TheHerschelMulti-tiered Extragalactic Survey: HerMES

Abstract

The Herschel Multi‐tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) is a legacy programme designed to map a set of nested fields totalling ∼380 deg2. Fields range in size from 0.01 to ∼20 deg2, using the Herschel‐Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) (at 250, 350 and 500 μm) and the Herschel‐Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) (at 100 and 160 μm), with an additional wider component of 270 deg2 with SPIRE alone. These bands cover the peak of the redshifted thermal spectral energy distribution from interstellar dust and thus capture the reprocessed optical and ultraviolet radiation from star formation that has been absorbed by dust, and are critical for forming a complete multiwavelength understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. The survey will detect of the order of 100 000 galaxies at 5σ 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.

Dusty star-forming galaxies at high redshift

“…Spire consisted of both a spectrometer and an imaging photometer operating in three wavebands simultaneously at 250µm, 350µm, and 500µm. The photometer was used primarily for mapping large areas of sky under the Herschel Multitiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES; Oliver et al, 2012) and the Herschel-ATLAS Survey to varying depths. The beamsize of 250µm, 350µm, and 500µm observations was 18 , 26 and 36 , respectively with a confusion limit of 5.8 mJy, 6.3 mJy and 6.8 mJy, respectively.…”

CONFIRMING THE EXISTENCE OF A QUIESCENT GALAXY POPULATION OUT TO z = 3: A STACKING ANALYSIS OF MID-, FAR-INFRARED, AND RADIO DATA

“…For the stacking analysis (Section 3) we use the MIPS 24 μm imaging (FWHM;6″) from Sanders et al (2007), while the Herschel PACS and SPIRE maps are from the PACS Evolutionary Probe survey (PEP; Lutz et al 2011) and the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES; Oliver et al 2012), respectively. The PACS maps reach depths of 5 and 10.3 mJy beam −1 (3σ) at 100 and 160 μm, respectively (FWHM;6 8 and 11″), and SPIRE 250, 350, and 500 μm depths are 8, 11, and 13 mJy beam −1 (3σ), respectively (FWHM;18 2, 24 9, and 36 3).…”

Cold dust emission from X-ray AGN in the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey: dependence on luminosity, obscuration and AGN activity

“…1. The Herschel-SPIRE data in the COSMOS field is taken from the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (Oliver et al 2012). Maps have been produced using the Level 2 data products from the ESA archive as detailed in Swinbank et al (2014).…”