The 1.28 GHz MeerKAT DEEP2 Image. (arXiv:1912.06212v1 [astro-ph.GA])

The 1.28 GHz MeerKAT DEEP2 Image. (arXiv:1912.06212v1 [astro-ph.GA])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Mauch_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">T. Mauch</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Cotton_W/0/1/0/all/0/1">W. D. Cotton</a> (2,1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Condon_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">J. J. Condon</a> (2), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Matthews_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">A. M. Matthews</a> (3,2), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Abbott_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">T. D. Abbott</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Adam_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">R. M. Adam</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Aldera_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. A. Aldera</a> (4), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Asad_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">K. M. B. Asad</a> (1,5,6), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bauermeister_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">E. F. Bauermeister</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bennett_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">T. G. H. Bennett</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bester_H/0/1/0/all/0/1">H. Bester</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Botha_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. H. Botha</a> (7), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Brederode_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">L. R. S. Brederode</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Brits_Z/0/1/0/all/0/1">Z. B. Brits</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Buchner_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. J. Buchner</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Burger_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">J. P. Burger</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Camilo_F/0/1/0/all/0/1">F. Camilo</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Chalmers_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">J. M. Chalmers</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Cheetham_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">T. Cheetham</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Villiers_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. de Villiers</a> (8), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Villiers_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. S. de Villiers</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Dikgale_Mahlakoana_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. A. Dikgale-Mahlakoana</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Toit_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">L. J. du Toit</a> (7), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Esterhuyse_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. W. P. Esterhuyse</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Fadana_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">G. Fadana</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Fanaroff_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">B. L. Fanaroff</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Fataar_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. Fataar</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+February_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. February</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Frank_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">B. S. Frank</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gamatham_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">R. R. G. Gamatham</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Geyer_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. Geyer</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Goedhart_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. Goedhart</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gounden_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. Gounden</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gumede_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. C. Gumede</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Heywood_I/0/1/0/all/0/1">I. Heywood</a> (9,5), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hlakola_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. J. Hlakola</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Horrell_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">J. M. G. Horrell</a> (10), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hugo_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">B. Hugo</a> (1,5), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Isaacson_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">A. R. Isaacson</a> (1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Jozsa_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">G. I. G. Józsa</a> (1,5), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Jonas_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">J. L. Jonas</a> (5,1), <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Julie_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">R. P. M. Julie</a> (1), et al. (62 additional authors not shown)

We present the confusion-limited 1.28 GHz MeerKAT DEEP2 image covering one
$approx 68’$ FWHM primary beam area with $7.6”$ FWHM resolution and $0.55 pm
0.01$ $mu$Jy/beam rms noise. Its J2000 center position $alpha=04^h 13^m
26.4^s$, $delta=-80^circ 00′ 00”$ was selected to minimize artifacts caused
by bright sources. We introduce the new 64-element MeerKAT array and describe
commissioning observations to measure the primary beam attenuation pattern,
estimate telescope pointing errors, and pinpoint $(u,v)$ coordinate errors
caused by offsets in frequency or time. We constructed a 1.4 GHz differential
source count by combining a power-law count fit to the DEEP2 confusion $P(D)$
distribution from $0.25$ to $10$ $mu$Jy with counts of individual DEEP2
sources between $10$ $mu$Jy and $2.5$ mJy. Most sources fainter than $S sim
100$ $mu$Jy are distant star-forming galaxies obeying the FIR/radio
correlation, and sources stronger than $0.25$ $mu$Jy account for $sim93%$ of
the radio background produced by star-forming galaxies. For the first time, the
DEEP2 source count has reached the depth needed to reveal the majority of the
star formation history of the universe. A pure luminosity evolution of the 1.4
GHz local luminosity function consistent with the Madau & Dickinson (2014)
model for the evolution of star-forming galaxies based on UV and infrared data
underpredicts our 1.4 GHz source count in the range $-5 lesssim
log[S(mathrm{Jy})] lesssim -4$.

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