures could exist at similar redshifts (of order 2 to 3), but remain undetected in existing submillimeter surveys. These hotter galaxies could be responsible for about a third of the extragalactic IR background radiation at a wavelength of about 100 microns. The brightest of these galaxies would have far-IR luminosities of order 10 to the 13 solar luminosities and dust temperatures of order 60 K. Galaxies up to an order of magnitude less luminous with similar SEDs will be easy to detect and identify in the deepest Spitzer Space Telescope observations of extragalactic fields at 24 microns.