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We used wide area surveys over 39 deg$^2$ by the HerMES collaboration, performed with the Herschel Observatory SPIRE multi-wavelength camera, to estimate the low-redshift, $0.02

We report on deep near-infrared observations obtained with the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) of the first five confirmed gravitational lensing events discovered by the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS). We succeed in disentangling the background galaxy from the lens to gain separate photometry of the two components. The HST data allow us to significantly improve on previous constraints of the mass in stars of the lensed galaxy and to perform accurate lens modelling of these systems, as described in the accompanying paper by Dye et al. We fit the spectral energy distributions of the background sources from near-IR to millimetre wavelengths and use the magnification factors estimated by Dye et al. to derive the intrinsic properties of the lensed galaxies. We find these galaxies to have star-formation rates of approximately 400 to 2000 M_sol/yr, with approximately (6-25)x10^10 M_sol of their baryonic mass already turned into stars. At these rates of star formation, all remaining molecular gas will be exhausted in less than 100 Myr, reaching a final mass in stars of a few 10^11 M_sol. These galaxies are thus proto-ellipticals caught during their major episode of star formation, and observed at the peak epoch z=1.5-3 of the cosmic star formation history of the Universe., Comment: 14 pages, submitted to MNRAS

We present a method for selecting $z>4$ dusty, star forming galaxies (DSFGs) using Herschel/SPIRE 250/350/500 $\mu m$ flux densities to search for red sources. We apply this method to 21 deg$^2$ of data from the HerMES survey to produce a catalog of 38 high-$z$ candidates. Follow-up of the first 5 of these sources confirms that this method is efficient at selecting high-$z$ DSFGs, with 4/5 at $z=4.3$ to $6.3$ (and the remaining source at $z=3.4$), and that they are some of the most luminous dusty sources known. Comparison with previous DSFG samples, mostly selected at longer wavelengths (e.g., 850 $\mu m$) and in single-band surveys, shows that our method is much more efficient at selecting high-$z$ DSFGs, in the sense that a much larger fraction are at $z>3$. Correcting for the selection completeness and purity, we find that the number of bright ($S_{500\,\mu m} \ge 30$ mJy), red Herschel sources is $3.3 \pm 0.8$ deg$^{-2}$. This is much higher than the number predicted by current models, suggesting that the DSFG population extends to higher redshifts than previously believed. If the shape of the luminosity function for high-$z$ DSFGs is similar to that at $z\sim2$, rest-frame UV based studies may be missing a significant component of the star formation density at $z=4$ to $6$, even after correction for extinction., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

The old, red stars which constitute the bulges of galaxies, and the massive black holes at their centres, are the relics of a period in cosmic history when galaxies formed stars at remarkable rates and active galactic nuclei (AGN) shone brightly from accretion onto black holes. It is widely suspected, but unproven, that the tight correlation in mass of the black hole and stellar components results from the AGN quenching the surrounding star formation as it approaches its peak luminosity. X-rays trace emission from AGN unambiguously, while powerful star-forming galaxies are usually dust-obscured and are brightest at infrared to submillimetre wavelengths. Here we report observations in the submillimetre and X-ray which show that rapid star formation was common in the host galaxies of AGN when the Universe was 2-6 Gyrs old, but that the most vigorous star formation is not observed around black holes above an X-ray luminosity of 10^44 erg/s. This suppression of star formation in the host galaxies of powerful AGN is a key prediction of models in which the AGN drives a powerful outflow, expelling the interstellar medium of its host galaxy and transforming the galaxy's properties in a brief period of cosmic time., Comment: Published in Nature, May 2012. Includes supplementary information

We present new photometric data from our Herschel Key Programme, the Dwarf Galaxy Survey (DGS), dedicated to the observation of the gas and dust in 48 low-metallicity environments. They were observed with PACS and SPIRE onboard Herschel at 70,100,160,250,350, and 500 microns. We focus on a systematic comparison of the derived FIR properties (FIR luminosity, dust mass, dust temperature and emissivity index) with more metal-rich galaxies and investigate the detection of a potential submm excess. The data reduction method is adapted for each galaxy to derive the most reliable photometry from the final maps. PACS flux densities are compared with the MIPS 70 and 160 microns bands. We use colour-colour diagrams and modified blackbody fitting procedures to determine the dust properties of the DGS galaxies. We also include galaxies from the Herschel KINGFISH sample, containing more metal-rich environments, totalling 109 galaxies. The location of the DGS galaxies on Herschel colour-colour diagrams highlights the differences in global environments of low-metallicity galaxies. The dust in DGS galaxies is generally warmer than in KINGFISH galaxies (T_DGS~32 K, T_KINGFISH~23 K). The emissivity index, beta, is ~1.7 in the DGS, but metallicity does not make a strong effect on beta. The dust-to-stellar mass ratio is lower in low-metallicity galaxies: M_dust/M_star~0.02% for the DGS vs 0.1% for KINGFISH. Per unit dust mass, dwarf galaxies emit ~6 times more in the FIR than higher metallicity galaxies. Out of the 22 DGS galaxies detected at 500 micron, 41% present an excess in the submm not explained by our dust SED model. The excess mainly appears in lower metallicity galaxies (12+log(O/H) < 8.3), and the strongest excesses are detected in the most metal-poor galaxies. We stress the need for observations longwards of the Herschel wavelengths to detect any submm excess appearing beyond 500 micron., Comment: 32 pages, 20 figures, accepted in A&A

Photometric instruments operating at far infrared to millimetre wavelengths often have broad spectral passbands (central wavelength/bandwidth ~ 3 or less), especially those operating in space. A broad passband can result in significant variation of the beam profile and aperture efficiency across the passband, effects which thus far have not generally been taken into account in the flux calibration of such instruments. With absolute calibration uncertainties associated with the brightness of primary calibration standards now in the region of 5% or less, variation of the beam properties across the passband can be a significant contributor to the overall calibration accuracy for extended emission. We present a calibration framework which takes such variations into account for both antenna-coupled and absorber-coupled focal plane architectures. The scheme covers point source and extended source cases, and also the intermediate case of a semi-extended source profile. We apply the new method to the Herschel-SPIRE space-borne photometer., Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures, published in MNRAS (2013). Corrections to Eq.28 & Fig11 to match published version. Some numbers have very small adjustments (relative to published version) to agree with v12.3 of the SPIRE Calibration Tree. Further information about SPIRE available at calibration at http://herschel.esac.esa.int/twiki/bin/view/Public/SpireCalibrationWeb#Photometer_calibration

We describe the procedure used to flux calibrate the three-band submillimetre photometer in the Spectral and Photometric Imaging REceiver (SPIRE) instrument on the Herschel Space Observatory. This includes the equations describing the calibration scheme, a justification for using Neptune as the primary calibration source, a description of the observations and data processing procedures used to derive flux calibration parameters (for converting from voltage to flux density) for every bolometer in each array, an analysis of the error budget in the flux calibration for the individual bolometers, and tests of the flux calibration on observations of primary and secondary calibrators. The procedure for deriving the flux calibration parameters is divided into two parts. In the first part, we use observations of astronomical sources in conjunction with the operation of the photometer internal calibration source to derive the unscaled derivatives of the flux calibration curves. To scale the calibration curves in Jy/beam/V, we then use observations of Neptune in which the beam of each bolometer is mapped using Neptune observed in a very fine scan pattern. The total instrumental uncertainties in the flux calibration for the individual bolometers is ~0.5% for most bolometers, although a few bolometers have uncertainties of ~1-5% because of issues with the Neptune observations. Based on application of the flux calibration parameters to Neptune observations performed using typical scan map observing modes, we determined that measurements from each array as a whole have instrumental uncertainties of 1.5%. This is considerably less than the absolute calibration uncertainty associated with the model of Neptune, which is estimated at 4%., Comment: 20 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

The Dwarf Galaxy Survey (DGS) program is studying low-metallicity galaxies using 230h of far-infrared (FIR) and submillimetre (submm) photometric and spectroscopic observations of the Herschel Space Observatory and draws to this a rich database of a wide range of wavelengths tracing the dust, gas and stars. This sample of 50 galaxies includes the largest metallicity range achievable in the local Universe including the lowest metallicity (Z) galaxies, 1/50 Zsun, and spans 4 orders of magnitude in star formation rates. The survey is designed to get a handle on the physics of the interstellar medium (ISM) of low metallicity dwarf galaxies, especially on their dust and gas properties and the ISM heating and cooling processes. The DGS produces PACS and SPIRE maps of low-metallicity galaxies observed at 70, 100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 mic with the highest sensitivity achievable to date in the FIR and submm. The FIR fine-structure lines, [CII] 158 mic, [OI] 63 mic, [OI] 145 mic, [OIII] 88 mic, [NIII] 57 mic and [NII] 122 and 205 mic have also been observed with the aim of studying the gas cooling in the neutral and ionized phases. The SPIRE FTS observations include many CO lines (J=4-3 to J=13-12), [NII] 205 mic and [CI] lines at 370 and 609 mic. This paper describes the sample selection and global properties of the galaxies, the observing strategy as well as the vast ancillary database available to complement the Herschel observations. The scientific potential of the full DGS survey is described with some example results included., Comment: Article accepted for PASP (april 25 2013)

We exploit the deep and extended far infrared data sets (at 70, 100 and 160 um) of the Herschel GTO PACS Evolutionary Probe (PEP) Survey, in combination with the HERschel Multi tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) data at 250, 350 and 500 um, to derive the evolution of the restframe 35 um, 60 um, 90 um, and total infrared (IR) luminosity functions (LFs) up to z~4. We detect very strong luminosity evolution for the total IR LF combined with a density evolution. In agreement with previous findings, the IR luminosity density increases steeply to z~1, then flattens between z~1 and z~3 to decrease at z greater than 3. Galaxies with different SEDs, masses and sSFRs evolve in very different ways and this large and deep statistical sample is the first one allowing us to separately study the different evolutionary behaviours of the individual IR populations contributing to the IR luminosity density. Galaxies occupying the well established SFR/stellar mass main sequence (MS) are found to dominate both the total IR LF and luminosity density at all redshifts, with the contribution from off MS sources (0.6 dex above MS) being nearly constant (~20% of the total IR luminosity density) and showing no significant signs of increase with increasing z over the whole 0.8

[Abridged] We present an integrated photometric spectral energy distribution (SED) of the Magellanic-type galaxy NGC 4449 from the far-ultraviolet (UV) to the submillimetre, including new observations acquired by the Herschel Space Observatory. We include integrated UV photometry from the Swift Ultraviolet and Optical Telescope using a measurement technique which is appropriate for extended sources with coincidence loss. In this paper, we examine the available multiwavelength data to infer a range of ages, metallicities and star formation rates for the underlying stellar populations, as well as the composition and the total mass of dust in NGC 4449. We present an iterative scheme, which allows us to build an in-depth and multicomponent representation of NGC 4449 `bottom-up', taking advantage of the broad capabilities of the photoionization and radiative transfer code MOCASSIN (MOnte CArlo SimulationS of Ionized Nebulae). We fit the observed SED, the global ionization structure and the emission line intensities, and infer a recent SFR of 0.4 Msolar/yr and a total stellar mass of approximately 1e9 Msolar emitting with a bolometric luminosity of 5.7e9 Lsolar. Our fits yield a total dust mass of 2.9e6 Msolar including 2 per cent attributed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. We deduce a dust to gas mass ratio of 1/190 within the modelled region. While we do not consider possible additional contributions from even colder dust, we note that including the extended HI envelope and the molecular gas is likely to bring the ratio down to as low as ~ 1/800., Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures, 8 tables, published in MNRAS, 431, 2493 (2013)

Using Herschel data from the deepest SPIRE and PACS surveys (HerMES and PEP) in COSMOS and GOODS (N+S), we examine the dust properties of IR-luminous (L_IR>10^10 L_sun) galaxies at 0.145K) SEDs and cold (T<25K), cirrus-dominated SEDs are rare, with most sources being within the range occupied by warm starbursts such as M82 and cool spirals such as M51. We observe a luminosity-temperature (L-T) relation, where the average dust temperature of log[L_IR/L_sun]=12.5 galaxies is about 10K higher than that of their log[L_IR/L_sun]=10.5 counterparts. However, although the increased dust heating in more luminous systems is the driving factor behind the L-T relation, the increase in dust mass and/or starburst size with luminosity plays a dominant role in shaping it. Our results show that the dust conditions in IR-luminous sources evolve with cosmic time: at high redshift, dust temperatures are on average up to 10K lower than what is measured locally. This is manifested as a flattening of the L-T relation, suggesting that (U)LIRGs in the early Universe are typically characterised by a more extended dust distribution and/or higher dust masses than local equivalent sources. Interestingly, the evolution in dust temperature is luminosity dependent, with the fraction of LIRGs with T<35K showing a 2-fold increase from z~0 to z~2, whereas that of ULIRGs with T<35K shows a 6-fold increase., Comment: 27 pages, 23 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey (HeViCS) is the deepest, confusion-limited survey of the Virgo Cluster at far-infrared (FIR) wavelengths. The entire survey at full depth covers $\sim$55 sq. deg. in 5 bands (100-500 \micron), encompassing the areas around the central dominant elliptical galaxies (M87, M86 & M49) and extends as far as the NW cloud, the W cloud and the Southern extension. The survey extends beyond this region with lower sensitivity so that the total area covered is 84 sq. deg. In this paper we describe the data, the data acquisition techniques and present the detection rates of the optically selected Virgo Cluster Catalogue (VCC). We detect 254 (34%) of 750 VCC galaxies found within the survey boundary in at least one band and 171 galaxies are detected in all five bands. For the remainder of the galaxies we have measured strict upper limits for their FIR emission. The population of detected galaxies contains early- as well as late-types although the latter dominate the detection statistics. We have modelled 168 galaxies, showing no evidence of a strong synchrotron component in their FIR spectra, using a single-temperature modified blackbody spectrum with a fixed emissivity index ($\beta = 2$). A study of the $\chi^2$ distribution indicates that this model is not appropriate in all cases, and this is supported by the FIR colours which indicate a spread in $\beta$=1--2. Statistical comparison of the dust mass and temperature distributions from 140 galaxies with $\chi^2_{dof=3} < 7.8$ (95% confidence level) shows that late-types have typically colder, more massive dust reservoirs; the early-type dust masses have a mean of ${\rm log}( / M_{\sun}) = 6.3 \pm 0.3 $, while for late-types ${\rm log}( / M_{\sun}) =7.1 \pm 0.1$... (abridged), Comment: 47 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We have measured the clustering properties of low-redshift (z < 0.3) sub-mm galaxies detected at 250 micron in the Herschel-ATLAS Science Demonstration Phase (SDP) field. We selected a sample for which we have high-quality spectroscopic redshifts, obtained from reliably matching the 250-micron sources to a complete (for r < 19.4) sample of galaxies from the GAMA database. Both the angular and spatial clustering strength are measured for all z < 0.3 sources as well as for five redshift slices with thickness delta z=0.05 in the range 0.05 < z < 0.3. Our measured spatial clustering length r_0 is comparable to that of optically-selected, moderately star-forming (blue) galaxies: we find values around 5 Mpc. One of the redshift bins contains an interesting structure, at z = 0.164., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present measurements of the auto- and cross-frequency power spectra of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) at 250, 350, and 500um (1200, 860, and 600 GHz) from observations totaling ~ 70 deg^2 made with the SPIRE instrument aboard the Herschel Space Observatory. We measure a fractional anisotropy dI / I = 14 +- 4%, detecting signatures arising from the clustering of dusty star-forming galaxies in both the linear (2-halo) and non-linear (1-halo) regimes; and that the transition from the 2- to 1-halo terms, below which power originates predominantly from multiple galaxies within dark matter halos, occurs at k_theta ~ 0.1 - 0.12 arcmin^-1 (l ~ 2160 - 2380), from 250 to 500um. New to this paper is clear evidence of a dependence of the Poisson and 1-halo power on the flux-cut level of masked sources --- suggesting that some fraction of the more luminous sources occupy more massive halos as satellites, or are possibly close pairs. We measure the cross-correlation power spectra between bands, finding that bands which are farthest apart are the least correlated, as well as hints of a reduction in the correlation between bands when resolved sources are more aggressively masked. In the second part of the paper we attempt to interpret the measurements in the framework of the halo model. With the aim of fitting simultaneously with one model the power spectra, number counts, and absolute CIB level in all bands, we find that this is achievable by invoking a luminosity-mass relationship, such that the luminosity-to-mass ratio peaks at a particular halo mass scale and declines towards lower and higher mass halos. Our best-fit model finds that the halo mass which is most efficient at hosting star formation in the redshift range of peak star-forming activity, z ~ 1-3, is log(M_peak/M_sun) ~ 12.1 +- 0.5, and that the minimum halo mass to host infrared galaxies is log(M_min/M_sun) ~ 10.1 +- 0.6., Comment: 29 pages, 15 figures, 10 tables. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. Tabulated data and other software available at http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~viero/viero_homepage/toolbox.html

We present a pan-chromatic analysis of an unprecedented sample of 1402 250 micron-selected galaxies at z < 0.5 (mean z = 0.24) from the Herschel-ATLAS survey. We complement our Herschel 100-500 micron data with UV-K-band photometry from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey and apply the MAGPHYS energy-balance technique to produce pan-chromatic SEDs for a representative sample of 250 micron selected galaxies spanning the most recent 5 Gyr of cosmic history. We derive estimates of physical parameters, including star formation rates, stellar masses, dust masses and infrared luminosities. The typical H-ATLAS galaxy at z < 0.5 has a far-infrared luminosity in the range 10^10 - 10^12 Lsolar (SFR: 1-50 Msolar/yr) thus is broadly representative of normal star forming galaxies over this redshift range. We show that 250 micron-selected galaxies contain a larger mass of dust at a given infra-red luminosity or star formation rate than previous samples selected at 60 micron from IRAS. We derive typical SEDs for H-ATLAS galaxies, and show that the emergent SED shape is most sensitive to specific star formation rate. The optical-UV SEDs also become more reddened due to dust at higher redshifts. Our template SEDs are significantly cooler than existing infra-red templates. They may therefore be most appropriate for inferring total IR luminosities from moderate redshift submillimetre selected samples and for inclusion in models of the lower redshift submillimetre galaxy populations., Comment: 26 pages, 24 figures, Accepted by MNRAS

We present high-spatial resolution imaging obtained with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) at 880um and the Keck Adaptive Optics (AO) system at Ks-band of a gravitationally lensed sub-millimeter galaxy (SMG) at z=4.243 discovered in the Herschel-Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey. The SMA data (angular resolution ~0.6") resolve the dust emission into multiple lensed images, while the Keck AO Ks-band data (angular resolution ~0.1") resolve the lens into a pair of galaxies separated by 0.3". We present an optical spectrum of the foreground lens obtained with the Gemini-South telescope that provides a lens redshift of z_lens = 0.595 +/- 0.005. We develop and apply a new lens modeling technique in the visibility plane that shows that the SMG is magnified by a factor of mu = 4.1 +/- 0.2 and has an intrinsic infrared (IR) luminosity of L_IR = (2.1 +/- 0.2) x 10^13 Lsun. We measure a half-light radius of the background source of r_s = 4.4 +/- 0.5 kpc which implies an IR luminosity surface density of Sigma_IR = (3.4 +/- 0.9) x 10^11 Lsun kpc^-2, a value that is typical of z > 2 SMGs but significantly lower than IR luminous galaxies at z~0. The two lens galaxies are compact (r_lens ~ 0.9 kpc) early-types with Einstein radii of theta_E1 = 0.57 +/- 0.01 and theta_E2 = 0.40 +/- 0.01 that imply masses of M_lens1 = (7.4 +/- 0.5) x 10^10 Msun and M_lens2 = (3.7 +/- 0.3) x 10^10 Msun. The two lensing galaxies are likely about to undergo a dissipationless merger, and the mass and size of the resultant system should be similar to other early-type galaxies at z~0.6. This work highlights the importance of high spatial resolution imaging in developing models of strongly lensed galaxies discovered by Herschel., Comment: Accepted to the ApJ. 12 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables

We present a list of 13 candidate gravitationally lensed submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) from 95 square degrees of the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey, a surface density of 0.14\pm0.04deg^{-2}. The selected sources have 500um flux densities (S_500) greater than 100mJy. Gravitational lensing is confirmed by follow-up observations in 9 of the 13 systems (70%), and the lensing status of the four remaining sources is undetermined. We also present a supplementary sample of 29 (0.31\pm0.06deg^{-2}) gravitationally lensed SMG candidates with S_500=80--100mJy, which are expected to contain a higher fraction of interlopers than the primary candidates. The number counts of the candidate lensed galaxies are consistent with a simple statistical model of the lensing rate, which uses a foreground matter distribution, the intrinsic SMG number counts, and an assumed SMG redshift distribution. The model predicts that 32--74% of our S_500>100mJy candidates are strongly gravitationally lensed (mu>2), with the brightest sources being the most robust; this is consistent with the observational data. Our statistical model also predicts that, on average, lensed galaxies with S_500=100mJy are magnified by factors of ~9, with apparently brighter galaxies having progressively higher average magnification, due to the shape of the intrinsic number counts. 65% of the sources are expected to have intrinsic 500micron flux densities less than 30mJy. Thus, samples of strongly gravitationally lensed SMGs, such as those presented here, probe below the nominal Herschel detection limit at 500 micron. They are good targets for the detailed study of the physical conditions in distant dusty, star-forming galaxies, due to the lensing magnification, which can lead to spatial resolutions of ~0.01" in the source plane., Comment: ApJ in press. 31 pages, 16 figures, 5 tables. This version updated to match accepted version

The Herschel Reference Survey (HRS) is a guaranteed time Herschel key project aimed at studying the physical properties of the interstellar medium in galaxies of the nearby universe. This volume limited, K-band selected sample is composed of galaxies spanning the whole range of morphological types (from ellipticals to late-type spirals) and environments (from the field to the centre of the Virgo Cluster). We present flux density measurements of the whole sample of 323 galaxies of the HRS in the three bands of the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE), at 250, 350 and 500 microns. Aperture photometry is performed on extended galaxies and point spread function (PSF) fitting on timeline data for unresolved objects; we carefully estimate errors and upper limits. The flux densities are found to be in good agreement with those of the HeViCS and KINGFISH key projects in all SPIRE bands, and of the Planck consortium at 350 and 550 microns, for the galaxies in common. This submillimetre catalogue of nearby galaxies is a benchmark for the study of the dust properties in the local universe, giving the zero redshift reference for any cosmological survey., Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. The complete paper containing the atlas images of the 323 galaxies in the three SPIRE bands and in the SDSS r' band is available on http://hedam.oamp.fr/HRS/publication_download.php

The Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey, HerMES, is a legacy program designed to map a set of nested fields totalling ~380 deg^2. Fields range in size from 0.01 to ~20 deg^2, using Herschel-SPIRE (at 250, 350 and 500 \mu m), and Herschel-PACS (at 100 and 160 \mu m), with an additional wider component of 270 deg^2 with SPIRE alone. These bands cover the peak of the redshifted thermal spectral energy distribution from interstellar dust and thus capture the re-processed optical and ultra-violet radiation from star formation that has been absorbed by dust, and are critical for forming a complete multi-wavelength understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. The survey will detect of order 100,000 galaxies at 5\sigma in some of the best studied fields in the sky. Additionally, HerMES is closely coordinated with the PACS Evolutionary Probe survey. Making maximum use of the full spectrum of ancillary data, from radio to X-ray wavelengths, it is designed to: facilitate redshift determination; rapidly identify unusual objects; and understand the relationships between thermal emission from dust and other processes. Scientific questions HerMES will be used to answer include: the total infrared emission of galaxies; the evolution of the luminosity function; the clustering properties of dusty galaxies; and the properties of populations of galaxies which lie below the confusion limit through lensing and statistical techniques. This paper defines the survey observations and data products, outlines the primary scientific goals of the HerMES team, and reviews some of the early results., Comment: 23 pages, 17 figures, 9 Tables, MNRAS accepted

ABRIGED Herschel/SPIRE has provided confusion limited maps of deep fields at 250, 350, and 500um, as part of the HerMES survey. Due to confusion, only a small fraction of the Cosmic Infrared Background can be resolved into individually-detected sources. Our goal is to produce deep galaxy number counts and redshift distributions below the confusion limit, which we then use to place strong constraints on the origins of the cosmic infrared background and on models of galaxy evolution. We individually extracted the bright SPIRE with a method using the positions, the flux densities, and the redshifts of the 24um sources as a prior, and derived the number counts and redshift distributions of the bright SPIRE sources. For fainter SPIRE sources, we reconstructed the number counts and the redshift distribution below the confusion limit using the deep 24um catalogs associated with photometric redshift and information provided by the stacking of these sources into the deep SPIRE maps. Finally, by integrating all these counts, we studied the contribution of the galaxies to the CIB as a function of their flux density and redshift. Through stacking, we managed to reconstruct the source counts per redshift slice down to ~2 mJy in the three SPIRE bands, which lies about a factor 10 below the 5sigma confusion limit. None of the pre-existing population models are able to reproduce our results at better than 3sigma. Finally, we extrapolate our counts to zero flux density in order to derive an estimate of the total contribution of galaxies to the CIB, finding 10.1, 6.5, and 2.8 nW/m2/sr at 250, 350, and 500um, respectively. These values agree well with FIRAS absolute measurements, suggesting our number counts and their extrapolation are sufficient to explain the CIB. Finally, combining our results with other works, we estimate the energy budget contained in the CIB between 8 and 1000um: 26 nW/m2/sr., Comment: 25 pages, 17 figures, 15 tables, accepted by A&A, bug with Fig. 3 fixed

We present photometry of the nearby galaxy NGC 5128 (Centaurus A) observed with the PACS and SPIRE instruments on board the Herschel Space Observatory, at 70, 160, 250, 350 and 500 {\mu}m, as well as new CO J = 3-2 observations taken with the HARP-B instrument on the JCMT. Using a single component modified blackbody, we model the dust spectral energy distribution within the disk of the galaxy using all five Herschel wavebands, and find dust temperatures of ~30 K towards the centre of the disk and a smoothly decreasing trend to ~20 K with increasing radius. We find a total dust mass of (1.59 \pm 0.05) \times 10^7 M\odot, and a total gas mass of (2.7 \pm 0.2) \times 10^9 M\odot. The average gas-to-dust mass ratio is 103 \pm 8 but we find an interesting increase in this ratio to approximately 275 toward the centre of Cen A. We discuss several possible physical processes that may be causing this effect, including dust sputtering, jet entrainment and systematic variables such as the XCO factor. Dust sputtering by X-rays originating in the AGN or the removal of dust by the jets are our most favoured explanations., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 table

We identify near-infrared Ks band counterparts to Herschel-ATLAS sub-mm sources, using a preliminary object catalogue from the VISTA VIKING survey. The sub-mm sources are selected from the H-ATLAS Phase 1 catalogue of the GAMA 9h field, which includes all objects detected at 250, 350 or 500 um with the SPIRE instrument. We apply and discuss a likelihood ratio (LR) method for VIKING candidates within a search radius of 10" of the 22,000 SPIRE sources with a 5 sigma detection at 250 um. We find that 11,294(51%) of the SPIRE sources have a best VIKING counterpart with a reliability $R\ge 0.8$, and the false identification rate of these is estimated to be 4.2%. We expect to miss ~5% of true VIKING counterparts. There is evidence from Z-J and J-Ks colours that the reliable counterparts to SPIRE galaxies are marginally redder than the field population. We obtain photometric redshifts for ~68% of all (non-stellar) VIKING candidates with a median redshift of 0.405. Comparing to the results of the optical identifications supplied with the Phase I catalogue, we find that the use of medium-deep near-infrared data improves the identification rate of reliable counterparts from 36% to 51%., Comment: 20 pages, 20 figures, 3 tables, accepted by MNRAS

While the selection of strongly lensed galaxies with 500{\mu}m flux density S_500>100 mJy has proven to be rather straightforward (Negrello et al. 2010), for many applications it is important to analyze samples larger than the ones obtained when confining ourselves to such a bright limit. Moreover, only by probing to fainter flux densities is possible to exploit strong lensing to investigate the bulk of the high-z star-forming galaxy population. We describe HALOS (the Herschel-ATLAS Lensed Objects Selection), a method for efficiently selecting fainter candidate strongly lensed galaxies, reaching a surface density of ~1.5-2 deg^-2, i.e. a factor of about 4 to 6 higher than that at the 100 mJy flux limit. HALOS will allow the selection of up to ~1000 candidate strongly lensed galaxies (with amplifications \mu>2) over the full H-ATLAS survey area. Applying HALOS to the H-ATLAS Science Demonstration Phase field (~14.4 deg^2) we find 31 candidate strongly lensed galaxies, whose candidate lenses are identified in the VIKING near-infrared catalog. Using the available information on candidate sources and candidate lenses we tentatively estimate a ~72% purity of the sample. The redshift distribution of the candidate lensed sources is close to that reported for most previous surveys for lensed galaxies, while that of candidate lenses extends to substantially higher redshifts than found in the other surveys. The counts of candidate strongly lensed galaxies are also in good agreement with model predictions (Lapi et al. 2011). Even though a key ingredient of the method is the deep near-infrared VIKING photometry, we show that H-ATLAS data alone allow the selection of a similarly deep sample of candidate strongly lensed galaxies with an efficiency close to 50%; a slightly lower surface density (~1.45 deg^-2) can be reached with a ~70% efficiency., Comment: 36 pages, 12 figures, 1 table. Accepted by ApJ

We combine new Herschel/SPIRE sub-millimeter observations with existing multiwavelength data to investigate the dust scaling relations of the Herschel Reference Survey, a magnitude-, volume-limited sample of ~300 nearby galaxies in different environments. We show that the dust-to-stellar mass ratio anti-correlates with stellar mass, stellar mass surface density and NUV-r colour across the whole range of parameters covered by our sample. Moreover, the dust-to-stellar mass ratio decreases significantly when moving from late- to early-type galaxies. These scaling relations are similar to those observed for the HI gas-fraction, supporting the idea that the cold dust is tightly coupled to the cold atomic gas component in the interstellar medium. We also find a weak increase of the dust-to-HI mass ratio with stellar mass and colour but no trend is seen with stellar mass surface density. By comparing galaxies in different environments we show that, although these scaling relations are followed by both cluster and field galaxies, HI-deficient systems have, at fixed stellar mass, stellar mass surface density and morphological type systematically lower dust-to-stellar mass and higher dust-to-HI mass ratios than HI-normal/field galaxies. This provides clear evidence that dust is removed from the star-forming disk of cluster galaxies but the effect of the environment is less strong than what is observed in the case of the HI disk. Such effects naturally arise if the dust disk is less extended than the HI and follows more closely the distribution of the molecular gas phase, i.e., if the dust-to-atomic gas ratio monotonically decreases with distance from the galactic center., Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication on A&A

UV and optical surveys are essential to gain insight into the processes driving galaxy formation and evolution. The rest-frame UV emission is key to measure the cosmic SFR. However, UV light is strongly reddened by dust. In starburst galaxies, the UV colour and the attenuation are linked, allowing to correct for dust extinction. Unfortunately, evidence has been accumulating that the relation between UV colour and attenuation is different for normal star-forming galaxies when compared to starburst galaxies. It is still not understood why star-forming galaxies deviate from the UV colour-attenuation relation of starburst galaxies. Previous work and models hint that the role of the shape of the attenuation curve and the age of stellar populations have an important role. In this paper we aim at understanding the fundamental reasons to explain this deviation. We have used the CIGALE SED fitting code to model the far UV to the far IR emission of a set of 7 reasonably face-on spiral galaxies from the HRS. We have explored the influence of a wide range of physical parameters to quantify their influence and impact on the accurate determination of the attenuation from the UV colour, and why normal galaxies do not follow the same relation as starburst galaxies. We have found that the deviation can be best explained by intrinsic UV colour differences between different regions in galaxies. Variations in the shape of the attenuation curve can also play a secondary role. Standard age estimators of the stellar populations prove to be poor predictors of the intrinsic UV colour. These results are also retrieved on a sample of 58 galaxies when considering their integrated fluxes. When correcting the emission of normal star-forming galaxies for the attenuation, it is crucial to take into account possible variations in the intrinsic UV colour as well as variations of the shape of the attenuation curve., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 18 pages, 14 figures. The paper with high resolution figures can be downloaded at http://www.oamp.fr/people/mboquien/HRS/boquien_IRX_beta.pdf

We study the far infrared (60-500 $\mu$m) colours of late-type galaxies in the $Herschel$ Reference Survey, a K-band selected, volume limited sample of nearby galaxies. The far infrared colours are correlated with each other, with tighter correlations for the indices that are closer in wavelength. We also compare the different colour indices to various tracers of the physical properties of the target galaxies, such as the surface brightness of the ionising and non-ionising stellar radiation, the dust attenuation and the metallicity. The emission properties of the cold dust dominating the far infrared spectral domain are regulated by the properties of the interstellar radiation field. Consistent with that observed in nearby, resolved galaxies, our analysis shows that the ionising and the non-ionising stellar radiation, including that emitted by the most evolved, cold stars, both contribute to the heating of the cold dust component. This work also shows that metallicity is another key parameter characterising the cold dust emission of normal, late-type galaxies. A single modified black body with a grain emissivity index $\beta$=1.5 better fits the observed SPIRE flux density ratios $S250/S350$ vs. $S350/S500$ than $\beta$=2, although values of $\beta$ $\simeq$ 2 are possible in metal rich, high surface brightness galaxies. Values of $\beta$ $\lesssim$ 1.5 better represent metal poor, low surface brightness objects. This observational evidence provides strong constraints for dust emission models of normal, late type galaxies., Comment: Accepted for publication on A&A

We examine the dust and gas properties of the nearby, barred galaxy M83, which is part of the Very Nearby Galaxy Survey. Using images from the PACS and SPIRE instruments of Herschel, we examine the dust temperature and dust mass surface density distribution. We find that the nuclear, bar and spiral arm regions exhibit higher dust temperatures and masses compared to interarm regions. However, the distribution of dust temperature and mass are not spatially coincident. Assuming a trailing spiral structure, the dust temperature peaks in the spiral arms lie ahead of the dust surface density peaks. The dust mass surface density correlates well with the distribution of molecular gas as traced by CO (J=3-2) images (JCMT) and the star formation rate as traced by H?2 with a correction for obscured star formation using 24 micron emission. Using HI images from THINGS to trace the atomic gas component, we make total gas mass surface density maps and calculate the gas-to-dust ratio. We find a mean gas-to-dust ratio of 84 \pm 4 with higher values in the inner region assuming a constant CO-to-H2 conversion factor. We also examine the gas-to-dust ratio using CO-to-H2 conversion factor that varies with metallicity., Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, accepted to MNRAS

We use the Herschel-ATLAS survey to conduct the first large-scale statistical study of the submm properties of optically selected galaxies. Using ~80,000 r-band selected galaxies from 126 deg^2 of the GAMA survey, we stack into submm imaging at 250, 350 and 500{\mu}m to gain unprecedented statistics on the dust emission from galaxies at z < 0.35. We find that low redshift galaxies account for 5% of the cosmic 250{\mu}m background (4% at 350{\mu}m; 3% at 500{\mu}m), of which approximately 60% comes from 'blue' and 20% from 'red' galaxies (rest-frame g - r). We compare the dust properties of different galaxy populations by dividing the sample into bins of optical luminosity, stellar mass, colour and redshift. In blue galaxies we find that dust temperature and luminosity correlate strongly with stellar mass at a fixed redshift, but red galaxies do not follow these correlations and overall have lower luminosities and temperatures. We make reasonable assumptions to account for the contaminating flux from lensing by red sequence galaxies and conclude that galaxies with different optical colours have fundamentally different dust emission properties. Results indicate that while blue galaxies are more luminous than red galaxies due to higher temperatures, the dust masses of the two samples are relatively similar. Dust mass is shown to correlate with stellar mass, although the dust/stellar mass ratio is much higher for low stellar mass galaxies, consistent with the lowest mass galaxies having the highest specific star formation rates. We stack the 250{\mu}m/NUV luminosity ratio, finding results consistent with greater obscuration of star formation at lower stellar mass and higher redshift. Submm luminosities and dust masses of all galaxies are shown to evolve strongly with redshift, indicating a fall in the amount of obscured star formation in ordinary galaxies over the last four billion years., Comment: 38 pages, 25 figures, MNRAS Accepted

We use spitzer-IRAC data to identify near-infrared counterparts to submillimeter galaxies detected with Herschel-SPIRE at 250um in the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS). Using a likelihood ratio analysis we identify 146 reliable IRAC counterparts to 123 SPIRE sources out of the 159. We find that, compared to the field population, the SPIRE counterparts occupy a distinct region of 3.6 and 4.5um color-magnitude space, and we use this property to identify a further 23 counterparts to 13 SPIRE sources. The IRAC identification rate of 86% is significantly higher than those that have been demonstrated with wide-field ground-based optical and near-IR imaging of Herschel fields. We estimate a false identification rate of 3.6%, corresponding to 4 to 5 sources. Among the 73 counterparts that are undetected in SDSS, 57 have both 3.6 and 4.5um coverage. Of these 43 have [3.6] - [4.5]> 0 indicating that they are likely to be at z > 1.4. Thus, ~ 40% of identified SPIRE galaxies are likely to be high redshift (z > 1.4) sources. We discuss the statistical properties of the IRAC-identified SPIRE galaxy sample including far-IR luminosities, dust temperatures, star-formation rates, and stellar masses. The majority of our detected galaxies have 10^10 to 10^11 L_sun total IR luminosities and are not intense starbursting galaxies as those found at z ~ 2, but they have a factor of 2 to 3 above average specific star-formation rates compared to near-IR selected galaxy samples., Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, two tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We present Herschel observations of 62 Early-Type Galaxies (ETGs), including 39 galaxies morphologically classified as S0+S0a and 23 galaxies classified as ellipticals using SPIRE at 250, 350 and 500 microns (and PACS 100 and 160 microns for 19 sources) as part of the volume-limited Herschel Reference Survey. We detect dust emission in 24% of the ellipticals and 62% of the S0s. The mean temperature of the dust is 23.9+/-0.8 K, warmer than that found for late-type galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. Including the non-detections, the mean dust mass is log(Mdust) = 5.9+/-0.1 and 5.2+/-0.1 Msun for the S0s and elliptical galaxies respectively. The mean dust-to-stellar mass is log(Mdust/Mstar) = -4.4+/-0.1 (S0s) and -5.8+/-0.1 (ellipticals). Virtually all the galaxies lie close to the red sequence yet the large number of detections of cool dust, the gas-to-dust ratios and the ratios of far-infrared to radio emission all suggest that many ETGs contain a cool interstellar medium similar to that in late-type galaxies. The mean dust-to-stellar mass ratio for S0s is approximatly a factor of ten less than for early-type spirals and the sizes of the dust sources in the S0s are also much smaller. We show that the difference cannot be explained by either the different bulge-to-disk ratios or environmental effects such as ram-pressure stripping. The wide range in the dust-to-stellar mass ratio for ETGs and the lack of a correlation between dust mass and optical luminosity suggest that much of the dust in the ETGs detected by Herschel has been acquired as the result of gravitational interactions; these interactions are unlikely to have had a major effect on the stellar masses of the ETGs. The Herschel observations tentatively suggest that in the most massive ETGs, the mass of the interstellar medium is unconnected to the evolution of the stellar populations., Comment: 28 Pages, 12 Figures. Submitted to ApJ December 2011; accepted January 2012

We describe the Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey (HeViCS) and the first data that cover the complete survey area (four 4 x 4 deg2 regions). We use these data to measure and compare the global far infrared properties of 78 optically bright galaxies that are selected at 500 \mum and detected in all five far-infrared bands. We show that our measurements and calibration are broadly consistent with previous data obtained by IRAS, ISO, Spitzer and Planck. We use SPIRE and PACS photometry data to produce 100, 160, 250, 350 and 500 \mum cluster luminosity distributions. These luminosity distributions are not power laws, but peaked, with small numbers of both faint and bright galaxies. We measure a cluster 100-500 micron far-infrared luminosity density of 1.6(7.0) \pm 0.2 x 10^9 Lsun/Mpc3. This compares to a cluster 0.4-2.5 \mum optical luminosity density of 5.0(20.0) x 10^9 Lsun/Mpc3, some 3.2(2.9) times larger than the far-infrared. A typical photon originates from an optical depth of 0.4\pm0.1. Most of our sample galaxies are well fitted by a single modified blackbody (beta=2), leading to a mean dust mass of log Mdust = 7.31 Msun and temperature of 20.0 K. We also derive both stellar and atomic hydrogen masses from which we calculate mean values for the stars:gas(atomic) and gas(atomic): dust mass ratios of 15.1 and 58.2 respectively. Using our derived dust, atomic gas and stellar masses we estimate cluster mass densities of 8.6(27.8) x 10^6, 4.6(13.9) x 10^8, 7.8(29.7) x 10^9 Msun/Mpc3, respectively for dust, atomic gas and stars. These values are higher than those derived for field galaxies by factors of 39(126), 6(18) and 34(129) respectively. In the above luminosity/mass densities are given using the whole sample with values in brackets using just those galaxies that lie between 17 and 23 Mpc. We provide a data table of flux densities in all the Herschel bands for all 78 bright Virgo cluster galaxies., Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present the first results of a multi-wavelength survey, incoporating Herschel-SPIRE, Spitzer, GALEX and ATCA observations, of a 1 deg x 1 deg field centred on Centaurus A. As well as detecting the inner lobes of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) jet and counterjet, we have found two clouds, bright at sub-mm wavelengths, ~15 kpc from the centre of Cen A that are co-aligned with the jets. Flux measurements at Herschel wavelengths have proved vital in constraining fits to the Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs). The clouds are well fit by a single-temperature, modified blackbody spectrum (beta=2) indicating that we are looking at two cold dust clouds on the outskirts of Cen A. The temperature and masses of the clouds are: T_{north} = 12.6^{+1.1}_{-1.2} K, T_{south} = 15.1^{+1.7}_{-1.6} K; log(M_{north} / M_o) = 5.8^{+0.2}_{-0.2}, log(M_{south} / M_o) = 5.6^{+0.2}_{-0.2} and the gas-dust ratio for both clouds is ~100. The measured values for the northern dust cloud are consistent with previous measurements from ISO while the southern cloud is a new sub-mm detection. The two dust clouds are located at the termini of the partial HI ring that surrounds Cen A which is also where the gas column density peaks... abridged, Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS, author email: robbie.auld@astro.cf.ac.uk

We describe the generation of single-band point source catalogues from submillimetre Herschel-SPIRE observations taken as part of the Science Demonstration Phase of the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES). Flux densities are found by means of peak-finding and the fitting of a Gaussian point-response function. With highly-confused images, careful checks must be made on the completeness and flux density accuracy of the detected sources. This is done by injecting artificial sources into the images and analysing the resulting catalogues. Measured flux densities at which 50 per cent of injected sources result in good detections at (250, 350, 500) {\mu}m range from (11.6, 13.2, 13.1) mJy to (25.7, 27.1, 35.8) mJy, depending on the depth of the observation (where a `good' detection is taken to be one with positional offset less than one full-width half-maximum of the point-response function, and with the measured flux density within a factor of 2 of the flux density of the injected source). This paper acts as a reference for the 2010 July HerMES public data release., Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. For associated data release, see http://hedam.oamp.fr/HerMES

We investigate the potential of submm-mm and submm-mm-radio photometric redshifts using a sample of mm-selected sources as seen at 250, 350 and 500 {\mu}m by the SPIRE instrument on Herschel. From a sample of 63 previously identified mm-sources with reliable radio identifications in the GOODS-N and Lockman Hole North fields 46 (73 per cent) are found to have detections in at least one SPIRE band. We explore the observed submm/mm colour evolution with redshift, finding that the colours of mm-sources are adequately described by a modified blackbody with constant optical depth {\tau} = ({\nu}/{\nu}0)^{\beta} where {\beta} = +1.8 and {\nu}0 = c/100 {\mu}m. We find a tight correlation between dust temperature and IR luminosity. Using a single model of the dust temperature and IR luminosity relation we derive photometric redshift estimates for the 46 SPIRE detected mm-sources. Testing against the 22 sources with known spectroscopic, or good quality optical/near-IR photometric, redshifts we find submm/mm photometric redshifts offer a redshift accuracy of |z|/(1+z) = 0.16 (< |z| >= 0.51). Including constraints from the radio-far IR correlation the accuracy is improved to |z|/(1 + z) = 0.15 (< |z| >= 0.45). We estimate the redshift distribution of mm-selected sources finding a significant excess at z > 3 when compared to ~ 850 {\mu}m selected samples., Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We use Spitzer Space Telescope and Herschel Space Observatory far-infrared data along with ground-based optical and near-infrared data to understand how dust heating in the nearby face-on spiral galaxies M81, M83, and NGC 2403 is affected by the starlight from all stars and by the radiation from star forming regions. We find that 70/160 micron surface brightness ratios tend to be more strongly influenced by star forming regions. However, the 250/350 micron and 350/500 micron surface brightness ratios are more strongly affected by the light from the total stellar populations, suggesting that the dust emission at >250 microns originates predominantly from a component that is colder than the dust seen at <160 microns and that is relatively unaffected by star formation activity. We conclude by discussing the implications of this for modelling the spectral energy distributions of both nearby and more distant galaxies and for using far-infrared dust emission to trace star formation., Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Exploiting the Herschel-ATLAS Science Demonstration Phase (SDP) survey data, we have determined the luminosity functions (LFs) at rest-frame wavelengths of 100 and 250 micron and at several redshifts z>1, for bright sub-mm galaxies with star formation rates (SFR) >100 M_sun/yr. We find that the evolution of the comoving LF is strong up to z~2.5, and slows down at higher redshifts. From the LFs and the information on halo masses inferred from clustering analysis, we derived an average relation between SFR and halo mass (and its scatter). We also infer that the timescale of the main episode of dust-enshrouded star formation in massive halos (M_H>3*10^12 M_sun) amounts to ~7*10^8 yr. Given the SFRs, which are in the range 10^2-10^3 M_sun/yr, this timescale implies final stellar masses of order of 10^11-10^12 M_sun. The corresponding stellar mass function matches the observed mass function of passively evolving galaxies at z>1. The comparison of the statistics for sub-mm and UV selected galaxies suggests that the dust-free, UV bright phase, is >10^2 times shorter than the sub-mm bright phase, implying that the dust must form soon after the onset of star formation. Using a single reference Spectral Energy Distribution (SED; the one of the z~2.3 galaxy SMM J2135-0102), our simple physical model is able to reproduce not only the LFs at different redshifts > 1 but also the counts at wavelengths ranging from 250 micron to ~1 mm. Owing to the steepness of the counts and their relatively broad frequency range, this result suggests that the dispersion of sub-mm SEDs of z>1 galaxies around the reference one is rather small., Comment: 33 pages, 19 figures, 2 tables. Accepted by ApJ

The Herschel survey, H-ATLAS, with its large areal coverage, has recently discovered a number of bright, strongly lensed high-z submillimeter galaxies. The strong magnification makes it possible to study molecular species other than CO, which are otherwise difficult to observe in high-z galaxies. Among the lensed galaxies already identified by H-ATLAS, the source J090302.9-014127B (SDP.17b) at z = 2.305 is remarkable due to its excitation conditions and a tentative detection of the H2O 202-111 emission line (Lupu et al. 2010). We report observations of this line in SDP.17b using the IRAM interferometer equipped with its new 277- 371GHz receivers. The H2O line is detected at a redshift of z = 2.3049+/-0.0006, with a flux of 7.8+/-0.5 Jy km s-1 and a FWHM of 250+/-60 km s-1. The new flux is 2.4 times weaker than the previous tentative detection, although both remain marginally consistent within 1.6-sigma. The intrinsic line luminosity and ratio of H2O(202-111)/CO8-7 seem comparable with those of the nearby starburst/enshrouded-AGN Mrk 231, suggesting that SDP.17b could also host a luminous AGN. The detection of a strong H2O 202-111 line in SDP.17b implies an efficient excitation mechanism of the water levels that must occur in very dense and warm interstellar gas., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure

We report ground-based follow-up observations of the exceptional source, ID141, one the brightest sources detected so far in the H-ATLAS cosmological survey. ID141 was observed using the IRAM 30-meter telescope and Plateau de Bure interferometer (PdBI), the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) submillimeter telescope to measure the dust continuum and emission lines of the main isotope of carbon monoxide and carbon ([C I] and [C II]). The detection of strong CO emission lines with the PdBI confirms that ID141 is at high redshift (z=4.243 +/- 0.001). The strength of the continuum and emission lines suggests that ID141 is gravitationally lensed. The width (Delta V (FWHM) ~ 800 km/s}) and asymmetric profiles of the CO and carbon lines indicate orbital motion in a disc or a merger. The properties derived for ID141 are compatible with a ultraluminous (L_FIR ~ 8.5 +/- 0.3 x 10^13/mu_L Lsun, where mu_L is the amplification factor, dense (n ~ 10^4 cm^-3) and warm (T_kin ~ 40K) starburst galaxy, with an estimated star-formation rate of (0.7 to 1.7) x 10^4/mu_L Msun/yr. The carbon emission lines indicate a dense (n ~ 10^4 cm^-3) Photo-Dominated Region, illuminated by a far-UV radiation field a few thousand times more intense than that in our Galaxy. In conclusion, the physical properties of the high-z galaxy, ID141, are remarkably similar to those of local ultraluminous infrared galaxies., Comment: To appear in ApJ

For the first time, we investigate the X-ray/infrared (IR) correlation for star-forming galaxies at z~1, using SPIRE submm data from the recently-launched Herschel Space Observatory and deep X-ray data from the 2Ms Chandra deep field north (CDFN) survey. We examine the X-ray/IR correlation in the soft X-ray (SX, 0.5-2 keV) and hard X-ray (HX, 2-10 keV) bands by comparing our z~1 SPIRE-detected star-forming galaxies (SFGs) to equivalently IR-luminous (L_IR >10^10 L_sun) samples in the local/low redshift Universe. Our results suggest that the X-ray/IR properties of the SPIRE SFGs are on average similar to those of their local counterparts, as we find no evidence for evolution in the L_SX/L_IR and L_HX/L_IR ratios with redshift. We note however, that at all redshifts, both L_SX/L_IR and L_HX/L_IR are strongly dependent on IR luminosity, with luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs and ULIRGs,L_IR >10^11 L_sun) having up to an order of magnitude lower values than normal infrared galaxies (L_IR <10^11 L_sun). We derive a L_SX-L_IR relation and confirm the applicability of an existing L_HX-L_IR relation for both local and distant LIRGs and ULIRGs, consistent with a scenario where X-ray luminosity is correlated with the star-formation rate (SFR)., Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We investigate the ultraviolet and optical properties and environment of low redshift galaxies detected in the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) science demonstration data. We use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey seventh release and the Galaxy And Mass Assembly database to select galaxies with r_Petro < 19.0 mag in the redshift range 0.02 < z < 0.2 and look for their submillimeter counterparts in H-ATLAS. Our results show that at low redshift, H-ATLAS detects mainly blue/star-forming galaxies with a minor contribution from red systems which are highly obscured by dust. In addition we find that the colour of a galaxy rather than the local density of its environment determines whether it is detectable by H-ATLAS. The average dust temperature of galaxies that are simultaneously detected by both PACS and SPIRE is 25K \pm 4K, independent of environment. This analysis provides a glimpse of the potential of the H-ATLAS data to investigate the submillimeter properties of galaxies in the local universe., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures (accepted for publication in MNRAS)

We present Herschel-SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) and radio follow-up observations of two Herschel-ATLAS (H-ATLAS) detected strongly lensed distant galaxies. In one of the targeted galaxies H-ATLAS J090311.6+003906 (SDP.81) we detect [OIII] 88\mum and [CII] 158\mum lines at a signal-to-noise ratio of ~5. We do not have any positive line identification in the other fainter target H-ATLAS J091305.0-005343 (SDP.130). Currently SDP.81 is the faintest sub-mm galaxy with positive line detections with the FTS, with continuum flux just below 200 mJy in the 200-600 \mum wavelength range. The derived redshift of SDP.81 from the two detections is z=3.043 +/-0.012, in agreement with ground-based CO measurements. This is the first detection by Herschel of the [OIII] 88\mum line in a galaxy at redshift higher than 0.05. Comparing the observed lines and line ratios with a grid of photo-dissociation region (PDR) models with different physical conditions, we derive the PDR cloud density n ~ 2000 cm^{-3} and the far-UV ionizing radiation field G_0 ~ 200 (in units of the Habing field -- the local Galactic interstellar radiation field of 1.6x10^{-6} W/m^2). Using the CO derived molecular mass and the PDR properties we estimate the effective radius of the emitting region to be 500-700 pc. These characteristics are typical for star-forming, high redshift galaxies. The radio observations indicate that SDP.81 deviates significantly from the local FIR/radio correlation, which hints that some fraction of the radio emission is coming from an AGN. The constraints on the source size from millimiter-wave observations put a very conservative upper limit of the possible AGN contribution to less than 33%. These indications, together with the high [OIII]/FIR ratio and the upper limit of [OI] 63\mum/[CII] 158\mum suggest that some fraction of the ionizing radiation is likely to originate from an AGN., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, published in MNRAS

We report the detection of a significant excess in the surface density of far-infrared sources from the Herschel-Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) within ~1 Mpc of the centres of 66 optically-selected clusters of galaxies in the SDSS with ~0.25. From the analysis of the multiwavelength properties of their counterparts we conclude that the far-infrared emission is associated with dust-obscured star formation and/or active galactic nuclei within galaxies in the clusters themselves. The excess reaches a maximum at a radius of ~0.8 Mpc, where we find 1.0\pm0.3 S_250um>34 mJy sources on average per cluster above what would be expected for random field locations. If the far-infrared emission is dominated by star formation (as opposed to AGN) then this corresponds to an average star formation rate of ~7 M_sun/yr per cluster in sources with L_IR>5d10 L_sun. Although lensed sources make a negligible contribution to the excess signal, a fraction of the sources around the clusters could be gravitationally lensed, and we have identified a sample of potential cases of cluster-lensed Herschel sources that could be targeted in follow-up studies., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication in MNRAS

As part of the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey we have investigated the rest-frame far-infrared (FIR) properties of a sample of more than 4800 Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey North field. Most LBGs are not detected individually, but we do detect a sub-sample of 12 objects at 0.7 < z < 1.6 and one object at z ~ 2.0. The ones detected by Herschel SPIRE have redder observed NUV-U and U-R colors than the others, while the undetected ones have colors consistent with average LBGs at z > 2.5. The UV-to-FIR spectral energy distributions of the objects detected in the rest-frame FIR are investigated using the code CIGALE to estimate physical parameters. We find that LBGs detected by SPIRE are high mass, luminous infrared galaxies. It appears that LBGs are located in a triangle-shaped region in the A_FUV vs. Log L_FUV diagram limited by A_FUV=0 at the bottom and by a diagonal following the temporal evolution of the most massive galaxies from the bottom-right to the top-left of the diagram. This upper envelop can be used as upper limits for the UV dust attenuation as a function of L_FUV}. The limits of this region are well explained using a closed-box model, where the chemical evolution of galaxies produces metals, which in turn lead to higher dust attenuation when the galaxies age., Comment: ApJ Letter in press

We report the detection of CO 5-4, 3-2, and 1-0 emission in the strongly lensed, Herschel/SPIRE-selected submillimeter galaxy (SMG) HLSW-01 at z=2.9574+/-0.0001, using the Plateau de Bure Interferometer, the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy, and the Green Bank Telescope. The observations spatially resolve the molecular gas into four lensed images with a maximum separation of ~9", and reveal the internal gas dynamics in this system. We derive lensing-corrected CO line luminosities of L'(CO 1-0) = (4.17+/-0.41), L'(CO 3-2) = (3.96+/-0.20) and L'(CO 5-4) = (3.45+/-0.20) x 10^10 (mu_L/10.9)^-1 Kkm/s pc^2, corresponding to luminosity ratios of r_31 = 0.95+/-0.10, r_53 = 0.87+/-0.06, and r_51 = 0.83+/-0.09. This suggests a total molecular gas mass of Mgas = 3.3 x 10^10 (alpha_CO/0.8) (mu_L/10.9)^-1 Msun. The gas mass, gas mass fraction, gas depletion timescale, star formation efficiency, and specific star formation rate are typical for an SMG. The velocity structure of the gas reservoir suggests that the brightest two lensed images are dynamically resolved projections of the same dust-obscured region in the galaxy that are kinematically offset from the unresolved fainter images. The resolved kinematics appear consistent with the complex velocity structure observed in major, `wet' (i.e., gas-rich) mergers. Major mergers are commonly observed in SMGs, and are likely to be responsible for fueling their intense starbursts at high gas consumption rates. This study demonstrates the level of detail to which galaxies in the early universe can be studied by utilizing the increase in effective spatial resolution and sensitivity provided by gravitational lensing., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, to appear in ApJL (accepted April 19, 2011)

We present the results of a gravitational lensing analysis of the bright $\zs=2.957$ sub-millimeter galaxy (SMG), HERMES J105751.1+573027 found in {\it Herschel}/SPIRE Science Demonstration Phase data from the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) project. The high resolution imaging available in optical and Near-IR channels, along with CO emission obtained with the Plateau de Bure Interferometer, allow us to precisely estimate the intrinsic source extension and hence estimate the total lensing magnification to be $\mu=10.9\pm 0.7$. We measure the half-light radius $R_{\rm eff}$ of the source in the rest-frame Near-UV and $V$ bands that characterize the unobscured light coming from stars and find $R_{\rm eff,*}= [2.0 \pm 0.1]$ kpc, in good agreement with recent studies on the Submillimeter Galaxy population. This lens model is also used to estimate the size of the gas distribution ($R_{\rm eff,gas}= [1.1\pm0.5]$) kpc by mapping back in the source plane the CO (J=5-4) transition line emission. The lens modeling yields a relatively large Einstein radius $R_{\rm Ein}= 4\farcs10 \pm 0\farcs02$, corresponding to a deflector velocity dispersion of [$483\pm 16] \,\kms$. This shows that HERMES J105751.1+573027 is lensed by a {\it galaxy group-size} dark matter halo at redshift $\zl\sim 0.6$. The projected dark matter contribution largely dominates the mass budget within the Einstein radius with $f_{\rm dm}(

We report the discovery of a bright ($f(250\mum) > 400$ mJy), multiply-lensed submillimeter galaxy \obj\ in {\it Herschel}/SPIRE Science Demonstration Phase data from the HerMES project. Interferometric 880\mum\ Submillimeter Array observations resolve at least four images with a large separation of $\sim 9\arcsec$. A high-resolution adaptive optics $K_p$ image with Keck/NIRC2 clearly shows strong lensing arcs. Follow-up spectroscopy gives a redshift of $z=2.9575$, and the lensing model gives a total magnification of $\mu \sim 11 \pm 1$. The large image separation allows us to study the multi-wavelength spectral energy distribution (SED) of the lensed source unobscured by the central lensing mass. The far-IR/millimeter-wave SED is well described by a modified blackbody fit with an unusually warm dust temperature, $88 \pm 3$ K. We derive a lensing-corrected total IR luminosity of $(1.43 \pm 0.09) \times 10^{13}\, \mathrm{L}_{\odot}$, implying a star formation rate of $\sim 2500\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot}\, \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. However, models primarily developed from brighter galaxies selected at longer wavelengths are a poor fit to the full optical-to-millimeter SED. A number of other strongly lensed systems have already been discovered in early {\it Herschel} data, and many more are expected as additional data are collected., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL

We report on the redshift measurement and CO line excitation of HERMES J105751.1+573027 (HLSW-01), a strongly lensed submillimeter galaxy discovered in Herschel/SPIRE observations as part of the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES). HLSW-01 is an ultra-luminous galaxy with an intrinsic far-infrared luminosity of 1.4x10^(13) solar luminosities, and is lensed by a massive group of galaxies into at least four images with a total magnification of 10.9+/-0.7. With the 100 GHz instantaneous bandwidth of the Z-Spec instrument on the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, we robustly identify a redshift of z=2.958+/-0.007 for this source, using the simultaneous detection of four CO emission lines (J = 7-6, J = 8-7, J = 9-8, and J = 10-9). Combining the measured line fluxes for these high-J transitions with the J = 1-0, J = 3-2 and J = 5-4 line fluxes measured with the Green Bank Telescope, the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter Astronomy, and the Plateau de Bure Interferometer, respectively, we model the physical properties of the molecular gas in this galaxy. We find that the full CO spectral line energy distribution is well described by warm, moderate-density gas with Tkin = 86-235 K and n(H2) = (1.1-3.5)x10^3 cm^(-3). However, it is possible that the highest-J transitions are tracing a small fraction of very dense gas in molecular cloud cores, and two-component models that include a warm/dense molecular gas phase with Tkin ~ 200 K, n(H2) ~ 10^5 cm^(-3) are also consistent with these data. Higher signal-to-noise measurements of the J(upper) > 7 transitions with high spectral resolution, combined with high spatial resolution CO maps, are needed to improve our understanding of the gas excitation, morphology, and dynamics of this interesting high-redshift galaxy., Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 2 table. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We use the science demonstration field data of the Herschel-ATLAS to study how star formation, traced by the far-infrared Herschel data, is related to both the accretion luminosity and redshift of quasars selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the 2SLAQ survey. By developing a maximum likelihood estimator to investigate the presence of correlations between the far-infrared and optical luminosities we find evidence that the star-formation in quasar hosts is correlated with both redshift and quasar accretion luminosity. Assuming a relationship of the form L_IR \propto L_QSO^{\theta} (1 + z)^{\zeta}, we find {\theta} = 0.22 +/- 0.08 and {\zeta} = 1.6 +/- 0.4, although there is substantial additional uncertainty in {\zeta} of order +/- 1, due to uncertainties in the host galaxy dust temperature. We find evidence for a large intrinsic dispersion in the redshift dependence, but no evidence for intrinsic dispersion in the correlation between L_QSO and L_IR, suggesting that the latter may be due to a direct physical connection between star formation and black hole accretion. This is consistent with the idea that both the quasar activity and star formation are dependent on the same reservoir of cold gas, so that they are both affected by the influx of cold gas during mergers or heating of gas via feedback processes., Comment: 10 pages, accepted for publication in MNRAS (compared with v1, this version has a very slightly expanded discussion of the comparison to other work)

We use multiwavelength data from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) and Herschel ATLAS (H-ATLAS) surveys to compare the relationship between various dust obscuration measures in galaxies. We explore the connections between the ultraviolet (UV) spectral slope, $\beta$, the Balmer decrement, and the far infrared (IR) to $150\,$nm far ultraviolet (FUV) luminosity ratio. We explore trends with galaxy mass, star formation rate (SFR) and redshift in order to identify possible systematics in these various measures. We reiterate the finding of other authors that there is a large scatter between the Balmer decrement and the $\beta$ parameter, and that $\beta$ may be poorly constrained when derived from only two broad passbands in the UV. We also emphasise that FUV derived SFRs, corrected for dust obscuration using $\beta$, will be overestimated unless a modified relation between $\beta$ and the attenuation factor is used. Even in the optimum case, the resulting SFRs have a significant scatter, well over an order of magnitude. While there is a stronger correlation between the IR to FUV luminosity ratio and $\beta$ parameter than with the Balmer decrement, neither of these correlations are particularly tight, and dust corrections based on $\beta$ for high redshift galaxy SFRs must be treated with caution. We conclude with a description of the extent to which the different obscuration measures are consistent with each other as well as the effects of including other galactic properties on these correlations., Comment: Accepted by MNRAS, 12 pages, 8 figures

Cosmic magnification is due to the weak gravitational lensing of sources in the distant Universe by foreground large-scale structure leading to coherent changes in the observed number density of the background sources. Depending on the slope of the background source number counts, cosmic magnification causes a correlation between the background and foreground galaxies, which is unexpected in the absence of lensing if the two populations are spatially disjoint. Previous attempts using submillimetre (sub-mm) sources have been hampered by small number statistics. The large number of sources detected in the {\it Herschel} Multi-tiered Extra-galactic Survey (HerMES) Lockman-SWIRE field enables us to carry out the first robust study of the cross-correlation between sub-mm sources and sources at lower redshifts. Using ancillary data we compile two low-redshift samples from SDSS and SWIRE with ~ 0.2 and 0.4, respectively, and cross-correlate with two sub-mm samples based on flux density and colour criteria, selecting galaxies preferentially at z ~ 2. We detect cross-correlation on angular scales between ~1 and 50 arcmin and find clear evidence that this is primarily due to cosmic magnification. A small, but non-negligible signal from intrinsic clustering is likely to be present due to the tails of the redshift distribution of the sub-mm sources overlapping with those of the foreground samples., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figues, accepted for publication in MNRAS