Issue |
A&A
Volume 518, July-August 2010
Herschel: the first science highlights
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | L7 | |
Number of page(s) | 5 | |
Section | Letters | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201014565 | |
Published online | 16 July 2010 |
Letter to the Editor
Herschel ATLAS: The cosmic star formation history of quasar host galaxies*
1
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK
2
Argelander Institut für Astronomie, Universität Bonn, Auf dem Hügel 71, Room 1.22, 53121 Bonn
3
Caltech, MS247-19, 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
4
Astrophysics Group, Imperial College, Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK
5
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
6
Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, via Beirut 2-4, 34151 Trieste, Italy
7
UK Astronomy Technology Center, Royal Observatory Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
8
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
9
School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
10
Centre for Astrophysics Research, Science and Technology Research Institute, University of Hertfordshire, Herts AL10 9AB, UK
11
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str., 85748 Garching b. Muenchen, Germany
12
Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE),
Luis Enrique Erro No.1, Tonantzintla, Puebla, C.P. 72840, Mexico
13
Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University,
Shillim Dong, Kwan-ak Gu 151-742, Seoul, Korea
14
Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal
Observatory, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
15
Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, 98bis boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris, France
16
University College London, Department of Space & Climate Physics,
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
17
Space Science & Technology Dept., CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire, OX11 0QX, UK
18
Institute for Space Imaging Science, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge,
Alberta T1K 3M4, Canada
19
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
20
Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Universiteit Gent, Krijgslaan 281 S9, 9000 Gent, Belgium
21
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, UMR6110 CNRS, 38 rue F. Joliot-Curie, 13388 Marseille, France
22
INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
23
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, C/Vía Láctea s/n, 38200 La Laguna, Spain
24
National Radio Astronomy Observatory, PO Box 2, Green Bank, WV 24944, USA
25
Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-UC), Santander 39005, Spain
26
Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), Bâtiment 121, 91405 Orsay, France; and Université Paris-Sud 11 and CNRS (UMR 8617), France
27
Astrophysics Branch, NASA Ames Research Center, Mail Stop 245-6, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
28
University of Padova, Department of Astronomy, Vicolo Osservatorio 3, 35122 Padova, Italy
29
Herschel Science Centre, ESAC, ESA, PO Box 78, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28691 Madrid, Spain
30
Oxford Astrophysics, Denys Wilkinson Building, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH
Received:
30
March
2010
Accepted:
7
May
2010
We present a derivation of the star formation rate per comoving volume of quasar host galaxies, derived from stacking analyses of far-infrared to mm-wave photometry of quasars with redshifts 0 < z < 6 and absolute I-band magnitudes -22 > IAB > -32 We use the science demonstration observations of the first ~16 deg2 from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) in which there are 240 quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and a further 171 from the 2dF-SDSS LRG and QSO (2SLAQ) survey. We supplement this data with a compilation of data from IRAS, ISO, Spitzer, SCUBA and MAMBO. H-ATLAS alone statistically detects the quasars in its survey area at >5σ at 250,350 and 500 μm. From the compilation as a whole we find striking evidence of downsizing in quasar host galaxy formation: low-luminosity quasars with absolute magnitudes in the range -22 > IAB > -24 have a comoving star formation rate (derived from 100 μm rest-frame luminosities) peaking between redshifts of 1 and 2, while high-luminosity quasars with IAB < -26 have a maximum contribution to the star formation density at z ~ 3. The volume-averaged star formation rate of -22 > IAB > -24 quasars evolves as (1 + z)2.3±0.7 at z < 2, but the evolution at higher luminosities is much faster reaching (1 + z)10±1 at -26 > IAB > -28. We tentatively interpret this as a combination of a declining major merger rate with time and gas consumption reducing fuel for both black hole accretion and star formation.
Key words: galaxies: active / infrared: galaxies / quasars: general / galaxies: formation / submillimeter: galaxies / galaxies: starburst
© ESO, 2010
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