Demographics of Star-forming Galaxies since $z\sim2.5$. I. The $UVJ$ Diagram in CANDELS

Understand

This is the first in a series of papers examining the demographics of star-forming galaxies at $0.2<z<2.5$ in CANDELS.

• We study 9,100 galaxies from GOODS-S and UDS having published values of redshifts, masses, star-formation rates (SFRs), and dust attenuation ($A_V$) derived from UV-optical SED fitting.
• In agreement with previous works, we find that the $UVJ$ colors of a galaxy are closely correlated with its specific star-formation rate (SSFR) and $A_V$.
• We define rotated $UVJ$ coordinate axes, termed $S_\mathrm{SED}$ and $C_\mathrm{SED}$, that are parallel and perpendicular to the star-forming sequence and derive a quantitative calibration that predicts SSFR from $C_\mathrm{SED}$ with an accuracy of ~0.2 dex.