2017/10/05 by Stephen M. Wilkins, Yu Feng, Tiziana Di Matteo +5
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Luminosity #Luminosity function #Physics #Population #Redshift #Star formation #Stellar mass #Universe #astro-ph.GA
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/mnras/stx2588
8 pages, accepted for publication in MNRAS
arxiv created 2017/10/05 · openalex publication_date 2017/10/09 · arxiv updated 2017/12/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Motivated by recent observational constraints on dust reprocessed emission in star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 6 and above, we use the very large cosmological hydrodynamical simulation BlueTides to explore predictions for the amount of dust-obscured star formation in the early Universe (z > 8). BlueTides matches current observational constraints on both the UV luminosity function and galaxy stellar mass function and predicts that approximately 90 per cent of the star formation in high-mass (M* > 1010 M⊙) galaxies at z = 8 is already obscured by dust. The relationship between dust attenuation and stellar mass predicted by BlueTides is consistent with that observed at lower redshift. However, observations of several individual objects at z > 6 are discrepant with the predictions, though it is possible that their uncertainties may have been underestimated. We find that the predicted surface density of z ≥ 8 submm sources is below that accessible to current Herschel, SCUBA-2 and Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) submm surveys. However, as ALMA continues to accrue an additional surface area the population of z > 8 dust-obscured galaxies may become accessible in the near future.