Large-scale structure in a new deep IRAS galaxy redshift survey

We present here the first results from two recently completed, fully sampled redshift surveys comprising 3703 IRAS Faint Source Survey (FSS) galaxies. An unbiased counts-in-cells analysis finds a clustering strength in broad agreement with other recent redshift surveys and at odds with the standard cold dark matter model. We combine our data with those from the QDOT and 1.2 Jy surveys, producing a single estimate of the IRAS galaxy clustering strength. We compare the data with the power spectrum derived from a mixed dark matter universe. Direct comparison of the clustering strength seen in the IRAS samples with that seen in the APM-Stromlo survey suggests b_O/b_I=1.20+/-0.05 assuming a linear, scale independent biasing. We also perform a cell by cell comparison of our FSS-z sample with galaxies from the first CfA slice, testing the viability of a linear-biasing scheme linking the two. We are able to rule out models in which the FSS-z galaxies identically trace the CfA galaxies on scales 5-20h^{-1}Mpc. On scales of 5 and 10h^{-1}Mpc no linear-biasing model can be found relating the two samples. We argue that this result is expected since the CfA sample includes more elliptical galaxies which have different clustering properties from spirals. On scales of 20h^{-1}Mpc no linear-biasing model with b_O/b_I < 1.70 is acceptable. When comparing the FSS-z galaxies to the CfA spirals, however, the two populations trace the same structures within our uncertaintie

Ongoing Formation of Bulges and Black Holes in the Local Universe: New Insights from GALEX

We analyze a volume-limited sample of massive bulge-dominated galaxies with data from both the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite. The galaxies have central velocity dispersions greater than 100 km/s and stellar surface mass densities that lie above the value where galaxies transition from actively star forming to passive systems. The sample is limited to redshifts 0.03<z<0.07. At these distances, the SDSS spectra sample the light from the bulge-dominated central regions of the galaxies. The GALEX NUV data provide high sensitivity to low rates of global star formation in these systems. Our sample of bulge-dominated galaxies exhibits a much larger dispersion in NUV-r colour than in optical g-r colour. Nearly all of the galaxies with bluer NUV-r colours are AGN. Both GALEX images and SDSS colour profiles demonstrate that the excess UV light is associated with an extended disk. We find that galaxies with red outer regions almost never have a young bulge or a strong AGN. Galaxies with blue outer regions have bulges and black holes that span a wide range in age and accretion rate. Galaxies with young bulges and strongly accreting black holes almost always have blue outer disks. Our suggested scenario is one in which the source of gas that builds the bulge and black hole is a low mass reservoir of cold gas in the disk.The presence of this gas is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for bulge and black hole growth. Some mechanism must transport this gas inwards in a time variable way. As the gas in the disk is converted into stars, the galaxies will turn red, but further gas infall can bring them back into the blue NUV-r sequence.(Abridged)Comment: 34 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for the GALEX special issue of ApJ

The Calibration and Data Products of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer

We describe the calibration status and data products pertaining to the GR2 and GR3 data releases of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). These releases have identical pipeline calibrations that are significantly improved over the GR1 data release. GALEX continues to survey the sky in the Far Ultraviolet (FUV, ~154 nm) and Near Ultraviolet (NUV, ~232 nm) bands, providing simultaneous imaging with a pair of photon counting, microchannel plate, delay line readout detectors. These 1.25 degree field-of-view detectors are well-suited to ultraviolet observations because of their excellent red rejection and negligible background. A dithered mode of observing and photon list output pose complex requirements on the data processing pipeline, entangling detector calibrations and aspect reconstruction algorithms. Recent improvements have achieved photometric repeatability of 0.05 and 0.03 mAB in the FUV and NUV, respectively. We have detected a long term drift of order 1% FUV and 6% NUV over the mission. Astrometric precision is of order 0.5" RMS in both bands. In this paper we provide the GALEX user with a broad overview of the calibration issues likely to be confronted in the current release. Improvements are likely as the GALEX mission continues into an extended phase with a healthy instrument, no consumables, and increased opportunities for guest investigations.Comment: Accepted to the ApJS (a special GALEX issue

The Young and the Dustless: Interpreting Radio Observations of UltraViolet Luminous Galaxies

Ultraviolet Luminous Galaxies (UVLGs) have been identified as intensely star-forming, nearby galaxies. A subset of these, the supercompact UVLGs, are believed to be local analogs of high redshift Lyman Break Galaxies. Here we investigate the radio continuum properties of this important population for the first time. We have observed 42 supercompact UVLGs with the VLA, all of which have extensive coverage in the UV/optical by GALEX and SDSS. Our analysis includes comparison samples of multiwavelength data from the Spitzer First Look Survey and from the SDSS-Galex matched catalogs. In addition we have Spitzer MIPS data for 24 of our galaxies and find that they fall on the radio-FIR correlation of normal star-forming galaxies. We find that our galaxies have lower radio-to-UV ratios and lower Balmer decrements than other local galaxies with similar (high) star formation rates. Optical spectra show they have lower Dn(4000) and HdeltaA indices, higher Hbeta emission-line equivalents widths, and higher [OIII]5007/Hbeta emission-line ratios than normal star forming galaxies. Comparing these results to galaxy spectral evolution models we conclude that supercompact UVLGs are distinguished from normal star forming galaxies firstly by their high specific star formation rates. Moreover, compared to other types of galaxies with similar star formation rates, they have significantly less dust attenuation. In both regards they are similar to Lyman Break Galaxies. This suggests that the process that causes star formation in the supercompact UVLGs differs from other local star forming galaxies, but may be similar to Lyman Break Galaxies.Comment: 37 pages, 13 figures, accepted and scheduled to appear in ApJS December 2007 (GALEX Special Issue

Extinction Corrected Star Formation Rates Empirically Derived from Ultraviolet-Optical Colors

Using a sample of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopic catalog with measured star-formation rates (SFRs) and ultraviolet (UV) photometry from the GALEX Medium Imaging Survey, we derived empirical linear correlations between the SFR to UV luminosity ratio and the UV-optical colors of blue sequence galaxies. The relations provide a simple prescription to correct UV data for dust attenuation that best reconciles the SFRs derived from UV and emission line data. The method breaks down for the red sequence population as well as for very blue galaxies such as the local ``supercompact'' UV luminous galaxies and the majority of high redshift Lyman Break Galaxies which form a low attenuation sequence of their own.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in the ApJS GALEX special issu

The GALEX Ultraviolet Atlas of Nearby Galaxies

We present images, integrated photometry, and surface-brightness and color profiles for a total of 1034 nearby galaxies recently observed by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite in its far-ultraviolet (FUV; λ_(eff) = 1516 Å) and near-ultraviolet (NUV; λ_(eff) = 2267 Å) bands. Our catalog of objects is derived primarily from the GALEX Nearby Galaxies Survey (NGS) supplemented by galaxies larger than 1' in diameter serendipitously found in these fields and in other GALEX exposures of similar of greater depth. The sample analyzed here adequately describes the distribution and full range of properties (luminosity, color, star formation rate [SFR]) of galaxies in the local universe. From the surface brightness profiles obtained we have computed asymptotic magnitudes, colors, and luminosities, along with the concentration indices C31 and C42. We have also morphologically classified the UV surface brightness profiles according to their shape. This data set has been complemented with archival optical, near-infrared, and far-infrared fluxes and colors. We find that the integrated (FUV − K) color provides robust discrimination between elliptical and spiral/irregular galaxies and also among spiral galaxies of different subtypes. Elliptical galaxies with brighter K-band luminosities (i.e., more massive) are redder in (NUV − K) color but bluer in (FUV − NUV) (a color sensitive to the presence of a strong UV upturn) than less massive ellipticals. In the case of the spiral/irregular galaxies our analysis shows the presence of a relatively tight correlation between the (FUV − NUV) color (or, equivalently, the slope of the UV spectrum, β) and the total infrared-to-UV ratio. The correlation found between (FUV − NUV) color and K-band luminosity (with lower luminosity objects being bluer than more luminous ones) can be explained as due to an increase in the dust content with galaxy luminosity. The images in this Atlas along with the profiles and integrated properties are publicly available through a dedicated Web page

Large-scale structure in a new deep IRAS galaxy redshift survey

We present here the first results from two recently completed, fully sampled redshift surveys comprising 3703 IRAS Faint Source Survey (FSS) galaxies. An unbiased counts-in-cells analysis finds a clustering strength in broad agreement with other recent redshift surveys and at odds with the standard cold dark matter model. We combine our data with those from the QDOT and 1.2 Jy surveys, producing a single estimate of the IRAS galaxy clustering strength. We compare the data with the power spectrum derived from a mixed dark matter universe. Direct comparison of the clustering strength seen in the IRAS samples with that seen in the APM-Stromlo survey suggests b_O/b_I=1.20+/-0.05 assuming a linear, scale independent biasing. We also perform a cell by cell comparison of our FSS-z sample with galaxies from the first CfA slice, testing the viability of a linear-biasing scheme linking the two. We are able to rule out models in which the FSS-z galaxies identically trace the CfA galaxies on scales 5-20h^{-1}Mpc. On scales of 5 and 10h^{-1}Mpc no linear-biasing model can be found relating the two samples. We argue that this result is expected since the CfA sample includes more elliptical galaxies which have different clustering properties from spirals. On scales of 20h^{-1}Mpc no linear-biasing model with b_O/b_I < 1.70 is acceptable. When comparing the FSS-z galaxies to the CfA spirals, however, the two populations trace the same structures within our uncertainties.Comment: Also at ftp://artemis.ph.ic.ac.uk/pub/so/papers/lss_paper.uu; MNRAS Accepted 1995 November 1

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), a NASA Small Explorer Mission planned for launch in Fall 2002, will perform the first Space Ultraviolet sky survey. Five imaging surveys in each of two bands (1350-1750Å and 1750-2800Å) will range from an all-sky survey (limit m_(AB)~20-21) to an ultra-deep survey of 4 square degrees (limit m_(AB)~26). Three spectroscopic grism surveys (R=100-300) will be performed with various depths (m_(AB)~20-25) and sky coverage (100 to 2 square degrees) over the 1350-2800Å band. The instrument includes a 50 cm modified Ritchey-Chrétien telescope, a dichroic beam splitter and astigmatism corrector, two large sealed tube microchannel plate detectors to simultaneously cover the two bands and the 1.2 degree field of view. A rotating wheel provides either imaging or grism spectroscopy with transmitting optics. We will use the measured UV properties of local galaxies, along with corollary observations, to calibrate the UV-global star formation rate relationship in galaxies. We will apply this calibration to distant galaxies discovered in the deep imaging and spectroscopic surveys to map the history of star formation in the universe over the red shift range zero to two. The GALEX mission will include an Associate Investigator program for additional observations and supporting data analysis. This will support a wide variety of investigations made possible by the first UV sky survey

UV-optical colors as probes of early-type galaxy evolution

We have studied ∼2100 early-type galaxies in the SDSS DR3 which have been detected by the GALEX Medium Imaging Survey (MIS), in the redshift range O <z <0.1.1. Combining GALEXUV photometry with corollary optical data from the SDSS, we find that, at a 95% confidence level, at least ∼30% of galaxies in this sample have UV to optical colors consistent with some recent star formation within the last Gyr. In particular, galaxies with an NUV - r color less than 5.5 are very likely to have experienced such recent star formation, taking into account the possibility of a contribution to NUV flux from the UV upturn phenomenon. We find quantitative agreement between the observations and the predictions of a semianalytical ACDM hierarchical merger model and deduce that early-type galaxies in the redshift range 0 <z <0.11 have ∼ 1 % -3 % of their stellar mass in stars less than 1 Gyr old. The average age of this recently formed population is ∼300-500 Myr. We also find that "monolithically" evolving galaxies, where recent star formation can be driven solely by recycled gas from stellar mass loss, cannot exhibit the blue colors (NUV - r <5.5) seen in a significant fraction (∼30%) of our observed sample.Peer reviewe