We present the VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey (VUDS), a spectroscopic redshift survey of ∼10 000 very faint galaxies to study the main phase of galaxy assembly in 2 < z 6. The survey covers 1 deg 2 in three separate fields: COSMOS, ECDFS, and VVDS-02h, with the selection of targets based on an inclusive combination of photometric redshifts and colour properties. Spectra covering 3650 < λ < 9350 Å are obtained with VIMOS on the ESO-VLT with integration times of 14h. Here we present the survey strategy, target selection, data processing, and the redshift measurement process with an emphasis on the specific methods used to adapt to this high-redshift range. We discuss the spectra quality and redshift reliability and derive a success rate in redshift measurement of 91%, or 74% by limiting the dataset to the most reliable measurements, down to a limiting magnitude i AB = 25. Measurements are performed all the way down to i AB = 27. The mean redshift of the main sample is z ∼ 3 and extends over a broad redshift range mainly in 2 < z < 6. At 3 < z < 5, the galaxies cover a wide range of luminosities −23 < M NUV < −20.5, stellar mass 10 9 M < M * < 10 11 M , and star formation rates 1 M /yr < SFR < 10 3 M /yr. We discuss the spectral properties of galaxies using individual as well as stacked spectra. The comparison between spectroscopic and photometric redshifts as well as colour selection demonstrate the effectiveness of our selection scheme. From about ∼90% of the data analysed so far, we expect to assemble >6000 galaxies with reliable spectroscopic redshifts in 2 < z < 6 when complete. This makes the VUDS the largest survey at these redshifts and offers the opportunity for unprecedented studies of the star-forming galaxy population and its distribution in large-scale structures during the main phase of galaxy assembly.

Aims. The estimate of radial abundance gradients in high-redshift galaxies allows to constrain their star formation history and their interplay with the surrounding intergalactic medium. Methods. We present VLT/SINFONI integral-field spectroscopy of a first sample of 50 galaxies at z ∼ 1.2 in the MASSIV survey. Using the N2 ratio between the [N ii]6584 and Hα rest-frame optical emission lines as a proxy for oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium, we measured the metallicity of the sample galaxies. We developed a tool to extract spectra in annular regions, leading to a spatially resolved estimate of the oxygen abundance in each galaxy. We were able to derive a metallicity gradient for 26 galaxies in our sample and discovered a significant fraction of galaxies with a "positive" gradient. Using a simple chemical evolution model, we derived infall rates of pristine gas onto the disks. Results. Seven galaxies display a positive gradient at a high confidence level. Four out of these are interacting, and one is a chain galaxy. We suggest that interactions might be responsible for shallowing and even inverting the abundance gradient. We also identify two interesting correlations in our sample: a) galaxies with higher gas velocity dispersion have shallower/positive gradients; and b) metal-poor galaxies tend to show a positive gradient, whereas metal-rich ones tend to show a negative one. This last observation can be explained by the infall of metal-poor gas into the center of the disks. We address the question of the origin of this infall under the influence of gas flows triggered by interactions and/or cold gas accretion. All the data published in this paper are publicly available at the time of publication following this link: http://cosmosdb.lambrate.inaf.it/VVDS-SINFONI.

The Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS ) is an ongoing 12-band photometric optical survey, observing thousands of square degrees of the Northern Hemisphere from the dedicated JAST/T80 telescope at the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre (OAJ). The T80Cam is a camera with a field of view of 2 deg 2 mounted on a telescope with a diameter of 83 cm, and is equipped with a unique system of filters spanning the entire optical range (3500-10 000 Å). This filter system is a combination of broad-, medium-, and narrow-band filters, optimally designed to extract the rest-frame spectral features (the 3700-4000 Å Balmer break region, Hδ, Ca H+K, the G band, and the Mg b and Ca triplets) that are key to characterizing stellar types and delivering a low-resolution photospectrum for each pixel of the observed sky. With a typical depth of AB ∼21.25 mag per band, this filter set thus allows for an unbiased and accurate characterization of the stellar population in our Galaxy, it provides an unprecedented 2D photospectral information for all resolved galaxies in the local Universe, as well as accurate photo-z estimates (at the δ z/(1 + z) ∼ 0.005-0.03 precision level) for moderately bright (up to r ∼ 20 mag) extragalactic sources. While some narrow-band filters are designed for the study of particular emission features ([O ii]/λ3727, Hα/λ6563) up to z < 0.017, they also provide well-defined windows for the analysis of other emission lines at higher redshifts. As a result, J-PLUS has the potential to contribute to a wide range of fields in Astrophysics, both in the nearby Universe (Milky Way structure, globular clusters, 2D IFU-like studies, stellar populations of nearby and moderate-redshift galaxies, clusters of galaxies) and at high redshifts (emission-line galaxies at z ≈ 0.77, 2.2, and 4.4, quasi-stellar objects, etc.). With this paper, we release the first ∼1000 deg 2 of J-PLUS data, containing about 4.3 million stars and 3.0 million galaxies at r < 21 mag. With a goal of 8500 deg 2 for the total J-PLUS footprint, these numbers are expected to rise to about 35 million stars and 24 million galaxies by the end of the survey.Article published by EDP Sciences A176, page 1 of 25

Aims. How mass assembly occurs in galaxies and which process(es) contribute to this activity are among the most highly debated questions in galaxy formation and evolution theories. This has motivated our survey MASSIV (Mass Assembly Survey with SINFONI in VVDS) of 0.9 < z < 1.9 star-forming galaxies selected from the purely flux-limited VVDS redshift survey. Methods. We evaluate the characteristic size and stellar mass of 46 MASSIV galaxies at 1 < z < 1.6 and use the internal dynamics obtained with the SINFONI integral field spectrograph mounted at the Very Large Telescope, to derive the stellar mass-size-velocity relations. We use the Kennicutt-Schmidt formulation to estimate the gas content and compute its contribution to the total baryonic mass in MASSIV galaxies. Results. For the first time, we derive the relations between galaxy size, mass, and internal velocity, and the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation, from a statistically representative sample of star-forming galaxies at 1 < z < 1.6. We find a dynamical mass that agrees with those of rotating galaxies containing a gas fraction of ∼20%, that is perfectly consistent with the content derived using the Kennicutt-Schmidt formulation and corresponds to the expected evolution. Non-rotating galaxies have more compact sizes for their stellar component, and are less massive than rotators, but do not have statistically different sizes for their gas-component. Discs of ionized gas have irregular, clumpy distributions, but the simplistic assumption of exponential profiles is verified. We measure a marginal evolution in the size-stellar mass and size-velocity relations in which discs become evenly smaller with cosmic time at fixed stellar mass or velocity, and are less massive at a given velocity than in the local Universe. This result is inconsistent with previous reports of an abnormal evolution in the galactic spin. The scatter in the Tully-Fisher relation is smaller when we introduce the S 05 index, which we interpret as evidence of an increase in the contribution to galactic kinematics of turbulent motions with cosmic time. We report a persistently large scatter for rotators in our relations, that we suggest is intrinsic, and possibly caused by complex physical mechanism(s) at work in our stellar mass/luminosity regime and redshift range. Conclusions. Our results consistently point towards a mild, net evolution of these relations, comparable to those predicted by cosmological simulations of disc formation. In a conflictual picture where earlier studies reported discrepant results, we place on firmer ground the measurement of a lack of any large evolution of the fundamental relations of star-forming galaxies in at least the past 8 Gyr and evidence that dark halo is strongly coupled with galactic spectrophotometric properties.

The aim of this paper is to investigate spectral and photometric properties of 854 faint (i AB < ∼ 25 mag) star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at 2 < z < 2.5 using the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS) spectroscopic data and deep multi-wavelength photometric data in three extensively studied extragalactic fields (ECDFS, VVDS, COSMOS). These SFGs were targeted for spectroscopy as a result of their photometric redshifts. The VUDS spectra are used to measure the UV spectral slopes (β) as well as Lyα equivalent widths (EW). On average, the spectroscopically measured β (-1.36 ± 0.02), is comparable to the photometrically measured β (-1.32 ± 0.02), and has smaller measurement uncertainties. The positive correlation of β with the spectral energy distribution (SED)-based measurement of dust extinction E s (B − V) emphasizes the importance of β as an alternative dust indicator at high redshifts. To make a proper comparison, we divide these SFGs into three subgroups based on their rest-frame Lyα EW: SFGs with no Lyα emission (SFG N ; EW ≤ 0 Å), SFGs with Lyα emission (SFG L ; EW > 0 Å), and Lyα emitters (LAEs; EW ≥ 20 Å). The fraction of LAEs at these redshifts is ∼10%, which is consistent with previous observations. We compared best-fit SED-estimated stellar parameters of the SFG N , SFG L and LAE samples. For the luminosities probed here (∼L * ), we find that galaxies with and without Lyα in emission have small but significant differences in their SED-based properties. We find that LAEs have less dust, and lower star-formation rates (SFR) compared to non-LAEs. We also find that LAEs are less massive compared to non-LAEs, though the difference is smaller and less significant compared to the SFR and E s (B − V). When we divide the LAEs according to their Spitzer/IRAC 3.6 μm fluxes, we find that the fraction of IRAC-detected (m 3.6 < ∼ 25 mag) LAEs is much higher than the fraction of IRAC-detected narrow band (NB)-selected LAEs at z 2-3. This could imply that UV-selected LAEs host a more evolved stellar population, which represents a later stage of galaxy evolution, compared to NB-selected LAEs.