The remarkable Hubble Space Telescope(HST) data sets from the CANDELS, HUDF09, HUDF12, ERS, and BoRG/HIPPIES programs have allowed us to map the evolution of the rest-frame UV luminosity function (LF) fromz 10 toz 4. We develop new color criteria that more optimally utilize the full wavelength coverage from the optical, near-IR, and mid-IR observations over our search fields, while simultaneously minimizing the incompleteness and eliminating redshift gaps. We have identified 5859, 3001, 857, 481, 217, and 6 galaxy candidates atz 4,z 5,z 6,z 7,z 8, andz 10, respectively, from the ∼1000 arcmin 2 area covered by these data sets. This sample of >10,000 galaxy candidates at ⩾ z 4 is by far the largest assembled to date with HST. The selection ofz 4-8 candidates over the five CANDELS fields allows us to assess the cosmic variance; the largest variations are at ⩾ z 7. Our new LF determinations atz 4 andz 5 span a 6 mag baseline and reach to -16 AB mag. These determinations agree well with previous estimates, but the larger samples and volumes probed here result in a more reliable sampling of >L* galaxies and allow us to reassess the form of the UV LFs. Our new LF results strengthen our earlier findings to s 3.4 significance for a steeper faint-end slope of the UV LF at > z 4, with α evolving from a = - 1.64 0.04 atz 4 to a = - 2.06 0.13 atz 7 (and a = - 2.02 0.23 atz 8), consistent with that expected from the evolution of the halo mass function. We find less evolution in the characteristic magnitude M * fromz 7 toz 4; the observed evolution in the LF is now largely represented by changes in f*. No evidence for a non-Schechter-like form to the z ∼ 4-8 LFs is found. A simple conditional LF model based on halo growth and evolution in the M/L ratio µ +z ( ( 1) ) 1.5 of halos provides a good representation of the observed evolution.
The 3D-HST and CANDELS programs have provided WFC3 and ACS spectroscopy and photometry over ≈ 900 arcmin 2 in five fields: AEGIS, COSMOS, GOODS-North, GOODS-South, and the UKIDSS UDS field. All these fields have a wealth of publicly available imaging datasets in addition to the HST data, which makes it possible to construct the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of objects over a wide wavelength range. In this paper we describe a photometric analysis of the CANDELS and 3D-HST HST imaging and the ancillary imaging data at wavelengths 0.3 µm -8 µm. Objects were selected in the WFC3 near-IR bands, and their SEDs were determined by carefully taking the effects of the point spread function in each observation into account. A total of 147 distinct imaging datasets were used in the analysis. The photometry is made available in the form of six catalogs: one for each field, as well as a master catalog containing all objects in the entire survey. We also provide derived data products: photometric redshifts, determined with the EAZY code, and stellar population parameters determined with the FAST code. We make all the imaging data that were used in the analysis available, including our reductions of the WFC3 imaging in all five fields. 3D-HST is a spectroscopic survey with the WFC3 and ACS grisms, and the photometric catalogs presented here constitute a necessary first step in the analysis of these grism data. All the data presented in this paper are available through the 3D-HST website. 16
Ultra-deep Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and WFC3/IR HUDF+HUDF09 data, along with the wide-area GOODS+ERS+CANDELS data over the CDF-S GOODS field, are used to measure UV colors, expressed as the UV-continuum slope β, of star-forming galaxies over a wide range of luminosity (0.1L * z=3 to 2L * z=3 ) at high redshift (z ∼ 7 to z ∼ 4). β is measured using all ACS and WFC3/IR passbands uncontaminated by Lyα and spectral breaks. Extensive tests show that our β measurements are only subject to minimal biases. Using a different selection procedure, Dunlop et al. recently found large biases in their β measurements. To reconcile these different results, we simulated both approaches and found that β measurements for faint sources are subject to large biases if the same passbands are used both to select the sources and to measure β. High-redshift galaxies show a well-defined restframe UV color-magnitude (CM) relationship that becomes systematically bluer toward fainter UV luminosities. No evolution is seen in the slope of the UV CM relationship in the first 1.5 Gyr, though there is a small evolution in the zero point to redder colors from z ∼ 7 to z ∼ 4. This suggests that galaxies are evolving along a well-defined sequence in the L UV -color (β) plane (a "star-forming sequence"?). Dust appears to be the principal factor driving changes in the UV color β with luminosity. These new larger β samples lead to improved dust extinction estimates at z ∼ 4-7 and confirm that the extinction is essentially zero at low luminosities and high redshifts. Inclusion of the new dust extinction results leads to (1) excellent agreement between the star formation rate (SFR) density at z ∼ 4-8 and that inferred from the stellar mass density; and (2) to higher specific star formation rates (SSFRs) at z 4, suggesting that the SSFR may evolve modestly (by factors of ∼2) from z ∼ 4-7 to z ∼ 2.
We identify 73 z ∼ 7 and 59 z ∼ 8 candidate galaxies in the reionization epoch, and use this large 26-29.4 AB mag sample of galaxies to derive very deep luminosity functions to < −18 AB mag and the star formation rate density at z ∼ 7 and z ∼ 8 (just 800 Myr and 650 Myr after recombination, respectively). The galaxy sample is derived using a sophisticated Lyman-Break technique on the full two-year WFC3/IR and ACS data available over the HUDF09 (∼29.4 AB mag, 5σ), two nearby HUDF09 fields (∼29 AB mag, 5σ, 14 arcmin 2 ) and the wider area ERS (∼27.5 AB mag, 5σ, ∼40 arcmin 2 ). The application of strict optical non-detection criteria ensures the contamination fraction is kept low (just ∼7% in the HUDF). This very low value includes a full assessment of the contamination from lower redshift sources, photometric scatter, AGN, spurious sources, low mass stars, and transients (e.g., SNe). From careful modeling of the selection volumes for each of our search fields we derive luminosity functions for galaxies at z ∼ 7 and z ∼ 8 to < −18 AB mag. The faint-end slopes α at z ∼ 7 and z ∼ 8 are uncertain but very steep at α = −2.01 ± 0.21 and α = −1.91 ± 0.32, respectively. Such steep slopes contrast to the local α ∼ −1.4 and may even be steeper than that at z ∼ 4 where α = −1.73 ± 0.05. With such steep slopes (α −1.7) lower luminosity galaxies dominate the galaxy luminosity density during the epoch of reionization. The star formation rate densities derived from these new z ∼ 7 and z ∼ 8 luminosity functions are consistent with the trends found at later times (lower redshifts). We find reasonable consistency, with the SFR densities implied from reported stellar mass densities, being only ∼40% higher at z < 7. This suggests that (1) the stellar mass densities inferred from the Spitzer IRAC photometry are reasonably accurate and (2) that the IMF at very high redshift may not be very different from that at later times. HUDF09 observationsThe full two-year WFC3/IR observations from the HUDF09 program consist of 192 orbits of ultra-deep WFC3/IR data over the HUDF09 (111 orbits), HUDF09-
We present reduced data and data products from the 3D-HST survey, a 248-orbit HST Treasury program. The survey obtained WFC3 G141 grism spectroscopy in four of the five CANDELS fields: AEGIS, COSMOS, GOODS-S, and UDS, along with WFC3 H 140 imaging, parallel ACS G800L spectroscopy, and parallel I 814 imaging. In a previous paper, we presented photometric catalogs in these four fields and in GOODS-N, the fifth CANDELS field. Here we describe and present the WFC3 G141 spectroscopic data, again augmented with data from GO-1600 in GOODS-N (PI: B. Weiner). We developed software to automatically and optimally extract interlaced two-dimensional (2D) and one-dimensional (1D) spectra for all objects in the Skelton et al. (2014) photometric catalogs. The 2D spectra and the multi-band photometry were fit simultaneously to determine redshifts and emission line strengths, taking the morphology of the galaxies explicitly into account. The resulting catalog has redshifts and line strengths (where available) for 22,548 unique objects down to JH 24 IR (79,609 unique objects down to JH 26 IR ). Of these, 5459 galaxies are at > z 1.5 and 9621 are at < < z 0.7 1.5, where Hα falls in the G141 wavelength coverage. The typical redshift error for JH 24 IR galaxies is s »´+z 0.003 1 z ( ), i.e., one native WFC3 pixel. The s 3 limit for emission line fluxes of point sources is´-2.1 10 17 erg s −1 cm −2 . All 2D and 1D spectra, as well as redshifts, line fluxes, and other derived parameters, are publicly available.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.