The AstroSat UV deep field north: direct determination of the UV luminosity function and its evolution from z ∼ 0.8-0.4

We characterize the evolution of the rest-frame 1500 Å UV luminosity function (UVLF) from AstroSat/UVIT F154W and N242W imaging in the Great Observatories Origins Survey North (GOODS-N) field. With deep FUV observations, we construct the UVLF for galaxies at z < 0.13 and subsequently characterize it with a Schechter function fit. The fitted parameters are consistent with previous determinations. With deep NUV observations, we are able to construct the UVLF in seven redshift bins in the range z∼0.4-0.8, with galaxies identified till ∼2 mag fainter than previous surveys, owing to the high angular-resolution of UVIT. The fitted Schechter function parameters are obtained for these UVLFs. At z∼0.7-0.8, we also utilize Hubble Space Telescope (HST) F275W observations in the GOODS-N field to construct the UVLF in 2 redshift bins, whose fitted Schechter function parameters are then found to be consistent with that determined from UVIT at z∼0.75. We thus probe the variation of the fitted UVLF parameters over z∼0.8-0.4, a span of ∼2.7 Gyr in age. We find that the slope of the Schechter function, a, is at its steepest at z∼0.65, implying highest star-formation at this instant with galaxies being relatively more passive before and after this time. We infer that this is a short-lived instance of increased cosmic star-formation in the GOODS-N field even though cosmic star-formation may be winding-down over longer time-span at this redshift range.