CaltechAUTHORS
Published June 15, 2001 | Version Published
Journal Article Open

FIRBACK: III. Catalog, source counts, and cosmological implications of the 170μm ISO deep survey

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
  • 2. ROR icon University of Arizona
  • 3. ROR icon Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
  • 4. ROR icon European Southern Observatory
  • 5. ROR icon Cardiff University
  • 6. ROR icon CEA Saclay
  • 7. ROR icon University of California, Santa Cruz
  • 8. ROR icon University of Padua
  • 9. ROR icon Cornell University
  • 10. ROR icon Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
  • 11. ROR icon Imperial College London
  • 12. ROR icon University of Sussex
  • 13. ROR icon Infrared Processing and Analysis Center

Abstract

The FIRBACK (Far Infrared BACKground) survey is one of the deepest imaging surveys carried out at 170 μm with ISOPHOT onboard ISO, and is aimed at the study of the structure of the Cosmic Far Infrared Background. This paper provides the analysis of resolved sources. After a validated process of data reduction and calibration, we perform intensive simulations to optimize the source extraction, measure the confusion noise (σ_c = 45 mJy), and give the photometric and astrometric accuracies. 196 galaxies with flux S > 3σ_c are detected in the area of 3.89 square degrees. Counts of sources with flux S > 4σ_c present a steep slope of 3.3 ± 0.6 on a differential "log N-log S"plot between 180 and 500 mJy. As a consequence, the confusion level is high and will impact dramatically on future IR deep surveys. This strong evolution, compared with a slope of 2.5 from Euclidian geometry, is in line with models implying a strongly evolving Luminous Infrared Galaxy population. The resolved sources account for less than 10% of the Cosmic Infrared Background at 170 μm, which is expected to be resolved into sources in the 1 to 10 mJy range.

Additional Information

© 2001 ESO. Received: 23 January 2001. Accepted: 5 March 2001. HD, GL & JLP appreciate discussions with Rene Laureijs and Carlos Gabriel at Vilspa and Ulrich Klaas at Heidelberg. We also are greatful to Alain Abergel, Alain Coulais & Marc-Antoine Miville-Deschênes at IAS, for stimulating and helpful discussions through the analysis of the FIRBACKdata. Thanks also go to Martin Kessler and his team who did a great job in planning ISO observations so efficiently. MH acknowledges support of his participation on ISO through NASA grants and contracts. DE acknowledges support from NASA grant NAG5-8218.

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Identifiers

Eprint ID
84940
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20180223-115733145

Funding

NASA
NAG5-8218

Dates

Created
2018-02-24
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Updated
2021-11-15
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Caltech groups
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)