Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

AzTEC half square degree survey of the SHADES fields - I. Maps, catalogues and source counts

Austermann, J.E.; Dunlop, J.S.; Perera, T.A.; Scott, K.S.; Wilson, G.W.; Aretxaga, I.; Hughes, D.H.; Almaini, O.; Chapin, E.L.; Chapman, S.C.; Cirasuolo, M.; Clements, D.L.; Coppin, K.E.K.; Dunne, L.; Dye, S.; Eales, S.A.; Egami, E.; Farrah, D.; Ferrusca, D.; Flynn, S.; Haig, D.; Halpern, M.; Ibar, E.; Ivison, R.J.; van Kampen, E.; Kang, Y.; Kim, S.; Lacey, C.; Lowenthal, J.D.; Mauskopf, P.D.; McLure, R.J.; Mortier, A.M.J.; Negrello, M.; Oliver, S.; Peacock, J.A.; Pope, A.; Rawlings, S.; Rieke, G.; Roseboom, I.; Rowan-Robinson, M.; Scott, D.; Serjeant, S.; Smail, I.; Swinbank, A.M.; Stevens, J.A.; Velazquez, M.; Wagg, J.; Yun, M.S.

AzTEC half square degree survey of the SHADES fields - I. Maps, catalogues and source counts Thumbnail


Authors

J.E. Austermann

J.S. Dunlop

T.A. Perera

K.S. Scott

G.W. Wilson

I. Aretxaga

D.H. Hughes

O. Almaini

E.L. Chapin

S.C. Chapman

M. Cirasuolo

D.L. Clements

K.E.K. Coppin

L. Dunne

S. Dye

S.A. Eales

E. Egami

D. Farrah

D. Ferrusca

S. Flynn

D. Haig

M. Halpern

E. Ibar

R.J. Ivison

E. van Kampen

Y. Kang

S. Kim

J.D. Lowenthal

P.D. Mauskopf

R.J. McLure

A.M.J. Mortier

M. Negrello

S. Oliver

J.A. Peacock

A. Pope

S. Rawlings

G. Rieke

I. Roseboom

M. Rowan-Robinson

D. Scott

S. Serjeant

A.M. Swinbank

J.A. Stevens

M. Velazquez

J. Wagg

M.S. Yun



Abstract

We present the first results from the largest deep extragalactic mm-wavelength survey undertaken to date. These results are derived from maps covering over 0.7 deg2, made at λ= 1.1 mm, using the AzTEC continuum camera mounted on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. The maps were made in the two fields originally targeted at λ= 850 μm with the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) in the SCUBA Half-Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES) project, namely the Lockman Hole East (mapped to a depth of 0.9–1.3 mJy rms) and the Subaru/XMM–Newton Deep Field (mapped to a depth of 1.0–1.7 mJy rms). The wealth of existing and forthcoming deep multifrequency data in these two fields will allow the bright mm source population revealed by these new wide-area 1.1 mm images to be explored in detail in subsequent papers. Here, we present the maps themselves, a catalogue of 114 high-significance submillimetre galaxy detections, and a thorough statistical analysis leading to the most robust determination to date of the 1.1 mm source number counts. These new maps, covering an area nearly three times greater than the SCUBA SHADES maps, currently provide the largest sample of cosmological volumes of the high-redshift Universe in the mm or sub-mm. Through careful comparison, we find that both the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) and the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) North fields, also imaged with AzTEC, contain an excess of mm sources over the new 1.1 mm source-count baseline established here. In particular, our new AzTEC/SHADES results indicate that very luminous high-redshift dust enshrouded starbursts (S1.1mm > 3 mJy) are 25–50 per cent less common than would have been inferred from these smaller surveys, thus highlighting the potential roles of cosmic variance and clustering in such measurements. We compare number count predictions from recent models of the evolving mm/sub-mm source population to these sub-mm bright galaxy surveys, which provide important constraints for the ongoing refinement of semi-analytic and hydrodynamical models of galaxy formation, and find that all available models overpredict the number of bright submillimetre galaxies found in this survey.

Citation

Austermann, J., Dunlop, J., Perera, T., Scott, K., Wilson, G., Aretxaga, I., …Yun, M. (2010). AzTEC half square degree survey of the SHADES fields - I. Maps, catalogues and source counts. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 401(1), 160-176. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15620.x

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2010
Deposit Date Jan 19, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 401
Issue 1
Pages 160-176
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15620.x
Keywords Surveys, Galaxies: evolution, Cosmology: miscellaneous, Submillimetre.
Related Public URLs http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010MNRAS.401..160A

Files

Published Journal Article (8.2 Mb)
PDF

Copyright Statement
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 RAS Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.





You might also like



Downloadable Citations