Predicting dust extinction properties of star-forming galaxies from H-alpha/UV ratio

Using star-forming galaxies sample in the nearby Universe (0.02<z<0.10) selected from the SDSS (DR7) and GALEX all-sky survey (GR5), we present a new empirical calibration for predicting dust extinction of galaxies from H-alpha-to-FUV flux ratio. We find that the H-alpha dust extinction (A(Ha)) derived with H-alpha/H-beta ratio (Balmer decrement) increases with increasing H-alpha/UV ratio as expected, but there remains a considerable scatter around the relation, which is largely dependent on stellar mass and/or H-alpha equivalent width (EW(Ha)). At fixed H-alpha/UV ratio, galaxies with higher stellar mass (or galaxies with lower EW(Ha)) tend to be more highly obscured by dust. We quantify this trend and establish an empirical calibration for predicting A(Ha) with a combination of H-alpha/UV ratio, stellar mass and EW(Ha), with which we can successfully reduce the systematic uncertainties accompanying the simple H-alpha/UV approach by ~15-30%. The new recipes proposed in this study will provide a convenient tool for predicting dust extinction level of galaxies particularly when Balmer decrement is not available. By comparing A(Ha) (derived with Balmer decrement) and A(UV) (derived with IR/UV luminosity ratio) for a subsample of galaxies for which AKARI FIR photometry is available, we demonstrate that more massive galaxies tend to have higher extra extinction towards the nebular regions compared to the stellar continuum light. Considering recent studies reporting smaller extra extinction towards nebular regions for high-redshift galaxies, we argue that the dust geometry within high-redshift galaxies resemble more like low-mass galaxies in the nearby Universe.

Mapping the large scale structure around a z=1.46 galaxy cluster in 3-D using two adjacent narrow-band filters

We present a novel method to estimate accurate redshifts of star-forming galaxies by measuring the flux ratio of the same emission line observed through two adjacent narrow-band filters. We apply this method to our NB912 and new NB921 data taken with Suprime-Cam on the Subaru Telescope of a galaxy cluster, XMMXCS J2215.9-1738, at z=1.46 and its surrounding structures. We obtain redshifts for 170 [OII] emission line galaxies at z~1.46, among which 41 galaxies are spectroscopically confirmed with MOIRCS and FMOS on the Subaru mainly, showing an accuracy of $sigma$((z-z_spec})/(1+z_spec))=0.002. This allows us to reveal filamentary structures that penetrate towards the centre of the galaxy cluster and intersect with other structures, consistent with the picture of hierarchical cluster formation. We also find that the projected celestial distribution does not precisely trace the real distribution of galaxies, indicating the importance of the three dimensional view of structures to properly identify and quantify galaxy environments. We investigate the environmental dependence of galaxy properties with local density, confirming that the median colour of galaxies becomes redder in higher density region while the star-formation rate of star-forming galaxies does not depend strongly on local environment in this structure. This implies that the star-forming activity in galaxies is truncated on a relatively short time scale in the cluster centre.

Cosmic Star Formation Activity at z=2.2 Probed by H-alpha Emission Line Galaxies

We present a pilot narrow-band survey of H-alpha emitters at z=2.2 in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey North (GOODS-N) field with MOIRCS instrument on the Subaru telescope. The survey reached a 3 sigma limiting magnitude of 23.6 (NB209) which corresponds to a 3 sigma limiting line flux of 2.5 x 10^-17 erg s^-1 cm^-2 over a 56 arcmnin^2 contiguous area (excluding a shallower area). From this survey, we have identified 11 H-alpha emitters and one AGN at z=2.2 on the basis of narrow-band excesses and photometric redshifts. We obtained spectra for seven new objects among them, including one AGN, and an emission line above 3 sigma is detected from all of them. We have estimated star formation rates (SFR) and stellar masses (M_star) for individual galaxies. The average SFR and M_star is 27.8M_solar yr^-1 and 4.0 x 10^10M_solar, respectivly. Their specific star formation rates are inversely correlated with their stellar masses. Fitting to a Schechter function yields the H-alpha luminosity function with log L = 42.82, log phi = -2.78 and alpha = -1.37. The average star formation rate density in the survey volume is estimated to be 0.31M_solar yr^-1Mpc^-3 according to the Kennicutt relation between H-alpha luminosity and star formation rate. We compare our H-alpha emitters at z=2.2 in GOODS-N with narrow-band line emitters in other field and clusters to see their time evolution and environmental dependence. We find that the star formation activity is reduced rapidly from z=2.5 to z=0.8 in the cluster environment, while it is only moderately changed in the field environment. This result suggests that the timescale of galaxy formation is different among different environments, and the star forming activities in high density regions eventually overtake those in lower density regions as a consequence of galaxy formation bias at high redshifts.

High star formation activity in the central region of a distant cluster at z=1.46

We present an unbiased deep [OII] emission survey of a cluster XMMXCS J2215.9-1738 at z=1.46, the most distant cluster to date with a detection of extended X-ray emission. With wide-field optical and near-infrared cameras (Suprime-Cam and MOIRCS, respectively) on Subaru telescope, we performed deep imaging with a narrow-band filter NB912 (lambda_c=9139A, Delta_lambda=134A) as well as broad-band filters (B, z, J and Ks). From the photometric catalogues, we have identified 44 [OII] emitters in the cluster central region of 6x6 down to a dust-free star formation rate of 2.6 Msun/yr (3 sigma). Interestingly, it is found that there are many [OII] emitters even in the central high density region. In fact, the fraction of [OII] emitters to the cluster members as well as their star formation rates and equivalent widths stay almost constant with decreasing cluster-centric distance up to the cluster core. Unlike clusters at lower redshifts (z<1) where star formation activity is mostly quenched in their central regions, this higher redshift 2215 cluster shows its high star formation activity even at its centre, suggesting that we are beginning to enter the formation epoch of some galaxies in the cluster core eventually. Moreover, we find a deficit of galaxies on the red sequence at magnitudes fainter than ~M*+0.5 on the colour-magnitude diagram. This break magnitude is brighter than that of lower redshift clusters, and it is likely that we are seeing the formation phase of more massive red galaxies in the cluster core at z~1. These results may indicate inside-out and down-sizing propagation of star formation activity in the course of cluster evolution.

Dependence of the Build-up of the Colour-Magnitude Relation on Cluster Richness at z ~ 0.8

We present environmental dependence of the build-up of the colour-magnitude relation (CMR) at z ~ 0.8. It is well established that massive early-type galaxies exhibit a tight CMR in clusters up to at least z ~ 1. The faint end of the relation, however, has been much less explored especially at high redshifts primarily due to limited depths of the data. Some recent papers have reported a deficit of the faint red galaxies on the CMR at 0.8 < z < 1, but this has not been well confirmed yet and is still controversial. Using a deep, multi-colour, panoramic imaging data set of the distant cluster RXJ1716.4+6708 at z=0.81, newly taken with the Prime Focus Camera (Suprime-Cam) on the Subaru Telescope, we carry out an analysis of faint red galaxies with a care for incompleteness. We find that there is a sharp decline in the number of red galaxies toward the faint end of the CMR below M*+2. We compare our result with those for other clusters at z ~ 0.8 taken from the literature, which show or do not show the deficit. We suggest that the deficit of faint red galaxies is dependent on the richness or mass of the clusters, in the sense that poorer systems show stronger deficits. This indicates that the evolutionary stage of less massive galaxies depends critically on environment.