An analysis of a full sky redshift survey of IRAS galaxies

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Galactic Clusters, Galaxies, Infrared Astronomy Satellite, Sky Surveys (Astronomy), Spatial Distribution, Astronomical Models, Correlation, Random Errors, Red Shift, Spectral Energy Distribution, Velocity Distribution, Astronomical Catalogs

Scientific paper

Results are presented from an all-sky redshift survey of 5307 galaxies extracted from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) Point Source Catalog. The analysis presented in this thesis focuses on the spatial distribution and clustering of IRAS galaxies in this survey. We present an in-depth analysis of the possibility of density evolution in the catalogue. We conclude that the 1.2 Jy IRAS survey is consistent with no evolution, if the comoving density of galaxies is characterized as evolving proportional to (1 + z)alpha, we find alpha = 2 +/- 3, where the quoted error includes both random and systematic components. The random errors in alpha, of order 2, arise primarily from counting statistics, and are comparable to those found by previous authors. We discuss a variety of important random and systematic errors which decrease the certainty with which we can measure evolution: limited knowledge of the cosmological model, the unknown intrinsic spectral energy distribution of IRAS galaxies from 16 to 140 mu m, the effect of density fluctuations, a Malmquist-like bias arising from flux errors in the parent IRAS Point Source Catalog, and possible incompleteness of the sample at high redshifts and low Galactic latitudes. We show that the Malmquist bias could result in a significant overestimation of the evolution rate, especially if the catalog has a flux limit near the completion limit of the Point Source Catalog. We examine the two-point correlation function of the sample in both real and redshift space. The redshift space correlation function, xi(s), is shown to be robust and independent of the depth of the sample in which it is computed. We have also computed the Fourier conjugate of the correlation function, the power spectrum of galaxy clustering, P(k), for the 1.2 Jy IRAS survey using a window function which minimizes the aliasing due to the sample boundaries. We compare the IRAS power spectrum qualitatively with a variety of theoretical models, and conclude with an update on the progress made in deriving the peculiar velocity field of IRAS galaxies from their redshift distribution.

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