  We explore the properties of the submillijansky radio population at 20 cm by
applying a newly developed optical color-based method to separate star forming
(SF) from AGN galaxies at intermediate redshifts (z<1.3). Although optical
rest-frame colors are used, our separation method is shown to be efficient, and
not biased against dusty starburst galaxies. This classification method has
been calibrated and tested on a local radio selected optical sample. Given
accurate multi-band photometry and redshifts, it carries the potential to be
generally applicable to any galaxy sample where SF and AGN galaxies are the two
dominant populations.
  In order to quantify the properties of the submillijansky radio population,
we have analyzed ~2,400 radio sources, detected at 20 cm in the VLA-COSMOS
survey. 90% of these have submillijansky flux densities. We classify the
objects into 1) star candidates, 2) quasi stellar objects, 3) AGN, 4) SF, and
5) high redshift (z>1.3) galaxies. We find, for the composition of the
submillijansky radio population, that SF galaxies are not the dominant
population at submillijansky flux levels, as previously often assumed, but that
they make up an approximately constant fraction of 30-40% in the flux density
range of ~50 microJy to 0.7 mJy. In summary, based on the entire VLA-COSMOS
radio population at 20 cm, we find that the radio population at these flux
densities is a mixture of roughly 30-40% of SF and 50-60% of AGN galaxies, with
a minor contribution (~10%) of QSOs.

Astrophysics