Hermes: current cosmic infrared background estimates can be explained by known galaxies and their faint companions at z<4
File(s)Viero_2015_ApJL_809_L22.pdf (1.35 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We report contributions to cosmic infrared background (CIB) intensities originating from known galaxies and their faint companions at submillimeter wavelengths. Using the publicly available UltraVISTA catalog and maps at 250, 350, and 500 μm from the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey, we perform a novel measurement that exploits the fact that uncataloged sources may bias stacked flux densities—particularly if the resolution of the image is poor—and intentionally smooth the images before stacking and summing intensities. By smoothing the maps we are capturing the contribution of faint (undetected in ${K}_{S}\sim 23.4$) sources that are physically associated, or correlated, with the detected sources. We find that the cumulative CIB increases with increased smoothing, reaching 9.82 ± 0.78, 5.77 ± 0.43 and $2.32\pm 0.19\;{\mathrm{nWm}}^{-2}\;{\mathrm{sr}}^{-1}$ at 250, 350, and 500 μm at $300\;\mathrm{arcsec}$ FWHM. This corresponds to a fraction of the fiducial CIB of 0.94 ± 0.23, 1.07 ± 0.31, and 0.97 ± 0.26 at 250, 350, and 500 μm, where the uncertainties are dominated by those of the absolute CIB. We then propose, with a simple model combining parametric descriptions for stacked flux densities and stellar mass functions, that emission from galaxies with log($M/{M}_{\odot })\gt 8.5$ can account for most of the measured total intensities and argue against contributions from extended, diffuse emission. Finally, we discuss prospects for future survey instruments to improve the estimates of the absolute CIB levels, and observe any potentially remaining emission at $z\gt 4$.
Date Issued
2015-08-20
Date Acceptance
2015-07-24
Citation
Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2015, 809 (2)
ISSN
2041-8205
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Journal / Book Title
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume
809
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2015. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Sponsor
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Science and Technology Facilities Council [2006-2012]
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000360715500005&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
ST/K001051/1
ST/K001051/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Astronomy & Astrophysics
cosmology: observations
galaxies: evolution
infrared: galaxies
large-scale structure of universe
submillimeter: galaxies
OBSCURED STAR-FORMATION
STELLAR MASS FUNCTIONS
DEEP-FIELD-SOUTH
QUIESCENT GALAXIES
SUBMILLIMETER GALAXIES
LUMINOSITY FUNCTIONS
NUMBER COUNTS
REDSHIFT
DUSTY
IMAGES
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
L22
Date Publish Online
2015-08-17