The MOSDEF Survey: Calibrating the relationship between H α star-formation rate and radio continuum luminosity at 1.4 <z <2.6

Kenneth J. Duncan, Irene Shivaei, Alice E. Shapley, Naveen A. Reddy, Bahram Mobasher, Alison L. Coil, Mariska Kriek, Brian Siana

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The observed empirical relation between the star formation rates (SFR) of low-redshift galaxies and their radio continuum luminosity offers a potential means of measuring SFR in high-redshift galaxies that is unaffected by dust obscuration. In this study, we make the first test for redshift evolution in the SFR-radio continuum relation at high redshift using dust-corrected H α SFR. Our sample consists of 178 galaxies from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) Survey at 1.4 < z < 2.6 with rest-frame optical spectroscopy and deep 1.5 GHz radio continuum observations from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) GOODS North field. Using a stacking analysis, we compare the observed radio continuum luminosities with those predicted from the dust-corrected H α SFR assuming a range of z ∼ 0 relations. We find no evidence for a systematic evolution with redshift, when stacking the radio continuum as a function of dust-corrected H α SFR and when stacking both optical spectroscopy and radio continuum as a function of stellar mass. We conclude that locally calibrated relations between SFR and radio continuum luminosity remain valid out to z ∼ 2.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3648-3657
Number of pages10
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume498
Issue number3
Early online date22 Aug 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2020

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • astro-ph.GA

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