HerMES: Herschel-SPIRE observations of Lyman break galaxies D. Rigopoulou et al. HerMES: SPIRE observations of LBGs.

We present first results of a study of the submillimetre (submm) (rest-frame far-infrared) properties of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) and their lower redshift counterparts BX/BM galaxies, based on Herschel-SPIRE observations of the Northern field of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS-N). We use stacking analysis to determine the properties of LBGs well below the current limit of the survey. Although LBGs are not detected individually, stacking the infrared luminous LBGs (those detected with Spitzer at 24 m) yields a statistically significant submm detection with mean flux mJy confirming the power of SPIRE in detecting UV-selected high-redshift galaxies at submm wavelengths. In comparison, the Spitzer 24 m detected BX/BM galaxies appear fainter with a stacked value of mJy. By fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) we derive median infrared luminosities, , of 2.8 × 10 L and 1.5 × 10 L for LBGs and BX/BMs, respectively. We find that estimates derived from present measurements are in good agreement with those based on UV data for BX/BM galaxies, unlike the case for infrared luminous LBGs where the UV underestimates the true . Although sample selection effects may influence this result we suggest that differences in physical properties (such as morphologies, dust distribution and extent of star-forming regions) between LBGs and BX/BMs may also play a significant role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]