The H$α$ Luminosity Function and Global Star Formation Rate From Redshifts of One to Two

Lin Yan; Patrick J. McCarthy; Wolfram Freudling; Harry I. Teplitz; Eliot M. Malumuth; Ray J. Weymann; Matthew A. Malkan

doi:10.1086/312099

paper

The H $α$ Luminosity Function and Global Star Formation Rate From Redshifts of One to Two

arXiv:astro-ph/9904427 · doi:10.1086/312099

Abstract

We present a luminosity function for H $α$ emission from galaxies at redshifts between 0.7 and 1.9 based on slitless spectroscopy with NICMOS on HST. The luminosity function is well fit by a Schechter function over the range $6 \times 1 0^{41} < L (H α) < 2 \times 1 0^{43} er g / sec$ with $L^{*} = 7 \times 1 0^{42} er g / sec$ and $ϕ^{*} = 1.7 \times 1 0^{- 3} M p c^{- 3}$ for $H_{0} = 50 k m / s M p c^{- 1}$ and $q_{0} = 0.5$ . We derive a volume averaged star formation rate at $z = 1.3 \pm 0.5$ of 0.13 M_{\odot} yr^{-1} Mpc^{-3} without correction for extinction. The SFR that we derive at $\sim 6500 A ˚ i s a f a c t or o f 3 hi g h er t han t ha t d e d u ce df r o m 2800 A ˚ co n t in u a . I f t hi s d i f f er e n ce i s d u ee n t i r e l y t or e dd e nin g, t h ee x t in c t i o n cor r ec t i o na t 2800 A ˚ i s q u i t es i g ni f i c an t . T h e p r ec i se ma g ni t u d eo f t h e t o t a l e x t in c t i o n cor r ec t i o na t r es t - f r am e U V w a v e l e n g t h s (e . g .2800 A ˚ an d 1500 A ˚) i sse n s i t i v e t o t h er e l a t i v es p a t ia l d i s t r ib u t i o n o f t h es t a r s, g a s an dd u s t, a s w e l l a so n t h ee x t in c t i o n l a w . I n t h ee x t r e m ec a seo f ah o m o g e n eo u s f or e g r o u n dd u s t scr ee nan d a M W or L M C e x t in c t i o n l a w, w e d er i v e a t o t a l e x t in c t i o na t 2800 A ˚ o f 2.1 ma g ni t u d es, or a f a c t or o f 7 cor r ec t i o n t o t h e U V l u min os i t y d e n s i t y . I f w e u se t h e C a l z e tt i r e dd e nin g c u r v e, w hi c h w a s d er i v e df or t h e m o d e l w h er es t a r s, g a s an dd u s t a r e w e l l mi x e d an d n e b u l a r g a ss u f f er s m or ee x t in c t i o n t han s t a r s, o u r es t ima t eo f A$ _{2800}$ is increased by more than one magnitude.

11 pages, 2 postscript figures. Accepted for the publication in the ApJ Letters

The Hα Luminosity Function and Global Star Formation Rate From Redshifts of One to Two

Abstract

Cited by in corpus (131)

The H $α$ Luminosity Function and Global Star Formation Rate From Redshifts of One to Two