No Arabic abstract
From the disk of normal galaxies to the nucleus of prototype active sources, we review the wealth of results and new understanding provided by recent infrared probes and, in particular, the four instruments on-board of ISO.
We study a sample of 61 submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) selected from ground-based surveys, with known spectroscopic redshifts and observed with Herschel as part of the PACS Evolutionary Probe (PEP) and the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) key programmes. We use the broad far-infrared wavelength coverage (100-600um) provided by the combination of PACS and SPIRE observations. Using a power-law temperature distribution model to derive infrared luminosities and dust temperatures, we measure a dust emissivity spectral index for SMGs of beta=2.0+/-0.2. Our results unveil the diversity of the SMG population. Some SMGs exhibit extreme infrared luminosities of ~10^13 Lsun and relatively warm dust components, while others are fainter (~10^12 Lsun) and are biased towards cold dust temperatures. The extreme infrared luminosities of some SMGs (LIR>10^12.7 Lsun, 26/61 systems) imply SFRs of >500Msun yr^-1. Such high SFRs are difficult to reconcile with a secular mode of star formation, and may instead correspond to a merger-driven stage in the evolution of these galaxies. Another observational argument in favour of this scenario is the presence of dust temperatures warmer than that of SMGs of lower luminosities (~40K as opposed to ~25K), consistent with observations of local ULIRGs triggered by major mergers and with results from hydrodynamic simulations of major mergers combined with radiative transfer calculations. Luminous SMGs are also offset from normal star-forming galaxies in the stellar mass-SFR plane, suggesting that they are undergoing starburst events with short duty cycles, compatible with the major merger scenario. On the other hand, a significant fraction of the low infrared luminosity SMGs have cold dust temperatures, are located close to the main sequence of star formation, and thus might be evolving through a secular mode of star formation. [abridged]
We study the infrared (IR) properties of high-redshift galaxies using deep Spitzer 24, 70, and 160 micron data. Our primary interest is to improve the constraints on the total IR luminosities, L(IR), of these galaxies. We combine the Spitzer data in the southern Extended Chandra Deep Field with a K-band-selected galaxy sample and photometric redshifts from the Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile. We used a stacking analysis to measure the average 70 and 160 micron flux densities of 1.5 < z < 2.5 galaxies as a function of 24 micron flux density, X-ray activity, and rest-frame near-IR color. Galaxies with 1.5 < z < 2.5 and S(24)=53-250 micro-Jy have L(IR) derived from their average 24-160 micron flux densities within factors of 2-3 of those derived from the 24 micron flux densities only. However, L(IR) derived from the average 24-160 micron flux densities for galaxies with S(24) > 250 micro-Jy and 1.5 < z < 2.5 are lower than those derived using only the 24 micron flux density by factors of 2-10. Galaxies with S(24) > 250 micro-Jy have S(70)/S(24) flux ratios comparable to sources with X-ray detections or red rest-frame IR colors, suggesting that warm dust possibly heated by AGN may contribute to the high 24 micron emission. Based on the average 24-160 micron flux densities, nearly all 24 micron-selected galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5 have L(IR) < 6 x 10^12 solar luminosities, which if attributed to star formation corresponds to < 1000 solar masses per year. This suggests that high redshift galaxies may have similar star formation efficiencies and feedback processes as local analogs. Objects with L(IR) > 6 x 10^12 solar luminosities are quite rare, with a surface density ~ 30 +/- 10 per sq. deg, corresponding to ~ 2 +/- 1 x 10^-6 Mpc^-3 over 1.5 < z < 2.5.
Aims. We quantify the contributions of 24um galaxies to the Far-Infrared (FIR) Background at 70 and 160um. We provide new estimates of the Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB), and compare it with the Cosmic Optical Background (COB). Methods. Using Spitzer data at 24, 70 and 160um in three deep fields, we stacked more than 19000 MIPS 24um sources with S24>60uJy at 70 and 160um, and measured the resulting FIR flux densities. Results. This method allows a gain up to one order of magnitude in depth in the FIR. We find that the Mid-Infrared (MIR) 24um selected sources contribute to more than 70% of the CIB at 70 and 160um. This is the first direct measurement of the contribution of MIR-selected galaxies to the FIR CIB. Galaxies contributing the most to the total CIB are thus z~1 luminous infrared galaxies, which have intermediate stellar masses. We estimate that the CIB will be resolved at 0.9 mJy at 70 and 3 mJy at 160um. By combining the extrapolation of the 24um source counts below 60uJy, with 160/24 and 70/24 colors as measured with the stacking analysis, we obtain lower limits of 7.1+/-1.0 and 13.4+/-1.7 nW/m2/sr for the CIB at 70 and 160um, respectively. Conclusions. The MIPS surveys have resolved more than three quarters of the MIR and FIR CIB. By carefully integrating the Extragalactic Background Light (EBL) SED, we also find that the CIB has the same brightness as the COB, around 24 nW/m2/sr. The EBL is produced on average by 115 infrared photons for one visible photon. Finally, the galaxy formation and evolution processes emitted a brightness equivalent to 5% of the primordial electromagnetic background (CMB).
We investigate the evolutionary connection between local IR-bright galaxies ($log L_{rm IR}ge 11.4,L_odot$) and quasars. We use high angular resolution ($sim$ 0.3-0.4 arcsec $sim$ few hundred parsecs) $8-13,mu$m ground-based spectroscopy to disentangle the AGN mid-IR properties from those of star formation. The comparison between the nuclear $11.3,mu$m PAH feature emission and that measured with Spitzer/IRS indicates that the star formation is extended over a few kpc in the IR-bright galaxies. The AGN contribution to the total IR luminosity of IR-bright galaxies is lower than in quasars. Although the dust distribution is predicted to change as IR-bright galaxies evolve to IR-bright quasars and then to optical quasars, we show that the AGN mid-IR emission of all the quasars in our sample is not significantly different. In contrast, the nuclear emission of IR-bright galaxies with low AGN contributions appears more heavily embedded in dust although there is no clear trend with the interaction stage or projected nuclear separation. This suggests that the changes in the distribution of the nuclear obscuring material may be taking place rapidly and at different interaction stages washing out the evidence of an evolutionary path. When compared to normal AGN, the nuclear star formation activity of quasars appears to be dimming whereas it is enhanced in some IR-bright nuclei, suggesting that the latter are in an earlier star-formation dominated phase.
We present the observed correlations between rest-frame 8, 24, 70 and 160 um monochromatic luminosities and measured total infrared luminosities L_IR of galaxies detected by Spitzer. Our sample consists of 372 star-forming galaxies with individual detections and flux measurements at 8, 24, 70 and 160 um. We have spectroscopic redshifts for 93% of these sources, and accurate photometric redshifts for the remainder. We also used a stacking analysis to measure the IR fluxes of fainter sources at higher redshifts. We show that the monochromatic mid and far-infrared luminosities are strongly correlated with the total infrared luminosity and our stacking analysis confirms that these correlations also hold at higher redshifts. We provide relations between monochromatic luminosities and total infrared luminosities L_IR that should be reliable up to z~2 (z~1.1) for ULIRGs (LIRGs). In particular, we can predict L_IR with accuracies of 37% and 54% from the 8 and 24 um fluxes, while the best tracer is the 70 um flux. Combining bands leads to slightly more accurate estimates. For example, combining the 8 and 24 um luminosities predicts L_IR with an accuracy of 34%. Our results are generally compatible with previous studies, and the small changes are probably due to differences in the sample selection criteria. We can rule out strong evolution in dust properties with redshift up to z~1. Finally, we show that infrared and sub-millimeter observations are complementary means of building complete samples of star-forming galaxies, with the former being more sensitive for z<~2 and the latter at higher z>~2.