Object Sizes from Reionization to the Present, and the Natural Confusion Limit Expected in Ultradeep Surveys

Details Object Sizes from Reionization to the Present, and the Natural Confusion Limit Expected in Ultradeep Surveys Object Sizes from Reionization to the Present, and the Natural Confusion Limit Expected in Ultradeep Surveys

Dec 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002aas...201.3207w&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, 201st AAS Meeting, #32.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 34, p.1154

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

5

Scientific paper

We discuss the ph natural confusion limit for the 6m James Webb Space Telescope (JWST; launch planned in 2010), and for the Square Kilometer Array (SKA; becoming reality in a decade). First, we summarize the observed half-light radius vs. flux relation for the galaxy population from the RC3 level to the HDF limit. Together with size estimates from hierarchical models fainter than J(1.35μ )AB~=28 mag and model extrapolations of the faint galaxy counts from JAB~=28 to 34 mag, we estimate the ph natural confusion limit for JWST due to the finite object sizes. A rather unexpected result is that for ultradeep surveys with ~=0.1" FWHM resolution, the ph natural confusion limit may become ph more important in the definition of faint source samples than the traditional surface brightness (SB) limits. This may already be somewhat visible in the deepest HDF images for AB>=25 mag. This does, however, ph not mean that the deepest JWST samples will be fundamentally limited by ph natural confusion. Instead, for JAB>=28--30 mag, faint objects seen by JWST are likely mostly unresolved at 0.08" FWHM. In this case, the deepest JWST images will be limited only by ph instrumental confusion (i.e., by the telescope FWHM), which doesn't set in until around JAB>=33.5 mag. Last, we compute the SKA ph natural confusion limit from the JWST results, assuming that the same population of faint irregular, peculiar and merging/star-forming objects that dominates the faint galaxy counts likely dominates the radio source counts at nanoJansky levels. The SKA will need to have resolutions better than 50--100 m.a.s. (FWHM) to not run into the ph instrumental confusion limit at nanoJy levels. At S1.4~=10 nanoJy, the SKA will likely not run into the ph natural confusion limit, ph if the slope of the nanoJy counts remains below γ <=1.7 ph and if the ratio of radio to optical--near-IR sizes remains close to unity. We acknowledge funding from NASA Grant NAG5-12460.

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