Extremely Large Telescope

Abstract:

We use redshift determinations and spectral analysis of galaxies in the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey to study the properties of local radio sources with S ≥ 1 mJy. 557 objects (hereafter called the spectroscopic sample) drawn from the FIRST survey, corresponding to 2.3 per cent of the total radio sample, are found in the 2dFGRS catalogue within the area 9h48m ≲ RA(2000) ≲ 14h32m and -2o.77 ≲ Dec.(2000) ≲ 2o.25, down to a magnitude limit bJ = 19.45. The excellent quality of 2dF spectra allows us to divide these sources into classes, according to their optical spectra. Absorption-line systems make up 63 per cent of the spectroscopic sample. These may or may not show emission lines due to AGN activity, and correspond to 'classical' radio galaxies belonging mainly to the FRI class. They are characterized by relatively high radio-to-optical ratios, red colours, and high radio luminosities (1021 ≲ P1.4 GHz/W Hz-1 sr-1 ≲ 1024). Actively star-forming galaxies contribute about 32 per cent of the sample. These objects are mainly found at low redshifts (z ≲ 0.1) and show low radio-to-optical ratios, blue colours and low radio luminosities. We also found 18 Seyfert 2 galaxies (3 per cent) and four Seyfert 1s (1 per cent). Analysis of the local radio luminosity function (LF) shows that radio galaxies are well described by models that assume pure luminosity evolution, at least down to radio powers P1.4 GHz ≲ 1020.5 W Hz-1 sr-1. Late-type galaxies, whose relative contribution to the radio LF is found to be lower than was predicted by previous works, present an LF which is comparable with the IRAS galaxy LF. This class of sources therefore plausibly constitutes the radio counterpart of the dusty spirals and starbursts that dominate the counts at 60 μm.

Abstract:

We present results from a deep mid-infrared survey of the Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S) region performed at 6.7 and 15 μm with the ISOCAM instrument on board the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). The final map in each band was constructed by the co-addition of four independent rasters, registered using bright sources securely detected in all rasters, with the absolute astrometry being defined by a radio source detected at both 6.7 and 15 μm. We sought detections of bright sources in a circular region of radius 2.5 arcmin at the centre of each map, in a manner that simulations indicated would produce highly reliable and complete source catalogues using simple selection criteria. Merging source lists in the two bands yielded a catalogue of 35 distinct sources, which we calibrated photometrically using photospheric models of late-type stars detected in our data. We present extragalactic source count results in both bands, and discuss the constraints that they impose on models of galaxy evolution, given the volume of space sampled by this galaxy population.

Abstract:

We present results from a deep mid-infrared survey of the Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S) region performed at 6.7 and 15 μm with the ISOCAM instrument on board the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). We find reliable optical/near-infrared associations for 32 of the 35 sources detected in this field by Oliver et al. (Paper I): eight of them are identified as stars, one is definitely an active galactic nucleus (AGN), a second seems likely to be an AGN too, while the remaining 22 appear to be normal spiral or starburst galaxies. Using model spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of similar galaxies, we compare methods for estimating the star formation rates (SFRs) in these objects, finding that an estimator based on integrated (3-1000 μm) infrared luminosity reproduces the model SFRs best. Applying this estimator to model fits to the SEDs of our 22 spiral and starburst galaxies, we find that they are forming stars at rates of ∼ 1-100M⊙yr-1, with a median value of ∼40M⊙yr-1, assuming an Einstein-de Sitter universe with a Hubble constant of 50km s-1 Mpc-1, and star formation taking place according to a Salpeter initial mass function (IMF) across the mass range 0.1-100 M⊙. We split the redshift range 0.0 ≤ z ≤ 0.6 into two equal-volume bins to compute raw estimates of the star formation rate density, ṗ*, contributed by these sources, assuming the same cosmology and IMF as above and computing errors based on estimated uncertainties in the SFRs of individual galaxies. We compare these results with other estimates of ṗ* made with the same assumptions, showing them to be consistent with the results of Flores et al. from their ISO survey of the CFRS 1415+52 field. However, the relatively small volume of our survey means that our ṗ* estimates suffer from a large sampling variance, implying that our results, by themselves, do not place tight constraints on the global mean star formation rate density.

Abstract:

We present the first results on the history of star formation in the universe based on the "cosmic spectrum," in particular the volume-averaged, luminosity-weighted, stellar absorption-line spectrum of present-day galaxies from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey. This method is novel in that, unlike previous studies, it is not an estimator based on total luminosity density. The cosmic spectrum is fitted with models of population synthesis, tracing the history of star formation before the epoch of the observed galaxies, using a method we have developed that decouples continuum and spectral line variations and is robust against spectrophotometric uncertainties. The cosmic spectrum can only be fitted with models incorporating chemical evolution, and it indicates that there was a peak in the star formation rate (SFR) in the past of at least 3 times the current value and that the increase back to z = 1, assuming it scales as (1 + z)β, has a strong upper limit of β < 5. We find, in the general case, that there is some model degeneracy between star formation at low and high redshift. However, if we incorporate previous work on star formation at z < 1, we can put strong upper limits on the star formation rate at z > 1: e.g., if β > 2, then the SFR for 1 < z < 5 scales as (1 + z)α, with α < 2. This is equivalent to stating that no more than 80% of stars in the universe formed at z > 1. Our results are consistent with the best-fit results from compilations of cosmic SFR estimates based on UV luminosity density, which yield 1.8 < β < 2.9 and - 1.0 < α < 0.7, and are also consistent with estimates of Ω stars based on the K-band luminosity density.