Yusei Koyama

Panoramic Hα and mid-infrared mapping of star formation in a z = 0.8 cluster

We present the first wide-field Hα imaging survey around the distant cluster RXJ 1716.4+6708 at z = 0.81 with a narrow-band filter on MOIRCS/Subaru, which reveals the star formation activities down to a star formation rate (SFR) of ∼1 M ⊙ yr -1 without extinction correction. Combining with a wide-field mid-infrared (MIR) imaging survey with the AKARI satellite, we compare in detail the unobscured and obscured star formation activities in the cluster. We find that both Hα emitters and MIR galaxies avoid the cluster central region and their spatial distribution is quite similar. Most of the Hα emitters show blue colours, but we find some Hα emitters on the red sequence. The MIR galaxies tend to be systematically redder than the Hα emitters probably due to heavy dust extinction. Interestingly, the red Hα emitters and the red MIR galaxies (i.e. dusty red galaxies) are most commonly seen in the medium-density environment such as cluster outskirts, groups and filaments, where optical colours of galaxies change. We investigate the amount of hidden star formation by calculating a ratio, SFR(IR)/SFR(Hα), and find that A Hα exceeds ∼3 in extreme cases for actively star-forming galaxies with SFR(IR) ≳20 M ⊙ yr -1 . It is notable that most of such very dusty galaxies with A Hα ≳ 3 are also located in the medium-density environment. These findings suggest that dusty star formation is triggered in the infall region of the cluster, implying a probable link between galaxy transition and dusty star formation. We finally calculate the cluster total SFR and find that the cluster total SFR based on Hα alone can be underestimated more than a factor of ∼2 even after 1-mag extinction correction. We suggest that the mass-normalized cluster SFR rapidly declines since z ∼ 1 following ∝ (1 + z) 6 , although the uncertainty is still large.

The Remarkable 60 x 2 kpc Optical Filament Associated with a Poststarburst Galaxy in the Coma Cluster

In the deep narrowband image of the Coma Cluster taken with Suprime-Cam of the Subaru Telescope, we found an extremely long and narrow (~60 ? 2 kpc) H?-emitting region associated with a poststarburst galaxy (D100). Follow-up spectroscopy shows that the region has the same redshift as D100. The surface brightness of the region is typically 25 mag (AB) arcsec-2 in H?, which corresponds to (0.5-4) ? 10-17 ergs s-1 cm-2 arcsec-2. We propose two possible explanations for the origin of the region; gas stripped off from a merged dwarf or gas stripped off from D100 by ram pressure. Either scenario meets with difficulty in fully explaining all the observed characteristics of the region.

Mapping dusty star formation in and around a cluster at z= 0.81 by wide-field imaging with AKARI

We present environmental dependence of dusty star-forming activity in and around the cluster RXJ1716.4+6708 at z= 0.81 based on wide-field and multiwavelength observations with the Prime Focus Camera on the Subaru Telescope (Suprime-Cam) and the Infrared Camera onboard the AKARI satellite. Our optical data show that the optical colour distribution of galaxies starts to dramatically change from blue to red at the medium-density environment such as cluster outskirts, groups and filaments. By combining with the AKARI infrared data, we find that 15-μm-detected galaxies tend to have optical colours between the red sequence and the blue cloud with a tail into the red sequence, consistent with being dusty star-forming galaxies. The spatial distribution of the 15-μm-detected galaxies over ∼200 arcmin2 around the cluster reveals that few 15-μm galaxies are detected in the cluster central region. This is probably due to the low star-forming activity in the cluster core. However, interestingly, the fraction of 15-μm-detected galaxies in the medium-density environments is as high as in the low-density field, despite the fact that the optical colours start to change in the medium-density environments. Furthermore, we find that 15-μm-detected galaxies which have optically red colours (candidates for dusty red galaxies) and galaxies with high specific star formation rates are also concentrated in the medium-density environment. These results imply that the star-forming activity in galaxies in groups and filaments is enhanced due to some environmental effects specific to the medium-density environment (e.g. galaxy–galaxy interaction), and such a phenomenon is probably directly connected to the truncation of star-forming activity in galaxies seen as the dramatic change in optical colours in such environment.

Early-type Galaxies at z = 1.3. I. The Lynx Supercluster: Cluster and Groups at z = 1.3. Morphology and Color-Magnitude Relation

We confirm the detection of three groups in the Lynx supercluster, at z ≈ 1.3, through spectroscopic follow-up and X-ray imaging, and we give estimates for their redshifts and masses. We study the properties of the group galaxies compared to the two central clusters, RX J0849+4452 and RX J0848+4453. Using spectroscopic follow-up and multi-wavelength photometric redshifts, we select 89 galaxies in the clusters, of which 41 are spectroscopically confirmed, and 74 galaxies in the groups, of which 25 are spectroscopically confirmed. We morphologically classify galaxies by visual inspection, noting that our early-type galaxy (ETG) sample would have been contaminated at the 30%-40% level by simple automated classification methods (e.g., based on Sersic index). In luminosity-selected samples, both clusters and groups show high fractions of bulge-dominated galaxies with a diffuse component that we visually identified as a disk and which we classified as bulge-dominated spirals, e.g., Sas. The ETG fractions never rise above ≈50% in the clusters, which is low compared to the fractions observed in other massive clusters at z ≈ 1. In the groups, ETG fractions never exceed ≈25%. However, overall bulge-dominated galaxy fractions (ETG plus Sas) are similar to those observed for ETGs in clusters at z ~ 1. Bulge-dominated galaxies visually classified as spirals might also be ETGs with tidal features or merger remnants. They are mainly red and passive, and span a large range in luminosity. Their star formation seems to have been quenched before experiencing a morphological transformation. Because their fraction is smaller at lower redshifts, they might be the spiral population that evolves into ETGs. For mass-selected samples of galaxies with masses M > 10^(10.6) M_☉ within Σ > 500 Mpc^(–2), the ETG and overall bulge-dominated galaxy fractions show no significant evolution with respect to local clusters, suggesting that morphological transformations might occur at lower masses and densities. The ETG mass-size relation shows evolution toward smaller sizes at higher redshift in both clusters and groups, while the late-type mass-size relation matches that observed locally. When compared to the clusters, the group ETG red sequence shows lower zero points (at ~2σ) and larger scatters, both expected to be an indication of a younger galaxy population. However, we show that any allowed difference between the age in groups and clusters would be small when compared to the differences in age in galaxies of different masses.

PANORAMIC VIEWS OF GALAXY CLUSTER EVOLUTION: GALAXY ECOLOGY

Taking the great advantage of Subarus wide field coverage both in the optical and in the near infrared, we have been providing panoramic views of distant clusters and their surrounding environments over the wide redshift range of 0:4 < z < 3. From our unique data sets, a consistent picture has been emerging that the star forming activity is once enhanced and then truncated in galaxy groups in the outskirts of clusters during the course of cluster assembly at z < 1. Such activity is shifted into cluster cores as we go further back in time to z ~ 1:5. At z = 2 - 2:5, we begin to enter the epoch when massive galaxies are actually forming in the cluster core. And by z ~ 3, we eventually go beyond the major epoch of massive galaxy formation. It is likely that the environmental dependence of star forming activity is at least partly due to the external environmental effects such as galaxy-galaxy interaction in medium density regions at z < 1, while the intrinsic effect of galaxy formation bias overtakes the external effect at higher redshifts, resulting in a large star formation activity in the cluster center.

Development status of the simultaneous two-color near-infrared multi-object spectrograph SWIMS for the TAO 6.5m telescope

The Simultaneous-color Wide-field Infrared Multi-object Spectrograph, SWIMS, is a first-generation near-infrared instrument for the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO) 6.5m Telescope now being constructed in northern Chile. To utilize the advantage of the site that almost continuous atmospheric window appears from 0.9 to 2.5 μm, the instrument is capable of simultaneous two-color imaging with a field-of-view of 9.′6 in diameter or λ/∆λ ∼ 1000 multi-object spectroscopy at 0.9–2.5 μm in a single exposure. The instrument has been transported in 2017 to the Subaru Telescope as a PI-type instrument for carrying out commissioning observations before starting science operation on the 6.5m telescope. In this paper, we report the latest updates on the instrument and present preliminary results from the on-sky performance verification observations.

A conceptual design study for Subaru ULTIMATE GLAO

We report on the conceptual design study done for the Ground Layer Adaptive Optics system of the ULTIMATE-Subaru project. This is an ambitious instrument project, providing GLAO correction in a square field of view of 14 arcmin on a side, aiming to deliver improved seeing at the near infrared wavelength. Its client instruments are an imager and multi-IFU spectrograph at Cassegrain and a Multi-Object spectrograph at Nasmyth. In this paper, we introduce the ULTIMATE-Subaru project overview and its science case and report the results of the GLAO performance prediction based on the numerical simulation and conceptual design of the wavefront sensor system.

Toward unveiling internal properties of Hii regions and their connections at the cosmic noon era

The redshift interval z = 2–3 is known as the cosmic noon that is the most active era of star formation across the Universe (Hopkins & Beacom 2006). In the past decade, many authors have investigated global properties of star-forming (SF) galaxies in this turbulent era, such as gas fractions and gaseous metallicities (e.g. Erb et al. 2006). With those achievements, we are going on to the next stage to understand more details i.e. those physical parameters in star-forming regions. Recent advent of near-infrared instruments typified by MOSFIRE on the Keck telescope, enable us with identifying the physical parameters of Hii regions in ‘typical’ SF galaxies individually (Steidel et al. 2014). Recent highlights suggest higher electron densities, higher ionization parameters, and harder UV radiation fields may be common. In order to know how galaxy evolution physically correlates with the natures of their starforming regions, we have explored relationships between the electron density (ne ) of ionized gas from the oxygen line ratio and other physical properties, based on the deep spectra of Hα emitters at z = 2.5 by the MOSFIRE. MOSFIRE for the first time provides ne of the galaxies at high-z with a high level of confidence. The result shows the specific star formation rate (sSFR) and the SFR surface density (ΣSFR) are correlated with ne (Shimakawa et al. 2015). The ne -ΣSFR relation could be linked to the star formation law in Hii regions if we assume that hydrogen in Hii regions is fully-ionized. Otherwise, more active star formation per unit area (higher ΣSFRs), may cause higher ionization states. However, we need some specific concerns that obtained physical parameters should depend on the scale dependence, since typical size of Hii region is only <100 pc despite that we study physical states of entire galaxies. Thus we obtain surface-brightness-weighted and ensemble averaged line fluxes for the entire galaxy or the part that falls into the slit width (a few kpc scale size). The thirty meter telescope (TMT) is a powerful instrument to resolve such a difficulty, since its spatial resolution reaches <100 pc on the physical scale at z ∼ 2 by AO assistance.