TY - JOUR

T1 - Mid-IR cosmological spectrophotometric surveys from space

T2 - Measuring AGN and star formation at the cosmic noon with a SPICA-like mission

AU - Spinoglio, Luigi

AU - Mordini, Sabrina

AU - Fernandez-Ontiveros, Juan Antonio

AU - Alonso-Herrero, Almudena

AU - Armus, Lee

AU - Bisigello, Laura

AU - Calura, Francesco

AU - Carrera, Francisco J.

AU - Cooray, Asantha

AU - Dannerbauer, Helmut

AU - Decarli, Roberto

AU - Egami, Eiichi

AU - Elbaz, David

AU - Franceschini, Alberto

AU - Gonzalez Alfonso, Eduardo

AU - Graziani, Luca

AU - Gruppioni, Carlotta

AU - Hatziminaoglou, Evanthia

AU - Kaneda, Hidehiro

AU - Kohno, Kotaro

AU - Labiano, Alvaro

AU - Magdis, Georgios

AU - Malkan, Matthew A.

AU - Matsuhara, Hideo

AU - Nagao, Tohru

AU - Naylor, David

AU - Pereira-Santaella, Miguel

AU - Pozzi, Francesca

AU - Rodighiero, Giulia

AU - Roelfsema, Peter

AU - Serjeant, Stephen

AU - Vignali, Cristian

AU - Wang, Lingyu

AU - Yamada, Toru

PY - 2021/4/23

Y1 - 2021/4/23

N2 - We use the SPace Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) project as a template to demonstrate how deep spectrophotometric surveys covering large cosmological volumes over extended fields (1-15 deg(2)) with a mid-IR imaging spectrometer (17-36 mu m) in conjunction with deep 70 mu m photometry with a far-IR camera, at wavelengths which are not affected by dust extinction can answer the most crucial questions in current galaxy evolution studies. A SPICA-like mission will be able for the first time to provide an unobscured three-dimensional (3D, i.e. x, y, and redshift z) view of galaxy evolution back to an age of the universe of less than similar to 2 Gyrs, in the mid-IR rest frame. This survey strategy will produce a full census of the Star Formation Rate (SFR) in the universe, using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) bands and fine-structure ionic lines, reaching the characteristic knee of the galaxy luminosity function, where the bulk of the population is distributed, at any redshift up to z similar to 3.5. Deep follow-up pointed spectroscopic observations with grating spectrometers onboard the satellite, across the full IR spectral range (17-210 mu m), would simultaneously measure Black Hole Accretion Rate (BHAR), from high-ionisation fine-structure lines, and SFR, from PAH and low- to mid-ionisation lines in thousands of galaxies from solar to low metallicities, down to the knee of their luminosity functions. The analysis of the resulting atlas of IR spectra will reveal the physical processes at play in evolving galaxies across cosmic time, especially its heavily dust-embedded phase during the activity peak at the cosmic noon (z similar to 1-3), through IR emission lines and features that are insensitive to the dust obscuration.

AB - We use the SPace Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) project as a template to demonstrate how deep spectrophotometric surveys covering large cosmological volumes over extended fields (1-15 deg(2)) with a mid-IR imaging spectrometer (17-36 mu m) in conjunction with deep 70 mu m photometry with a far-IR camera, at wavelengths which are not affected by dust extinction can answer the most crucial questions in current galaxy evolution studies. A SPICA-like mission will be able for the first time to provide an unobscured three-dimensional (3D, i.e. x, y, and redshift z) view of galaxy evolution back to an age of the universe of less than similar to 2 Gyrs, in the mid-IR rest frame. This survey strategy will produce a full census of the Star Formation Rate (SFR) in the universe, using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) bands and fine-structure ionic lines, reaching the characteristic knee of the galaxy luminosity function, where the bulk of the population is distributed, at any redshift up to z similar to 3.5. Deep follow-up pointed spectroscopic observations with grating spectrometers onboard the satellite, across the full IR spectral range (17-210 mu m), would simultaneously measure Black Hole Accretion Rate (BHAR), from high-ionisation fine-structure lines, and SFR, from PAH and low- to mid-ionisation lines in thousands of galaxies from solar to low metallicities, down to the knee of their luminosity functions. The analysis of the resulting atlas of IR spectra will reveal the physical processes at play in evolving galaxies across cosmic time, especially its heavily dust-embedded phase during the activity peak at the cosmic noon (z similar to 1-3), through IR emission lines and features that are insensitive to the dust obscuration.

KW - galaxies: active

KW - galaxies: evolution

KW - galaxies: star formation

KW - infrared: galaxies

KW - techniques: spectroscopic

KW - telescopes

KW - ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

KW - INFRARED LUMINOSITY FUNCTIONS

KW - MASS-METALLICITY RELATION

KW - SPECTRAL ENERGY-DISTRIBUTIONS

KW - HIGH-RESOLUTION SPECTROSCOPY

KW - SUPERMASSIVE BLACK-HOLES

KW - FINE-STRUCTURE LINES

KW - FORMING GALAXIES

KW - MU-M

KW - INTERSTELLAR-MEDIUM

U2 - 10.1017/pasa.2021.13

DO - 10.1017/pasa.2021.13

M3 - Journal article

VL - 38

JO - Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia

JF - Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia

SN - 1448-6083

M1 - 021

ER -