UV-bright Galaxies Research Articles

High Molecular Gas Masses in Absorption-selected Galaxies at z ≈ 2

Abstract We have used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to carry out a search for CO (3−2) or (4−3) emission from the fields of 12 high-metallicity ([M/H] ≥ −0.72 dex) damped Lyα absorbers (DLAs) at z ≈ 1.7–2.6. We detected CO emission from galaxies in the fields of five DLAs (two of which have been reported earlier), obtaining high molecular gas masses, . The impact parameters of the CO emitters to the QSO sight line lie in the range b ≈ 5.6–100 kpc, with the three new CO detections having . The highest CO line luminosities and inferred molecular gas masses are associated with the highest-metallicity DLAs, with [M/H] ≳ −0.3 dex. The high inferred molecular gas masses may be explained by a combination of a stellar mass–metallicity relation and a high molecular gas-to-star mass ratio in high-redshift galaxies; the DLA galaxies identified by our CO searches have properties consistent with those of emission-selected samples. None of the DLA galaxies detected in CO emission were identified in earlier optical or near-IR searches and vice versa; DLA galaxies earlier identified in optical/near-IR searches were not detected in CO emission. The high ALMA CO and C[ii] 158 μm detection rate in high-z, high-metallicity DLA galaxies has revolutionized the field, allowing the identification of dusty, massive galaxies associated with high-z DLAs. The H i-absorption criterion identifying DLAs selects the entire high-z galaxy population, including dusty and UV-bright galaxies, in a wide range of environments.

The impact of scatter in the galaxy UV luminosity to halo mass relation on Ly α visibility during the epoch of reionization

ABSTRACT The reionization of hydrogen is closely linked to the first structures in the Universe, so understanding the timeline of reionization promises to shed light on the nature of these early objects. In particular, transmission of Lyman alpha (Ly α) from galaxies through the intergalactic medium (IGM) is sensitive to neutral hydrogen in the IGM, so can be used to probe the reionization timeline. In this work, we implement an improved model of the galaxy UV luminosity to dark matter halo mass relation to infer the volume-averaged fraction of neutral hydrogen in the IGM from Ly α observations. Many models assume that UV-bright galaxies are hosted by massive dark matter haloes in overdense regions of the IGM, so reside in relatively large ionized regions. However, observations and N-body simulations indicate that scatter in the UV luminosity–halo mass relation is expected. Here, we model the scatter (though we assume the IGM topology is unaffected) and assess the impact on Ly α visibility during reionization. We show that UV luminosity–halo mass scatter reduces Ly α visibility compared to models without scatter, and that this is most significant for UV-bright galaxies. We then use our model with scatter to infer the neutral fraction, $\overline{x}_{\mathrm{ H}\,{\small I}}$, at z ∼ 7 using a sample of Lyman-break galaxies in legacy fields. We infer $\overline{x}_{\mathrm{ H}\,{\small I}} = 0.55_{-0.13}^{+0.11}$ with scatter, compared to $\overline{x}_{\mathrm{ H}\,{\small I}} = 0.59_{-0.14}^{+0.12}$ without scatter, a very slight decrease and consistent within the uncertainties. Finally, we place our results in the context of other constraints on the reionization timeline and discuss implications for future high-redshift galaxy studies.

The MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Field Survey

We present spatially resolved maps of six individually-detected Lyman α haloes (LAHs) as well as a first statistical analysis of the Lyman α (Lyα) spectral signature in the circum-galactic medium of high-redshift star-forming galaxies (−17.5 > MUV > −21.5) using the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer. Our resolved spectroscopic analysis of the LAHs reveals significant intrahalo variations of the Lyα line profile. Using a three-dimensional two-component model for the Lyα emission, we measured the full width at half maximum (FWHM), the peak velocity shift, and the asymmetry of the Lyα line in the core and in the halo of 19 galaxies. We find that the Lyα line shape is statistically different in the halo compared to the core (in terms of width, peak wavelength, and asymmetry) for ≈40% of our galaxies. Similarly to object-by-object based studies and a recent resolved study using lensing, we find a correlation between the peak velocity shift and the width of the Lyα line both at the interstellar and circum-galactic scales. This trend has been predicted by radiative transfer simulations of galactic winds as a result of resonant scattering in outflows. While there is a lack of correlation between the spectral properties and the spatial scale lengths of our LAHs, we find a correlation between the width of the line in the LAH and the halo flux fraction. Interestingly, UV bright galaxies (MUV < −20) show broader, more redshifted, and less asymmetric Lyα lines in their haloes. The most significant correlation found is for the FWHM of the line and the UV continuum slope of the galaxy, suggesting that the redder galaxies have broader Lyα lines. The generally broad and red line shapes found in the halo component suggest that the Lyα haloes are powered either by scattering processes through an outflowing medium, fluorescent emission from outflowing cold clumps of gas, or a mix of both. Considering the large diversity of the Lyα line profiles observed in our sample and the lack of strong correlation, the interpretation of our results is still broadly open and underlines the need for realistic spatially resolved models of the LAHs.

An ALMA view of galaxies in the Epoch of Reionisation

AbstractIn the past decade hundreds of galaxies have been identified in the Epoch of Reionisation, selected from their rest-frame UV light. Only a handful of these sources, however, have spectroscopic redshift determinations and we have limited understanding of their physical properties. ALMA is currently transforming this field by providing the first view of the dust obscured star-formation, the kinematics of these sources, the cool gas traced by [CII] and highly ionised gas traced by [OIII]. In this talk I will discuss new and recent results on the UV-bright galaxy population during the first billion years of cosmic time and what they imply for their observational and physical properties.

Beacons into the Cosmic Dark Ages: Boosted Transmission of Lyα from UV Bright Galaxies at z ≳ 7

Abstract Recent detections of Lyman alpha (Lyα) emission from z > 7.5 galaxies were somewhat unexpected given a dearth of previous non-detections in this era when the intergalactic medium (IGM) is still highly neutral. But these detections were from UV bright galaxies, which preferentially live in overdensities that reionize early, and have significantly Doppler-shifted Lyα line profiles emerging from their interstellar media (ISM), making them less affected by the global IGM state. Using a combination of reionization simulations and empirical ISM models we show, as a result of these two effects, that UV bright galaxies in overdensities have >2× higher transmission through the z ∼ 7 IGM than typical field galaxies, and that this boosted transmission is enhanced as the neutral fraction increases. The boosted transmission is not sufficient to explain the observed high Lyα fraction of M uv ≲ −22 galaxies, suggesting that Lyα emitted by these galaxies must be stronger than expected due to enhanced production and/or selection effects. Despite the bias of UV bright galaxies to reside in overdensities we show Lyα observations of such galaxies can accurately measure the global neutral hydrogen fraction, particularly when Lyα from UV faint galaxies is extinguished, making them ideal candidates for spectroscopic follow-up into the cosmic Dark Ages.

Substructure and galaxy formation in the Copernicus Complexio warm dark matter simulations

We use the Copernicus Complexio (coco) high-resolution N-body simulations to investigate differences in the properties of small-scale structures in the standard cold dark matter (CDM) model and in a model with a cutoff in the initial power spectrum of density fluctuations consistent with both a thermally produced warm dark matter (WDM) particle with a rest mass of 3.3 keV and a sterile neutrino with mass 7 keV and leptogenesis parameter L6 = 8.7. The latter corresponds to the ‘coldest’ model with this sterile neutrino mass compatible with the identification of the recently detected 3.5 keV X-ray line as resulting from particle decay. CDM and WDM predict very different number densities of subhaloes with mass ≲ 109 h−1 M⊙ although they predict similar, nearly universal, normalized subhalo radial density distributions. Haloes and subhaloes in both models have cuspy Navarro-Frenk-White profiles, but WDM subhaloes below the cut-off scale in the power spectrum (corresponding to maximum circular velocities Vmaxz = 0 ≤ 50 kms− 1) are less concentrated than their CDM counterparts. We make predictions for observable properties using the galform semi-analytic model of Galaxy formation. Both models predict Milky Way satellite luminosity functions consistent with observations, although the WDM model predicts fewer very faint satellites. This model, however, predicts slightly more UV bright galaxies at redshift z > 7 than CDM, but both are consistent with observations. Gravitational lensing offers the best prospect of distinguishing between the models.

Lyα-emitting galaxies as a probe of reionization: large-scale bubble morphology and small-scale absorbers

The visibility of LyA emitting galaxies during the Epoch of Reionization is controlled by both diffuse HI patches in large-scale bubble morphology and small-scale absorbers. To investigate the impact on LyA photons, we apply a novel combination of analytic and numerical calculations to three scenarios: (i) the `bubble' model, where only diffuse HI outside ionized bubbles is present; (ii) the `web' model, where HI exists only in overdense self-shielded gas; and (iii) the more realistic 'web-bubble' model, which contains both. Our analysis confirms that there is a degeneracy between the ionization structure of the intergalactic medium (IGM) and the HI fraction inferred from LyA surveys, as the three models suppress LyA flux equally with very different HI fractions. We argue that a joint analysis of the LyA luminosity function and the rest-frame equivalent width distribution/LyA fraction can break this degeneracy and provide constraints on the reionization history and its topology. We further show that constraints can improve if we consider the full shape of the M_UV-dependent redshift evolution of the LyA fraction of Lyman break galaxies. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that (i) a drop of LyA fraction larger for UV-faint than for UV-bright galaxies can be reproduced with web and web-bubble models and therefore does not provide exclusive evidence of patchy reionization, and (ii) the IGM-transmission PDF is unimodal for bubble models and bimodal in web models. We further highlight the importance of galaxy-absorber cross-correlation. Comparing our models to observations, the neutral fraction at z~7 is likely to be of order of tens of per cent when interpreted with bubble or web-bubble models. Alternatively, we obtain a conservative lower limit ~1% in the web models, if we allow for a drop in the photoionization rate by a factor of ~100 from the post-reionized universe. [abridged]

Forecasts for theWFIRSTHigh Latitude Survey using the BlueTides simulation

We use the BlueTides simulation to predict the properties of the high-$z$ galaxy and active galactic nuclei (AGN) populations for the planned 2200deg$^2$ Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope's (WFIRST)-AFTA High Latitude Survey (HLS). BlueTides is a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation, which incorporates a variety of baryon physics in a $(400h^{-1} \mathrm{Mpc})^3$ volume evolved to $z=8$ with 0.7 trillion particles. The galaxy luminosity functions in the simulation show good agreement with all the current observational constraints (up to $z=11$) and predicts an enhanced number of UV bright galaxies. At the proposed depth of the HLS ($m < 26.75$), BlueTides predicts $10^6$ galaxies at $z=8$ with a few up to $z\sim 15$ due to the enhanced bright end of the galaxy luminosity function. At $z=8$, galaxies in the mock HLS have specific star formation rates of $\sim 10 {\rm Gyr}^{-1}$ and ages of $\sim 80 {\rm Myr}$ (both evolving linearly with redshift) and a non-evolving mass-metallicity relation. BlueTides also predicts $\sim 10^4$ AGN in WFIRST HLS from $z=8$ out to $z\sim 14$. These AGN host black holes of $M\sim 10^6-10^8 M_\odot$ accreting close to their Eddington luminosity. Galaxies and AGN have host halo masses of $M_{halo}\sim 10^{11-12} M_\odot$ and a linear bias $b\approx 13-20$. Given the expected galaxy space densities, their high bias and large volume probed we speculate that it may be feasible for WFIRST HLS detect the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation peak in the galaxy power spectrum out to $z=8-9$.

The ionizing photon production efficiency of compactz~ 0.3 Lyman continuum leakers and comparison with high-redshift galaxies

We have recently discovered five Lyman continuum leaking galaxies at z ~ 0.3 that were selected for their compactness, intense star formation, and high [O iii]λ5007/[O ii] λ3727 ratio. Here we derive their ionizing photon production efficiency, ξion, a fundamental quantity for inferring the number of photons available to reionize the Universe. This is the first time this is done for galaxies with confirmed strong Lyman continuum escape (fesc ~ 6–13%). We find an ionizing photon production per unit UV luminosity, ξion, that is higher by a factor 2–6 than the canonical value when reported to their observed UV luminosity. After correction for extinction, this value is close to the canonical value. The properties of our five Lyman continuum leakers are found to be very similar to those of the previously reported confirmed z = 3.218 leaker Ion2 and very similar to those of typical star-forming galaxies at z ≳ 6. Our results suggest that UV bright galaxies at high-z such as Lyman-break galaxies can be Lyman continuum leakers and that their contribution to cosmic reionization may be underestimated.

A NEW CONSTRAINT ON THE Lyα FRACTION OF UV VERY BRIGHT GALAXIES AT REDSHIFT 7

ABSTRACT We study the extent to which very bright ( ) Lyman-break-selected galaxies at redshifts display detectable Lyα emission. To explore this issue, we obtained follow-up optical spectroscopy of 9 galaxies from a parent sample of 24 galaxy candidates selected from the 1.65 deg2 COSMOS-UltraVISTA and SXDS-UDS survey fields using the latest near-infrared public survey data, and new ultra-deep Subaru z′-band imaging (which we also present and describe in this paper). Our spectroscopy yielded only one possible detection of Lyα at z = 7.168 with a rest-frame equivalent width . The relative weakness of this line, combined with our failure to detect Lyα emission from the other spectroscopic targets, allows us to place a new upper limit on the prevalence of strong Lyα emission at these redshifts. For conservative calculation and to facilitate comparison with previous studies at lower redshifts, we derive a 1σ upper limit on the fraction of UV-bright galaxies at that display , which we estimate to be . This result may indicate a weak trend where the fraction of strong Lyα emitters ceases to rise, and possibly falls between z ≃ 6 and . Our results also leave open the possibility that strong Lyα may still be more prevalent in the brightest galaxies in the reionization era than their fainter counterparts. A larger spectroscopic sample of galaxies is required to derive a more reliable constraint on the neutral hydrogen fraction at based on the Lyα fraction in the bright galaxies.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE GALAXY REST-FRAME ULTRAVIOLET LUMINOSITY FUNCTION OVER THE FIRST TWO BILLION YEARS

We present a robust measurement and analysis of the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function at z=4-8. We use deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging over the CANDELS/GOODS fields, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and the Year 1 Hubble Frontier Field deep parallel observations. These surveys provides an effective volume of 0.6-1.2 x 10^6 Mpc^3 over this epoch, allowing us to perform a robust search for faint (M_UV=-18) and bright (M_UV < -21) galaxies. We select candidate galaxies using a well-tested photometric redshift technique with careful screening of contaminants, finding a sample of 7446 galaxies at 3.5<z<8.5, with >1000 galaxies at z~6-8. We measure the luminosity function using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis to measure robust uncertainties. At the faint end our results agree with previous studies, yet we find a higher abundance of UV-bright galaxies at z>6, with M* ~ -21 at z>5, different than that inferred based on previous trends at lower redshift. At z=8, a single power-law provides an equally good fit to the UV luminosity function, while at z=6 and 7, an exponential cutoff at the bright-end is moderately preferred. We compare to semi-analytical models, and find that the lack of evolution in M* is consistent with models where the impact of dust attenuation on the bright-end of the luminosity function decreases at higher redshift. We measure the evolution of the cosmic star-formation rate density, correcting for dust attenuation, and find that it declines as (1+z)^(-4.3 +/- 0.5) at z>4, consistent with observations at z>9. Our observations are consistent with a reionization history that starts at z>10, completes at z>6, and reaches a midpoint (x_HII = 0.5) at 6.7<z<9.4. Finally, our observations predict that the abundance of bright z=9 galaxies is likely higher than previous constraints, though consistent with recent estimates of bright z~10 galaxies. [abridged]

High redshift galaxies in the ALHAMBRA survey

Context. Most observational results on the high redshift restframe UV-bright galaxies are based on samples pinpointed using the so called dropout technique or Ly-alpha selection. However, the availability of multifilter data allows now replacing the dropout selections by direct methods based on photometric redshifts. In this paper we present the methodology to select and study the population of high redshift galaxies in the ALHAMBRA survey data. Aims. Our aim is to develop a less biased methodology than the traditional dropout technique to study the high redshift galaxies in ALHAMBRA and other multifilter data. Thanks to the wide area ALHAMBRA covers, we especially aim at contributing in the study of the brightest, less frequent, high redshift galaxies. Methods. The methodology is based on redshift probability distribution functions (zPDFs). It is shown how a clean galaxy sample can be obtained by selecting the galaxies with high integrated probability of being within a given redshift interval. However, reaching both a complete and clean sample with this method is challenging. Hence, a method to derive statistical properties by summing the zPDFs of all the galaxies in the redshift bin of interest is introduced. Results. Using this methodology we derive the galaxy rest frame UV number counts in five redshift bins centred at z=2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5, being complete up to the limiting magnitude at m_UV(AB)=24. With the wide field ALHAMBRA data we especially contribute in the study of the brightest ends of these counts, sampling well the surface densities down to m_UV(AB)=21-22. Conclusions. We show that using the zPDFs it is easy to select a clean sample of high redshift galaxies. We also show that statistical analysis of the properties of galaxies is better done using a probabilistic approach, which takes into account both the incompleteness and contamination in a natural way.

A blind CO detection of a distant red galaxy in the HS1700+64 protocluster

Abstract We report the blind detection of 12CO emission from a distant red galaxy, HS1700.DRG55. We have used the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer WideX, with its 3.6 GHz of instantaneous dual-polarization bandwidth, to target 12CO(3–2) from galaxies lying in the protocluster at z = 2.300 in the field HS1700+64. If indeed this line in DRG55 is 12CO(3–2), its detection at 104.9 GHz indicates zCO = 2.296. None of the other eight known z ∼ 2.30 protocluster galaxies lying within the primary beam (PB) are detected in 12CO, although the limits are ∼2 × worse towards the edge of the PB where several lie. The optical/near-IR magnitudes of DRG55 (RAB &amp;gt; 27, KAB = 22.3) mean that optical spectroscopic redshifts are difficult with 10-m-class telescopes, but near-IR redshifts would be feasible. The 24-μm-implied star formation rate (210 M⊙ yr−1), stellar mass (∼1011 M⊙) and 12CO line luminosity (3.6 × 1010 K km s−1 pc2) are comparable to other normal12CO-detected star-forming galaxies in the literature, although the galaxy is some ∼2 mag (∼6 ×) fainter in the rest-frame UV than 12CO-detected galaxies at z &amp;gt; 2. The detection of DRG55 in 12CO complements three other 12CO detected UV-bright galaxies in this protocluster from previous studies, and suggests that many optically faint galaxies in the protocluster may host substantial molecular gas reservoirs, and a full blind census of 12CO in this overdense environment is warranted.

MEASUREMENT OF GALAXY CLUSTERING ATz∼ 7.2 AND THE EVOLUTION OF GALAXY BIAS FROM 3.8 &lt;z&lt; 8 IN THE XDF, GOODS-S, AND GOODS-N

Lyman-Break Galaxy (LBG) samples observed during reionization ($z\gtrsim6$) with Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 are reaching sizes sufficient to characterize their clustering properties. Using a combined catalog from the Hubble eXtreme Deep Field and CANDELS surveys, containing $N=743$ LBG candidates at z>6.5 at a mean redshift of $z=7.2$, we detect a clear clustering signal in the angular correlation function (ACF) at $\sim4\sigma$, corresponding to a real-space correlation length $r_{0}=6.7^{+0.9}_{-1.0}h^{-1}$cMpc. The derived galaxy bias $b=8.6^{+0.9}_{-1.0}$ is that of dark-matter halos of $M=10^{11.1^{+0.2}_{-0.3}}$M$_{\odot}$ at $z=7.2$, and highlights that galaxies below the current detection limit ($M_{AB}\sim-17.7$) are expected in lower-mass halos ($M\sim10^{8}-10^{10.5}$M$_{\odot}$). We compute the ACF of LBGs at $z\sim3.8-z\sim5.9$ in the same surveys. A trend of increasing bias is found from $z=3.8$ ($b\sim3.0$) to $z=7.2$ ($b\sim8.6$), broadly consistent with galaxies at fixed luminosity being hosted in dark-matter halos of similar mass at $4<z<6$, followed by a slight rise in halo masses at $z\sim7$ ($\sim2\sigma$ confidence). Separating the data at the median luminosity of the $z=7.2$ sample ($M_{UV}=-19.4$) shows higher clustering at $z=5.9$ for bright galaxies ($r_{0}=5.5^{+1.4}_{-1.5}h^{-1}$cMpc, $b=6.2^{+1.2}_{-1.5}$) compared to faint galaxies ($r_{0}=1.9^{+1.1}_{-1.0}h^{-1}$cMpc, $b=2.7\pm1.2$) implying a constant mass-to-light ratio $\frac{dlogM}{dlogL}\sim1.2^{+1.8}_{-0.8}$. A similar trend is present in the $z=7.2$ sample with larger uncertainty. Finally, our bias measurements allow us to investigate the fraction of dark-matter halos hosting UV-bright galaxies (the duty-cycle, $\epsilon_{DC}$). At $z=7.2$ values near unity are preferred, which may be explained by the shortened halo assembly time at high-redshift.

EXPLORING THE z = 3-4 MASSIVE GALAXY POPULATION WITH ZFOURGE: THE PREVALENCE OF DUSTY AND QUIESCENT GALAXIES

Our understanding of the redshift $z>3$ galaxy population relies largely on samples selected using the popular "dropout" technique, typically consisting of UV-bright galaxies with blue colors and prominent Lyman breaks. As it is currently unknown if these galaxies are representative of the massive galaxy population, we here use the FourStar Galaxy Evolution (ZFOURGE) Survey to create a stellar mass-limited sample at $z=3-4$. Uniquely, ZFOURGE uses deep near-infrared medium-bandwidth filters to derive accurate photometric redshifts and stellar population properties. The mass-complete sample consists of 57 galaxies with log M $>10.6$, reaching below $M^{\star}$ at $z=3-4$. On average, the massive $z=3-4$ galaxies are extremely faint in the observed optical with median $R_{tot}^{AB}=27.48\pm0.41$ (restframe $M_{1700}=-18.05\pm0.37$). They lie far below the UV luminosity-stellar mass relation for Lyman break galaxies and are about $\sim100\times$ fainter at the same mass. The massive galaxies are red ($R-Ks_{AB}=3.9\pm0.2$; restframe UV-slope $\beta=-0.2\pm0.3$) likely from dust or old stellar ages. We classify the galaxy SEDs by their restframe $U-V$ and $V-J$ colors and find a diverse population: $46^{+6+10}_{-6-17}$% of the massive galaxies are quiescent, $54^{+8+17}_{-8-10}$% are dusty star-forming galaxies, and only $14^{+3+10}_{-3-4}$% resemble luminous blue star forming Lyman break galaxies. This study clearly demonstrates an inherent diversity among massive galaxies at higher redshift than previously known. Furthermore,we uncover a reservoir of dusty star-forming galaxies with $4\times$ lower specific star-formation rates compared to submillimeter-selected starbursts at $z>3$. With $5\times$ higher numbers, the dusty galaxies may represent a more typical mode of star formation compared to submillimeter-bright starbursts.

A SUBSTANTIAL POPULATION OF MASSIVE QUIESCENT GALAXIES AT z ∼ 4 FROM ZFOURGE

We report the likely identification of a substantial population of massive M ∼ 1011 M☉ galaxies at z ∼ 4 with suppressed star formation rates (SFRs), selected on rest-frame optical to near-IR colors from the FourStar Galaxy Evolution Survey (ZFOURGE). The observed spectral energy distributions show pronounced breaks, sampled by a set of near-IR medium-bandwidth filters, resulting in tightly constrained photometric redshifts. Fitting stellar population models suggests large Balmer/4000 Å breaks, relatively old stellar populations, large stellar masses, and low SFRs, with a median specific SFR of 2.9 ± 1.8 × 10−11 yr−1. Ultradeep Herschel/PACS 100 μm, 160 μm and Spitzer/MIPS 24 μm data reveal no dust-obscured SFR activity for 15/19(79%) galaxies. Two far-IR detected galaxies are obscured QSOs. Stacking the far-IR undetected galaxies yields no detection, consistent with the spectral energy distribution fit, indicating independently that the average specific SFR is at least 10 × smaller than that of typical star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 4. Assuming all far-IR undetected galaxies are indeed quiescent, the volume density is 1.8 ± 0.7 × 10−5 Mpc−3 to a limit of log10M/M☉ ⩾ 10.6, which is 10 × and 80 × lower than at z = 2 and z = 0.1. They comprise a remarkably high fraction (∼35%) of z ∼ 4 massive galaxies, suggesting that suppression of star formation was efficient even at very high redshift. Given the average stellar age of 0.8 Gyr and stellar mass of 0.8 × 1011 M☉, the galaxies likely started forming stars before z = 5, with SFRs well in excess of 100 M☉ yr−1, far exceeding that of similarly abundant UV-bright galaxies at z ⩾ 4. This suggests that most of the star formation in the progenitors of quiescent z ∼ 4 galaxies was obscured by dust.

THE ULTRAVIOLET ATTENUATION LAW IN BACKLIT SPIRAL GALAXIES

(Abridged) The effective extinction law (attenuation behavior) in galaxies in the emitted ultraviolet is well known only for actively star-forming objects and combines effects of the grain properties, fine structure in the dust distribution, and relative distributions of stars and dust. We use GALEX, XMM Optical Monitor, and HST data to explore the UV attenuation in the outer parts of spiral disks which are backlit by other UV-bright galaxies, starting with candidates provided by Galaxy Zoo participants. Our analysis incorporates galaxy symmetry, using non-overlapping regions of each galaxy to derive error estimates on the attenuation measurements. The entire sample has an attenuation law close to the Calzetti et al. (1994) form; the UV slope for the overall sample is substantially shallower than found by Wild et al. (2011), a reasonable match to the more distant galaxies in our sample but not to the weighted combination including NGC 2207. The nearby, bright spiral NGC 2207 alone gives accuracy almost equal to the rest of our sample, and its outer arms have a very low level of foreground starlight. This "grey" law can be produced from the distribution of dust alone, without a necessary contribution from differential escape of stars from dense clouds. The extrapolation needed to compare attenution between backlit galaxies at moderate redshifts, and local systems from SDSS data, is mild enough to allow use of galaxy overlaps to trace the cosmic history of dust. For NGC 2207, the covering factor of clouds with small optical attenuation becomes a dominant factor farther into the ultraviolet, which opens the possibility that widespread diffuse dust dominates over dust in star-forming regions deep into the ultraviolet. Comparison with published radiative-transfer models indicates that the role of dust clumping dominates over differences in grain populations, at this spatial resolution.

Environments and morphologies of red sequence galaxies with residual star formation in massive clusters

We present a photometric investigation into recent star formation in galaxy clusters at z ~ 0.1. We use spectral energy distribution templates to quantify recent star formation in large X-ray selected clusters from the LARCS survey using matched GALEX NUV photometry. These clusters all have signs of red sequence galaxy recent star formation (as indicated by blue NUV-R colour), regardless of cluster morphology and size. A trend in environment is found for these galaxies, such that they prefer to occupy low density, high cluster radius environments. The morphology of these UV bright galaxies suggests that they are in fact red spirals, which we confirm with light curves and Galaxy Zoo voting percentages as morphological proxies. These UV bright galaxies are therefore seen to be either truncated spiral galaxies, caught by ram pressure in falling into the cluster, or high mass spirals, with the photometry dominated by the older stellar population.

MASSIVE CLUMPS IN LOCAL GALAXIES: COMPARISONS WITH HIGH-REDSHIFT CLUMPS

Local UV-bright galaxies in the Kiso survey include clumpy systems with kpc-size star complexes that resemble clumpy young galaxies in surveys at high redshift. We compare clump masses and underlying disks in several dozen galaxies from each of these surveys to the star complexes and disks of normal spirals. Photometry and spectroscopy for the Kiso and spiral sample come from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find that the largest Kiso clumpy galaxies resemble UDF clumpies in terms of the star formation rates, clump masses, and clump surface densities. Clump masses and surface densities in normal spirals are smaller. If the clump masses are proportional to the turbulent Jeans mass in the interstellar medium, then for the most luminous galaxies in the sequence of normal:Kiso:UDF, the turbulent speeds and surface densities increase in the proportions 1.0:4.7:5.0 and 1.0:4.0:5.1, respectively, for fixed restframe B-band absolute magnitude. For the least luminous galaxies in the overlapping magnitude range, the turbulent speed and surface density trends are 1.0:2.7:7.4 and 1.0:1.4:3.0, respectively. We also find that while all three types have radially decreasing disk intensities when measured with ellipse-fit azimuthal averages, the average profiles are more irregular for UDF clumpies (which are viewed in their restframe UV) than for Kiso galaxies (viewed at g-band), and major axis intensity scans are even more irregular for the UDF than Kiso galaxies. Local clumpy galaxies in the Kiso survey appear to be intermediate between UDF clumpies and normal spirals.

Lyman break and ultraviolet-selected galaxies at z ∼ 1 – I. Stellar populations from the ALHAMBRA survey

We take advantage of the exceptional photometric coverage provided by the combination of GALEX data in the UV and the ALHAMBRA survey in the optical and near-IR to analyze the physical properties of a sample of 1225 GALEX-selected Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at $0.8 \lesssim z \lesssim 1.2$ located in the COSMOS field. This is the largest sample of LBGs studied at that redshift range so far. According to a spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting with synthetic stellar population templates, we find that LBGs at $z \sim 1$ are mostly young galaxies with a median age of 341 Myr and have intermediate dust attenuation, $\ < E_s (B-V) \ > \sim 0.20$. Due to their selection criterion, LBGs at $z \sim 1$ are UV-bright galaxies and have high dust-corrected total SFR, with a median value of 16.9 $M_\odot {\rm yr}^{-1}$. Their median stellar mass is $\log{\left(M_*/M_\odot \right)} = 9.74$. We obtain that the dust-corrected total SFR of LBGs increases with stellar mass and the specific SFR is lower for more massive galaxies. Only 2% of the galaxies selected through the Lyman break criterion have an AGN nature. LBGs at $z \sim 1$ are mostly located over the blue cloud of the color-magnitude diagram of galaxies at their redshift, with only the oldest and/or the dustiest deviating towards the green valley and red sequence. Morphologically, 69% of LBGs are disk-like galaxies, with the fraction of interacting, compact, or irregular systems being much lower, below 12%. LBGs have a median effective radius of 2.5 kpc and bigger galaxies have higher total SFR and stellar mass. Comparing to their high-redshift analogues, we find evidence that LBGs at lower redshifts are bigger, redder in the UV continuum, and have a major presence of older stellar populations in their SEDs. However, we do not find significant difference in the distributions of stellar mass or dust attenuation.