arXiv · astro-ph/0210146
A VLT/FORS2 spectroscopic survey in the HDF-S
Abstract
We report on low-resolution multi-object spectroscopy of 65 objects from I(AB) ~= 20 to I(AB) ~= 25 in the HDF-S obtained with the VLT Focal Reducer/low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS2). 18 objects belong to the HDF-S proper, i.e. the WFPC2 deep area. 15 high-redshift galaxies with 2.0 < z < 3.5 (10 in the HDF-S proper) have been identified. The spectroscopic redshifts are in good agreement with the photometric ones derived from a chi^{2} minimization technique comparing the observed spectral energy distribution with synthetic libraries and with a new neural network (NN) approach. The dispersion with the former method is sigma_z=0.16 whereas the latter provides sigma_z=0.13. No "catastrophic" difference is encountered. The inferred star formation rates of the individual objects range from tens to a few hundreds of M_{\odot} yr^{-1} and the global star formation rate of the Universe at =~2.4 is estimated to be 0.15 M_{\odot} yr^{-1} Mpc^{-3} with a statistical error of 0.04. Evidence for large scale structure is found with two groups' redshifts observed at z ~= 2.1 and z ~= 2.7 and a pronounced low redshift peak around z ~= 0.58. An elliptical galaxy lensing a background object turns out to be at a redshift z=0.577.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Explore connections, maps & timelines
E. Vanzella, S. Cristiani, S. Arnouts, M. Dennefeld, A. Fontana, A. Grazian, M. Nonino, P. Petitjean, P. Saracco. 2002-10-07. A VLT/FORS2 spectroscopic survey in the HDF-S. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361%3A20021453
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.