97 research outputs found
Automated novelty detection in the WISE survey with one-class support vector machines
Wide-angle photometric surveys of previously uncharted sky areas or
wavelength regimes will always bring in unexpected sources whose existence and
properties cannot be easily predicted from earlier observations: novelties or
even anomalies. Such objects can be efficiently sought for with novelty
detection algorithms. Here we present an application of such a method, called
one-class support vector machines (OCSVM), to search for anomalous patterns
among sources preselected from the mid-infrared AllWISE catalogue covering the
whole sky. To create a model of expected data we train the algorithm on a set
of objects with spectroscopic identifications from the SDSS DR13 database,
present also in AllWISE. OCSVM detects as anomalous those sources whose
patterns - WISE photometric measurements in this case - are inconsistent with
the model. Among the detected anomalies we find artefacts, such as objects with
spurious photometry due to blending, but most importantly also real sources of
genuine astrophysical interest. Among the latter, OCSVM has identified a sample
of heavily reddened AGN/quasar candidates distributed uniformly over the sky
and in a large part absent from other WISE-based AGN catalogues. It also
allowed us to find a specific group of sources of mixed types, mostly stars and
compact galaxies. By combining the semi-supervised OCSVM algorithm with
standard classification methods it will be possible to improve the latter by
accounting for sources which are not present in the training sample but are
otherwise well-represented in the target set. Anomaly detection adds
flexibility to automated source separation procedures and helps verify the
reliability and representativeness of the training samples. It should be thus
considered as an essential step in supervised classification schemes to ensure
completeness and purity of produced catalogues.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figure
Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): Mid-infrared properties as tracers of galaxy environment
We investigate how different mid-infrared (mid-IR) properties of galaxies
trace the environment in which the galaxies are located. For this purpose, we
first study the dependence of galaxy clustering on the absolute magnitude at
3.4 m and redshift. Then, we look into the environmental dependence of
mid-IR luminosities and the galaxy properties derived from these luminosities.
We also explore how various infrared galaxy luminosity selections influence the
galaxy clustering measurements. We use a set of W1 (3.4 m) absolute
magnitude () selected samples from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly
(GAMA) survey matched with mid-IR properties from the Wide-field Infrared
Survey Explorer (WISE) in the redshift range . We compute
the galaxy two-point correlation function (2pCF) and compare the clustering
lengths between subsamples binned in and in redshift. We also
measure the marked correlation functions (MCFs) using the luminosities in the
WISE W1 to W4 (3.4 to 22 m) bands as marks. Additionally, we compare the
measurements of MCFs with different estimates of stellar mass and star
formation rate used as marks. Finally, we check how different selections
applied to the sample affect the clustering measurements. We show strong
clustering dependence on the W1 absolute magnitude: galaxies brighter in the W1
band are more strongly clustered than their fainter counterparts. We also
observe a lack of significant redshift dependence of clustering in the redshift
range . We show that although W1 and W2 bands are direct
indicators of stellar mass, a galaxy sample selected based on W1 or W2 bands
does not perfectly show the clustering behaviour of a stellar mass selected
sample. Similar is the case with the proxy relation between W3 and W4 bands and
star formation rate.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, accepted in A&
Discovery of a rich proto-cluster at z=2.9 and associated diffuse cold gas in the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS)
[Abridged] We characterise a massive proto-cluster at z=2.895 that we found
in the COSMOS field using the spectroscopic sample of the VIMOS Ultra-Deep
Survey (VUDS). This is one of the rare structures at z~3 not identified around
AGNs or radio galaxies, so it is an ideal laboratory to study galaxy formation
in dense environments. The structure comprises 12 galaxies with secure
spectroscopic redshift in an area of 7'x8', in a z bin of Dz=0.016. The
measured galaxy number overdensity is delta_g=12+/-2. This overdensity has
total mass of M~8.1x10^(14)M_sun in a volume of 13x15x17 Mpc^3. Simulations
indicate that such an overdensity at z~2.9 is a proto-cluster that will
collapse in a cluster of total mass M~2.5x10^(15)M_sun at z=0. We compare the
properties of the galaxies within the overdensity with a control sample at the
same z but outside the overdensity. We did not find any statistically
significant difference between the properties (stellar mass, SFR, sSFR, NUV-r,
r-K) of the galaxies inside and outside the overdensity. The stacked spectrum
of galaxies in the overdensity background shows a significant absorption
feature at the wavelength of Lya redshifted at z=2.895 (lambda=4736 A), with a
rest frame EW = 4+/- 1.4 A. Stacking only background galaxies without
intervening sources at z~2.9 along their line of sight, we find that this
absorption feature has a rest frame EW of 10.8+/-3.7 A, with a detection S/N of
~4. These EW values imply a high column density (N(HI)~3-20x10^(19)cm^(-2)),
consistent with a scenario where such absorption is due to intervening cold gas
streams, falling into the halo potential wells of the proto-cluster galaxies.
However, we cannot exclude the hypothesis that this absorption is due to the
diffuse gas within the overdensity.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&A (revised version
after referee's comments and language editing
Discovering extremely compact and metal-poor, star-forming dwarf galaxies out to z ~ 0.9 in the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey
We report the discovery of 31 low-luminosity (-14.5 > M_{AB}(B) > -18.8),
extreme emission line galaxies (EELGs) at 0.2 < z < 0.9 identified by their
unusually high rest-frame equivalent widths (100 < EW[OIII] < 1700 A) as part
of the VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey (VUDS). VIMOS optical spectra of unprecedented
sensitivity ( ~ 25 mag) along with multiwavelength photometry and HST
imaging are used to investigate spectrophotometric properties of this unique
sample and explore, for the first time, the very low stellar mass end (M* <
10^8 M) of the luminosity-metallicity (LZR) and mass-metallicity
(MZR) relations at z < 1. Characterized by their extreme compactness (R50 < 1
kpc), low stellar mass and enhanced specific star formation rates (SFR/M* ~
10^{-9} - 10^{-7} yr^{-1}), the VUDS EELGs are blue dwarf galaxies likely
experiencing the first stages of a vigorous galaxy-wide starburst. Using
T_e-sensitive direct and strong-line methods, we find that VUDS EELGs are
low-metallicity (7.5 < 12+log(O/H) < 8.3) galaxies with high ionization
conditions, including at least three EELGs showing HeII 4686A emission and four
EELGs of extremely metal-poor (<10% solar) galaxies. The LZR and MZR followed
by EELGs show relatively large scatter, being broadly consistent with the
extrapolation toward low luminosity and mass from previous studies at similar
redshift. However, we find evidences that galaxies with younger and more
vigorous star formation -- as characterized by their larger EWs, ionization and
sSFR -- tend to be more metal-poor at a given stellar mass.Comment: Letter in A&A 568, L8 (2014). This replacement matches the published
versio
The VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey: Ly Emission and Stellar Populations of Star-Forming Galaxies at 2<z<2.5
The aim of this paper is to investigate spectral and photometric properties
of 854 faint (<~25 mag) star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at 2<z<2.5 using
the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS) spectroscopic data and deep multi-wavelength
photometric data in three extensively studied extragalactic fields (ECDFS,
VVDS, COSMOS). These SFGs were targeted for spectroscopy based on their
photometric redshifts. The VUDS spectra are used to measure the UV spectral
slopes () as well as Ly equivalent widths (EW). On average, the
spectroscopically measured (-1.360.02), is comparable to the
photometrically measured (-1.320.02), and has smaller measurement
uncertainties. The positive correlation of with the Spectral Energy
Distribution (SED)-based measurement of dust extinction, E(B-V),
emphasizes the importance of as an alternative dust indicator at high
redshifts. To make a proper comparison, we divide these SFGs into three
subgroups based on their rest-frame Ly EW: SFGs with no Ly
emission (SFG; EW0\AA), SFGs with Ly emission (SFG; EW0\AA), and Ly emitters (LAEs; EW20\AA). The fraction of
LAEs at these redshifts is 10%, which is consistent with previous
observations. We compared best-fit SED-estimated stellar parameters of the
SFG, SFG and LAE samples. For the luminosities probed here
(L), we find that galaxies with and without Ly in emission
have small but significant differences in their SED-based properties. We find
that LAEs have less dust, and lower star-formation rates (SFR) compared to
non-LAEs. We also find that LAEs are less massive compared to non-LAEs, though
the difference is smaller and less significant compared to the SFR and E(B-V). [abridged]Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 19 pages, 10 figures, 1 tabl
The VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS): fast increase of the fraction of strong Lyman alpha emitters from z=2 to z=6
Aims. The aim of this work is to constrain the evolution of the fraction of
Lya emitters among UV selected star forming galaxies at 2<z<6, and to measure
the stellar escape fraction of Lya photons over the same redshift range.
Methods. We exploit the ultradeep spectroscopic observations collected by the
VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey (VUDS) to build an unique, complete and unbiased sample
of 4000 spectroscopically confirmed star forming galaxies at 2<z<6. Our galaxy
sample UV luminosities brighter than M* at 2<z<6, and luminosities down to one
magnitude fainter than M* at 2<z<3.5. Results. We find that 80% of the star
forming galaxies in our sample have EW0(Lya)<10A, and correspondingly
fesc(Lya)<1%. By comparing these results with literature, we conclude that the
bulk of the Lya luminosity at 2<z<6 comes from galaxies that are fainter in the
UV than those we sample in this work. The strong Lya emitters constitute, at
each redshift, the tail of the distribution of the galaxies with extreme
EW0(Lya) and fesc(Lya) . This tail of large EW0 and fesc(Lya) becomes more
important as the redshift increases, and causes the fraction of Lya with EW0>
25A to increase from 5% at z=2 to 30% at z=6, with the increase being
relatively stronger beyond z=4. We observe no difference, for the narrow range
of UV luminosities explored in this work, between the fraction of strong Lya
emitters among galaxies fainter or brighter than M*, although the fraction for
the FUV faint galaxies evolves faster, at 2<z<3.5, than for the bright ones. We
do observe an anticorrelation between E(B-V) and fesc(Lya): generally galaxies
with high fesc(Lya) have also small amounts of dust (and viceversa). However,
when the dust content is low (E(B-V)<0.05) we observe a very broad range of
fesc(Lya), ranging from 10^-3 to 1. This implies that the dust alone is not the
only regulator of the amount of escaping Lya photons.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, A&A in pres
The impact of the Star Formation Histories on the SFR-M relation at z2
In this paper we investigate the impact of different star formation histories
(SFHs) on the relation between stellar mass M and star formation rate
(SFR) using a sample of galaxies with reliable spectroscopic redshift zspec>2
drawn from the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS). We produce an extensive database
of dusty model galaxies, calculated starting from the new library of single
stellar population (SSPs) models presented in Cassara' et al. 2013 and weighted
by a set of 28 different SFHs based on the Schmidt function, and characterized
by different ratios of the gas infall time scale to the star
formation efficiency . The treatment of dust extinction and re-emission
has been carried out by means of the radiative transfer calculation. The
spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting technique is performed by using
GOSSIP+, a tool able to combine both photometric and spectroscopic information
to extract the best value of the physical quantities of interest, and to
consider the Intergalactic Medium (IGM) attenuation as a free parameter. We
find that the main contribution to the scatter observed in the
plane is the possibility of choosing between different families of SFHs in the
SED fitting procedure, while the redshift range plays a minor role. The
majority of the galaxies, at all cosmic times, are best-fit by models with SFHs
characterized by a high ratio. We discuss the
reliability of the presence of a small percentage of dusty and highly star
forming galaxies, in the light of their detection in the FIR.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, accepted for pubblication in A&
The evolution of clustering length, large-scale bias and host halo mass at 2<z<5 in the VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey (VUDS)
We investigate the evolution of galaxy clustering for galaxies in the
redshift range 2.0<<5.0 using the VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey (VUDS). We present
the projected (real-space) two-point correlation function measured
by using 3022 galaxies with robust spectroscopic redshifts in two independent
fields (COSMOS and VVDS-02h) covering in total 0.8 deg. We quantify how the
scale dependent clustering amplitude changes with redshift making use of
mock samples to evaluate and correct the survey selection function. Using a
power-law model we find that the correlation
function for the general population is best fit by a model with a clustering
length =3.95 hMpc and slope
=1.8 at ~2.5, =4.350.60 hMpc and
=1.6 at ~3.5. We use these clustering parameters
to derive the large-scale linear galaxy bias , between galaxies and
dark matter. We find = 2.680.22 at redshift ~3 (assuming
= 0.8), significantly higher than found at intermediate and low
redshifts. We fit an HOD model to the data and we obtain that the average halo
mass at redshift ~3 is =10 hM. From
this fit we confirm that the large-scale linear galaxy bias is relatively high
at = 2.820.27. Comparing these measurements with similar
measurements at lower redshifts we infer that the star-forming population of
galaxies at ~3 should evolve into the massive and bright (<-21.5)
galaxy population which typically occupy haloes of mass =
10 h at redshift =0.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, submitted to A&
The VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey First Data Release: spectra and spectroscopic redshifts of 698 objects up to z~6 in CANDELS
This paper describes the first data release (DR1) of the VIMOS Ultra Deep
Survey (VUDS). The DR1 includes all low-resolution spectroscopic data obtained
in 276.9 arcmin2 of the CANDELS-COSMOS and CANDELS-ECFDS survey areas,
including accurate spectroscopic redshifts z_spec and individual spectra
obtained with VIMOS on the ESO-VLT. A total of 698 objects have a measured
redshift, with 677 galaxies, two type-I AGN and a small number of 19
contaminating stars. The targets of the spectroscopic survey are selected
primarily on the basis of their photometric redshifts to ensure a broad
population coverage. About 500 galaxies have z_spec>2, 48 with z_spec>4, and
the highest reliable redshifts reach beyond z_spec=6. This dataset
approximately doubles the number of galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts at
z>3 in these fields. We discuss the general properties of the sample in terms
of the spectroscopic redshift distribution, the distribution of Lyman-alpha
equivalent widths, and physical properties including stellar masses M_star and
star formation rates (SFR) derived from spectral energy distribution fitting
with the knowledge of z_spec. We highlight the properties of the most massive
star-forming galaxies, noting the large range in spectral properties, with
Lyman-alpha in emission or in absorption, and in imaging properties with
compact, multi-component or pair morphologies. We present the catalogue
database and data products. All data are publicly available and can be
retrieved from a dedicated query-based database available at
http://cesam.lam.fr/vuds.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, submitted to A&
The Lyman Continuum escape fraction of galaxies at z=3.3 in the VUDS-LBC/COSMOS field
The Lyman continuum (LyC) flux escaping from high-z galaxies into the IGM is
a fundamental quantity to understand the physical processes involved in the
reionization epoch. We have investigated a sample of star-forming galaxies at
z~3.3 in order to search for possible detections of LyC photons escaping from
galaxy halos. UV deep imaging in the COSMOS field obtained with the prime focus
camera LBC at the LBT telescope was used together with a catalog of
spectroscopic redshifts obtained by the VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey (VUDS) to build
a sample of 45 galaxies at z~3.3 with L>0.5L*. We obtained deep LBC images of
galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the interval 3.27<z<3.40 both in the R
and deep U bands. A sub-sample of 10 galaxies apparently shows escape
fractions>28% but a detailed analysis of their properties reveals that, with
the exception of two marginal detections (S/N~2) in the U band, all the other 8
galaxies are most likely contaminated by the UV flux of low-z interlopers
located close to the high-z targets. The average escape fraction derived from
the stacking of the cleaned sample was constrained to fesc_rel<2%. The implied
HI photo-ionization rate is a factor two lower than that needed to keep the IGM
ionized at z~3, as observed in the Lyman forest of high-z QSO spectra or by the
proximity effect. These results support a scenario where high redshift,
relatively bright (L>0.5L*) star-forming galaxies alone are unable to sustain
the level of ionization observed in the cosmic IGM at z~3. Star-forming
galaxies at higher redshift and at fainter luminosities (L<<L*) can be the
major contributors to the reionization of the Universe only if their physical
properties are subject to rapid changes from z~3 to z~6-10. Alternatively,
ionizing sources could be discovered looking for fainter sources among the AGN
population at high-z.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in A&
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