TY - JOUR
T1 - HerMES: Current Cosmic Infrared Background Estimates Can Be Explained by Known Galaxies and Their Faint Companions at z <4
AU - Viero, M. P.
AU - Moncelsi, L.
AU - Quadri, R. F.
AU - Béthermin, M.
AU - Bock, J.
AU - Burgarella, D.
AU - Chapman, S. C.
AU - Clements, D. L.
AU - Conley, A.
AU - Conversi, L.
AU - Duivenvoorden, S.
AU - Dunlop, J. S.
AU - Farrah, D.
AU - Franceschini, A.
AU - Halpern, M.
AU - Ivison, R. J.
AU - Lagache, G.
AU - Magdis, G.
AU - Marchetti, L.
AU - Álvarez-Márquez, J.
AU - Marsden, G.
AU - Oliver, S. J.
AU - Page, M. J.
AU - Pérez-Fournon, I.
AU - Schulz, B.
AU - Scott, Douglas
AU - Valtchanov, I.
AU - Vieira, J. D.
AU - Wang, L.
AU - Wardlow, J.
AU - Zemcov, M.
PY - 2015/8/1
Y1 - 2015/8/1
N2 - We report contributions to cosmic infrared background (CIB) intensities
originating from known galaxies and their faint companions at
submillimeter wavelengths. Using the publicly available UltraVISTA
catalog and maps at 250, 350, and 500 μm from the Herschel
Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey, we perform a novel measurement that
exploits the fact that uncataloged sources may bias stacked flux
densities—particularly if the resolution of the image is
poor—and intentionally smooth the images before stacking and
summing intensities. By smoothing the maps we are capturing the
contribution of faint (undetected in {K}S˜ 23.4) sources
that are physically associated, or correlated, with the detected
sources. We find that the cumulative CIB increases with increased
smoothing, reaching 9.82 ± 0.78, 5.77 ± 0.43 and 2.32+/-
0.19 {{nWm}}-2 {{sr}}-1 at 250, 350, and 500 μm
at 300 {arcsec} FWHM. This corresponds to a fraction of the fiducial CIB
of 0.94 ± 0.23, 1.07 ± 0.31, and 0.97 ± 0.26 at
250, 350, and 500 μm, where the uncertainties are dominated by those
of the absolute CIB. We then propose, with a simple model combining
parametric descriptions for stacked flux densities and stellar mass
functions, that emission from galaxies with log(M/{M}⊙
)\gt 8.5 can account for most of the measured total intensities
and argue against contributions from extended, diffuse emission.
Finally, we discuss prospects for future survey instruments to improve
the estimates of the absolute CIB levels, and observe any potentially
remaining emission at z\gt 4.
AB - We report contributions to cosmic infrared background (CIB) intensities
originating from known galaxies and their faint companions at
submillimeter wavelengths. Using the publicly available UltraVISTA
catalog and maps at 250, 350, and 500 μm from the Herschel
Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey, we perform a novel measurement that
exploits the fact that uncataloged sources may bias stacked flux
densities—particularly if the resolution of the image is
poor—and intentionally smooth the images before stacking and
summing intensities. By smoothing the maps we are capturing the
contribution of faint (undetected in {K}S˜ 23.4) sources
that are physically associated, or correlated, with the detected
sources. We find that the cumulative CIB increases with increased
smoothing, reaching 9.82 ± 0.78, 5.77 ± 0.43 and 2.32+/-
0.19 {{nWm}}-2 {{sr}}-1 at 250, 350, and 500 μm
at 300 {arcsec} FWHM. This corresponds to a fraction of the fiducial CIB
of 0.94 ± 0.23, 1.07 ± 0.31, and 0.97 ± 0.26 at
250, 350, and 500 μm, where the uncertainties are dominated by those
of the absolute CIB. We then propose, with a simple model combining
parametric descriptions for stacked flux densities and stellar mass
functions, that emission from galaxies with log(M/{M}⊙
)\gt 8.5 can account for most of the measured total intensities
and argue against contributions from extended, diffuse emission.
Finally, we discuss prospects for future survey instruments to improve
the estimates of the absolute CIB levels, and observe any potentially
remaining emission at z\gt 4.
KW - cosmology: observations
KW - galaxies: evolution
KW - infrared: galaxies
KW - large-scale structure of universe
KW - submillimeter: galaxies
U2 - 10.1088/2041-8205/809/2/L22
DO - 10.1088/2041-8205/809/2/L22
M3 - Article
SN - 2041-8205
VL - 809
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
IS - 2
ER -