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High-redshift star formation in the Hubble Deep Field revealed by a submillimetre-wavelength survey

Nature volume 394, pages 241–247 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

In the local Universe, most galaxies are dominated by stars, with less than ten per cent of their visible mass in the form of gas. Determining when most of these stars formed is one of the central issues of observational cosmology. Optical and ultraviolet observations of high-redshift galaxies (particularly those in the Hubble Deep Field) have been interpreted as indicating that the peak of star formation occurred between redshifts of 1 and 1.5. But it is known that star formation takes place in dense clouds, and is often hidden at optical wavelengths because of extinction by dust in the clouds. Here we report a deep submillimetre-wavelength survey of the Hubble Deep Field; these wavelengths trace directly the emission from dust that has been warmed by massive star-formation activity. The combined radiation of the five most significant detections accounts for 30–50 per cent of the previously unresolved background emission in this area. Four of these sources appear to be galaxies in the redshift range 2< z < 4, which, assuming these objects have properties comparable to local dust-enshrouded starburst galaxies, implies a star-formation rate during that period about a factor of five higher than that inferred from the optical and ultraviolet observations.

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Figure 1: The 850-μm SCUBA image of the HDF.
Figure 2: A comparison of observed and predicted number counts of submillimetre sources in the HDF as a function of flux density.
Figure 3: An estimation of redshift using the measured flux density ratio between wavelengths of 450 and 850 μm (top panel) and 1,350 and 850 μm (bottom panel).
Figure 4: Optical associations for the brightest five submillimetre sources in the HDF.
Figure 5: The observed optical–radio spectral energy distribution of HDF850.1.
Figure 6: The global star-formation history of the Universe.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, EH9 3HJ, Edinburgh, UK

    David H. Hughes, James Dunlop, Rob Ivison, John Peacock & Andy Lawrence

  2. Astrophysics Group, Imperial College, Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BZ, UK

    Stephen Serjeant, Michael Rowan-Robinson, Robert G. Mann, Andreas Efstathiou, Seb Oliver & Pippa Goldschmidt

  3. Cavendish Astrophysics Group, Cavendish Laboratory, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK

    Andrew Blain & Malcolm Longair

  4. Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St Mary, Surrey, RH5 6NT, UK

    Walter Gear

  5. Joint Astronomy Centre, 660 N. A'ohoku Place, Hilo, 96720, Hawaii, USA

    Tim Jenness

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Hughes, D., Serjeant, S., Dunlop, J. et al. High-redshift star formation in the Hubble Deep Field revealed by a submillimetre-wavelength survey. Nature 394, 241–247 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/28328

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