Extragalactic number counts at 100 um, free from cosmic variance

Abstract

We use data from the Disc Emission via a Bias-free Reconnaissance in the Infrared/Submillimetre (DEBRIS) survey, taken at 100 um with the Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer instrument on board the Herschel Space Observatory, to make a cosmic variance independent measurement of the extragalactic number counts. These data consist of 323 small-area mapping observations performed uniformly across the sky, and thus represent a sparse sampling of the astronomical sky with an effective coverage of ~2.5 deg^2. We find our cosmic variance independent analysis to be consistent with previous count measurements made using relatively small area surveys. Furthermore, we find no statistically significant cosmic variance on any scale within the errors of our data. Finally, we interpret these results to estimate the probability of galaxy source confusion in the study of debris discs.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication by MNRAS Letter

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• Herschel's "Cold Debris Disks": Background Galaxies or Quiescent Rims of Planetary Systems?
• Stellar Multiplicity and Debris Disks: An Unbiased Sample
• Herschel Observations of Debris Discs Orbiting Planet-hosting Subgiants
• New debris disks in nearby young moving groups
• Discovery of the Fomalhaut C debris disc
• The Herschel Cold Debris Disks: Confusion with the Extragalactic Background at 160 mu
• Herschel and Spitzer observations of slowly rotating, nearby isolated neutron stars
• Herschel Observations of Disks around Late-type Stars
• A Herschel resolved debris disc around HD 105211
• A young hierarchical triple system harbouring a candidate debris disc
• Infrared excesses in stars with and without planets using revised $WISE$ photometry
• Collisional parameters of planetesimal belts, precursor of debris disks, perturbed by a nearby giant planet