| Description |
We propose a far-IR and submm mapping survey of the premier AKARI deep field in the North Ecliptic Pole, in PACS/SPIRE parallel mode. This is the only major deep infrared field not yet covered by Herschel guaranteed or open time key projects. The outstanding and unparalleled continuous mid-IR photometric coverage from AKARI, far better than equivalent Spitzer surveys, enables a wide range of galaxy evolution diagnostics unachievable in any other survey field (including Herschel HerMES/PEP fields), by spanning the wavelengths of redshifted PAH and silicate features and the peak energy output of AGN dust tori. The investment by AKARI in the NEP represents ~10 percent of the entire pointed observations available throughout the lifetime of AKARI. Our proposal remedies the remarkable omission from Herschels legacy surveys of the premier extragalactic deep field from another IR space telescope. We will simultaneously identify and find photometric redshifts for the Herschel point source population, make stacking analysis detections of the galaxies which dominate the submm extragalactic background light as a function of redshift, determine the bolometric power outputs of the galaxies that dominate the submm background, compare the UV/optical/mid-IR continuum/PAH/far-IR/submm/radiostar formation rate estimator in the most comprehensive IR survey data set to date, and track the coupled stellar mass assembly and black hole accretion throughout most of the history of the Universe. |
