The Luminosity Function of Galaxies In SDSS Commissioning Data

Monthly Notices of The Royal Astronomical Society, 2000

We combine the 2MASS extended source catalogue and the 2dF galaxy redshift survey to produce an infrared-selected galaxy catalogue with 17,173 measured redshifts. We use this extensive dataset to estimate the galaxy luminosity functions in the Jand K S -bands. The luminosity functions are fairly well fit by Schechter functions with parameters M ⋆ J − 5 log h = −22.36 ± 0.02, α J = −0.93 ± 0.04, Φ ⋆ J = 0.0104 ± 0.0016h 3 Mpc −3 in the J-band and M ⋆ KS − 5 log h = −23.44 ± 0.03, α KS = −0.96 ± 0.05, Φ ⋆ KS = 0.0108 ± 0.0016h 3 Mpc −3 in the K S -band (2MASS Kron magnitudes). These parameters are derived assuming a cosmological model with Ω 0 = 0.3 and Λ 0 = 0.7. With datasets of this size, systematic rather than random errors are the dominant source of uncertainty in the determination of the luminosity function. We carry out a careful investigation of possible systematic effects in our data. The surface brightness distribution of the sample shows no evidence that significant numbers of low surface brightness or compact galaxies are missed by the survey. We estimate the present-day distributions of b J −K S and J−K S colours as a function of absolute magnitude and use models of the galaxy stellar populations, constrained by the observed optical and infrared colours, to infer the galaxy stellar mass function. Integrated over all galaxy masses, this yields a total mass fraction in stars (in units of the critical mass density) of Ω stars h = (1.6 ± 0.24) × 10 −3 for a Kennicutt IMF and Ω stars h = (2.9 ± 0.43) × 10 −3 for a Salpeter IMF. These values are consistent with those inferred from observational estimates of the total star formation history of the universe provided that dust extinction corrections are modest.

Astrophysical Journal, 2003

Using a catalog of 147,986 galaxy redshifts and fluxes from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) we measure the galaxy luminosity density at z=0.1 in five optical bandpasses corresponding to the SDSS bandpasses shifted to match their restframe shape at z=0.1. We denote the bands {0.1}{u}, {0.1}{g}, {0.1}{r}, {0.1}{i}, {0.1}{z}, with \lambda_{eff} = [3216, 4240, 5595, 6792, 8111] Angstroms respectively. We use a maximum likelihood method which allows for a general form for the shape of the luminosity function, simple luminosity and number evolution, incorporates flux uncertainties, and accounts for the flux limits of the survey. We find luminosity densities at z=0.1 in absolute AB magnitudes in a Mpc^3 of [-14.10 \pm 0.15, -15.18 \pm 0.03, -15.90 \pm 0.03, -16.24 \pm 0.03, -16.56 \pm 0.02] in [{0.1}{u}, {0.1}{g}, {0.1}{r}, {0.1}{i}, {0.1}{z}], respectively, using \Omega_0 =0.3, \Omega_\Lambda=0.7, and h=1, and using Petrosian magnitudes. Similar results are obtained using Sersic model magnitudes, suggesting that flux from outside the Petrosian apertures is not a major correction. In the {0.1}{r} band, the best fit Schechter function to our results has \phi_\ast = (1.49 \pm 0.04) \times 10^{-2} h^3 Mpc^{-3}, M_\ast - 5\log_{10} h = -20.44 \pm 0.01, and \alpha = -1.05\pm 0.01. In solar luminosities, the luminosity density in {0.1}{r} is (1.84 \pm 0.04) h 10^8 L_{{0.1}{r},\odot} Mpc^{-3}. Our results are consistent with other estimates of the luminosity density, from the Two-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey and the Millenium Galaxy Catalog. They represent a substantial change (\sim 0.5 mag) from earlier SDSS luminosity density results based on commissioning data, almost entirely because of the inclusion of evolution in the luminosity function model.

The Astrophysical Journal, 2018

The WISE satellite surveyed the entire sky multiple times in four infrared (IR) wavelengths (3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 µm; Wright et al. 2010). This all-sky IR photometric survey makes it possible to leverage many of the large publicly available spectroscopic redshift surveys to measure galaxy properties in the IR. While characterizing the cross-matching of WISE data to a single survey is a straightforward process, doing it with six different redshift surveys takes a fair amount of space to characterize adequately, because each survey has unique caveats and characteristics that need addressing. This work describes a data set that results from matching five public redshift surveys with the AllWISE data release, along with a reanalysis of the data described in Lake et al. (2012). The combined data set has an additional flux limit of 80 µJy (19.14 AB mag) in WISE 's W1 filter imposed in order to limit it to targets with high completeness and reliable photometry in the AllWISE data set. Consistent analysis of all of the data is only possible if the color bias discussed in Ilbert et al. (2004) is addressed (for example: the techniques explored in Lake et al. 2017). The sample defined herein is used in this paper's companion paper, Lake et al. (2018), to measure the luminosity function of galaxies at 2.4 µm rest frame wavelength, and the selection process of the sample is optimized for this purpose.

Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2003

We present the first statistical analysis of the complete ESO-Sculptor Survey (ESS) of faint galaxies. The fluxcalibrated sample of 617 galaxies with R c ≤ 20.5 is separated into 3 spectral classes, based on a principal component analysis which provides a continuous and template-independent spectral classification. We use an original method to estimate accurate K-corrections: comparison of the ESS spectra with a spectral library using the principal component analysis allows us to extrapolate the missing parts of the observed spectra at blue wavelengths, then providing a polynomial parameterization of K-corrections as a function of spectral type and redshift. We also report on all sources of random and systematic errors which affect the spectral classification, the K-corrections, and the resulting absolute magnitudes. We use the absolute magnitudes to measure the Johnson-Cousins B, V, R c luminosity functions of the ESS as a function of spectral class. The shape of the derived luminosity functions show marked differences among the 3 spectral classes, which are common to the B, V, R c bands, and therefore reflect a physical phenomenon: for galaxies of later spectral type, the characteristic magnitude is fainter and the faint-end is steeper. The ESS also provides the first estimates of luminosity functions per spectral type in the V band. The salient results are obtained by fitting the ESS luminosity functions with composite functions based on the intrinsic luminosity functions per morphological type measured locally by Sandage et al. (1985) and Jerjen & Tammann (1997). The Gaussian luminosity functions for the nearby Spiral galaxies can be reconciled with the ESS intermediate and late-type luminosity functions if the corresponding classes contain an additional Schechter contribution from Spheroidal and Irregular dwarf galaxies, respectively. The present analysis of the ESS luminosity functions offers a renewed interpretation of the galaxy luminosity function from redshift surveys. It also illustrates how luminosity functions per spectral type may be affected by morphological type mixing, and emphasizes the need for a quantitative morphological classification at z > ∼ 0.1 which separates the giant and dwarf galaxy populations.

Astronomy & Astrophysics, 1997

The ESO Slice Project (ESP) is a galaxy redshift survey we have recently completed as an ESO Key-Project over about 23 square degrees, in a region near the South Galactic Pole. The survey is nearly complete to the limiting magnitude b J = 19.4 and consists of 3342 galaxies with reliable redshift determination.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2002

We calculate the optical b J luminosity function of the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) for different subsets defined by their spectral properties. These spectrally selected subsets are defined using a new parameter, η, which is a linear combination of the first two projections derived from a Principal Component Analysis. This parameter η identifies the average emission and absorption line strength in the galaxy rest-frame spectrum and hence is a useful indicator of the present star formation. We use a total of 75,000 galaxies in our calculations, chosen from a sample of high signal-tonoise ratio, low redshift galaxies observed before January 2001. We find that there is a systematic steepening of the faint end slope (α) as one moves from passive (α = −0.54) to active (α = −1.50) star-forming galaxies, and that there is also a corresponding faintening of the rest-frame characteristic magnitude M * − 5 log 10 (h) (from −19.6 to −19.2). We also show that the Schechter function provides a poor fit to the quiescent (Type 1) LF for very faint galaxies (M bJ − 5 log 10 (h) fainter than −16.0), perhaps suggesting the presence of a significant dwarf population. The luminosity functions presented here give a precise confirmation of the trends seen previously in a much smaller preliminary 2dFGRS sample, and in other surveys. We also present a new procedure for determining self-consistent K-corrections and investigate possible fibreaperture biases.