1997/06/13 by P. van der Werf, Paul P. van der Werf, van der Werf, Paul P.
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Scientific Research and Discoveries #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9706130
Invited review, to appear in "Extragalactic Astronomy in the Infrared", eds. G.A. Mamon, Trinh Xuan Thuan, and J. Tran Thanh Van, Editions Frontieres, Gif-sur-Yvette. LaTeX2e, 10 pages, 3 postscript figures included. See also http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/~pvdwerf
arxiv created 1997/06/13 · openalex publication_date 1997/06/13 · openalex created_date 2022/08/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Surveys of redshifted emission lines in the near-infrared will provide unique\ninformation on the cosmic star formation history. Near-infrared Halpha surveys\nwill probe the cosmic star formation density and the evolution of the\nluminosity function of star forming galaxies out to z\∼2.5, including the\nimportant z=1.5-2.0 epoch, where according to current knowledge the cosmic star\nformation density peaks. Halpha and other hydrogen recombination lines (except\nLyman alpha) and [O II] are all useful tracers of star formation provided the\nluminosity function is probed to sufficiently deep levels. However, shallow\nsurveys or surveys of Lyman alpha or [O III] emission are not suitable for\nmeasuring or even constraining the cosmic star formation density. A first\nestimate of the star formation density at z\≈2.25 is derived, based on a\nnew and sensitive large-area ESO near-infrared survey for Halpha emission at\nthis redshift. Future observational directions, at near-infrared and longer\nwavelengths, for reading the cosmic star formation history are outlined.\n