NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey Research Articles

Identifying Silicate-absorbed ULIRGs at z ~ 1-2 in the Bootes Field Using the Spitzer IRS

Using the 16$\mu$m peakup imager on the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on Spitzer, we present a serendipitous survey of 0.0392 deg$^{2}$ within the area of the NOAO Deep Wide Field Survey in Bootes. Combining our results with the available Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) 24$\mu$m survey of this area, we produce a catalog of 150 16$\mu$m sources brighter than 0.18 mJy (3$\sigma$) for which we derive measures or limits on the 16/24$\mu$m colors. Such colors are especially useful in determining redshifts for sources whose mid infrared spectra contain strong emission or absorption features that characterize these colors as a function of redshift. We find that the 9.7$\mu$m silicate absorption feature in Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs) results in sources brighter at 16$\mu$m than at 24$\mu$m at z $\sim$ 1--1.8 by at least 20%. With a threshold flux ratio of 1.2, restricting our analysis to $>5\sigma$ detections at 16$\mu$m, and using a $3\sigma$ limit on 24$\mu$m non-detections, the number of silicate-absorbed ULIRG candidates is 36. This defines a strong upper limit of $\sim$920 sources deg$^{-2}$, on the population of silicate-absorbed ULIRGs at z $\sim$ 1--1.8. This source count is about half of the total number of sources predicted at z $\sim$ 1--2 by various phenomenological models. We note that the high 16/24$\mu$m colors measured cannot be reproduced by any of the mid-IR spectral energy distributions assumed by these models, which points to the strong limitations currently affecting our phenomenological and theoretical understanding of infrared galaxy evolution.

XBootes: An X‐Ray Survey of the NDWFS Bootes Field. II. The X‐Ray Source Catalog

We present results from a Chandra survey of the nine square degree Bootes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS). This XBootes survey consists of 126 separate contiguous ACIS-I observations each of approximately 5000 seconds in duration. These unique Chandra observations allow us to search for large scale structure and to calculate X-ray source statistics o ver a wide, contiguous field of view with arcsecond angular resolution and uniform coverage. Optical spectroscopic follow-up observations and the rich NDWFS data set will allow us to identify and classify these X-ray selected sources. Using wavelet decomposition, we detect 4642 point sources with n $\ge$ 2 counts. In order to keep our detections ~99% reliable, we limit our list to sources with n $\ge$ 4 counts. The full 0.5--7 keV band n $\ge$ 4 count list has 3293 point sources. In addition to the point sources, 43 extended sources have been detected consistent, with the depth of these observations and the number counts of clusters. We present here the X-ray catalog for the XBootes survey, including source positions, X-ray fluxes, hardness ratios and their uncertainties. We calculate and present the differential number of sources per flux densit y interval, $N(S)$, for the point sources.

XBootes: An X‐Ray Survey of the NDWFS Bootes Field. I. Overview and Initial Results

We obtained a 5 ks deep Chandra X-ray Observatory ACIS-I map of the 9.3 deg2 Bootes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. Here we describe the data acquisition and analysis strategies leading to a catalog of 4642 (3293) point sources with 2 or more (4 or more) counts, corresponding to a limiting flux of roughly 4(8) ? 10-15 ergs cm-2 s-1 in the 0.5-7 keV band. These Chandra XBootes data are unique in that they constitute the widest contiguous X-ray field yet observed to such a faint flux limit. Because of the extraordinarily low background of the ACIS, we expect only 14% (0.7%) of the sources to be spurious. We also detected 43 extended sources in this survey. The distribution of the point sources among the 126 pointings (ACIS-I has a 16' ? 16' field of view) is consistent with Poisson fluctuations about the mean of 36.8 sources per pointing. While a smoothed image of the point source distribution is clumpy, there is no statistically significant evidence of large-scale filamentary structure. We do find however, that for ? > 1', the angular correlation function of these sources is consistent with previous measurements, following a power law in angle with slope ~-0.7. In a 1.4 deg2 sample of the survey, approximately 87% of the sources with 4 or more counts have an optical counterpart to R ~ 26 mag. As part of a larger program of optical spectroscopy of the NDWFS Bootes area, spectra have been obtained for ~900 of the X-ray sources, most of which are quasars or active galactic nuclei.

On the Discovery of the First Galaxy Selected at 350 Microns

We report the detection of a 3.6 σ source selected at 350 μm in the Bootes Deep Field. The source, the first short-wavelength submillimeter-selected galaxy (SSG 1), was discovered as part of a blank-field extragalactic survey using the 350 μm-optimized Submillimeter High Angular Resolution Camera (SHARC II) at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. With multiwavelength photometry from the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (R and I band), FLAMEX (J and Ks), Spitzer (IRAC and MIPS), and the Westerbork 1.4 GHz deep survey (radio upper limit), we are able to constrain the photometric redshift using different methods, all of which suggest a redshift of ~1. In the absence of long-wavelength submillimeter data, we use SED templates to infer that this source is an ultraluminous infrared galaxy with a dust temperature of 30 ± 5 K, occupying a region of luminosity-temperature space shared by moderate-redshift ISO-selected ULIRGs (rather than high-redshift SCUBA-selected submillimeter galaxies). SHARC II can thus select galaxies with moderately warm dust that might be missed in submillimeter surveys at longer wavelengths.

The Recent and Continuing Assembly of Field Elliptical Galaxies by Red Mergers

We present a study of tidal debris associated with 126 nearby red galaxies, selected from the 1.2 deg2 Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile and the 9.3 deg2 NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. In the full sample, 67 galaxies (53%) show morphological signatures of tidal interactions consisting of broad fans of stars, tails, and other asymmetries at very faint surface brightness levels. When restricting the sample to the 86 bulge-dominated early-type galaxies, the fraction of tidally disturbed galaxies rises to 71%, which implies that for every "normal" undisturbed elliptical there are two that show clear signs of interactions. The tidal features are red and smooth and often extend over >50 kpc. Of the tidally distorted galaxies, about two-thirds are remnants, and one-third are interacting with a companion galaxy. The companions are usually bright red galaxies as well; the median R-band luminosity ratio of the tidal pairs is 0.31, and the median color difference after correcting for the slope of the color-magnitude relation is -0.02 in B - R. If the ongoing mergers are representative for the progenitors of the remnants, ∼35% of bulge-dominated galaxies experienced a merger with mass ratio >1 : 4 in the recent past. With further assumptions it is estimated that the present-day mass accretion rate of galaxies on the red sequence ΔM/M = 0.09 ± 0.04 Gyr-1. For a constant or increasing mass accretion rate with redshift, we find that red mergers may lead to an evolution of a factor of ≳2 in the stellar mass density in luminous red galaxies over the redshift range 0 < z < 1, consistent with recent studies of the evolution of the luminosity density. We conclude that the majority of today's most luminous field elliptical galaxies were assembled at low redshift through mergers of gas-poor, bulge-dominated systems. These "dry" mergers are consistent with the high central densities of ellipticals, their old stellar populations, and the strong correlations of their properties. It will be interesting to determine whether this mode of merging only plays an important role at low redshift or is relevant for galaxies at any redshift if they exceed a critical mass scale.

Discovery of a Large ∼200 kpc Gaseous Nebula atz≈ 2.7 with theSpitzer Space Telescope

We report the discovery of a very large, spatially extended Lyα-emitting nebula at z = 2.656 associated with a luminous mid-infrared source. The bright mid-infrared source (F24 μm = 0.86 mJy) was first detected in observations made using the Spitzer Space Telescope. Existing broadband imaging data from the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey revealed the mid-infrared source to be associated with a diffuse, spatially extended, optical counterpart in the BW band. Spectroscopy and further imaging of this target reveals that the optical source is an almost purely line-emitting nebula with little, if any, detectable diffuse continuum emission. The Lyα nebula has a luminosity of LLyα ≈ 1.7 × 1044 ergs s-1 and an extent of at least 20'' (160 kpc). Its central ≈8'' shows an ordered, monotonic velocity profile; interpreted as rotation, this region encloses a mass M ≈ 6 × 1012 M☉. Several sources lie within the nebula. The central region of the nebula shows narrow (≈365 km s-1) emission lines of C IV and He II. The mid-infrared source is a compact object lying within the nebula but offset from the center by a projected distance of ≈25 (20 kpc), and likely to be an enshrouded AGN. A young star-forming galaxy lies near the northern end of the nebula. We suggest that the nebula is a site of recent multiple galaxy and AGN formation, with the spatial distribution of galaxies within the nebula perhaps tracking the formation history of the system.

Tracing the Nuclear Accretion History of the Red Galaxy Population

We investigate the evolution of the hard X-ray luminosity of the red galaxy population using a large sample of 3316 red galaxies selected over a wide range in redshift (0.3<z<0.9) from a 1.4 deg^2 region in the Bootes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS). The red galaxies are early-type, bulge-dominated galaxies and are selected to have the same evolution corrected, absolute R-band magnitude distribution as a function of redshift to ensure we are tracing the evolution in the X-ray properties of a comparable optical population. Using a stacking analysis of 5-ks Chandra/ACIS observations within this field to study the X-ray emission from these red galaxies in three redshift bins, we find that the mean X-ray luminosity increases as a function of redshift. The large mean X-ray luminosity and the hardness of the mean X-ray spectrum suggests that the X-ray emission is largely dominated by AGN rather than stellar sources. The hardness ratio can be reproduced by either an absorbed (N_H ~2 x 10^22 cm^-2) Gamma=1.7 power-law source, consistent with that of a population of moderately obscured Seyfert-like AGN, or an unabsorbed Gamma=0.7 source suggesting a radiatively inefficient accretion flow (e.g., an advection-dominated accretion flow). We also find that the emission from this sample of red galaxies constitutes at least 5% of the hard X-ray background. These results suggest a global decline in the mean AGN activity of normal early-type galaxies from z~1 to the present, which indicates that we are witnessing the tailing off of the accretion activity onto SMBHs in early-type galaxies since the quasar epoch.

SpitzerObservations of Optically “Invisible” Radio and X‐Ray Sources: High‐Redshift Active Galactic Nuclei

We have combined a survey at 24 μm to 0.3 mJy with the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope, a 20 cm A-configuration Very Large Array (VLA) survey covering 0.5 deg2, and an existing 172 ks Chandra X-Ray Observatory exposure to investigate the nature of optically faint radio and X-ray sources in the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS) in the Bootes field. A catalog of 392 radio sources is defined with optical identifications or magnitude limits. We find little overlap between the radio- and infrared-selected populations: only 9% of the infrared sources are detected in the radio, and only 33% of the radio sources are detected in the infrared. Thirty-six (10%) of the 377 compact radio sources lack optical counterparts in the NDWFS BW, R, and I images. We refer to these objects as optically invisible radio sources (OIRSs). Only four (13%) of the 31 OIRSs observed with MIPS are detected at 24 μm. Comparisons of the radio and infrared properties of the OIRSs with various galaxy spectral energy distributions demonstrate that most of these sources are powered by active galactic nuclei (AGNs) rather than starbursts. Similarly, 11 X-ray sources observed by both MIPS and the VLA are classified as optically invisible X-ray sources (OIXSs). None is detected at 24 μm or 20 cm. All seven OIXSs detected in Chandra's 0.5-2 keV band have infrared to X-ray flux ratios consistent with their luminosity being dominated by an unobscured AGN. From these results we conclude that both the optically invisible radio and X-ray source populations are primarily AGNs, relatively unaffected by dust, and most likely at z > 1. No OIRSs are detected in X-ray emission, and no OIXSs are detected at 20 cm. However, given the wide range in radio and X-ray properties of known AGNs and the size of our samples, this lack of overlap does not necessarily imply different AGN source populations.

Spectroscopic Redshifts to z &gt; 2 for Optically Obscured Sources Discovered with the Spitzer Space Telescope

We have surveyed a field covering 9.0 degrees 2 within the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey region in Bootes with the Multiband Imaging Photometer on the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST) to a limiting 24 µm flux density of 0.3 mJy. Thirty one sources from this survey with F24 µm > 0.75mJy which are optically very faint (R & 24.5mag) have been observed with the low-resolution modules of the Infrared Spectrograph on SST. Redshifts derived primarily from strong silicate absorption features are reported here for 17 of these sources; 10 of these are optically invisible (R & 26mag), with no counterpart in BW, R, or I. The observed redshifts for 16 sources are 1.7 < z < 2.8. These represent a newly discovered population of highly obscured sources at high redshift with extreme infrared to optical ratios. Using IRS spectra of local galaxies as templates, we find that a majority of the sources have mid-infrared spectral shapes most similar to ultraluminous infrared galaxies powered primarily by AGN. Assuming the same templates also apply at longer wavelengths, bolometric luminosities exceed 10 13 L⊙. Subject headings: dust, extinction — galaxies: high-redshift - infrared: galaxies — galaxies: starburst galaxies: AGN

The Clustering of Extragalactic Extremely Red Objects

We have measured the angular and spatial clustering of 671 K 5 extremely red objects (EROs) from a 0.98?deg2 subregion of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS). Our study covers nearly 5 times the area and has twice the sample size of any previous ERO clustering study. The wide field of view and BWRIK passbands of the NDWFS allow us to place improved constraints on the clustering of z ~ 1 EROs. We find that the angular clustering of EROs is slightly weaker than in previous measurements, and ?(1') = 0.25 ? 0.05 for K 5 EROs is well approximated by a power law, with r0 = 9.7 ? 1.1 h-1 Mpc in comoving coordinates. This is comparable to the clustering of ~4L* early-type galaxies at z < 1 and is consistent with the brightest EROs being the progenitors of the most massive elliptical galaxies. There is evidence of the angular clustering of EROs decreasing with increasing apparent magnitude, when NDWFS measurements of ERO clustering are combined with those from the literature. Unless the redshift distribution of K 20 EROs is very broad, the spatial clustering of EROs decreases from r0 = 9.7 ? 1.1 h-1 Mpc for K < 18.40 to r0 ~ 7.5 h-1 Mpc for K 20 EROs.

The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) Shallow Survey

The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) shallow survey covers 8.5 deg2 in the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey in Bootes with three or more 30 s exposures per position. An overview of the survey design, reduction, calibration, star-galaxy separation, and initial results is provided. The survey includes ≈370,000, 280,000, 38,000, and 34,000 sources brighter than the 5 σ limits of 6.4, 8.8, 51, and 50 μJy at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8 μm, respectively, including some with unusual spectral energy distributions.

The 172 ksChandraExposure of the LALA Bootes Field: X-Ray Source Catalog

We present an analysis of a deep, 172 ks Chandra observation of the Large Area Lyman Alpha survey (LALA) Bootes field, obtained with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS-I) on board the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. This is one of the deepest Chandra images of the extragalactic sky; only the 2 Ms Chandra Deep Field North (CDF-N) and 1 Ms Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S) are substantially deeper. In this paper we present the X-ray source catalog obtained from this image, along with an analysis of source counts and optical identifications. The X-ray image is composed of two individual observations obtained in 2002 and reaches 0.5–2.0 and 2.0–10.0 keV flux limits of 1.5 × 10-16 and 1.0 × 10-15 ergs cm-2 s-1, respectively, for point sources near the aim point. A total of 168 X-ray sources were detected: 160 in the 0.5–7.0 keV band, 132 in the 0.5–2.0 keV band, and 111 in the 2.0–7.0 keV band. The X-ray source counts were derived and compared with those from other Chandra deep surveys; the hard X-ray source density of the LALA Bootes field is 33% higher than that of CDF-S at the flux level of 2.0 × 10-15 ergs cm-2 s-1, confirming the field-to-field variances of the hard-band source counts reported by previous studies. The deep exposure resolves 72% of the 2.0–10.0 keV X-ray background. Our primary optical data are R-band imaging from the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS), with a limiting magnitude of R = 25.7 (Vega, 3 σ, and 4'' diameter aperture). We have found optical counterparts for 152 of the 168 Chandra sources (90%); 144 of these are detected in the R-band image, and eight have optical counterparts in other bands (either BW, V, I, or z'). Among the R-band nondetected sources, not more than 11 of them can possibly be at z > 5, based on the hardness ratios of their X-ray emission and nondetections in bluer bands (BW, V). The majority (~76%) of the X-ray sources are found to have log(fX/fR) within 0.0 ± 1; these are believed to be AGNs. Most of the X-ray–faint/optically bright sources [log(fX/fR) 1.0], which are harder in X-ray and are probably obscured AGNs.

Spectroscopic Confirmation of Three Redshift [CLC][ITAL]z[/ITAL][/CLC] ≈ 5.7 L[CLC]y[/CLC]α Emitters from the Large-Area Lyman Alpha Survey

Narrowband searches for Lyα emission are an efficient way of identifying star-forming galaxies at high redshifts. We present Keck Telescope spectra confirming redshifts z ≈ 5.7 for three objects discovered in the Large-Area Lyman Alpha (LALA) survey at Kitt Peak National Observatory. All three spectra show strong, narrow emission lines with the asymmetric profile that is characteristically produced in high-redshift Lyα emitters by preferential H I absorption in the blue wing of the line. These objects are undetected in deep BW, V, R, and λ ≈ 6600 A narrowband images from the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey and from LALA, as expected from Lyman break and Lyα forest absorption at redshift z ≈ 5.7. All three objects show large equivalent widths (150 A in the rest frame), suggesting at least one of the following: a top-heavy initial mass function, very low stellar metallicity, or the presence of an active nucleus. We consider the case for an active nucleus to be weak in all three objects due to the limited width of the Lyα emission line (less than 500 km s-1) and the absence of any other indicator of quasar activity. The three confirmed high-redshift objects were among four spectroscopically observed targets drawn from the sample of 18 candidates presented by Rhoads & Malhotra. Thus, these spectra support the Lyα emitter population statistics from our earlier photometric study, which imply little evolution in number density from z = 5.7 to 4.5 and provide strong evidence that the reionization redshift is zr > 5.7.