Open AccessEvolution of the galaxy luminosity function at z < 0.3
Author(s) -
Loveday Jon
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07230.x
Subject(s) - physics , astrophysics , galaxy , sky , redshift , luminosity function , luminosity , astronomy , cosmology , redshift survey , galaxy formation and evolution , absolute magnitude , magnitude (astronomy)
We measure the redshift‐dependent luminosity function and the comoving radial density of galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 1 (SDSS DR1). Both measurements indicate that the apparent number density of bright galaxies increases by a factor ≈ 3 as redshift increases from z = 0 to z = 0.3 . This result is robust to the assumed cosmology, to the details of the K ‐correction and to direction on the sky. These observations are most naturally explained by significant evolution in the luminosity and/or number density of galaxies at redshifts z < 0.3 . Such evolution is also consistent with the steep number‐magnitude counts seen in the Automatic Plate Measuring (APM) Galaxy Survey, without the need to invoke a local underdensity in the galaxy distribution or magnitude scale errors.