Star-Forming Galaxies at z~0.61

Abstract

In this work we have studied a sample of 41 galaxies with active star formation at z ∼ 0.61 selected by their emission in Halpha in ultradeep images (32h exposure time) taken with a narrow-band filter in the near-infrared with HAWK-I instrument on the VLT. The aim is to characterize the physical and global properties of this sample of galaxies. We have calculated the luminosity function, getting the deepest determination of the alpha parameter to date, and the star formation rate density of the universe at z ~ 0.61. We have studied the relations between extinction and star formation rate (SFR) and between SFR and stellar mass in the sample. We have performed a morphological and spectroscopical classification of the objects.