Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) : mid-infrared properties and empirical relations from WISE.

Authors

M. E. Cluver, University of Cape Town
T. H. Jarrett, University of Cape Town
A. M. Hopkins, Australian Astronomical Observatory
S. P. Driver, University of Western Australia
J. Liske, European Southern Observatory
M. L. P. Gunawardhana, Durham University
E. N. Taylor, The University of Melbourne
A. S. G. Robotham, University of Western Australia
M. Alpaslan, University of St. Andrews
I. Baldry, Liverpool John Moores University
M. J. I. Brown, Monash University
J. A. Peacock, University of Edinburgh
C. C. Popescu, University of Central Lancashire
R. J. Tuffs, Max Planck Institut fuer Kernphysik
A. E. Bauer, Australian Astronomical Observatory
J. Bland-Hawthorn, University of Sydney
M. Colless, Australian National University
Benne W. Holwerda, University of Louisville
M. A. Lara-Lopez, Australian Astronomical Observatory
K. Leschinski, University of Vienna
A. R. Lopez-Sanchez, Australian Astronomical Observatory
P. Norberg, Durham University
M. S. Owers, Australian Astronomical Observatory
L. Wang, Durham University
S. M. Wilkins, University of Sussex

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2014

Department

Physics and Astronomy

Abstract

The Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey furnishes a deep redshift catalog that, when combined with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), allows us to explore for the first time the mid-infrared properties of >110,000 galaxies over 120 deg2 to z 0.5. In this paper we detail the procedure for producing the matched GAMA-WISE catalog for the G12 and G15 fields, in particular characterizing and measuring resolved sources; the complete catalogs for all three GAMA equatorial fields will be made available through the GAMA public releases. The wealth of multiwavelength photometry and optical spectroscopy allows us to explore empirical relations between optically determined stellar mass (derived from synthetic stellar population models) and 3.4μm and 4.6μm WISE measurements. Similarly dust-corrected Hα-derived star formation rates can be compared to 12μm and 22μm luminosities to quantify correlations that can be applied to large samples to z < 0.5. To illustrate the applications of these relations, we use the 12μm star formation prescription to investigate the behavior of specific star formation within the GAMA-WISE sample and underscore the ability of WISE to detect star-forming systems at z ∼ 0.5. Within galaxy groups (determined by a sophisticated friends-of-friends scheme), results suggest that galaxies with a neighbor within 100 h−1 kpc have, on average, lower specific star formation rates than typical GAMA galaxies with the same stellar mass.

Comments

Copyright 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/782/2/90

Original Publication Information

Cluver, M. E., et al. "Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): Mid-infrared Properties and Empirical Relations from WISE." 2014. The Astrophysical Journal 782(2): 17 pp.

ThinkIR Citation

Cluver, M. E.; Jarrett, T. H.; Hopkins, A. M.; Driver, S. P.; Liske, J.; Gunawardhana, M. L. P.; Taylor, E. N.; Robotham, A. S. G.; Alpaslan, M.; Baldry, I.; Brown, M. J. I.; Peacock, J. A.; Popescu, C. C.; Tuffs, R. J.; Bauer, A. E.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Colless, M.; Holwerda, Benne W.; Lara-Lopez, M. A.; Leschinski, K.; Lopez-Sanchez, A. R.; Norberg, P.; Owers, M. S.; Wang, L.; and Wilkins, S. M., "Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) : mid-infrared properties and empirical relations from WISE." (2014). Faculty and Staff Scholarship. 204.
https://ir.library.louisville.edu/faculty/204

DOI

10.1088/0004-637X/782/2/90