OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY OF DISTANT RED GALAXIES
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8101 (United States)
- Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9513, NL-2300 RA, Leiden (Netherlands)
- MPE, Giessenbackstrasse, D-85748, Garching (Germany)
- UCO/Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
- Hubble Fellow, Carnegie Observatories, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045 (United States)
We present optical spectroscopic follow-up of a sample of distant red galaxies (DRGs) with K {sup tot} {sub s,Vega} < 22.5, selected by (J - K){sub Vega}>2.3, in the Hubble Deep Field South (HDFS), the MS 1054-03 field, and the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS). Spectroscopic redshifts were obtained for 15 DRGs. Only two out of 15 DRGs are located at z < 2, suggesting a high efficiency to select high-redshift sources. From other spectroscopic surveys in the CDFS targeting intermediate to high-redshift populations selected with different criteria, we find spectroscopic redshifts for a further 30 DRGs. We use the sample of spectroscopically confirmed DRGs to establish the high quality (scatter in DELTAz/(1 + z) of approx0.05) of their photometric redshifts in the considered deep fields, as derived with EAZY. Combining the spectroscopic and photometric redshifts, we find that 74% of DRGs with K {sup tot} {sub s,Vega} < 22.5 lie at z>2. The combined spectroscopic and photometric sample is used to analyze the distinct intrinsic and observed properties of DRGs at z < 2 and z>2. In our photometric sample to K {sup tot} {sub s,Vega} < 22.5, low-redshift DRGs are brighter in K{sub s} than high-redshift DRGs by 0.7 mag, and more extincted by 1.2 mag in A{sub V} . Our analysis shows that the DRG criterion selects galaxies with different properties at different redshifts. Such biases can be largely avoided by selecting galaxies based on their rest-frame properties, which requires very good multi-band photometry and high quality photometric redshifts.
- OSTI ID:
- 21378130
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 706, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/706/1/885; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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