Yun Wang et al. 1998 The Astronomical Journal 116 2081 doi:10.1086/300592
Yun Wang1, Neta Bahcall1 and Edwin L. Turner1
Show affiliationsWe derive simple empirical color-redshift relations for z
4 galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field (HDF) using a linear function of three photometric colors (U-B, B-V, V-I). The dispersion between the estimated redshifts and the spectroscopically observed ones is small for relations derived in several separate color regimes; the dispersions range from σz
0.03 to 0.1 for z
2 galaxies, and from σz
0.14 to 0.25 for z
2 galaxies. We apply the color-redshift relations to the HDF photometric catalog and obtain estimated redshifts that are consistent with those derived from spectral template fitting methods. The advantage of these color-redshift relations is that they are simple and easy to use and do not depend on the assumption of any particular spectral templates; they provide model independent redshift estimates for z
4 galaxies using only multiband photometry, and they apply to about 90% of all galaxies. We provide a color-based estimated redshift catalog of HDF galaxies to z
4. We use the estimated redshifts to investigate the redshift distribution of galaxies in the HDF; we find peaks in the redshift distribution that suggest large-scale clustering of galaxies to at least z ~ 1 and that are consistent with those identified in spectroscopic probes of the HDF.
Issue 5 (1998 November)
Received 1998 April 21, accepted for publication 1998 July 23
Yun Wang et al. 1998 The Astronomical Journal 116 2081
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