2006/10/27 by Chun Ly, Matt Malkan, Matt A. Malkan +8 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Extinction (optical mineralogy) #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Hubble Deep Field #Luminosity #Luminosity function #Optics #Physics #Redshift #Star (game theory) #Star formation #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/510828
published as Astrophys.J.657:738-759,2007 · 26 pages, 15 figures, 36 figure files (25 color; 11 B/W), emulateapj, accepted for publication in ApJ
arxiv created 2006/10/27 · openalex publication_date 2007/03/06 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
SDF line-emitting galaxies in four narrowband filters at low and intermediate redshifts are presented. Broadband colors, follow-up optical spectroscopy, and multiple NB filters are used to distinguish Hα, [O II], and [O III] emitters at z = 0.07-1.47 to construct their LFs. These LFs are derived down to faint magnitudes, allowing for an accurate determination of the faint-end slope. With a large ( N ~ 200-900) sample for each redshift interval, a Schechter profile is fitted to each LF. Prior to dust extinction corrections, the [O III] and [O II] LFs agree reasonably well with those of Hippelein et al. The z = 0.08 Hα LF, which reaches 2 orders of magnitude fainter than Gallego et al., is steeper by 25%. This indicates that there are more low-luminosity star-forming galaxies for z < 0.1. The faint-end slope α and ϕ ⋆ show a strong redshift evolution, while L ⋆ shows little evolution. The evolution in α indicates that low-luminosity galaxies have a stronger evolution compared to brighter ones. Integrated SFR densities are derived via Hα, [O III], and [O II] for 0.07 < z < 1.47. A steep increase in the SFR density, as a function of redshift, is seen for 0.4 < z < 0.9. For z > 1, the SFR densities are similar. The latter is consistent with previous UV and [O II] measurements. Below z < 0.4, the SFR densities are consistent with several Hα, [O II], and UV measurements, but others are a factor of 2 higher. For example, the z = 0.066-0.092 LF agrees with Jones & Bland-Hawthorn, but at z = 0.24 and 0.40, their number densities are twice as high. This discrepancy can be explained by cosmic variance.