The FMOS-COSMOS Survey of Star-forming Galaxies at z ~ 1.6. I. Hα-based Star Formation Rates and Dust Extinction
Daddi, E.; Rodighiero, G.; Sanders, D. B.; Ilbert, O.; Taniguchi, Y.; Silverman, J. D.; Symeonidis, M.; Hasinger, G.; Capak, P.; Koekemoer, A. M.; Kajisawa, M.; Carollo, C. M.; McCracken, H. J.; Scoville, N.; Chu, J.; Le Fèvre, O.; Kartaltepe, J.; Strazzullo, V.; Lilly, S. J.; Renzini, A.; Kewley, L. J.; Masters, D.; Kovač, K.; Arimoto, N.; Kashino, D.; Onodera, M.; Nagao, T.; Sugiyama, N.; Zahid, H. J.
Japan, Italy, United States, France, Switzerland, Australia, United Kingdom
Abstract
We present the first results from a near-IR spectroscopic survey of the COSMOS field, using the Fiber Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Subaru telescope, designed to characterize the star-forming galaxy population at 1.4 < z < 1.7. The high-resolution mode is implemented to detect Hα in emission between 1.6-1.8 μm with f Hα >~ 4 × 10-17 erg cm-2 s-1. Here, we specifically focus on 271 sBzK-selected galaxies that yield a Hα detection thus providing a redshift and emission line luminosity to establish the relation between star formation rate and stellar mass. With further J-band spectroscopy for 89 of these, the level of dust extinction is assessed by measuring the Balmer decrement using co-added spectra. We find that the extinction (0.6 <~ A Hα <~ 2.5) rises with stellar mass and is elevated at high masses compared to low-redshift galaxies. Using this subset of the spectroscopic sample, we further find that the differential extinction between stellar and nebular emission E star(B - V)/E neb(B - V) is 0.7-0.8, dissimilar to that typically seen at low redshift. After correcting for extinction, we derive an Hα-based main sequence with a slope (0.81 ± 0.04) and normalization similar to previous studies at these redshifts.