CaltechAUTHORS
Published June 2023 | Version Published
Journal Article Open

Searching for Intragroup Light in Deep U-band Imaging of the COSMOS Field

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon Arizona State University
  • 2. ROR icon Space Telescope Science Institute
  • 3. ROR icon Trieste Astronomical Observatory
  • 4. ROR icon Astronomical Observatory of Rome
  • 5. ROR icon Las Campanas Observatory
  • 6. ROR icon University of Virginia
  • 7. ROR icon Minnesota State University, Mankato
  • 8. ROR icon University of Minnesota
  • 9. ROR icon Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
  • 10. ROR icon University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • 11. ROR icon National Astronomical Observatories
  • 12. ROR icon Johns Hopkins University

Abstract

We present the results of deep, ground based U-band imaging with the Large Binocular Telescope of the Cosmic Evolution Survey field as part of the near-UV imaging program, UVCANDELS. We utilize a seeing sorted stacking method along with night-to-night relative transparency corrections to create optimal depth and optimal resolution mosaics in the U-band, which are capable of reaching point source magnitudes of AB∼26.5 mag at 3σ. These ground-based mosaics bridge the wavelength gap between the Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 F275W and ACS F435W images and are necessary to understand galaxy assembly in the last 9–10 Gyr. We use the depth of these mosaics to search for the presence of U-band intragroup light (IGrL) beyond the local universe. Regardless of how groups are scaled and stacked, we do not detect any U-band IGrL to unprecedented U-band depths of ∼29.1–29.6 mag arcsec⁻², which corresponds to an IGrL fraction of ≲1% of the total group light. This stringent upper limit suggests that IGrL does not contribute significantly to the Extragalactic Background Light at short wavelengths. Furthermore, the lack of UV IGrL observed in these stacks suggests that the atomic gas observed in the intragroup medium is likely not dense enough to trigger star formation on large scales. Future studies may detect IGrL by creating similar stacks at longer wavelengths or by pre-selecting groups which are older and/or more dynamically evolved similar to past IGrL observations of compact groups and loose groups with signs of gravitational interactions.

Additional Information

© 2023. The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd on behalf of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP). Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. The Arizona State University authors acknowledge the twenty three Native Nations that have inhabited this land for centuries. Arizona State University's four campuses are located in the Salt River Valley on ancestral territories of Indigenous peoples, including the Akimel Oodham (Pima) and Pee Posh (Maricopa) Indian Communities, whose care and keeping of these lands allows us to be here today. We acknowledge the sovereignty of these nations and seek to foster an environment of success and possibility for Native American students and patrons. T.M. would like to thank Brad Koplitz, Mansi Padave, and Alejandro Olvera for their thoughtful discussion and input throughout this project. The authors acknowledge support from UVCANDELS grant HST-GO-15647 provided by NASA through the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-2655, and from NASA JWST Interdisciplinary Scientist grants NAG5-12460, NNX14AN10G and 80NSSC18K0200 from GSFC. The LBT is an international collaboration among institutions in the United States, Italy, and Germany. LBT Corporation partners are The University of Arizona on behalf of the Arizona university system; Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Italy; LBT Beteiligungsgesellschaft, Germany, representing the Max-Planck Society, the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, and Heidelberg University; The Ohio State University; and The Research Corporation, on behalf of The University of Notre Dame, University of Minnesota, and University of Virginia. Software: Astropy (Astropy Collaboration et al. 2013, 2018, 2022); SExtractor (Bertin & Arnouts 1996); Swarp (Bertin et al. 2002; Bertin & Amorisco 2010).

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Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
122398
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20230725-746007000.22

Funding

NASA
HST-GO-15647
NASA
NAS 5-2655
NASA
NAG5-12460
NASA
NNX14AN10G
NASA
80NSSC18K0200
LBT Corporation Partners

Dates

Created
2023-08-18
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2023-08-18
Created from EPrint's last_modified field