Aims. We study how the upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory can be employed to constrain the physical properties of normal star-forming galaxies (main-sequence galaxies). Because the majority of the observed LSST objects will have no auxiliary data, we use simulated LSST data and existing real observations to test the reliability of estimates of the physical properties of galaxies, such as their star formation rate (SFR), stellar mass (Mstar), and dust luminosity (Ldust). We focus on normal star-forming galaxies because they form the majority of the galaxy population in the universe and are therefore more likely to be observed with the LSST. Methods. We performed a simulation of LSST observations and uncertainties of 50 385 real galaxies within the redshift range 0 < z < 2.5. In order to achieve this goal, we used the unique multi-wavelength data from the Herschel Extragalactic Legacy Project (HELP) survey. Our analysis focused on two fields, ELAIS N1 and COSMOS. To obtain the physical properties of the galaxies, we fit their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) using the Code Investigating GALaxy Emission. We simulated the LSST data by convolving the SEDs fitted by employing the multi-wavelength observations. We compared the main galaxy physical properties, such as SFR, Mstar, and Ldust obtained from the fit of the observed multi-wavelength photometry of galaxies (from the UV to the far-IR) to those obtained from the simulated LSST optical measurements alone. Results. We present the catalogue of simulated LSST observations for 23 291 main-sequence galaxies in the ELAIS N1 field and for 9093 galaxies in the COSMOS field. It is available in the HELP virtual observatory. The stellar masses estimated based on the LSST measurements agree with the full UV to far-IR SED estimates because they mainly depend on the UV and optical emission, which is well covered by LSST in the considered redshift range. Instead, we obtain a clear overestimate of the dust-related properties (SFR, Ldust, Mstar) estimated with the LSST alone. They are highly correlated with redshift. We investigate the cause of this overestimate and conclude that it is related to an overestimate of the dust attenuation in both UV and near-IR. We find that it is necessary to employ auxiliary rest-frame mid-IR observations, simulated UV observations, or the far-UV attenuation (AFUV)-Mstar relation to correct for the overestimate. We also deliver the correction formula log10(SFRLSST/SFRreal) = 0.26 ⋅ z2 − 0.94 ⋅ z + 0.87. It is based on the 32 384 MS galaxies detected with Herschel.

Aims. We study a system of two galaxies, Astarte and Adonis, at z ∼ 2. At this time, the Universe was undergoing the peak of its star formation activity. Astarte is a dusty star-forming galaxy at the massive end of the main sequence (MS), and Adonis is a less massive companion galaxy that is bright in the ultraviolet and has an optical spectroscopic redshift. We investigate whether this ultramassive galaxy is quenching, and whether it has always been on the MS of star-forming galaxies. Methods. We used the code CIGALE to model the spectral energy distribution. The code relies on the energetic balance between the ultraviolet and the infrared. We derived some of the key physical properties of Astarte and Adonis, mainly their star formation rates (SFRs), stellar masses, and dust luminosities. We inspected the variation of the physical parameters depending on the assumed dust-attenuation law. We also estimated the molecular gas mass of Astarte from its CO emission, using different αCO and transition ratios (r31), and we discuss the implication of the various assumptions on the gas-mass derivation. Reults. We find that Astarte exhibits a MS-like star formation activity, and Adonis is undergoing a strong starburst phase. The molecular gas mass of Astarte is far lower than the gas fraction of typical star-forming galaxies at z = 2. This low gas content and high SFR result in a depletion time of 0.22 ± 0.07 Gyr, which is slightly shorter than expected for a MS galaxy at this redshift. The CO luminosity relative to the total infrared luminosity suggests a MS-like activity when we assume a galactic conversion factor and a low transition ratio. The SFR of Astarte is on the same order when different attenuation laws are used, unlike its stellar mass, which increases when shallow attenuation laws are used (∼1 × 1011 M⊙ assuming a Calzetti relation, versus ∼4 × 1011 M⊙ assuming a shallow attenuation law). We discuss these properties and suggest that Astarte might be experiencing a recent decrease in star formation activity and is quenching through the MS following a starburst epoch.

Context. The star formation rate (SFR) is a key ingredient for studying the formation and evolution of galaxies. Being able to obtain accurate estimations of the SFR, for a wide range of redshifts, is crucial for building and studying galaxy evolution paths over cosmic time. Aims. Based on a statistical sample of galaxies, the aim of this paper is to constrain a set of SFR calibrators that are able to work in a large redshift range, from z = 0 to z = 0.9. Those calibrators will help to homogenize SFR estimations of star-forming galaxies and to remove any possible biases from the study of galaxy evolution. Methods. Using the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS), we estimated a set of SFR based on photometric and spectroscopic data. We used, as estimators, photometric bands from ultraviolet (UV) to mid-infrared (mid-IR), and the spectral lines Hβ, [O II]λ3727, and [O III]λ5007. Assuming a reference SFR obtained from the spectral energy distribution reconstructed with Code Investigating GALaxy Emission (CIGALE), we estimated the reliability of each band as an SFR tracer. We used the GALEX-SDSS-WISE Legacy Catalog (GSWLC, z <  0.3) to trace the dependence of these SFR calibrators with redshift. Results. The far and near UV (FUV and NUV, respectively), u-band and 24 μm bands, as well as LTIR, are found to be good SFR tracers up to z ∼ 0.9 with a strong dependence on the attenuation prescription used for the bluest bands (scatter of SFR of 0.26, 0.14, 0.15, 0.23, and 0.24 dex for VIPERS, and 0.25, 0.24, 0.09, 0.12, and 0.12 dex for GSWLC). The 8 μm band provides only a rough estimate of the SFR as it depends on metallicity and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon properties (scatter of 0.23 dex for VIPERS). We estimated the scatter of rest-frame luminosity estimations from CIGALE to be 0.26, 0.14, 0.12, 0.15, and 0.20 dex for FUV, NUV, ugriz, Ks, and 8–24 μm-LTIR. At intermediate redshift, the Hβ line is a reliable SFR tracer (scatter of 0.19 dex) and the [O II]λ3727 line gives an equally good estimation when the metallicity from the R23 parameter is taken into account (0.17 for VIPERS and 0.20 dex for GSWLC). A calibration based on [O III] retrieves the SFR only when additional information such as the metallicity or the ionization parameter of galaxies are used (0.26 for VIPERS and 0.20 dex for GSWLC), diminishing its usability as a direct SFR tracer. Based on rest-frame luminosities estimated with CIGALE, we propose our own set of calibrations from FUV, NUV, u-band, 8, 24 μm, LTIR, Hβ, [O II], and [O III].

Although it is now recognized that low surface brightness galaxies (LSBs) constitute a large fraction of the number density of galaxies, many of their properties are still poorly known. Based on only a few studies, LSBs are often considered to be “dust poor”, that is, with a very low amount of dust. For the first time, we use a large sample of LSBs and high surface brightness galaxies (HSBs) with deep observational data to study the variation of stellar and dust properties as a function of the surface brightness-surface mass density. Our sample consists of 1631 galaxies that were optically selected (with ugrizy-bands) at z < 0.1 from the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) Wide field. We used the large multiwavelength set of ancillary data in this field ranging from UV to the far-infrared wavelengths. We measured the optical size and the surface brightness of the targets and analyzed their spectral energy distribution using the CIGALE fitting code. Based on the average r-band surface brightness (μ̄e), our sample consists of 1003 LSBs (μ̄e > 23 mag arcsec−2) and 628 HSBs (μ̄e ≤ 23 mag arcsec−2). We found that the specific star formation rate and specific infrared luminosity (total infrared luminosity per stellar mass) remain mostly flat as a function of surface brightness for both LSBs and HSBs that are star forming, but these characteristics decline steeply when the LSBs and HSBs are quiescent galaxies. The majority of LSBs in our sample have negligible dust attenuation (< 0.1 mag), and only about 4% of them show significant attenuation, with a mean V-band attenuation of 0.8 mag. We found that the LSBs with a significant attenuation also have a high r-band mass-to-light ratio (M/Lr > 3 M⊙/L⊙), making them outliers from the linear relation of surface brightness and stellar mass surface density. These outlier LSBs also show similarity to the extreme giant LSBs from the literature, indicating a possibly higher dust attenuation in giant LSBs. This work provides a large catalog of LSBs and HSBs as well as detailed measurements of several optical and infrared physical properties. Our results suggest that the dust content of LSBs is more varied than previously thought, with some of them having significant attenuation that makes them fainter than their intrinsic value. With these results, we will be able to make predictions on the dust content of the population of LSBs and how the presence of dust will affect their observations from current and upcoming surveys like JWST and LSST.