Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T14:27:05.943Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Evolution of the rest-frame UV LF from z ~ 8 to z ~ 4

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2006

Rychard J. Bouwens
Affiliation:
UCO/Lick Observatory and Department of Astronomy, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA email: bouwens@ucolick.org, gdi@ucolick.org
Garth D. Illingworth
Affiliation:
UCO/Lick Observatory and Department of Astronomy, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA email: bouwens@ucolick.org, gdi@ucolick.org
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We have assembled large samples of galaxies at redshift z ~ 4, 5 and 6 (totalling >4300 objects, >1000 objects, >500 objects, respectively) from all the deep HST ACS and NICMOS data taken to date (over 2000 orbits of data). From these we have derived rest-frame UV luminosity functions, luminosity densities, and star formation rates in a very robust and consistent way to very faint luminosities (0.01L* to 0.04L*). The faint-end slopes α of these luminosity functions are remarkably uniform and steep (α ~ −1.7), indicating very little evolution from z ~ 6 to z ~ 4. The characteristic luminosity L* brightens considerably (by ~1 mag) over this period, but the overall change in the luminosity function is such as to lead to little change in the luminosity density and star formation rate over this time. We also have detected galaxies at z ~ 7 − 8 and set strong limits at z ~ 10 directly from deep HST NICMOS observations. Spitzer observations of these z ~ 7 galaxies have been used to estimate masses and ages, suggesting substantial formation at z ~ 10 or earlier. These results show that this hierachical build-up continues into the reionization epoch.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2007

References

Arnouts, S. 2005, Astrophys. J. Lett., 619, L43CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bouwens, R. J., & Illingworth, G. D. 2006, Nature 443, 189192Google Scholar
Bouwens, R. J., Illingworth, G. D., Blakeslee, J. P., & Franx, M. 2006, Astrophys. J., in pressGoogle Scholar
Bouwens, R. J. 2005, Astrophys. J. Lett., 624, 58CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giavalisco, M. 2004, Astrophys. J. Lett., 600, L103CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madau, P. 1996, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 283, 1388CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, D. C. 2005a, Astrophys. J. Lett., 619, L1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steidel, C. C. 1999, Astrophys. J., 519, 117CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiminovich, D. 2005, Astrophys. J. Lett., 619, 4750Google Scholar
Yoshida, M. 2006, Astrophys. J., in press, astro-ph/0608512Google Scholar