A large population of galaxies 9 to 12 billion years back in the history of the Universe

O. Le Fèvre; S. Paltani; S. Arnouts; S. Charlot; S. Foucaud; O. Ilbert; H. J. McCracken; G. Zamorani; D. Bottini; B. Garilli; V. Le Brun; D. Maccagni; J. P. Picat; R. Scaramella; M. Scodeggio; L. Tresse; G. Vettolani; A. Zanichelli; C. Adami; S. Bardelli; M. Bolzonella; A. Cappi; P. Ciliegi; T. Contini; P. Franzetti; I. Gavignaud; L. Guzzo; A. Iovino; B. Marano; C. Marinoni; A. Mazure; B. Meneux; R. Merighi; R. Pellò; A. Pollo; L. Pozzetti; M. Radovich; E. Zucca; M. Arnaboldi; M. Bondi; A. Bongiorno; G. Busarello; L. Gregorini; F. Lamareille; G. Mathez; Y. Mellier; P. Merluzzi; V. Ripepi; D. Rizzo

doi:10.1038/nature03979

A large population of galaxies 9 to 12 billion years back in the history of the Universe

O. Le Fèvre, S. Paltani, S. Arnouts, S. Charlot, S. Foucaud, O. Ilbert, H. J. McCracken, G. Zamorani, D. Bottini, B. Garilli, V. Le Brun, D. Maccagni, J. P. Picat, R. Scaramella, M. Scodeggio, L. Tresse, G. Vettolani, A. Zanichelli, C. Adami, S. BardelliM. Bolzonella, A. Cappi, P. Ciliegi, T. Contini, P. Franzetti, I. Gavignaud, L. Guzzo, A. Iovino, B. Marano, C. Marinoni, A. Mazure, B. Meneux, R. Merighi, R. Pellò, A. Pollo, L. Pozzetti, M. Radovich, E. Zucca, M. Arnaboldi, M. Bondi, A. Bongiorno, G. Busarello, L. Gregorini, F. Lamareille, G. Mathez, Y. Mellier, P. Merluzzi, V. Ripepi, D. Rizzo

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Abstract

To understand the evolution of galaxies, we need to know as accurately as possible how many galaxies were present in the Universe at different epochs. Galaxies in the young Universe have hitherto mainly been identified using their expected optical colours, but this leaves open the possibility that a significant population remains undetected because their colours are the result of a complex mix of stars, gas, dust or active galactic nuclei. Here we report the results of a flux-limited I-band survey of galaxies at look-back times of 9 to 12 billion years. We find 970 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts between 1.4 and 5. This population is 1.6 to 6.2 times larger than previous estimates, with the difference increasing towards brighter magnitudes. Strong ultraviolet continua (in the rest frame of the galaxies) indicate vigorous star formation rates of more than 10-100 solar masses per year. As a consequence, the cosmic star formation rate representing the volume-averaged production of stars is higher than previously measured at redshifts of 3 to 4.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	519-521
Number of pages	3
Journal	Nature
Volume	437
Issue number	7058
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03979
Publication status	Published - 22 Sept 2005

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Le Fèvre, O., Paltani, S., Arnouts, S., Charlot, S., Foucaud, S., Ilbert, O., McCracken, H. J., Zamorani, G., Bottini, D., Garilli, B., Le Brun, V., Maccagni, D., Picat, J. P., Scaramella, R., Scodeggio, M., Tresse, L., Vettolani, G., Zanichelli, A., Adami, C., ... Rizzo, D. (2005). A large population of galaxies 9 to 12 billion years back in the history of the Universe. Nature, 437(7058), 519-521. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03979

@article{080fcacfdc694a6899671fece3af0fd4,

title = "A large population of galaxies 9 to 12 billion years back in the history of the Universe",

abstract = "To understand the evolution of galaxies, we need to know as accurately as possible how many galaxies were present in the Universe at different epochs. Galaxies in the young Universe have hitherto mainly been identified using their expected optical colours, but this leaves open the possibility that a significant population remains undetected because their colours are the result of a complex mix of stars, gas, dust or active galactic nuclei. Here we report the results of a flux-limited I-band survey of galaxies at look-back times of 9 to 12 billion years. We find 970 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts between 1.4 and 5. This population is 1.6 to 6.2 times larger than previous estimates, with the difference increasing towards brighter magnitudes. Strong ultraviolet continua (in the rest frame of the galaxies) indicate vigorous star formation rates of more than 10-100 solar masses per year. As a consequence, the cosmic star formation rate representing the volume-averaged production of stars is higher than previously measured at redshifts of 3 to 4.",

author = "{Le F{\`e}vre}, O. and S. Paltani and S. Arnouts and S. Charlot and S. Foucaud and O. Ilbert and McCracken, {H. J.} and G. Zamorani and D. Bottini and B. Garilli and {Le Brun}, V. and D. Maccagni and Picat, {J. P.} and R. Scaramella and M. Scodeggio and L. Tresse and G. Vettolani and A. Zanichelli and C. Adami and S. Bardelli and M. Bolzonella and A. Cappi and P. Ciliegi and T. Contini and P. Franzetti and I. Gavignaud and L. Guzzo and A. Iovino and B. Marano and C. Marinoni and A. Mazure and B. Meneux and R. Merighi and R. Pell{\`o} and A. Pollo and L. Pozzetti and M. Radovich and E. Zucca and M. Arnaboldi and M. Bondi and A. Bongiorno and G. Busarello and L. Gregorini and F. Lamareille and G. Mathez and Y. Mellier and P. Merluzzi and V. Ripepi and D. Rizzo",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements We thank the ESO for continuous support of this programme; the CNRS, the University of Provence and the Italian INAF for funding; and S. J. Lilly and A. Renzini for discussions. The observations reported here are based on observations obtained at the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope, and on data products produced at TERAPIX and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, a collaborative project of NRC and CNRS.",

year = "2005",

month = sep,

day = "22",

doi = "10.1038/nature03979",

language = "English",

volume = "437",

pages = "519--521",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "7058",

}

Le Fèvre, O, Paltani, S, Arnouts, S, Charlot, S, Foucaud, S, Ilbert, O, McCracken, HJ, Zamorani, G, Bottini, D, Garilli, B, Le Brun, V, Maccagni, D, Picat, JP, Scaramella, R, Scodeggio, M, Tresse, L, Vettolani, G, Zanichelli, A, Adami, C, Bardelli, S, Bolzonella, M, Cappi, A, Ciliegi, P, Contini, T, Franzetti, P, Gavignaud, I, Guzzo, L, Iovino, A, Marano, B, Marinoni, C, Mazure, A, Meneux, B, Merighi, R, Pellò, R, Pollo, A, Pozzetti, L, Radovich, M, Zucca, E, Arnaboldi, M, Bondi, M, Bongiorno, A, Busarello, G, Gregorini, L, Lamareille, F, Mathez, G, Mellier, Y, Merluzzi, P, Ripepi, V & Rizzo, D 2005, 'A large population of galaxies 9 to 12 billion years back in the history of the Universe', Nature, vol. 437, no. 7058, pp. 519-521. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03979

TY - JOUR

T1 - A large population of galaxies 9 to 12 billion years back in the history of the Universe

AU - Le Fèvre, O.

AU - Paltani, S.

AU - Arnouts, S.

AU - Charlot, S.

AU - Foucaud, S.

AU - Ilbert, O.

AU - McCracken, H. J.

AU - Zamorani, G.

AU - Bottini, D.

AU - Garilli, B.

AU - Le Brun, V.

AU - Maccagni, D.

AU - Picat, J. P.

AU - Scaramella, R.

AU - Scodeggio, M.

AU - Tresse, L.

AU - Vettolani, G.

AU - Zanichelli, A.

AU - Adami, C.

AU - Bardelli, S.

AU - Bolzonella, M.

AU - Cappi, A.

AU - Ciliegi, P.

AU - Contini, T.

AU - Franzetti, P.

AU - Gavignaud, I.

AU - Guzzo, L.

AU - Iovino, A.

AU - Marano, B.

AU - Marinoni, C.

AU - Mazure, A.

AU - Meneux, B.

AU - Merighi, R.

AU - Pellò, R.

AU - Pollo, A.

AU - Pozzetti, L.

AU - Radovich, M.

AU - Zucca, E.

AU - Arnaboldi, M.

AU - Bondi, M.

AU - Bongiorno, A.

AU - Busarello, G.

AU - Gregorini, L.

AU - Lamareille, F.

AU - Mathez, G.

AU - Mellier, Y.

AU - Merluzzi, P.

AU - Ripepi, V.

AU - Rizzo, D.

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements We thank the ESO for continuous support of this programme; the CNRS, the University of Provence and the Italian INAF for funding; and S. J. Lilly and A. Renzini for discussions. The observations reported here are based on observations obtained at the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope, and on data products produced at TERAPIX and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, a collaborative project of NRC and CNRS.

PY - 2005/9/22

Y1 - 2005/9/22

N2 - To understand the evolution of galaxies, we need to know as accurately as possible how many galaxies were present in the Universe at different epochs. Galaxies in the young Universe have hitherto mainly been identified using their expected optical colours, but this leaves open the possibility that a significant population remains undetected because their colours are the result of a complex mix of stars, gas, dust or active galactic nuclei. Here we report the results of a flux-limited I-band survey of galaxies at look-back times of 9 to 12 billion years. We find 970 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts between 1.4 and 5. This population is 1.6 to 6.2 times larger than previous estimates, with the difference increasing towards brighter magnitudes. Strong ultraviolet continua (in the rest frame of the galaxies) indicate vigorous star formation rates of more than 10-100 solar masses per year. As a consequence, the cosmic star formation rate representing the volume-averaged production of stars is higher than previously measured at redshifts of 3 to 4.

AB - To understand the evolution of galaxies, we need to know as accurately as possible how many galaxies were present in the Universe at different epochs. Galaxies in the young Universe have hitherto mainly been identified using their expected optical colours, but this leaves open the possibility that a significant population remains undetected because their colours are the result of a complex mix of stars, gas, dust or active galactic nuclei. Here we report the results of a flux-limited I-band survey of galaxies at look-back times of 9 to 12 billion years. We find 970 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts between 1.4 and 5. This population is 1.6 to 6.2 times larger than previous estimates, with the difference increasing towards brighter magnitudes. Strong ultraviolet continua (in the rest frame of the galaxies) indicate vigorous star formation rates of more than 10-100 solar masses per year. As a consequence, the cosmic star formation rate representing the volume-averaged production of stars is higher than previously measured at redshifts of 3 to 4.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=27744524453&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/nature03979

DO - 10.1038/nature03979

M3 - Article

C2 - 16177783

AN - SCOPUS:27744524453

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 437

SP - 519

EP - 521

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7058

ER -

A large population of galaxies 9 to 12 billion years back in the history of the Universe

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