The SCUBA-2 cosmology legacy survey: Blank-Field number counts of 450-μm-selected galaxies and their contribution to the cosmic infrared background
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 432:1 (2013) 53-61
Abstract:
The first deep blank-field 450 μm map (1σ ≈ 1.3 mJy) from the Submillimetre Common- User Bolometer Array-2 SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey (S2CLS), conducted with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) is presented. Our map covers 140 arcmin2 of the Cosmological Evolution Survey field, in the footprint of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey. Using 60 submillimetre galaxies detected at ≥3.75σ, we evaluate the number counts of 450-μm-selected galaxies with flux densities S450 > 5 mJy. The 8 arcsec JCMT beam and high sensitivity of SCUBA-2 now make it possible to directly resolve a larger fraction of the cosmic infrared background (CIB, peaking at λ ~ 200 μm) into the individual galaxies responsible for its emission than has previously been possible at this wavelength. At S450 > 5 mJy, we resolve (7.4 ± 0.7) x 10-2 MJy sr-1 of the CIB at 450 μm (equivalent to 16 ± 7 per cent of the absolute brightness measured by the Cosmic Background Explorer at this wavelength) into point sources. A further ~40 per cent of the CIB can be recovered through a statistical stack of 24 μm emitters in this field, indicating that the majority (≈60 per cent) of the CIB at 450 μm is emitted by galaxies with S450 > 2 mJy. The average redshift of 450 μm emitters identified with an optical/near-infrared counterpart is estimated to be 〈z〉 = 1.3, implying that the galaxies in the sample are in the ultraluminous class (LIR ≈ 1.1 x 1012 L⊙). If the galaxies contributing to the statistical stack lie at similar redshifts, then the majority of the CIB at 450 μm is emitted by galaxies in the luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) class with LIR > 3.6 x 1011 L⊙. © 2013 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.The roles of star formation and AGN activity of IRS sources in the HerMES fields
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 434:3 (2013) 2426-2437
Abstract:
In this work, we explore the impact of the presence of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) on the mid- and far-infrared (IR) properties of galaxies as well as the effects of simultaneous AGN and starburst activity in the same galaxies. To do this, we apply a multicomponent, multiband spectral synthesis technique to a sample of 250 μm selected galaxies of the Herschel Multitiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES), with Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectra available for all galaxies. Our results confirm that the inclusion of the IRS spectra plays a crucial role in the spectral analysis of galaxies with an AGN component improving the selection of the best-fitting hot dust (torus) model. We find a correlation between the obscured star formation rate, SFRIR, derived from the IR luminosity of the starburst component, and SFRPAH, derived from the luminosity of the PAH features, LPAH, with SFRFIR taking higher values than SFRPAH. The correlation is different for AGN- and starburst-dominated objects. The ratio of LPAH to that of the starburst component, LPAH/LSB, is almost constant for AGN-dominated objects but decreases with increasing LSB for starburst-dominated objects. SFRFIR increases with the accretion luminosity, Lacc, with the increase less prominent for the very brightest, unobscured AGN-dominated sources. We find no correlation between the masses of the hot (AGN-heated) and cold (starburstheated) dust components. We interpret this as a non-constant fraction of gas driven by the gravitational effects to the AGN while the starburst is ongoing. We also find no evidenceof the AGN affecting the temperature of the cold dust component, though this conclusion is mostly based on objects with a non-dominant AGN component. We conclude that our findings do not provide evidence that the presence of AGN affects the star formation process in the host galaxy, but rather that the two phenomena occur simultaneously over a wide range of luminosities. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.DIAGNOSTICS OF AGN-DRIVEN MOLECULAR OUTFLOWS IN ULIRGs FROM HERSCHEL-PACS OBSERVATIONS OF OH AT 119μm
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL 775:2 (2013) ARTN 127
SHOCK EXCITED MOLECULES IN NGC 1266: ULIRG CONDITIONS AT THE CENTER OF A BULGE-DOMINATED GALAXY
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS 779:2 (2013) ARTN L19
A population of z > 2 far-infrared Herschel-SPIRE-selected starbursts
Astrophysical Journal 761:2 (2012)