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The SCUBA half degree extragalactic survey - IV. Radio-mm-FIR photometric redshifts

Aretxaga, Itziar, Hughes, David H., Coppin, Kirsten, Mortier, Angela M. J., Wagg, Jeff, Dunlop, James S., Chapin, Edward L., Eales, Stephen A., Gaztanaga, Enrique, Halpern, Mark, and others. (2007) The SCUBA half degree extragalactic survey - IV. Radio-mm-FIR photometric redshifts. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 379 (4). 1571 -1588. ISSN 0035-8711. (doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.12036.x) (Access to this publication is currently restricted. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:2162)

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Abstract

We present the redshift distribution of the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) Half Degree Survey (SHADES) galaxy population based on the rest-frame radio mm-far-infrared(FIR) colours of 120 robustly detected 850 mu m sources in the Lockman Hole East (LH) and Subaru XMM-Newton Deep Field (SXDF). The redshift distribution derived from the full spectral energy distribution (SED) information is shown to be narrower than that determined from the radio-sub-mm spectral index, as more photometric bands contribute to a higher redshift accuracy. The redshift distribution of sources derived from at least two photometric bands peaks at z approximate to 2.4 and has a near-Gaussian distribution, with 50 per cent (interquartile range) of sources at z = 1.8-3.1. We find a statistically significant difference between the measured redshift distributions in the two fields; the SXDF peaking at a slightly lower redshift (median z approximate to 2.2) than the LH (median z approximate to 2.7), which we attribute to the noise properties of the radio observations. We demonstrate, however, that there could also be field-to-field variations that are consistent with the measured differences in the redshift distributions and, hence, that the incomplete area observed by SHADES with SCUBA, despite being the largest sub-mm survey to date, may still be too small to fully characterize the bright sub-mm galaxy population. Finally, we present a brief comparison with the predicted, or assumed, redshift distributions of sub-mm galaxy formation and evolution models, and we derive the contribution of these SHADES sources and the general sub-mm galaxy population to the star formation rate density at different epochs.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.12036.x
Uncontrolled keywords: surveys; galaxies : evolution; cosmology : miscellaneous; infrared : galaxies; submillimetre
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Physics and Astronomy
Depositing User: Katie Edwards
Date Deposited: 19 Dec 2007 19:31 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 09:40 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/2162 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Serjeant, Stephen.

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