Photometric Redshifts of Galaxies in COSMOS

Creators: Mobasher, B.; Capak, P.; Scoville, N. Z.; Dahlen, T.; Salvato, M.; Aussel, H.; Thompson, D. J.; Feldmann, R.; Tasca, L.; Le Fèvre, O.; Lilly, S.; Carollo, C. M.; Kartaltepe, J. S.; McCracken, H.; Mould, J.; Renzini, A.; Sanders, D. B.; Shopbell, P. L.; Taniguchi, Y.; Ajiki, M.; Shioya, Y.; Contini, T.; Giavalisco, M.; Ilbert, O.; Iovino, A.; Le Brun, V.; Mainieri, V.; Mignoli, M.; Scodeggio, M.

Abstract

We present photometric redshifts for the COSMOS survey derived from a new code, optimized to yield accurate and reliable redshifts and spectral types of galaxies down to faint magnitudes and redshifts out to z ~ 1.2. The technique uses χ^2 template fitting, combined with luminosity function priors and with the option to estimate the internal extinction [or E(B - V)]. The median most probable redshift, best-fit spectral type and reddening, absolute magnitude, and stellar mass are derived in addition to the full redshift probability distributions. Using simulations with sampling and noise similar to those in COSMOS, the accuracy and reliability is estimated for the photometric redshifts as a function of the magnitude limits of the sample, S/N ratios, and the number of bands used. We find from the simulations that the ratio of derived 95% confidence interval in the χ^2 probability distribution to the estimated photometric redshift (D_(95)) can be used to identify and exclude the catastrophic failures in the photometric redshift estimates. To evaluate the reliability of the photometric redshifts, we compare the derived redshifts with high-reliability spectroscopic redshifts for a sample of 868 normal galaxies with z < 1.2 from zCOSMOS. Considering different scenarios, depending on using prior, no prior, and/or extinction, we compare the photometric and spectroscopic redshifts for this sample. The rms scatter between the estimated photometric redshifts and known spectroscopic redshifts is σ(Δ(z)) = 0.031, where Δ(z) = (z_(phot) - z_(spec))/(1 + z_(spec)) with a small fraction of outliers (<2.5%) [outliers are defined as objects with Δ(z) > 3σ(Δ(z)), where σ(Δ(z)) is the rms scatter in Δ(z)]. We also find good agreement [σ(Δ(z)) = 0.10] between photometric and spectroscopic redshifts for type II AGNs. We compare results from our photometric redshift procedure with three other independent codes and find them in excellent agreement. We show preliminary results, based on photometric redshifts for the entire COSMOS sample (to i < 25 mag).

Additional Information

© 2007 American Astronomical Society. Received 2006 June 5; accepted 2006 October 6. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555; also based on data collected at the Subaru Telescope, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan; XMM Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and NASA; the European Southern Observatory under Large Program 175.A-0839, Chile; Kitt Peak National Observatory, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which are operated by the AURA, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation; the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.; and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope with MegaPrime/MegaCam operated as a joint project by the CFHT Corporation, CEA/DAPNIA, the National Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique de France, TERAPIX, and the University of Hawaii.

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