The Clustering of K\sim 20 Galaxies on 17 Radio Galaxy Fields

We investigate the angular correlation function, $\omega(\theta)$, of the galaxi es detected in the K-band on 17 fields (101.5 square arcmin in total), each containing a $z\sim 1.1$ radio galaxy. There is a significant detection of galaxy clustering at $K\sim 20$ limits, with an amplitude higher than expected from simple models which fit the faint galaxy clustering in the blue and red passbands, but consistent with a pure luminosity evolution model i f clustering is stable and early-type galaxies have a steeper correlation function than spirals. We do not detect a significant cross-correlation between the radio galaxies and the other galaxies on these fields, obtaining upper limits consistent with a mean clustering environment of Abell class 0 for $z\sim 1.1$ radio galaxies, similar to that observed for radio galaxies at $z\sim 0.5$. At $K\leq 20$, the number of galaxy-galaxy pairs of 2--3 arcsec separations exceeds the random expectation by a factor of $2.15\pm 0.26$. This excess suggests at least a tripling of the local merger rate at $z\sim 1$.Comment: 13 pages, 3 tables, 7 postscript figures, TEX, submitted to MNRA

Multi-Object Near-IR H-alpha Spectroscopy of z~1 star-forming galaxies in the HDF-N

We present preliminary results from a programme to obtain multi-object near-infrared spectroscopy of galaxies at redshifts $0.7<z<1.5$. We are using the instrument CIRPASS (the Cambridge Infra-Red PAnoramic Survey Spectrograph), in multi-object mode, to survey H-alpha in galaxies at $z\sim1$. We aim to address the true star formation history of the universe at this epoch: potentially the peak period of star formation activity. H-alpha is the same star formation measure used at low redshift, and hence we can trace star formation without the systematic uncertainties of using different calibrators in different redshift bins, or the extreme dust extinction in the rest-UV. CIRPASS has been successfully demonstrated in multi-object mode on the AAT and WHT. Here we present preliminary results from one of our fields, the Hubble Deep Field North, observed with the WHT. With 150 fibres deployed over an unvignetted field of $\sim15$arcmin, we have several detections of H-alpha from star forming galaxies at $0.8<z<1.0$ and present spectra of the seven brightest of these. By pre-selecting galaxies with redshifts such that H-alpha will appear between the OH sky lines, we can detect star formation rates of $5 h^{-2}_{70} M_{\odot} {\rm yr}^{-1}$ ($5 \sigma$ in 3-hours, $\Omega_M=0.3$, $\Omega_{\Lambda}=0.7$). It appears that star formation rates inferred from H-alpha are, on average, a factor of more than two higher than those based on the UV continuum alone.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

The Angular Correlation Function of K=19.5 Galaxies and the Detection of a Cluster at z=0.775

On five K-band Omega camera images, covering a total of 162.2 sq. arcmin to K=19.5, we investigate (i) the clustering environment of 5 radio galaxies at 0.7<z<0.8 and (ii) the galaxy angular correlation function. We detect a cluster of estimated Abell richness class 1 or 2, centred on the radio galaxy 5C6.75 at z=0.775. Of the other radio galaxies, two appear to be in less rich groups or structures, and two in field environments. The mean clustering environment of all 5 is similar to that of radio galaxies at more moderate redshifts of 0.35<z<0.55. The angular correlation function of the galaxies, at limits K=18.5--20.0, is most consistent with a luminosity evolution model in which E/S0 galaxies are much more clustered than spirals (r_0=8.4 compared to 4.2 1/h Mpc) and clustering is approximately stable (epsilon=0), although the clustering may exceed the stable model at the highest (z>1.5) redshifts. We also find a significant excess of 1.5--5.0 arcsec separation pairs of galaxies compared to the expectation from the inward extrapolation of omega(theta). To K=19.5, we estimate that 11.0\pm 3.4 per cent of galaxies are in close pairs in excess of omega(theta). This can be explained if the local rate of galaxy mergers and interactions increases with redshift as $\sim (1+z)^m$ with $m=1.33_{-0.51}^{+0.36}$.Comment: 14 pages, latex, 8 figures, submitted to MNRA

Should we take patients to hospital in cardiac arrest?

We present deep diffraction-limited far-infrared (FIR) strip maps of a sample of 63 galaxies later than S0 and brighter than BT 16.8, selected from the Virgo Cluster Catalogue of Binggeli, Sandage &amp; Tammann (1985). The ISOPHOT instrument on board the Infrared Space Observatory was used to achieve sensitivities typically an order of magnitude deeper than IRAS in the 60 and 100µm bands and to reach the confusion limit at 170µm. The averaged 3σ upper limits for integrated flux densities of point sources at 60, 100 and 170µm are 43, 33 and 58mJy, respectively. 54 galaxies (85.7%) are detected at least at one wavelength, and 40 galaxies (63.5%) are detected at all three wavelengths. The highest detection rate (85.7%) is in the 170µm band. In many cases the galaxie