The SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey: blank-field number counts of 450-mu m-selected galaxies and their contribution to the cosmic infrared background
Journal article, 2013

The first deep blank-field 450 mu m map (1 sigma approximate to 1.3 mJy) from the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array-2 SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey (S2CLS), conducted with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) is presented. Our map covers 140 arcmin(2) of the Cosmological Evolution Survey field, in the footprint of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey. Using 60 submillimetre galaxies detected at >= 3.75s, we evaluate the number counts of 450-mu m-selected galaxies with flux densities S-450 > 5 mJy. The 8 arcsec JCMT beam and high sensitivity of SCUBA-2 now make it possible to directly resolve a larger fraction of the cosmic infrared background (CIB, peaking at. similar to 200 mu m) into the individual galaxies responsible for its emission than has previously been possible at this wavelength. At S450 > 5 mJy, we resolve (7.4 +/- 0.7) x 10(-2) MJy sr(-1) of the CIB at 450 mu m (equivalent to 16 +/- 7 per cent of the absolute brightness measured by the Cosmic Background Explorer at this wavelength) into point sources. A further similar to 40 per cent of the CIB can be recovered through a statistical stack of 24 mu m emitters in this field, indicating that the majority (approximate to 60 per cent) of the CIB at 450 mu m is emitted by galaxies with S450 > 2 mJy. The average redshift of 450 mu m emitters identified with an optical/near-infrared counterpart is estimated to be = 1.3, implying that the galaxies in the sample are in the ultraluminous class (LIR approximate to 1.1 x 1012 L approximate to). If the galaxies contributing to the statistical stack lie at similar redshifts, then the majority of the CIB at 450 mu m is emitted by galaxies in the luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) class with LIR > 3.6 x 1011 L-circle dot.

high-redshift galaxies

submillimetre galaxies

observational cosmology

Author

J.E. Geach

McGill University

E. L. Chapin

European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC)

Joint Astronomy Centre

University of British Columbia (UBC)

K. E. K. Coppin

McGill University

J.S. Dunlop

University of Edinburgh

M. Halpern

University of British Columbia (UBC)

I. Smail

Durham University

P. van der Werf

Leiden University

S. Serjeant

Open University

D. Farrah

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

I. Roseboom

University of Edinburgh

T. Targett

University of Edinburgh

V. Arumugam

University of Edinburgh

V. Asboth

Joint Astronomy Centre

A. Blain

University Of Leicester

A. Chrysostomou

University of Hertfordshire

Joint Astronomy Centre

C. Clarke

University of Sussex

R. J. Ivison

University of Edinburgh

Royal Observatory

S. L. Jones

University Of Leicester

A. Karim

Durham University

T. Mackenzie

University of British Columbia (UBC)

R. Meijerink

University of Groningen

Leiden University

M. J. Michalowski

University of Edinburgh

D. Scott

University of British Columbia (UBC)

J. M. Simpson

Durham University

A. M. Swinbank

Durham University

D. M. Alexander

Durham University

O. Almaini

University of Nottingham

I. Aretxaga

National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics

P. Best

University of Edinburgh

S. C. Chapman

Dalhousie University

D. L. Clements

Imperial College London

C. Conselice

University of Nottingham

A. L. R. Danielson

Durham University

S. Eales

Cardiff University

A. C. Edge

Durham University

A. Gibb

University of British Columbia (UBC)

D. Hughes

National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics

T. Jenness

Joint Astronomy Centre

Kirsten Kraiberg Knudsen

Chalmers, Earth and Space Sciences, Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics

C. G. Lacey

Durham University

G. Marsden

University of British Columbia (UBC)

R. McMahon

University of Cambridge

S. J. Oliver

University of Sussex

M. J. Page

University College London (UCL)

J. A. Peacock

University of Edinburgh

D. Rigopoulou

University of Oxford

STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

I. Robson

Royal Observatory

M. Spaans

University of Groningen

J. Stevens

University of Hertfordshire

T.M.A. Webb

McGill University

C. Willott

National Research Council Canada

C. D. Wilson

McMaster University

M. Zemcov

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

0035-8711 (ISSN) 1365-2966 (eISSN)

Vol. 432 1 53-61

Subject Categories

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Roots

Basic sciences

DOI

10.1093/mnras/stt352

More information

Latest update

5/20/2021