Star Formation History of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field Rodger Thompson Steward Observatory University of Arizona
Jan 12, 2016
Star Formation History of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
Rodger ThompsonSteward ObservatoryUniversity of Arizona
Blameless Collaborators
Mark DickinsonDaniel EisensteinXiaohui FanGarth IllingworthRob KennicuttMarcia Rieke
Topics
The star formation intensity distribution functionStar formation history of the HUDFNature of the star forming galaxiesThe near infrared background
Purpose of the Program
Track the evolution of baryons from gas to starsDetermine the major venues and epochs of star formation What galaxies form the most stars? Episodic
or steady?
Is there a near infrared background? What constraints do the observations place
on Pop. III star formation?
The HUDF and NUDF
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) is a small area (~11 sq. min.) centered on the Chandra Deep Field South with deep ACS images in 4 broad optical bands.The NICMOS Ultra Deep Field (NUDF) is a smaller area (~6 sq. min) near the center of the HUDF with deep images at 1.1 and 1.6 m.All results discussed here come from the NUDF
The F775W Mag. vs Redshift
AGN
Characteristics of the Galaxies
Preponderance of very early SEDs Little blue galaxies
Very few L > L* galaxiesFew z > 6 galaxies Partly due to relatively conservative
source extraction.
Very few luminous galaxies with z > 3 compared to the NHDF
Star Formation Rates
Star formation rate determined from the rest frame 1500 Å flux via the Madau relation.The flux is measured from the selected SED without extinction to produce an extinction corrected SFR.
Star Formation Intensity Distribution
The star formation intensity x is the SFR in M per year per proper square kpc.
The distribution function h(x) is the sum of all proper areas in an x interval, divided by that interval and divided by the comoving volume defined by the field and redshift interval.*Under this definition SFR is the first moment of h(x); SFR = ∫x h(x) dx
* Lanzetta et al. 1999, ASP Conf. Ser. 191, 223
Application of the Distribution
The SFR is calculated for every pixel that is part of a galaxy.Assumes a uniform SED and extinction within a galaxyAssumes that the rest frame 1500 Å light is distributed in the same way as the observed flux in the ACS F775W band.
Star Formation Density
Log Star Formation Intensity x in M per year per kpc2
Log(h(x))
60% complete
95%complete
Redshift = 1
Starburst
About 80% of the stars are formed in a “starburst region”
The Observed h(x)
Correction for Surface Brightness Dimming
The (1+z)-4 photon surface brightness dimming removes galaxies and parts of galaxies from detection.This is the cause of the dip in h(x) at low values of x for z >1.The SFR can be corrected for this effect by matching the h(x) determined for z=1 to the bright end of the h(x) at other z values and integrating over the matched distribution.
Star Formation History of the NUDF
How is the Star Formation Distributed?
90% of the star formation occurs in 10-20% of the galaxies.The percentage increases with redshift, probably because of dimming.Evidence for episodic star formation with a duty cycle of 10%?
Comparison with the NHDF
SFR History of the Universe
Roughly constant from z = 1 to 6Average of z = 1 to 3 higher than 4 to 6Since most of the star formation occurs in ~10% of the galaxies, wider but shallower surveys may map the majority of star formation
Near Infrared Background Excess
Claims of a Near InfraRed Background (NIRBE) of ~70 nW m-2 sr-1, not due to known galaxies, stars or zodiacal light, that peaks at 1.4-1.6 m.Resolved objects in the NUDF and NHDF contribute 6-7 nW m-2 sr-1, a factor of 10 below the claimed background.Fluctuations in deep 2MASS images claimed as evidence for a population of very high redshift (10-15) Pop. III stars. (Kashlinsky et al. 2006)
Implications of the NIRB
Most popular model for the NIRB is the light from the high redshift Pop. III stars that reionized the universe.
Requires that the total number of baryons turned into stars in the first 3% of the age of the universe be greater than or equal to the total number of baryons converted to stars in the remaining 97%.
The metals produced by this conversion must be hidden in black holes.
There must be no x-ray producing accretion onto the black holes.
The NIRB must not interact with TeV emission from distant blazars.
Fluctuation Analysis
Results of the Fluctuation Analysis
The fluctuations observed in the 2MASS field can be completely accounted for by the redshift 0-7 galaxies such as those observed in the NUDFThere is no need for an excess population of high redshift Pop.III stars to account for the fluctuationsFluctuations have been removed as evidence for a NIRBE at 1.6 m
The IRTS NIRBE
Wide field of view spectrometer Aperture almost 17 times the size of the
NUDF
Zodiacal light and contributions from sources determined from modelsAfter subtraction of modeled components, 70 out of 330 nW m-2 sr-
1 remain and is attributed to a NIRBE
The NIRBE According to IRTS
Differences
The zodiacal component determined by medianed images in the NUDF exceeds the IRTS modeled component by 100 nW m-2 sr-
1. Dwek et al. 2006 point out that the IRTS spectrum is better fit by a zodiacal spectrum than a high z Pop.III spectrum.The IRTS NIRBE is most likely due to an under estimate of the zodiacal light component by the model.
Caveats
A NIRBE component that is flat on scales of greater than 100” would be mistaken for zodiacal light in our reduction.
At odds with CMB predictions
A NIRBE component that is clumped on the order of several arc minutes could be missed by our two small fields.
Archival proposal to check other fields
However the light in a NIRB can not be distributed in the same manner as the light from baryonic matter at redshifts of 6 and less.
Conclusions
The star formation history of the universe is roughly constant from z=1-6.The vast majority of star formation occurs in a minority of galaxies at any one time.Fluctuations have been removed as evidence for a NIRBE at 1.6 m.The IRTS NIRBE is probably zodiacal flux.Any NIRBE must be either maximally flat or maximally clumped.