BayeSED: A General Approach to Fitting the Spectral Energy Distribution of Galaxies

Abstract

We present a newly developed version of BayeSED, a general Bayesian approach to the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting of galaxies. The new BayeSED code has been systematically tested on a mock sample of galaxies. The comparison between estimated and inputted value of the parameters show that BayeSED can recover the physical parameters of galaxies reasonably well. We then applied BayeSED to interpret the SEDs of a large Ks-selected sample of galaxies in the COSMOS/UltraVISTA field with stellar population synthesis models. With the new BayeSED code, a Bayesian model comparison of stellar population synthesis models has been done for the first time. We found that the model by Bruzual & Charlot (2003), statistically speaking, has larger Bayesian evidence than the model by Maraston (2005) for the Ks-selected sample. Besides, while setting the stellar metallicity as a free parameter obviously increases the Bayesian evidence of both models, varying the IMF has a notable effect only on the Maraston (2005) model. Meanwhile, the physical parameters estimated with BayeSED are found to be generally consistent with those obtained with the popular grid-based FAST code, while the former exhibits more natural distributions. Based on the estimated physical parameters of galaxies in the sample, we qualitatively classified the galaxies in the sample into five populations that may represent galaxies at different evolution stages or in different environments. We conclude that BayeSED could be a reliable and powerful tool for investigating the formation and evolution of galaxies from the rich multi-wavelength observations currently available. A binary version of MPI parallelized BayeSED code is publicly available at https://bitbucket.org/hanyk/bayesed.

arXiv comment25 pages, 39 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJS. A 64bit binary version of BayeSED for Mac/Linux is publicly available at https://bitbucket.org/hanyk/bayesed/ Comments are welcome!

References in corpus (108)

• Stellar population synthesis at the resolution of 2003
• Galactic Stellar and Substellar Initial Mass Function
• On the variation of the Initial Mass Function
• The Dust Content and Opacity of Actively Star-Forming Galaxies
• The Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Nine-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Parameter Results
• Simulating the joint evolution of quasars, galaxies and their large-scale distribution
• The Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Mission
• The many lives of active galactic nuclei: cooling flows, black holes and the luminosities and colours of galaxies
• The Origin of the Mass--Metallicity Relation: Insights from 53,000 Star-Forming Galaxies in the SDSS
• Energy input from quasars regulates the growth and activity of black holes and their host galaxies
• Correcting for the Effects of Interstellar Extinction
• MultiNest: an efficient and robust Bayesian inference tool for cosmology and particle physics
• The broken hierarchy of galaxy formation
• The Galaxy Evolution Explorer: A Space Ultraviolet Survey Mission
• Stellar Masses and Star Formation Histories for 10^5 Galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• The Optical and Near-Infrared Properties of Galaxies: I. Luminosity and Stellar Mass Functions
• Modeling feedback from stars and black holes in galaxy mergers
• The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: Power-spectrum analysis of the final dataset and cosmological implications
• High Redshift Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field. Color Selection and Star Formation History to z=4
• The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) -- Overview
• Hierarchical Galaxy Formation
• Evolutionary population synthesis: models, analysis of the ingredients and application to high-z galaxies
• The propagation of uncertainties in stellar population synthesis modeling I: The relevance of uncertain aspects of stellar evolution and the IMF to the derived physical properties of galaxies
• A Unified, Merger-Driven Model for the Origin of Starbursts, Quasars, the Cosmic X-Ray Background, Supermassive Black Holes and Galaxy Spheroids
• EAZY: A Fast, Public Photometric Redshift Code
• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Likelihoods and Parameters from the WMAP data
• The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey: Initial Results From Optical and Near-Infrared Imaging
• Multimodal nested sampling: an efficient and robust alternative to MCMC methods for astronomical data analysis
• UV Star Formation Rates in the Local Universe
• Quantifying the bimodal color-magnitude distribution of galaxies
• A Cosmological Framework for the Co-Evolution of Quasars, Supermassive Black Holes, and Elliptical Galaxies: I. Galaxy Mergers & Quasar Activity
• The Environmental Dependence of the Relations between Stellar Mass, Structure, Star Formation and Nuclear Activity in Galaxies
• A simple model to interpret the ultraviolet, optical and infrared emission from galaxies
• The ages and metallicities of galaxies in the local universe
• The size distribution of galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Bayesian photometric redshift estimation
• A Semi-Analytic Model for the Co-evolution of Galaxies, Black Holes, and Active Galactic Nuclei
• The propagation of uncertainties in stellar population synthesis modeling III: model calibration, comparison, and evaluation
• An ultra-deep near-infrared spectrum of a compact quiescent galaxy at z=2.2
• Analysis of galaxy SEDs from far-UV to far-IR with CIGALE: Studying a SINGS test sample
• Modeling the Panchromatic Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies
• Spectral Energy Distributions of Hard X-ray selected AGNs in the XMDS Survey
• The physics driving the cosmic star formation history
• UltraVISTA: a new ultra-deep near-infrared survey in COSMOS
• AGN Dusty Tori: II. Observational Implications of Clumpiness
• SWIRE: The SIRTF Wide-area InfraRed Extragalactic Survey
• AGN Dusty Tori: I. Handling of Clumpy Media
• The All-wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey (AEGIS) Data Sets
• First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Parameter Estimation Methodology
• Revisiting the Infrared Spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei with a New Torus Emission Model
• The Universality of the Stellar IMF
• ANNz: estimating photometric redshifts using artificial neural networks
• Dust Emission from Active Galactic Nuclei
• ULySS: A Full Spectrum Fitting Package
• A Cosmological Framework for the Co-Evolution of Quasars, Supermassive Black Holes, and Elliptical Galaxies: II. Formation of Red Ellipticals
• A Public Ks-selected Catalog in the COSMOS/UltraVISTA Field: Photometry, Photometric Redshifts and Stellar Population Parameters
• GAMA: towards a physical understanding of galaxy formation
• Evidence for TP-AGB stars in high redshift galaxies, and their effect on deriving stellar population parameters
• Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics in Astrophysics
• A Nested Sampling Algorithm for Cosmological Model Selection
• Fitting the integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies
• Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy
• Star formation rates and masses of z ~ 2 galaxies from multicolour photometry
• Stellar Content from high resolution galactic spectra via Maximum A Posteriori
• Recovering galaxy star formation and metallicity histories from spectra using VESPA
• Recovering galaxy stellar population properties from broad-band spectral energy distribution fitting
• The propagation of uncertainties in stellar population synthesis modeling II: The challenge of comparing galaxy evolution models to observations
• Stellar populations in the nuclei of late-type spiral galaxies
• A binary model for the UV-upturn of elliptical galaxies (MNRAS version)
• Estimating photometric redshifts with artificial neural networks
• New Constraints on the Star Formation Histories and Dust Attenuation of Galaxies in the Local Universe from GALEX
• Spectroscopic ages and metallicities of stellar populations: validation of full spectrum fitting
• How well can we really estimate the stellar masses of galaxies from broadband photometry?
• The Spectral Energy Distribution of Post-Starburst Galaxies in the NEWFIRM Medium-Band Survey: A Low Contribution from TP-AGB Stars
• Colour corrections for high redshift objects due to intergalactic attenuation
• Efficient Bayesian inference for multimodal problems in cosmology
• Modeling the cosmological co-evolution of supermassive black holes and galaxies: I. BH scaling relations and the AGN luminosity function
• Balancing the Energy Budget between Star-Formation and AGN in High Redshift Infrared Luminous Galaxies
• Evolution of the Most Massive Galaxies to z=0.6: I. A New Method for Physical Parameter Estimation
• Near Infrared spectroscopy of post-starburst galaxies: a limited impact of TP-AGB stars on galaxy SEDs
• Modeling the cosmological co-evolution of supermassive black holes and galaxies: II. The clustering of quasars and their dark environment
• Universal IMF vs dark halo response in early-type galaxies: breaking the degeneracy with the fundamental plane
• Use of the MultiNest algorithm for gravitational wave data analysis
• SED fitting with Markov Chain Monte Carlo: Methodology and Application to z=3.1 Lyman Alpha Emitting Galaxies
• CIGALEMC: Galaxy Parameter Estimation using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo Approach with Cigale
• A new method for classifying galaxy SEDs from multi-wavelength photometry
• The VVDS-SWIRE-GALEX-CFHTLS surveys: Physical properties of galaxies at z below 1.2 from photometric data
• Inclusion of Binaries in Evolutionary Population Synthesis
• The blue stragglers formed via mass transfer in old open clusters
• Primordial Binary Evolution and Blue Stragglers
• The effect of thermally pulsating asymptotic giant branch stars on the evolution of the rest-frame near-infrared galaxy luminosity function
• Metallicity and the Universality of the IMF
• The stochastic nature of stellar population modelling
• SATMC: Spectral Energy Distribution Analysis Through Markov Chains
• Decoding spectral energy distributions of dust-obscured starburst-AGN
• Recovering galaxy stellar population properties from broad-band spectral energy distribution fitting II. The case with unknown redshift
• Prospects for dark matter detection with IceCube in the context of the CMSSM
• An Isochrone Database and a Rapid Model for Stellar Population Synthesis
• Effects of tidally enhanced stellar wind on the horizontal branch morphology of globular clusters
• Use of neural networks for the identification of new z>=3.6 QSOs from FIRST-SDSS DR5
• Bayesian constraints on dark matter halo properties using gravitationally-lensed supernovae
• Potential Importance of Binary Evolution in UV-Optical Spectral Fitting of Early-Type Galaxies
• Modelling the dusty universe I: Introducing the artificial neural network and first applications to luminosity and colour distributions
• Modelling the spectral energy distribution of galaxies: introducing the artificial neural network
• Classifying LISA gravitational wave burst signals using Bayesian evidence
• Evolution of luminosity function and obscuration of AGN: connecting X-ray and Infrared
• Energetic constraints to chemo-photometric evolution of spiral galaxies

Cited by in corpus (52)

• Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis Version 2.1: construction, observational verification and new results
• Deriving Physical Properties from Broadband Photometry with Prospector: Description of the Model and a Demonstration of its Accuracy Using 129 Galaxies in the Local Universe
• Modelling and interpreting spectral energy distributions of galaxies with BEAGLE
• A New Census of the 0.2 < z < 3.0 Universe, Part I: The Stellar Mass Function
• Deep Extragalactic VIsible Legacy Survey (DEVILS): SED Fitting in the D10-COSMOS Field and the Evolution of the Stellar Mass Function and SFR-$M_{\star }$ relation
• Old and young stellar populations in DustPedia galaxies and their role in dust heating
• HELP: modelling the spectral energy distributions of Herschel detected galaxies in the ELAIS N1 field
• The most-luminous heavily-obscured quasars have a high merger fraction: morphological study of WISE-selected hot dust-obscured galaxies
• On the Gas Content and Efficiency of AGN Feedback in Low-redshift Quasars
• Hot dust in Panchromatic SED Fitting: Identification of AGN and improved galaxy properties
• Fitting Analysis using Differential Evolution Optimization (FADO): Spectral population synthesis through genetic optimization under self-consistency boundary conditions
• MAGPHYS+photo-z: Constraining the Physical Properties of Galaxies with Unknown Redshifts
• SPECULATOR: Emulating stellar population synthesis for fast and accurate galaxy spectra and photometry
• Infrared spectral energy distribution decomposition of WISE-selected, hyperluminous hot dust-obscured galaxies
• Understanding the Scatter in the Spatially-resolved Star Formation Main Sequence of Local Massive Spiral Galaxies
• Introducing piXedfit -- a Spectral Energy Distribution Fitting Code Designed for Resolved Sources
• The Impact of Star Formation Histories on Stellar Mass Estimation: Implications from the Local Group Dwarf Galaxies
• A machine learning approach to galaxy properties: joint redshift-stellar mass probability distributions with Random Forest
• A Comprehensive Bayesian Discrimination of the Simple Stellar Population Model, Star Formation History and Dust Attenuation Law in the Spectral Energy Distribution Modeling of Galaxies
• A census of optically dark massive galaxies in the early Universe from magnification by lensing galaxy clusters
• Systematic biases in determining dust attenuation curves through galaxy SED fitting
• The SCUBA-2 850 $\mu m$ follow-up of WISE-selected, luminous dust-obscured quasars
• MCSED: A flexible spectral energy distribution fitting code and its application to $z\sim 2$ emission-line galaxies
• The nearby extreme accretion and feedback system PDS 456: finding a complex radio-emitting nucleus
• Bayesian hierarchical modelling of the ${\mathrm{M}}_{\star }$-SFR relation from 1<z<6 in ASTRODEEP
• The dust properties and physical conditions of the interstellar medium in the LMC massive star forming complex N11
• Starduster: A multi-wavelength SED model based on radiative transfer simulations and deep learning
• Physical properties of hyperluminous, dust-obscured quasars at $z\sim 3$: multiwavelength Spectral Energy Distribution analysis and cold gas content revealed by ALMA
• Alma Reveals A Gas-rich, Maximum-starburst In The Hyperluminous, Dust-obscured Quasar W0533-3401 AT $z\sim 2.9$
• Getting ready for the LSST data -- estimating the physical properties of $z<2.5$ main sequence galaxies
• The Belgian repository of fundamental atomic data and stellar spectra (BRASS) II. Quality assessment of atomic data for unblended lines in FGK stars
• pop-cosmos: Scaleable inference of galaxy properties and redshifts with a data-driven population model
• CSST Large-scale Structure Analysis Pipeline: II. the CSST Emulator for Slitless Spectroscopy (CESS)
• Lightning: An X-ray to Submillimeter Galaxy SED-Fitting Code With Physically-Motivated Stellar, Dust, and AGN Models
• Probing the spectral shape of dust emission with the DustPedia galaxy sample
• Detecting episodes of star formation using Bayesian model selection
• Panchromatic SED fitting codes and modelling techniques
• pop-cosmos: Insights from generative modeling of a deep, infrared-selected galaxy population
• Euclid preparation. Spatially resolved stellar populations of local galaxies with Euclid: a proof of concept using synthetic images with the TNG50 simulation
• A new approach to constraining properties of AGN host galaxies by combining image and SED decomposition: testing upon the MBH-M* relation
• Data-Space Validation of High-Dimensional Models by Comparing Sample Quantiles
• Magellan/M2FS Spectroscopy of Galaxy Clusters: Stellar Population Model and Application to Abell 267
• Improved SED-Fitting Assumptions Result in Inside-Out Quenching at $z\sim 0.5$ and Quenching at All Radii Simultaneously at $z\sim 1$
• A unique distant submillimeter galaxy with an X-ray-obscured radio-luminous active galactic nucleus
• A Catalog of Stellar and Dust Properties for 500,000 Stars in the Southwest Bar of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• ALMA High-J CO Spectroscopy of High-Redshift Galaxies. II. 0.03" Resolution CO Kinematics Reveal Super-Eddington Accretion in a Dust-Obscured Galaxy at z=3.111
• The $M_{\mathrm{BH}}-M_{\star }$ Relation of the hyperluminous Dust-obscured Quasars up to $z\sim 4$
• The dust-star interplay in late-type galaxies at z < 0.5: forecasts for the JWST
• Precise Parameters from Bayesian SED Fitting Indicate Thermally-Driven Mass Loss Likely Driver of Radius Valley
• The gMOSS: the galaxy survey and galaxy populations of the large homogeneous field
• Multiwavelength Properties of Infrared-Faint Radio Sources Based on Spectral Energy Distribution Analysis
• Bayesian discrimination of the panchromatic spectral energy distribution modelings of galaxies