Measuring Galaxy Environments with Deep Redshift Surveys

Details Measuring Galaxy Environments with Deep Redshift Surveys Measuring Galaxy Environments with Deep Redshift Surveys

2005-06-21

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0506518v1

Astrophys.J.634:833-848,2005

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

17 pages including 16 figures, accepted to ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/432868

We study the applicability of several galaxy environment measures (n^th-nearest-neighbor distance, counts in an aperture, and Voronoi volume) within deep redshift surveys. Mock galaxy catalogs are employed to mimic representative photometric and spectroscopic surveys at high redshift (z ~ 1). We investigate the effects of survey edges, redshift precision, redshift-space distortions, and target selection upon each environment measure. We find that even optimistic photometric redshift errors (\sigma_z = 0.02) smear out the line-of-sight galaxy distribution irretrievably on small scales; this significantly limits the application of photometric redshift surveys to environment studies. Edges and holes in a survey field dramatically affect the estimation of environment, with the impact of edge effects depending upon the adopted environment measure. These edge effects considerably limit the usefulness of smaller survey fields (e.g. the GOODS fields) for studies of galaxy environment. In even the poorest groups and clusters, redshift-space distortions limit the effectiveness of each environment statistic; measuring density in projection (e.g. using counts in a cylindrical aperture or a projected n^th-nearest-neighbor distance measure) significantly improves the accuracy of measures in such over-dense environments. For the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey, we conclude that among the environment estimators tested the projected n^th-nearest-neighbor distance measure provides the most accurate estimate of local galaxy density over a continuous and broad range of scales.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Measuring Galaxy Environments with Deep Redshift Surveys does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Measuring Galaxy Environments with Deep Redshift Surveys, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Measuring Galaxy Environments with Deep Redshift Surveys will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-481093