Aims. In this paper, we aim to study the main properties and luminosity function (LF) of the [O II]3727 emitters detected in the OTELO survey in order to characterise the star formation processes in low-mass galaxies at z ∼ 1.43 and to constrain the faint-end of the LF. Methods. Here, we describe the selection method and analysis of the emitters obtained from narrow-band scanning techniques. In addition, we present several relevant properties of the emitters and discuss the selection biases and uncertainties in the determination of the LF and the star formation rate density (SFRD). Results. We confirmed a total of 60 sources from a preliminary list of 332 candidates as [O II]3727 emitters. Approximately 93% of the emitters have masses in the range of 108 < M*/M⊙ < 109. All of our emitters are classified as late-type galaxies, with a lower value of (u − v) when compared with the rest of the emitters of the OTELO survey. We find that the cosmic variance strongly affects the normalisation (ϕ*) of the LF and explains the discrepancy of our results when compared with those obtained from surveys of much larger volumes. However, we are able to determine the faint-end slope of the LF, namely, α = −1.42 ± 0.06, by sampling the LF down to ∼1 dex lower than in previous works. We present our calculation of the SFRD of our sample and compare it to the value obtained in previous studies from the literature.

Context. Extragalactic surveys are a key tool for better understanding the evolution of galaxies. Both deep and wide-field surveys serve to provide a clearer emerging picture of the physical processes that take place in and around galaxies, and to identify which of these processes are the most important in shaping the properties of galaxies. Aims. The Lockman Spectroscopic Redshift Survey using Osiris (Lockman-SpReSO) aims to provide one of the most complete optical spectroscopic follow-ups of the far-infrared (FIR) sources detected by the Herschel Space Observatory in the Lockman Hole (LH) field. The optical spectroscopic study of the FIR-selected galaxies supplies valuable information about the relation between fundamental FIR and optical parameters, including extinction, star formation rate, and gas metallicity. In this article, we introduce and provide an in-depth description of the Lockman-SpReSO project and of its early results. Methods. We selected FIR sources from Herschel observations of the central 24 arcmin × 24 arcmin of the LH field with an optical counterpart up to 24.5 R C (AB). The sample comprises 956 Herschel FIR sources, plus 188 additional interesting objects in the field. These are point X-ray sources, cataclysmic variable star candidates, high-velocity halo star candidates, radio sources, very red quasi-stellar objects, and optical counterparts of sub-millimetre galaxies. The faint component of the catalogue (R C (AB) ≥ 20) was observed using the OSIRIS instrument on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias in multi-object spectroscopy (MOS) mode. The bright component was observed using two multi-fibre spectrographs: the AF2-WYFFOS at the William Herschel Telescope and the HYDRA instrument at the WYIN telescope. Results. From an input catalogue of 1144 sources, we measured a secure spectroscopic redshift in the range 0.03 ≲ z ≲ 4.96 for 357 sources with at least two identified spectral lines. In addition, for 99 sources that show only one emission or absorption line, a spectroscopic redshift was postulated based on the line and object properties, and photometric redshift. In both cases, properties of emission and absorption lines were measured. Furthermore, to characterize the sample in more depth with determined spectroscopic redshifts, spectral energy distribution (SED) fits were performed using the CIGALE software. The IR luminosity and the stellar mass estimations for the sample are also presented as a preliminary description.

Aims. We study a sample of Hβ emission line sources at z ∼ 0.9 to identify the star-forming galaxies sample and characterise them in terms of line luminosity, stellar mass, star formation rate, and morphology. The final aim is to obtain the Hβ luminosity function of the star-forming galaxies at this redshift. Methods. We used the red tunable filter of the instrument Optical System for Imaging low Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy (OSIRIS) at Gran Telescopio de Canarias to obtain the pseudo spectra of emission line sources in the OTELO field. From these pseudo spectra, we identified the objects with Hβ emission. As the resolution of the pseudo spectra allowed us to separate Hβ from [O III], we were able to derive the Hβ flux without contamination from its adjacent line. Using data from the extended OTELO catalogue, we discriminated AGNs and studied the star formation rate, the stellar mass, and the morphology of the star-forming galaxies. Results. We find that our sample is located on the main sequence of star-forming galaxies. The sources are morphologically classified, mostly as disc-like galaxies (76%), and 90% of the sample are low-mass galaxies (M* < 1010 M⊙). The low-mass star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 0.9 that were detected by OTELO present similar properties as low-mass star-forming galaxies in the local universe, suggesting that these kinds of objects do not have a favorite epoch of formation and star formation enhancement from z ∼ 1 to now. Our sample of 40 Hβ star-forming galaxies include the faintest Hβ emitters detected so far. This allows us to constrain the faint end of the luminosity function for the Hβ line alone with a minimum luminosity of log L = 39 erg s−1, which is a hundred times fainter than previous surveys. The dust-corrected OSIRIS Tunable Emission Line Object survey (OTELO) Hβ luminosity function established the faint-end slope as α = −1.36 ± 0.15. We increased the scope of the analysis to the bright end by adding ancillary data from the literature, which was not dust-corrected in this case. The obtained slope for this extended luminosity function is α = −1.43 ± 0.12.

Context. Extragalactic surveys are a key tool in better understanding the evolution of galaxies. Both deep and wide surveys are improving the emerging picture of physical processes that take place in and around galaxies and identifying which of these processes are the most important in shaping the properties of galaxies. Aims. The Lockman-SpReSO survey aims to provide one of the most complete optical spectroscopic follow-ups of far-infrared (FIR) sources detected by the Herschel Space Observatory in the Lockman Hole field. Such a large optical spectroscopic sample of FIRselected galaxies will supply valuable information about the relation between fundamental FIR and optical parameters (including extinction, star formation rate and gas metallicity). In this article, we introduce and provide an in-depth description of the Lockman-SpReSO survey and of its early results. Methods. We have selected FIR sources from the observations of the Herschel telescope over the central 24 arcmin × 24 arcmin of the Lockman Hole field with an optical counterpart up to 24.5 R C (AB). The sample comprises 956 Herschel FIR sources plus 188 interesting additional objects in the field. The faint component of the catalogue (R C (AB)≥20) was observed using the OSIRIS instrument on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) in MOS mode. The bright component was observed using two multifibre spectrographs: the AF2-WYFFOS at the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) and the Hydra instrument at the WYIN telescope. Results. From an input catalogue of 1144 sources, we have measured a secure spectroscopic redshift (up to z ∼ 5) for 357 sources with at least two spectral lines identified. In addition, for 99 sources that show only one emission or absorption line, a spectroscopic redshift was postulated based on the line and object properties and photometric redshift. At the same time, fluxes, equivalent widths and signalto-noise ratios were measured. SED fits were performed using the CIGALE software for the 456 objects for which spectroscopic redshifts were determined. To characterise the sample of objects in more depth, both the stellar mass and the infrared luminosity of the objects were derived from the fits.

We present the analysis of a sample of Hα, Hβ, and [O II] emission line galaxies from the OTELO survey, with masses typically below * M M log 9.4 ( ) and redshifts between z ∼ 0.4 and 1.43. We study the star formation rate, star formation rate density, and their number density and evolution with redshift. We obtain a robust estimate of the specific star formation rate-stellar mass relation based on the lowest-mass sample published so far. We also determine a flat trend of the star formation rate density (SFRD) and number density with redshift. Our results suggest a scenario of no evolution of the number density of galaxies, regardless of their masses, up to redshift z ∼ 1.4. This implies a gradual change of the relative importance of the star-forming processes, from high-mass galaxies to low-mass galaxies, with decreasing redshift. We also find little or no variation of the SFRD in the redshift range of 0.4 < z < 1.43.