Clustering Properties of Rest-Frame UV-Selected Galaxies. I. the Correlation Length Derived from GALEX Data in the Local Universe

We present the first measurements of the angular correlation function of galaxies selected in the far (1530 A) and near (2310 A) ultraviolet from the GALEX survey fields overlapping SDSS DR5 in low Galactic extinction regions. The area used covers 120 deg^2 (GALEX Medium Imaging Survey) down to magnitude AB = 22, yielding a total of 100,000 galaxies. The mean correlation length is ~3.7 ± 0.6 Mpc, and no significant trend is seen for this value as a function of the limiting apparent magnitude or between the GALEX bands. This estimate is close to that found from samples of blue galaxies in the local universe selected in the visible and similar to that derived at z ≃ 3 for LBGs with similar rest frame selection criteria. This result supports models that predict antibiasing of star-forming galaxies at low redshift and brings an additional clue to the downsizing of star formation at z < 1.