The [O II] λ3727 luminosity function of the local universe
Loading...
Official URL
Full text at PDC
Publication date
2002
Advisors (or tutors)
Editors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Univ. Chicago Press
Citation
Abstract
The measurement of the star formation rate density of the universe is of prime importance in understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies. The [O ii] λ3727 emission-line flux, easy to measure up to z ≈ 1.4 within deep redshift surveys in the optical and up to in the near-infrared, offers a reliable means of z ≈ 5.4 characterizing the star formation properties of high-z objects. In order to provide the high-z studies with a local reference, we have measured total [O ii] λ3727 fluxes for the well-analyzed local sample of star-forming galaxies from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid Survey. These data are used to derive the [O ii] λ3727 luminosity function for local star-forming galaxies. When compared with similar luminosity densities published for redshift up to, the overall evolution already observed in the star formation activity of the universe is confirmed.
Description
© 2002 The American Astronomical Society. Valuable discussions with A. Alonso-Herrero, P. G. Pérez-González, and S. Pascual are gratefully acknowledged. We would also like to thank the anonymous referee for his/her useful suggestions that improved this Letter. This work was supported in part by the Spanish Plan Nacional de Astronomía y Astrofísica under grant AYA2000-1790.