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To exploit synergies between the Herschel Space Observatory and next generation radio facilities, we have extended the semi-empirical extragalactic radio continuum simulation of Wilman et al. to the mid- and far-infrared. Here, we describe the assignment of infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to the star-forming galaxies and active galactic nuclei, using Spitzer 24, 70 and 160 μm and SCUBA 850 μm survey results as the main constraints. Star-forming galaxies dominate the source counts, and a model in which their far-infrared–radio correlation and infrared SED assignment procedure are invariant with redshift underpredicts the observed 24 and 70 μm source counts. The 70 μm deficit can be eliminated if the star-forming galaxies undergo stronger luminosity evolution than originally assumed for the radio simulation, a requirement which may be partially ascribed to known non-linearity in the far-infrared–radio correlation at low luminosity if it evolves with redshift. At 24 μm, the shortfall is reduced if the star-forming galaxies develop SEDs with cooler dust and correspondingly stronger polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission features with increasing redshift at a given far-infrared luminosity, but this trend may reverse at in order not to overproduce the submillimetre source counts. The resulting model compares favourably with recent Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimetre Telescope ( BLAST) results, and we have extended the simulation data base to aid the interpretation of Herschel surveys. Such comparisons may also facilitate further model refinement and revised predictions for the Square Kilometre Array and its precursors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the third in a series of papers that present observations and results for a sample of 76 ultrasteep-spectrum radio sources designed to find galaxies at high redshift. Here we present multifrequency radio observations, from the Australia Telescope Compact Array, for a subset of 37 galaxies from the sample. Matched resolution observations at 2.3, 4.8 and 6.2 GHz are presented for all galaxies, with the galaxies additionally observed at 8.6 and 18 GHz. New angular size constraints are reported for 19 sources based on high-resolution 4.8- and 6.2-GHz observations. Functional forms for the rest-frame spectral energy distributions are derived: 89 per cent of the sample is well characterized by a single power law, whilst the remaining 11 per cent show some flattening towards higher frequencies: not one source shows any evidence for high-frequency steepening. We discuss the implications of this result in light of the empirical correlation between redshift and spectral index seen in flux-limited samples of radio galaxies. Finally, a new physical mechanism to explain the redshift – spectral index correlation is posited: extremely steep-spectrum radio galaxies in the local universe usually reside at the centres of rich galaxy clusters. We argue that if a higher fractions of radio galaxies, as a function of redshift, are located in environments with densities similar to nearby rich clusters, then this could be a natural interpretation for the correlation. We briefly outline our plans to pursue this line of investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the panchromatic properties of 99 088 galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 1 ‘main’ spectroscopic sample (a flux-limited sample for 1360 deg2). These galaxies are positionally matched to sources detected by ROSAT, Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS), Infrared Astronomical Satellite ( IRAS), Green Bank GB6 survey (GB6), Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimetres (FIRST), NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) and Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (WENSS). The matching fraction varies from <1 per cent for ROSAT and GB6 to ∼40 per cent for GALEX and 2MASS. In addition to its size, the advantages of this sample are well-controlled selection effects, faint flux limits and the wealth of measured parameters, including accurate X-ray to radio photometry, angular sizes and optical spectra. We find strong correlations between the detection fraction at other wavelengths and optical properties such as flux, colours and emission-line strengths. For example, ∼2/3 of SDSS ‘main’ galaxies classified as active galactic nucleus (AGN) using emission-line strengths are detected by 2MASS, while the corresponding fraction for star-forming galaxies (SFs) is only ∼1/10. Similarly, over 90 per cent of galaxies detected by IRAS display strong emission lines in their optical spectra, compared to ∼50 per cent for the whole SDSS sample. Using GALEX, SDSS and 2MASS data, we construct the ultraviolet–infrared (UV–IR) broad-band spectral energy distributions for various types of galaxies, and find that they form a nearly one-parameter family. For example, the SDSS u- and r-band data, supplemented with redshift, can be used to ‘predict’ K-band magnitudes measured by 2MASS with an rms scatter of only 0.2 mag. When a dust content estimate determined from SDSS spectra with the aid of models is also utilized, this scatter decreases to 0.1 mag and can be fully accounted for by measurement uncertainties. We demonstrate that this interstellar dust content, inferred from optical SDSS spectra by Kauffmann et al., is indeed higher for galaxies detected by IRAS and that it can be used to ‘predict’ measured IRAS 60 μm flux density within a factor of 2 using only SDSS data. We also show that the position of a galaxy in the emission-line-based Baldwin–Phillips–Terlevich diagram is correlated with the optical light concentration index and u− r colour determined from the SDSS broad-band imaging data, and discuss changes in the morphology of this diagram induced by requiring detections at other wavelengths. Notably, we find that SDSS ‘main’ galaxies detected by GALEX include a non-negligible fraction (10–30 per cent) of AGNs, and hence do not represent a clean sample of starburst galaxies. We study the IR–radio correlation and find evidence that its slope may be different for AGN and SFs and related to the Hα/Hβ line-strength ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]