Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userUV-dropout Galaxies in the GOODS-South Field from WFC3 Early Release Science Observations
341
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
We combine new high sensitivity ultraviolet (UV) imaging from the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) with existing deep HST/Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) optical images from the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) program to identify UV-dropouts, which are Lyman break galaxy (LBG) candidates at z~1-3. These new HST/WFC3 observations were taken over 50 sq.arcmin in the GOODS-South field as a part of the Early Release Science program. The uniqueness of these new UV data is that they are observed in 3 UV/optical (WFC3 UVIS) channel filters (F225W, F275W and F336W), which allows us to identify three different sets of UV-dropout samples. We apply Lyman break dropout selection criteria to identify F225W-, F275W- and F336W-dropouts, which are z~1.7, 2.1 and 2.7 LBG candidates, respectively. Our results are as follows: (1) these WFC3 UVIS filters are very reliable in selecting LBGs with z~2.0, which helps to reduce the gap between the well studied z~>3 and z~0 regimes, (2) the combined number counts agrees very well with the observed change in the surface densities as a function of redshift when compared with the higher redshift LBG samples; and (3) the best-fit Schechter function parameters from the rest-frame UV luminosity functions at three different redshifts fit very well with the evolutionary trend of the characteristic absolute magnitude, and the faint-end slope, as a function of redshift. This is the first study to illustrate the usefulness of the WFC3 UVIS channel observations to select z<3 LBGs. The addition of the new WFC3 on the HST has made it possible to uniformly select LBGs from z~1 to z~9, and significantly enhance our understanding of these galaxies using HST sensitivity and resolution.
rate research
Read More
We present grism spectra of emission-line galaxies (ELGs) from 0.6-1.6 microns from the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. These new infrared grism data augment previous optical Advanced Camera for Surveys G800L 0.6-0.95 micron grism data in GOODS-South from the PEARS program, extending the wavelength covereage well past the G800L red cutoff. The ERS grism field was observed at a depth of 2 orbits per grism, yielding spectra of hundreds of faint objects, a subset of which are presented here. ELGs are studied via the Ha, [OIII], and [OII] emission lines detected in the redshift ranges 0.2<z<1.4, 1.2<z<2.2 and 2.0<z<3.3 respectively in the G102 (0.8-1.1 microns; R~210) and G141 (1.1-1.6 microns; R~130) grisms. The higher spectral resolution afforded by the WFC3 grisms also reveals emission lines not detectable with the G800L grism (e.g., [SII] and [SIII] lines). From these relatively shallow observations, line luminosities, star-formation rates, and grism spectroscopic redshifts are determined for a total of 48 ELGs to m(AB)~25 mag. Seventeen GOODS-South galaxies that previously only had photometric redshifts now have new grism-spectroscopic redshifts, in some cases with large corrections to the photometric redshifts (Delta(z)~0.3-0.5). Additionally, one galaxy had no previously-measured redshift but now has a secure grism-spectroscopic redshift, for a total of 18 new GOODS-South spectroscopic redshifts. The faintest source in our sample has a magnitude m(AB)=26.9 mag. The ERS grism data also reflect the expected trend of lower specific star formation rates for the highest mass galaxies in the sample as a function of redshift, consistent with downsizing and discovered previously from large surveys. These results demonstrate the remarkable efficiency and capability of the WFC3 NIR grisms for measuring galaxy properties to faint magnitudes and redshifts to z>2.
We analyze the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z=1-3 selected using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) UVIS channel filters. These HST/WFC3 observations cover about 50 sq. arcmin in the GOODS-South field as a part of the WFC3 Early Release Science program. These LBGs at z=1-3 are selected using dropout selection criteria similar to high redshift LBGs. The deep multi-band photometry in this field is used to identify best-fit SED models, from which we infer the following results: (1) the photometric redshift estimate of these dropout selected LBGs is accurate to within few percent; (2) the UV spectral slope (beta) is redder than at high redshift (z>3), where LBGs are less dusty; (3) on average, LBGs at z=1-3 are massive, dustier and more highly star-forming, compared to LBGs at higher redshifts with similar luminosities (0.1L*<~L<~2.5L*), though their median values are similar within 1-sigma uncertainties. This could imply that identical dropout selection technique, at all redshifts, find physically similar galaxies; and (4) stellar masses of these LBGs are directly proportional to their UV luminosities with a logarithmic slope of ~0.46, and star-formation rates are proportional to their stellar masses with a logarithmic slope of ~0.90. These relations hold true --- within luminosities probed in this study --- for LBGs from z~1.5 to 5. The star-forming galaxies selected using other color-based techniques show similar correlations at z~2, but to avoid any selection biases, and for direct comparison with LBGs at z>3, a true Lyman break selection at z~2 is essential. The future HST UV surveys, both wider and deeper, covering a large luminosity range are important to better understand LBG properties, and their evolution.
We present results on the size evolution of passively evolving galaxies at 1<z<2 drawn from the Wide Field Camera 3 Early Release Science program. Our sample was constructed using an analog to the passive BzK selection criterion, which isolates galaxies with little or no on-going star formation at z>1.5. We identify 30 galaxies in ~40 square arcmin to H<25 mag. We supplement spectroscopic redshifts from the literature with photometric redshifts determined from the 15-band photometry from 0.22-8 micron. We determine effective radii from Sersic profile fits to the H-band image using an empirical PSF. We find that size evolution is a strong function of stellar mass, with the most massive (M* ~ 10^11 Msol) galaxies undergoing the most rapid evolution from z~2 to the present. Parameterizing the size evolution as (1+z)^{-alpha}, we find a tentative scaling between alpha and stellar mass of alpha ~ -1.8+1.4 log(M*/10^9 Msol). We briefly discuss the implications of this result for our understanding of the dynamical evolution of the red galaxies.
We combine HST/WFC3 imaging and G141 grism observations from the CANDELS and 3D-HST surveys to produce a catalog of grism spectroscopic redshifts for galaxies in the CANDELS/GOODS-South field. The WFC3/G141 grism spectra cover a wavelength range of 1.1<lambda<1.7 microns with a resolving power of R~130 for point sources, thus providing rest-frame optical spectra for galaxies out to z~3.5. The catalog is selected in the H-band (F160W) and includes both galaxies with and without previously published spectroscopic redshifts. Grism spectra are extracted for all H-band detected galaxies with H<24 and a CANDELS photometric redshift z_phot > 0.6. The resulting spectra are visually inspected to identify emission lines and redshifts are determined using cross-correlation with empirical spectral templates. To establish the accuracy of our redshifts, we compare our results against high-quality spectroscopic redshifts from the literature. Using a sample of 411 control galaxies, this analysis yields a precision of sigma_NMAD=0.0028 for the grism-derived redshifts, which is consistent with the accuracy reported by the 3D-HST team. Our final catalog covers an area of 153 square arcmin and contains 1019 redshifts for galaxies in GOODS-S. Roughly 60% (608/1019) of these redshifts are for galaxies with no previously published spectroscopic redshift. These new redshifts span a range of 0.677 < z < 3.456 and have a median redshift of z=1.282. The catalog contains a total of 234 new redshifts for galaxies at z>1.5. In addition, we present 20 galaxy pair candidates identified for the first time using the grism redshifts in our catalog, including four new galaxy pairs at z~2, nearly doubling the number of such pairs previously identified.
We have exploited the HST CANDELS WFC3/IR imaging to study the properties of (sub-)mm galaxies in GOODS-South. After using the deep radio and Spitzer imaging to identify galaxy counterparts for the (sub-)mm sources, we have used the new CANDELS data in two ways. First, we have derived improved photometric redshifts and stellar masses, confirming that the (sub-)mm galaxies are massive (<M*>=2.2x10^11 M_solar) galaxies at z=1-3. Second, we have exploited the depth and resolution of the WFC3/IR imaging to determine the sizes and morphologies of the galaxies at rest-frame optical wavelengths, fitting two-dimensional axi-symmetric Sersic models. Crucially, the WFC3/IR H-band imaging enables modelling of the mass-dominant galaxy, rather than the blue high-surface brightness features which often dominate optical (rest-frame UV) images of (sub-)mm galaxies, and can confuse visual morphological classification. As a result of this analysis we find that >95% of the rest-frame optical light in almost all of the (sub-)mm galaxies is well-described by either a single exponential disk, or a multiple-component system in which the dominant constituent is disk-like. We demonstrate that this conclusion is consistent with the results of high-quality ground-based K-band imaging, and explain why. The massive disk galaxies which host luminous (sub-)mm emission are reasonably extended (r_e=4 kpc), consistent with the sizes of other massive star-forming disks at z~2. In many cases we find evidence of blue clumps within the sources, with the mass-dominant disk becoming more significant at longer wavelengths. Finally, only a minority of the sources show evidence for a major galaxy-galaxy interaction. Taken together, these results support the view that most (sub-)mm galaxies at z~2 are simply the most extreme examples of normal star-forming galaxies at that era.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
