A MULTI-WAVELENGTH VIEW OF THE STAR FORMATION ACTIVITY AT z {approx} 3

Journal Article · Mon May 10 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/714/2/1740· OSTI ID:21448794

Magdis, G E; Elbaz, D; Daddi, E; Gobat, R; Hwang, H S ^[1]; Morrison, G E ^[2]; Dickinson, M ^[3]; Rigopoulou, D ^[4]

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1. CEA, Laboratoire AIM, Irfu/SAp, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)
2. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 968226 (United States)
3. NOAO, 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States)
4. Department of Astrophysics, Oxford University, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom)

We present a multi-wavelength, UV-to-radio analysis for a sample of massive (M{sub *} {approx} 10{sup 10} M{sub sun}) IRAC- and MIPS 24 {mu}m detected Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) with spectroscopic redshifts z {approx} 3 in the GOODS-North field. For LBGs without individual 24 {mu}m detections, we employ stacking techniques at 24 {mu}m, 1.1 mm, and 1.4 GHz to construct the average UV-to-radio spectral energy distribution and find it to be consistent with that of a luminous infrared galaxy with L{sub IR} = 4.5{sup +1.1}{sub -2.3} x 10{sup 11} L{sub sun} and a specific star formation rate of 4.3 Gyr{sup -1} that corresponds to a mass doubling time {approx}230 Myr. On the other hand, when considering the 24 {mu}m detected LBGs we find among them galaxies with L{sub IR}>10{sup 12} L{sub sun}, indicating that the space density of z {approx} 3 UV-selected ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) is {approx}(1.5 {+-} 0.5) x 10{sup -5} Mpc{sup -3}. We compare measurements of star formation rates from data at different wavelengths and find that there is tight correlation (Kendall's {tau}>99.7%) and excellent agreement between the values derived from dust-corrected UV, mid-IR, millimeter, and radio data for the whole range of L{sub IR} up to L{sub IR} {approx} 10{sup 13} L{sub sun}. This range is greater than that for which the correlation is known to hold at z {approx} 2, possibly due to the lack of significant contribution from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to the 24 {mu}m flux at z {approx} 3. The fact that this agreement is observed for galaxies with L{sub IR}>10{sup 12} L{sub sun} suggests that star formation in UV-selected ULIRGs, as well as the bulk of star formation activity at this redshift, is not embedded in optically thick regions as seen in local ULIRGs and submillimeter-selected galaxies at z = 2.

• OSTI ID: 21448794
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 714; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
AROMATICS
CORRELATIONS
COSMOLOGY
DUSTS
ENERGY SPECTRA
EVOLUTION
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
HYDROCARBONS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
RED SHIFT
SPECTRA
STARS
WAVELENGTHS