No Arabic abstract
We present extensive observations of a sample of distant, submm galaxies detected in the field of the massive cluster lens, A1835, using SCUBA. Taken in conjunction with earlier observations of other submm-selected sources (Ivison et al. 1998; Smail et al. 1999; Soucail et al. 1999) we now have detailed, multi-wavelength observations of 7 examples of the submm population, having exploited the combination of achromatic amplification by cluster lenses and lavish archival datasets. These sources, all clearly at z > 1, illustrate the wide range in the radio and optical properties of distant submm-selected galaxies. We include detailed observations of the first candidate `pure starburst submm galaxy at high redshift, a z=2.56 interacting galaxy which shows no obvious sign of hosting an AGN. The remaining sources have varying degrees of inferred AGN activity (3 from 7 of the most luminous show some evidence of the presence of an AGN) although even when an AGN is obviously present it is still not apparent if reprocessed radiation from this source dominates the submm emission. In contrast with the variation in the spectral properties, we see relatively homogeneous morphologies for the population, with a large fraction of merging or interacting systems. Our study shows that virtually identical SEDs are seen for galaxies which exhibit strikingly different opt/UV spectral-line characteristics. We conclude that standard opt/UV spectral classifications are misleading when applied to distant, highly obscured galaxies and that we must seek other means of determining the various contributions to the overall energy budget of submm galaxies and hence to the far-IR extragalactic background.
We present deep 450um and 850um observations of a large, uniformly covered 394arcmin^2 area in the COSMOS field obtained with the SCUBA-2 instrument on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). We achieve root-mean-square noise values of 4.13mJy at 450um and 0.80mJy at 850um. The differential and cumulative number counts are presented and compared to similar previous works. Individual point sources are identified at >3.6sigma significance, a threshold corresponding to a 3-5% sample contamination rate. We identify 78 sources at 450um and 99 at 850um, with flux densities S450=13-37mJy and S850=2-16mJy. Only 62-76% of 450um sources are 850um detected and 61-81% of 850um sources are 450um detected. The positional uncertainties at 450um are small (1-2.5) and therefore allow a precise identification of multiwavelength counterparts without reliance on detection at 24um or radio wavelengths; we find that only 44% of 450um-selected galaxies and 60% of 850um-sources have 24um or radio counterparts. 450um-selected galaxies peak at <z>=1.95+-0.19 and 850um=selected galaxies peak at <z>=2.16+-0.11. The two samples occupy similar parameter space in redshift and luminosity, while their median SED peak wavelengths differ by ~10-50um (translating to deltaTdust =8-12K, where 450um-selected galaxies are warmer). The similarities of the 450um and 850um populations, yet lack of direct overlap between them, suggests that submillimeter surveys conducted at any single far-infrared wavelength will be significantly incomplete (~>30%) at censusing infrared-luminous star formation at high-z.
We present the properties of the first 250 $mu$m blind sample of nearby galaxies (15 < D < 46 Mpc) containing 42 objects from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS). Herschels sensitivity probes the faint end of the dust luminosity function for the first time, spanning a range of stellar mass (7.4 < log$_{10}$ M$_{star}$ < 11.3 M$_{odot}$), star formation activity (-11.8 < log$_{10}$ SSFR < -8.9 yr$^{-1}$), gas fraction (3-96 per cent), and colour (0.6 < FUV-Ks < 7.0 mag). The median cold dust temperature is 14.6 K, colder than in the Herschel Reference Survey (18.5 K) and Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue 17.7 K. The mean dust-to-stellar mass ratio in our sample is higher than these surveys by factors of 3.7 and 1.8, with a dust mass volume density of (3.7 $pm$ 0.7) x 10$^{5}$ M$_{odot}$ Mpc$^{-3}$. Counter-intuitively, we find that the more dust rich a galaxy, the lower its UV attenuation. Over half of our dust-selected sample are very blue in FUV-Ks colour, with irregular and/or highly flocculent morphology, these galaxies account for only 6 per cent of the samples stellar mass but contain over 35 per cent of the dust mass. They are the most actively star forming galaxies in the sample, with the highest gas fractions and lowest UV attenuation. They also appear to be in an early stage of converting their gas into stars, providing valuable insights into the chemical evolution of young galaxies.
We discuss the progress of the SCUBA Local Universe Galaxy Survey (SLUGS), the first large, statistical sub-mm survey of the local universe. Since our original survey of a sample of 104 IRAS-selected galaxies we have recently completed a sample of 78 Optically-Selected galaxies. Since SCUBA is sensitive to the large proportion of dust too cold to be detected by IRAS the addition of this optically-selected sample allows us for the first time to determine the amount of cold dust in galaxies of different Hubble types. We detect 6 ellipticals in the sample and find them to have dust masses in excess of 10^7 solar masses. We derive local sub-mm luminosity functions, both directly for the two samples, and by extrapolation from the IRAS PSCz, and find excellent agreement.
Deep SCUBA surveys have uncovered a large population of massive submm galaxies (SMGs) at z>~1. Although it is generally believed that these galaxies host intense star-formation activity, there is growing evidence that a substantial fraction also harbor an AGN. We present here possibly the strongest evidence for this viewpoint to date: the combination of ultra-deep X-ray observations (the 2 Ms CDF-N) and deep Keck spectroscopic data. We find that the majority (~75%) of the spectroscopically identified SMGs host AGN activity; the other ~25% have X-ray properties consistent with star formation (X-ray derived SFRs of ~1300-2700 solars/yr). The AGNs have properties generally consistent with those of nearby luminous AGNs (L_X~1E43-3E44) and the majority (~80%) are heavily obscured. We construct composite rest-frame 2-20 keV spectra for three different obscuration classes. An ~1 keV equivalent width FeK-alpha emission line is seen in the composite X-ray spectrum of the most heavily obscured AGNs (N_H>5x10^{23}), suggesting Compton-thick or near Compton-thick absorption. Even taking into account the effects of absorption, we find that the average X-ray-FIR ratio of the AGN-classified SMGs is approximately one order of magnitude below that found for typical quasars. This result suggests that intense star-formation activity dominates the bolometric output; however, we also explore whether the X-ray-FIR ratio is intrinsically less than that found for typical quasars and postulate that some SMGs may be AGN dominated. We investigate the growth of massive black holes, discuss prospects for deeper observations, and explore the potential of the next generation of X-ray observatories. (ABRIDGED).
We present new results from the SCUBA Local Universe Galaxy Survey, the first large statistical submillimetre survey of the local Universe. Following our initial survey of a sample of 104 IRAS-selected galaxies we now present the results of a sample of 80 Optically-selected galaxies. Since SCUBA is sensitive to the large proportion of dust too cold to be detected by IRAS the addition of this Optically-selected sample allows us for the first time to determine the amount of cold dust in galaxies of different Hubble types. We detect 6 ellipticals in the sample and find them to have dust masses in excess of 10^7 solar masses. We derive local submillimetre Luminosity Functions and Dust Mass functions, both directly for the Optically-Selected SLUGS sample and by extrapolation from the IRAS PSCz survey, and find them to be well-fitted by Schechter functions. We find excellent agreement between the two LFs and DMFs and show that, whereas the slope of the IRAS-selected LF at lower luminosities was steeper than -2 (a submm Olbers Paradox), as expected the PSCz-extrapolated LF flattens out at the low luminosity end.