The SCUBA HAlf Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES) – VII. Optical/IR photometry and stellar masses of submillimetre galaxies

We present estimates of the photometric redshifts, stellar masses and star formation histories of sources in the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) HAlf Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES). This paper describes the 60 SCUBA sources detected in the Lockman Hole covering an area of ∼320 arcmin². Using photometry spanning the B band to 8 μm, we find that the average SCUBA source forms a significant fraction of its stars in an early period of star formation and that most of the remainder forms in a shorter more intense burst around the redshift it is observed. This trend does not vary significantly with source redshift. However, the sources show a clear increase in stellar mass with redshift, consistent with downsizing. In terms of spectral energy distribution types, only two out of the 51 sources we have obtained photometric redshifts for are best fitted by a quasar-like spectrum, with approximately 80 per cent of the sources being best fitted with late-type spectra (Sc, Im and starburst). By including photometry at 850 μm, we conclude that the average SCUBA source is forming stars at a rate somewhere between 6 and 30 times the rate implied from the rest-frame optical in a dust obscured burst and that this burst creates 15–65 per cent of the total stellar mass. Using a simplistic calculation, we estimate from the average star formation history that between one in five and one in 15 bright  ( L _*+ 2 < L _optical < L _*− 1 mag)  galaxies in the field over the interval  0 < z < 3  will at some point in their lifetime experience a similar energetic dusty burst of star formation. Finally, we compute the evolution of the star formation rate density and find it peaks around   z ∼ 2  .     

The SCUBA Half Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES) – IX. The environment, mass and redshift dependence of star formation

We present a comparison between the SCUBA (Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array) Half Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES) at 450 and  850 μm  in the Lockman Hole East with a deep Spitzer Space Telescope survey at  3.6–24 μm  conducted in guaranteed time. Using stacking analyses we demonstrate a striking correspondence between the galaxies contributing the submm extragalactic background light, with those likely to dominate the backgrounds at Spitzer wavelengths. Using a combination BRIzK plus Spitzer photometric redshifts, we show that at least a third of the Spitzer -identified submm galaxies at  1 < z < 1.5  appear to reside in overdensities when the density field is smoothed at 0.5–2 Mpc comoving diameters, supporting the high-redshift reversal of the local star formation–galaxy density relation. We derive the dust-shrouded cosmic star formation history of galaxies as a function of assembled stellar masses. For model stellar masses  <10¹¹ M_⊙  , this peaks at lower redshifts than the ostensible   z ∼ 2.2  maximum for submm point sources, adding to the growing consensus for 'downsizing' in star formation. Our surveys are also consistent with 'downsizing' in mass assembly. Both the mean star formation rates  〈d M _*/d t 〉  and specific star formation rates  〈(1/ M _*) d M _*/d t 〉  are in striking disagreement with some semi-analytic predictions from the Millenium Simulation. The discrepancy could either be resolved with a top-heavy initial mass function, or a significant component of the submm flux heated by the interstellar radiation field.     

AzTEC Millimetre Survey of the COSMOS field – II. Source count overdensity and correlations with large-scale structure

We report an overdensity of bright submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) in the 0.15 deg² AzTEC/COSMOS survey and a spatial correlation between the SMGs and the optical-IR galaxy density at   z ≲ 1.1  . This portion of the COSMOS field shows a  ∼3σ  overdensity of robust SMG detections when compared to a background, or 'blank-field', population model that is consistent with SMG surveys of fields with no extragalactic bias. The SMG overdensity is most significant in the number of very bright detections (14 sources with measured fluxes   S _1.1 mm > 6  mJy), which is entirely incompatible with sample variance within our adopted blank-field number densities and infers an overdensity significance of  ≫ 4σ  . We find that the overdensity and spatial correlation to optical-IR galaxy density are most consistent with lensing of a background SMG population by foreground mass structures along the line of sight, rather than physical association of the SMGs with the   z ≲ 1.1  galaxies/clusters. The SMG positions are only weakly correlated with weak-lensing maps, suggesting that the dominant sources of correlation are individual galaxies and the more tenuous structures in the survey region, and not the massive and compact clusters. These results highlight the important roles cosmic variance and large-scale structure can play in the study of SMGs.     

An AzTEC 1.1 mm survey of the GOODS-N field – II. Multiwavelength identifications and redshift distribution

We present results from a multiwavelength study of 29 sources (false detection probabilities <5 per cent) from a survey of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-North (GOODS-N) field at 1.1 mm using the Astronomical Thermal Emission Camera (AzTEC). Comparing with existing 850 μm Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) studies in the field, we examine differences in the source populations selected at the two wavelengths. The AzTEC observations uniformly cover the entire survey field to a 1σ depth of ∼1 mJy. Searching deep 1.4 GHz Very Large Array (VLA) and Spitzer 3–24 μm catalogues, we identify robust counterparts for 21 1.1 mm sources, and tentative associations for the remaining objects. The redshift distribution of AzTEC sources is inferred from available spectroscopic and photometric redshifts. We find a median redshift of   z = 2.7  , somewhat higher than   z = 2.0  for  850 μm  selected sources in the same field, and our lowest redshift identification lies at a spectroscopic redshift   z = 1.1460  . We measure the 850 μm to 1.1 mm colour of our sources and do not find evidence for '850 μm dropouts', which can be explained by the low signal-to-noise ratio of the observations. We also combine these observed colours with spectroscopic redshifts to derive the range of dust temperatures T , and dust emissivity indices β for the sample, concluding that existing estimates   T ∼ 30 K  and  β∼ 1.75  are consistent with these new data.     

ASTRO-F: the next generation of mid-infrared surveys

We present basic observational strategies for ASTRO-F [also known as the Infra-Red Imaging Surveyor (IRIS) ] to be launched in 2004 by the Japanese Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). We examine two survey scenarios, a deep ∼1 deg² survey reaching sensitivities an order of magnitude below all but the deepest surveys performed by ISO in the mid-IR, and a shallow ∼18  deg² mid-IR (7–25μm in six bands) covering an area greater than the entire area covered by all ISO mid-IR surveys. Using two cosmological models, the number of galaxies predicted for each survey is calculated. The first model uses an enhancement of a classical (1+ z )^3.1 pure luminosity evolution model by Pearson & Rowan-Robinson. The second model incorporates a strongly evolving ultraluminous infrared galaxy component. For the deep survey, between 20 000 and 30 000 galaxies should be detected in the shortest wavebands, and ≈5000 in the longest (25-μm) band. It is predicted that the shallow survey will detect of the order of 100 000–150 000 sources. We find that for both ASTRO-F and other small-aperture space telescopes, confusion due to faint sources may be severe, especially at the longest mid-IR wavelengths. Using the exceptional range of observational options provided by ASTRO-F (nine wavelength filters and spectroscopic ability from 2.2 to 25 μm), we show that by combining the mid-IR observations with the near-IR camera on ASTRO-F , both the different galaxy populations and rough photometric redshifts can be distinguished in the colour–colour plane. In its role as a surveyor (plus near-IR spectroscopic ability) ASTRO-F will complement well the SIRTF space observatory mission.     

Probing the submillimetre number counts at f850 μm < 2 mJy

We have conducted a submillimetre mapping survey of faint, gravitationally lensed sources, where we have targeted 12 galaxy clusters and additionally the New Technology Telescope (NTT) Deep Field. The total area surveyed is 71.5 arcmin² in the image plane; correcting for gravitational lensing, the total area surveyed is 40 arcmin² in the source plane for a typical source redshift z ≈ 2.5. In the deepest maps, an image plane depth of 1σ rms ∼0.8 mJy is reached. This survey is the largest survey to date to reach such depths. In total 59 sources were detected, including three multiply imaged sources. The gravitational lensing makes it possible to detect sources with flux density below the blank field confusion limit. The lensing-corrected fluxes range from 0.11 to 19 mJy. After correcting for multiplicity, there are 10 sources with fluxes <2 mJy of which seven have submJy fluxes, doubling the number of such sources known. Number counts are determined below the confusion limit. At 1 mJy, the integrated number count is  ∼10⁴ deg⁻²  , and at 0.5 mJy it is  ∼2 × 10⁴ deg⁻²  . Based on the number counts, at a source plan flux limit of 0.1 mJy, essentially all of the 850-μm background emission has been resolved. The dominant contribution (>50 per cent) to the integrated background arises from sources with fluxes S ₈₅₀ between 0.4 and 2.5 mJy, while the bright sources S ₈₅₀ > 6 mJy contribute only 10 per cent.     

UBVRI photometry of the Durham–AAT redshift survey

Using the PDS microdensitometer at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, we have acquired U , B , V , R and I surface photometry from UK Schmidt photographic plates for all the galaxies with measured redshifts in the Durham–AAT redshift survey. By comparison with CCD photometry we show that such precision photographic photometry of galaxies off IIIa emulsions is capable of an accuracy as good as a few hundredths of a magnitude. We discuss the colour-related properties of these galaxies, and derive luminosity functions in each waveband. We show that when divided by colour, the faint-end slope of the luminosity function of the bluer galaxies is significantly steeper than that for the redder ones.