Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): Exploring the WISE Cosmic Web in G12
  We present an analysis of the mid-infrared WISE sources seen within the
equatorial GAMA G12 field, located in the North Galactic Cap. Our motivation is
to study and characterize the behavior of WISE source populations in
anticipation of the deep multi-wavelength surveys that will define the next
decade, with the principal science goal of mapping the 3D large scale
structures and determining the global physical attributes of the host galaxies.
In combination with cosmological redshifts, we identify galaxies from their
WISE W1 3.4um resolved emission, and by performing a star-galaxy separation
using apparent magnitude, colors and statistical modeling of star-counts. The
resultant galaxy catalog has ~590,000 sources in 60 deg^2, reaching a W1
5-sigma depth of 31 uJy. At the faint end, where redshifts are not available,
we employ a luminosity function analysis to show that approximately 27% of all
WISE extragalactic sources to a limit of 17.5 mag (31 uJy) are at high
redshift, z > 1. The spatial distribution is investigated using two-point
correlation functions and a 3D source density characterization at 5 Mpc and 20
Mpc scales. For angular distributions, we find brighter and more massive
sources are strongly clustered relative to fainter and lower mass source;
likewise, based on WISE colors, spheroidal galaxies have the strongest
clustering, while late-type disk galaxies have the lowest clustering
amplitudes. Along the radial direction, the strongest clustering is in the
largest redshift shell, while the weakest is in the nearest redshift shell,
consistent with the stellar mass and morphological type dependency results. In
three dimensions, we find a number of distinct groupings, often bridged by
filaments and super-structures. Using special visualization tools, we map these
structures, exploring how clustering may play a role with stellar mass and
galaxy type.
