arXivDaily arXiv每日学术速递 周一至周五更新
arXiv 1202.5330astro-ph.CO
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z=6星系光度函数亮端的指数下降

An exponential decline at the bright end of the z=6 galaxy luminosity function

Chris J. Willott, Ross J. McLure, Pascale Hibon, Richard Bielby, Henry J. McCracken, Jean-Paul Kneib, Olivier Ilbert, David G. Bonfield, Victoria A. Bruce, Matt J. Jarvis

摘要:

本文介绍了基于CFHT遗留巡天数据寻找红移z~6的最亮恒星形成星系的结果。我们确定了一个样本的40个莱曼break星系亮度超过25.3等,在一个几乎4平方度的区域。对七个星系的灵敏光谱观测提供了四个星系的红移,其中只有两个星系有中等到强烈的莱曼α发射线。所有四个都有明确的连续中断在其光谱。大约有一半的莱曼破裂星系的空间分辨率为0.7角秒,这表明它们的尺寸比哈勃太空望远镜发现的低光度星系要大,这可能是由于正在进行的合并。叠加的光学和红外测光与恒星质量约为10^{10}太阳质量的星系模型一致。在2 sigma置信度下,最佳拟合A_V=0.7和A_V>0.48,与此时期典型的低光度无尘星系形成对比,这是大量尘埃变红的有力证据。空间范围和光谱能量分布表明,最明亮的z~6星系正在经历合并引起的星暴。导出了z=5.9恒星形成星系的光度函数。这与以前的工作一致,并显示出强有力的证据表明,在亮端呈指数下降,表明控制亮端形状的反馈过程正在有效地发生在这个时代。

英文摘要:

We present the results of a search for the most luminous star-forming galaxies at redshifts z~6 based on CFHT Legacy Survey data. We identify a sample of 40 Lyman break galaxies brighter than magnitude z'=25.3 across an area of almost 4 square degrees. Sensitive spectroscopic observations of seven galaxies provide redshifts for four, of which only two have moderate to strong Lyman alpha emission lines. All four have clear continuum breaks in their spectra. Approximately half of the Lyman break galaxies are spatially resolved in 0.7 arcsec seeing images, indicating larger sizes than lower luminosity galaxies discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope, possibly due to on-going mergers. The stacked optical and infrared photometry is consistent with a galaxy model with stellar mass ~ 10^{10} solar masses. There is strong evidence for substantial dust reddening with a best-fit A_V=0.7 and A_V>0.48 at 2 sigma confidence, in contrast to the typical dust-free galaxies of lower luminosity at this epoch. The spatial extent and spectral energy distribution suggest that the most luminous z~6 galaxies are undergoing merger-induced starbursts. The luminosity function of z=5.9 star-forming galaxies is derived. This agrees well with previous work and shows strong evidence for an exponential decline at the bright end, indicating that the feedback processes which govern the shape of the bright end are occurring effectively at this epoch.

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