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The Oxford SWIFT spectrograph: First commissioning and on-sky results

Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering 7735:PART 1 (2010)

Authors:

N Thatte, M Tecza, F Clarke, T Goodsall, L Fogarty, R Houghton, G Salter, N Scott, RL Davies, A Bouchez, R Dekany

Abstract:

The Oxford SWIFT spectrograph, an I & z band (6500-10500 A) integral field spectrograph, is designed to operate as a facility instrument at the 200 inch Hale Telescope on Palomar Mountain, in conjunction with the Palomar laser guide star adaptive optics system PALAO (and its upgrade to PALM3000). SWIFT provides spectra at R(≡λ/Δλ)∼4000 of a contiguous two-dimensional field, 44 x 89 spatial pixels (spaxels) in size, at spatial scales of 0.235″;, 0.16″, and 0.08″ per spaxel. It employs two 250μm thick, fully depleted, extremely red sensitive 4k X 2k CCD detector arrays (manufactured by LBNL) that provide excellent quantum efficiency out to 1000 nm. We describe the commissioning observations and present the measured values of a number of instrument parameters. We also present some first science results that give a taste of the range of science programs where SWIFT can have a substantial impact. © 2010 Copyright SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering.
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The detection of a population of submillimeter-bright, strongly lensed galaxies.

Science 330:6005 (2010) 800-804

Authors:

Mattia Negrello, R Hopwood, G De Zotti, A Cooray, A Verma, J Bock, DT Frayer, MA Gurwell, A Omont, R Neri, H Dannerbauer, LL Leeuw, E Barton, J Cooke, S Kim, E da Cunha, G Rodighiero, P Cox, DG Bonfield, MJ Jarvis, S Serjeant, RJ Ivison, S Dye, I Aretxaga, DH Hughes, E Ibar, F Bertoldi, I Valtchanov, S Eales, L Dunne, SP Driver, R Auld, S Buttiglione, A Cava, CA Grady, DL Clements, A Dariush, J Fritz, D Hill, JB Hornbeck, L Kelvin, G Lagache, M Lopez-Caniego, J Gonzalez-Nuevo, S Maddox, E Pascale, M Pohlen, EE Rigby, A Robotham, C Simpson, DJB Smith, P Temi, MA Thompson, BE Woodgate, DG York, JE Aguirre, A Beelen, A Blain, AJ Baker, M Birkinshaw, R Blundell, CM Bradford, D Burgarella, L Danese, JS Dunlop, S Fleuren, J Glenn, AI Harris, J Kamenetzky, RE Lupu, RJ Maddalena, BF Madore, PR Maloney, H Matsuhara, MJ Michaowski, EJ Murphy, BJ Naylor, H Nguyen, C Popescu, S Rawlings, D Rigopoulou, D Scott, KS Scott, M Seibert, I Smail, RJ Tuffs, JD Vieira, PP van der Werf, J Zmuidzinas

Abstract:

Gravitational lensing is a powerful astrophysical and cosmological probe and is particularly valuable at submillimeter wavelengths for the study of the statistical and individual properties of dusty star-forming galaxies. However, the identification of gravitational lenses is often time-intensive, involving the sifting of large volumes of imaging or spectroscopic data to find few candidates. We used early data from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey to demonstrate that wide-area submillimeter surveys can simply and easily detect strong gravitational lensing events, with close to 100% efficiency.
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The detection of a population of submillimeter-bright, strongly lensed galaxies

Science 330:6005 (2010) 800-804

Authors:

M Negrello, R Hopwood, G De Zotti, A Cooray, A Verma, J Bock, DT Frayer, MA Gurwell, A Omont, R Neri, H Dannerbauer, LL Leeuw, E Barton, J Cooke, S Kim, E Da Cunha, G Rodighiero, P Cox, DG Bonfield, MJ Jarvis, S Serjeant, RJ Ivison, S Dye, I Aretxaga, DH Hughes, E Ibar, F Bertoldi, I Valtchanov, S Eales, L Dunne, SP Driver, R Auld, S Buttiglione, A Cava, CA Grady, DL Clements, A Dariush, J Fritz, D Hill, JB Hornbeck, L Kelvin, G Lagache, M Lopez-Caniego, J Gonzalez-Nuevo, S Maddox, E Pascale, M Pohlen, EE Rigby, A Robotham, C Simpson, DJB Smith, P Temi, MA Thompson, BE Woodgate, DG York, JE Aguirre, A Beelen, A Blain, AJ Baker, M Birkinshaw, R Blundell, CM Bradford, D Burgarella, L Danese, JS Dunlop, S Fleuren, J Glenn, AI Harris, J Kamenetzky, RE Lupu, RJ Maddalena, BF Madore, PR Maloney, H Matsuhara, MJ Michaowski, EJ Murphy, BJ Naylor, H Nguyen, C Popescu, S Rawlings, D Rigopoulou, D Scott, KS Scott, M Seibert, I Smail, RJ Tuffs, JD Vieira, PP Van Der Werf, J Zmuidzinas

Abstract:

Gravitational lensing is a powerful astrophysical and cosmological probe and is particularly valuable at submillimeter wavelengths for the study of the statistical and individual properties of dusty star-forming galaxies. However, the identification of gravitational lenses is often time-intensive, involving the sifting of large volumes of imaging or spectroscopic data to find few candidates. We used early data from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey to demonstrate that wide-area submillimeter surveys can simply and easily detect strong gravitational lensing events, with close to 100% efficiency.
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Herschel-ATLAS: the far-infrared-radio correlation at z \lt 0.5

\mnras 409 (2010) 92-101-92-101

Authors:

MJ Jarvis, DJB Smith, DG Bonfield, MJ Hardcastle, JT Falder, JA Stevens, RJ Ivison, R Auld, M Baes, IK Baldry, SP Bamford, N Bourne, S Buttiglione, A Cava, A Cooray, A Dariush, G de Zotti, JS Dunlop, L Dunne, S Dye, S Eales, J Fritz, DT Hill, R Hopwood, DH Hughes, E Ibar, DH Jones, L Kelvin, A Lawrence, L Leeuw, J Loveday, SJ Maddox, MJ Micha lowski, M Negrello, P Norberg, M Pohlen, M Prescott, EE Rigby, A Robotham, G Rodighiero, D Scott, R Sharp, P Temi, MA Thompson, P van der Werf, E van Kampen, C Vlahakis, G White
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Herschel -ATLAS: Extragalactic number counts from 250 to 500 microns

Astronomy and Astrophysics 518:4 (2010)

Authors:

DL Clements, E Rigby, S Maddox, L Dunne, A Mortier, C Pearson, A Amblard, R Auld, M Baes, D Bonfield, D Burgarella, S Buttiglione, A Cava, A Cooray, A Dariush, G De Zotti, S Dye, S Eales, D Frayer, J Fritz, JP Gardner, J Gonzalez-Nuevo, D Herranz, E Ibar, R Ivison, MJ Jarvis, G Lagache, L Leeuw, M Lopez-Caniego, M Negrello, E Pascale, M Pohlen, G Rodighiero, S Samui, S Serjeant, B Sibthorpe, D Scott, DJB Smith, P Temi, M Thompson, I Valtchanov, P Van Der Werf, A Verma

Abstract:

Aims. The Herschel-ATLAS survey (H-ATLAS) will be the largest area survey to be undertaken by the Herschel Space Observatory. It will cover 550 sq. deg. of extragalactic sky at wavelengths of 100, 160, 250, 350 and 500 μm when completed, reaching flux limits (5σ) from 32 to 145 mJy. We here present galaxy number counts obtained for SPIRE observations of the first ∼14 sq. deg. observed at 250, 350 and 500 μm. Methods. Number counts are a fundamental tool in constraining models of galaxy evolution. We use source catalogs extracted from the H-ATLAS maps as the basis for such an analysis. Correction factors for completeness and flux boosting are derived by applying our extraction method to model catalogs and then applied to the raw observational counts. Results. We find a steep rise in the number counts at flux levels of 100-200 mJy in all three SPIRE bands, consistent with results from BLAST. The counts are compared to a range of galaxy evolution models. None of the current models is an ideal fit to the data but all ascribe the steep rise to a population of luminous, rapidly evolving dusty galaxies at moderate to high redshift. © 2010 ESO.