Abstract / Description of output
UVCANDELS is a Hubble Space Telescope Cycle-26 Treasury Program awarded 164 orbits of primary ultraviolet (UV) F275W imaging and coordinated parallel optical F435W imaging in four CANDELS fields—GOODS-N, GOODS-S, EGS, and COSMOS—covering a total area of ∼426 arcmin2. This is ∼2.7 times larger than the area covered by previous deep-field space UV data combined, reaching a depth of about 27 and 28 ABmag (5σ in 0.”2 apertures) for F275W and F435W, respectively. Along with new photometric catalogs, we present an analysis of the rest-frame UV luminosity function (LF), relying on our UV-optimized aperture photometry method, yielding a factor of 1.5 increase over H-isophot aperture photometry in the signal-to-noise ratios of galaxies in our F275W imaging. Using well-tested photometric redshift measurements, we identify 5810 galaxies at redshifts 0.6 < z < 1, down to an absolute magnitude of M UV = −14.2. In order to minimize the effect of uncertainties in estimating the completeness function, especially at the faint end, we restrict our analysis to sources above 30% completeness, which provides a final sample of 4726 galaxies at −21.5 < M UV < −15.5. We performed a maximum likelihood estimate to derive the best-fit parameters of the UV LF. We report a best-fit faint-end slope of α = − 1.359 − 0.041 + 0.041 at z ∼ 0.8. Creating subsamples at z ∼ 0.7 and z ∼ 0.9, we observe a possible evolution of α with redshift. The unobscured UV luminosity density at M UV < −10 is derived as ρ U V = 1.339 − 0.030 + 0.027 ( × 10 26 e r g s − 1 H z − 1 M p c − 3 ) using our best-fit LF parameters. The new F275W and F435 photometric catalogs from UVCANDELS have been made publicly available on the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 8 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-14 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Astrophysical Journal |
Volume | 972 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 21 Aug 2024 |