GALEX-SELECTED LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES AT z {approx} 2: COMPARISON WITH OTHER POPULATIONS

Journal Article · Fri Jan 20 04:00:00 EST 2012 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/745/1/96· OSTI ID:22011937

Haberzettl, L; Williger, G ^[1]; Lehnert, M D ^[2]; Nesvadba, N ^[3]; Davies, L ^[4]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Louisville, Louisville KY 20492 (United States)
2. GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, UMR 8111 du CNRS, 5 Place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon (France)
3. Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS, Universite Paris-Sud, Bat. 120-121, 91405 Orsay (France)
4. Department of Physics, H H Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL (United Kingdom)

We present results of a search for bright Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at 1.5 {<=} z {<=} 2.5 in the GOODS-S field using an NUV-dropout technique in combination with color selection. We derived a sample of 73 LBG candidates. We compare our selection efficiencies to BM/BX and BzK methods (techniques solely based on ground-based data sets), and find the NUV data to provide greater efficiency for selecting star-forming galaxies. We estimate LBG candidate ages, masses, star formation rates, and extinction from fitting PEGASE synthesis evolution models. We find that about 20% of our LBG candidates are comparable to infrared-luminous LBGs or submillimeter galaxies which are thought to be precursors of massive elliptical galaxies today. Overall, we can show that although BM/BX and BzK methods do identify star-forming galaxies at z {approx} 2, the sample they provide biases against those star-forming galaxies which are more massive and contain sizeable red stellar populations. A true Lyman break criterion at z {approx} 2 is therefore more directly comparable to the populations found at z {approx} 3, which does contain a red fraction.

• OSTI ID: 22011937
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 745; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
COLOR
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
MASS
RED SHIFT
STARS