Astronomical instrumentation

Abstract:

We investigate the dependence of the strength of galaxy clustering on intrinsic luminosity using the Anglo-Australian two degree field galaxy redshift survey (2dFGRS). The 2dFGRS is over an order of magnitude larger than previous redshift surveys used to address this issue. We measure the projected two-point correlation function of galaxies in a series of volume-limited samples. The projected correlation function is free from any distortion of the clustering pattern induced by peculiar motions and is well described by a power law in pair separation over the range 0.1 < (r/h-1 Mpc) < 10. The clustering of L*(Mbj - 5log10 h = -19.7) galaxies in real space is well-fitted by a correlation length r0 = 4.9 ± 0.3h-1 Mpc and power-law slope γ = 1.71 ± 0.06. The clustering amplitude increases slowly with absolute magnitude for galaxies fainter than M*. but rises more strongly at higher luminosities. At low luminosities, our results agree with measurements from the Southern Sky Redshift Survey 2 by Benoist et al. However, we find a weaker dependence of clustering strength on luminosity at the highest luminosities. The correlation function amplitude increases by a factor of 4.0 between Mbj - 5log10 h = -18 and -22.5, and the most luminous galaxies are 3.0 times more strongly clustered than L* galaxies. The power-law slope of the correlation function shows remarkably little variation for samples spanning a factor of 20 in luminosity. Our measurements are in very good agreement with the predictions of the hierarchical galaxy formation models of Benson et al.

Abstract:

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey has now measured in excess of 160 000 galaxy redshifts. This paper presents the power spectrum of the galaxy distribution, calculated using a direct Fourier transform based technique. We argue that, within the k-space region 0.02 ≲ k ≲ 0.15 h Mpc-1, the shape of this spectrum should be close to that of the linear density perturbations convolved with the window function of the survey. This window function and its convolving effect on the power spectrum estimate are analysed in detail. By convolving model spectra, we are able to fit the power-spectrum data and provide a measure of the matter content of the Universe. Our results show that models containing baryon oscillations are mildly preferred over featureless power spectra. Analysis of the data yields 68 per cent confidence limits on the total matter density times the Hubble parameter Ωm, h = 0.20 ± 0.03, and the baryon fraction Ωb/Ωm = 0.15 ± 0.07, assuming scale-invariant primordial fluctuations.