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Integrated photometric redshifts and SED fitting as tool for galaxy evolution studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2013

Ralf Kotulla*
Affiliation:
Center for Gravitation, Cosmology, and Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, 1900 E. Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA email: kotulla@uwm.edu
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Abstract

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Photometric redshifts, i.e. redshifts derived by comparing an observed spectral-energy distribution (SED) to a range of empirical or theoretical SED templates, are commonly used in studies of the high-redshift Universe. Often, the next step is to use these redshifts as fixed input parameters for SED fitting to derive physical properties for each galaxy. However, this two-step approach ignores degeneracies between redshift and, e.g., stellar mass. Here I present first results using an improved approach that integrates both methods. I find that mass determinations are, on average, three times more uncertain than they seem from the common two-step approach. If not accounted for, these underestimated uncertainties can impact our ability of making meaningful comparisons between observations and simulations of galaxy evolution.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2013

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