The ultraviolet luminosity function of star-forming galaxies between redshifts of 0.6 and 1.2

M. J. Page; T. Dwelly; I. McHardy; N. Seymour; K. O. Mason; M. Sharma; J. A. Kennea; T. P. Sasseen; J. I. Rawlings; A. A. Breeveld; I. Ferreras; N. S. Loaring; D. J. Walton; M. Symeonidis

doi:10.1093/mnras/stab1638

arXiv · 2106.08200

The ultraviolet luminosity function of star-forming galaxies between redshifts of 0.6 and 1.2

M. J. Page·T. Dwelly·I. McHardy·N. Seymour·K. O. Mason·M. Sharma·J. A. Kennea·T. P. Sasseen·J. I. Rawlings·A. A. Breeveld·I. Ferreras·N. S. Loaring·D. J. Walton·M. Symeonidis

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Abstract

We use ultraviolet imaging taken with the XMM-Newton Optical Monitor telescope (XMM-OM), covering 280 square arcminutes in the UVW1 band (effective wavelength 2910 Angstroms) to measure rest-frame ultraviolet (1500 Angstrom) luminosity functions of galaxies with redshifts z between 0.6 and 1.2. The XMM-OM data are supplemented by a large body of optical and infrared imaging to provide photometric redshifts. The XMM-OM data have a significantly narrower point-spread-function (resulting in less source confusion) and simpler K-correction than the GALEX data previously employed in this redshift range. Ultraviolet-bright active galactic nuclei are excluded to ensure that the luminosity functions relate directly to the star-forming galaxy population. Binned luminosity functions and parametric Schechter-function fits are derived in two redshift intervals: 0.6<z<0.8 and 0.8<z<1.2. We find that the luminosity function evolves such that the characteristic absolute magnitude M* is brighter for 0.8<z<1.2 than for 0.6<z<0.8.

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M. J. Page, T. Dwelly, I. McHardy, N. Seymour, K. O. Mason, M. Sharma, J. A. Kennea, T. P. Sasseen, J. I. Rawlings, A. A. Breeveld, I. Ferreras, N. S. Loaring, D. J. Walton, M. Symeonidis. 2021-06-15. The ultraviolet luminosity function of star-forming galaxies between redshifts of 0.6 and 1.2. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1638

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