A Complete 16 μm Selected Galaxy Sample at z ∼ 1: Mid-infrared Spectral Energy Distributions

Abstract

We describe a complete, flux-density-limited sample of galaxies at redshift 0.8 < z < 1.3 selected at 16 μm. At the selection wavelength near 8 μm rest, the observed emission comes from both dust heated by intense star formation and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the sample galaxies to local-galaxy templates reveals that more than half the galaxies have SEDs dominated by star formation. About one-sixth of the galaxy SEDs are dominated by an AGN, and nearly all of the rest of the SEDs are composite. Comparison with X-ray and far-infrared observations shows that combinations of luminosities at rest-frame 4.5 and 8 μm give good measures of both AGN luminosity and star formation rate. The sample galaxies mostly follow the established star-forming main sequence for z = 1 galaxies, but of the galaxies more than 0.5 dex above that main sequence, more than half have AGN-type SEDs. Similarly, the most luminous AGNs tend to have higher star formation rates than the main-sequence value. Galaxies with stellar masses >1011 M⊙ are unlikely to host an AGN. About 1% of the sample galaxies show an SED with dust emission typical of neither star formation nor an AGN.