2006/09/11 by Naveen A. Reddy, Charles C. Steidel, Dawn K. Erb +2 · 16 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Active galactic nucleus #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Extinction (optical mineralogy) #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy formation and evolution #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Luminous infrared galaxy #Physics #Population #Redshift #Star formation #Stellar mass #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/508851
published as Astrophys.J.653:1004-1026,2006 · 25 pages, 5 figures, 5 tables; accepted for publication in ApJ
arxiv created 2006/09/11 · openalex publication_date 2006/12/13 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present the results of a spectroscopic survey with LRIS-B on Keck of more than 280 star-forming galaxies and AGNs at redshifts 1.4 ≲ z ≲ 3.0 in the GOODS-N field. Candidates are selected by their U n G colors using the ``BM/BX'' criteria to target redshift 1.4 ≲ z ≲ 2.5 galaxies and the LBG criteria to target redshift z ~ 3 galaxies; combined these samples account for ~25%-30% of the and K s band counts to = 25.5 and K s (AB) = 24.4, respectively. The 212 BM/BX galaxies and 74 LBGs constitute the largest spectroscopic sample of galaxies at z > 1.4 in GOODS-N. Extensive multiwavelength data allow us to investigate the stellar populations, stellar masses, bolometric luminosities ( L bol ), and extinction of z ~ 2 galaxies. Deep Chandra and Spitzer data indicate that the sample includes galaxies with a wide range in L bol (≃10 10 to >10 12 L ☉ ) and 4 orders of magnitude in dust obscuration ( L bol / L UV ). The sample includes galaxies with a large dynamic range in evolutionary state, from very young galaxies (ages ≃50 Myr) with small stellar masses ( M * ≃ 10 9 M ☉ ) to evolved galaxies with stellar masses comparable to the most massive galaxies at these redshifts ( M * > 10 11 M ☉ ). Spitzer data indicate that the optical sample includes some fraction of the obscured AGN population at high redshifts: at least 3 of 11 AGNs in the z > 1.4 sample are undetected in the deep X-ray data but exhibit power-law SEDs longward of ~2 μm (rest frame) indicative of obscured AGNs. The results of our survey indicate that rest-frame UV selection and spectroscopy presently constitute the most timewise efficient method of culling large samples of high-redshift galaxies with a wide range in intrinsic properties, and the data presented here will add significantly to the multiwavelength legacy of GOODS.