Emission-Line Galaxies from the Hubble Space Telescope Probing Evolution and Reionization Spectroscopically (PEARS) Grism Survey. II: The Complete Sample

We present a full analysis of the Probing Evolution And Reionization Spectroscopically (PEARS) slitess grism spectroscopic data obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on HST. PEARS covers fields within both the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) North and South fields, making it ideal as a random survey of galaxies, as well as the availability of a wide variety of ancillary observations to support the spectroscopic results. Using the PEARS data we are able to identify star forming galaxies within the redshift volume 0< z<1.5. Star forming regions in the PEARS survey are pinpointed independently of the host galaxy. This method allows us to detect the presence of multiple emission line regions (ELRs) within a single galaxy. 1162 Ha, [OIII] and/or [OII] emission lines have been identified in the PEARS sample of ~906 galaxies down to a limiting flux of ~1e-18 erg/s/cm^2. The ELRs have also been compared to the properties of the host galaxy, including morphology, luminosity, and mass. From this analysis we find three key results: 1) The computed line luminosities show evidence of a flattening in the luminosity function with increasing redshift; 2) The star forming systems show evidence of disturbed morphologies, with star formation occurring predominantly within one effective (half-light) radius. However, the morphologies show no correlation with host stellar mass; and 3) The number density of star forming galaxies with M_* > 1e9} M_sun decreases by an order of magnitude at z<0.5 relative to the number at 0.5<z<0.9 in support of the argument for galaxy downsizing.Comment: Submitted. 48 pages. 19 figures. Accepted to Ap

Metallicities of Emission-Line Galaxies from HST ACS PEARS and HST WFC3 ERS Grism Spectroscopy at 0.6 < z < 2.4

Galaxies selected on the basis of their emission line strength show low metallicities, regardless of their redshifts. We conclude this from a sample of faint galaxies at redshifts between 0.6 < z < 2.4, selected by their prominent emission lines in low-resolution grism spectra in the optical with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and in the near-infrared using Wide-Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Using a sample of 11 emission line galaxies (ELGs) at 0.6 < z < 2.4 with luminosities of -22 < M_B < -19, which have [OII], H\beta, and [OIII] line flux measurements from the combination of two grism spectral surveys, we use the R23 method to derive the gas-phase oxygen abundances: 7.5 < 12+log(O/H) < 8.5. The galaxy stellar masses are derived using Bayesian based Markov Chain Monte Carlo (\piMC^2) fitting of their Spectral Energy Distribution (SED), and span the mass range 8.1 < log(M_*/M_\sun) < 10.1. These galaxies show a mass-metallicity (M-L) and Luminosity-Metallicity (L-Z) relation, which is offset by --0.6 dex in metallicity at given absolute magnitude and stellar mass relative to the local SDSS galaxies, as well as continuum selected DEEP2 samples at similar redshifts. The emission-line selected galaxies most resemble the local "green peas" galaxies and Lyman-alpha galaxies at z~0.3 and z~2.3 in the M-Z and L-Z relations and their morphologies. The G-M_{20} morphology analysis shows that 10 out of 11 show disturbed morphology, even as the star-forming regions are compact. These galaxies may be intrinsically metal poor, being at early stages of formation, or the low metallicities may be due to gas infall and accretion due to mergers.Comment: 24 pages with 7 figure

Improved Photometric Redshifts with Surface Luminosity Priors

We apply Bayesian statistics with prior probabilities of galaxy surface luminosity (SL) to improve photometric redshifts. We apply the method to a sample of 1266 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the GOODS North and South fields at 0.1 < z < 2.0. We start with spectrophotometric redshifts (SPZs) based on Probing Evolution and Reionization Spectroscopically grism spectra, which cover a wavelength range of 6000-9000A, combined with (U)BViz(JHK) broadband photometry in the GOODS fields. The accuracy of SPZ redshifts is estimated to be \sigma (\Delta(z))=0.035 with an systematic offset of -0.026, where \Delta(z)=\Delta z / (1+z), for galaxies in redshift range of 0.5 < z < 1.25. The addition of the SL prior probability helps break the degeneracy of SPZ redshifts between low redshift 4000 A break galaxies and high-redshift Lyman break galaxies which are mostly catastrophic outliers. For the 1138 galaxies at z < 1.6, the fraction of galaxies with redshift deviation \Delta (z) > 0.2 is reduced from 15.0% to 10.4%, while the rms scatter of the fractional redshift error does not change much.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, published in A

Not In Our Backyard: Spectroscopic Support for the CLASH z=11 Candidate MACS0647-JD

We report on our first set of spectroscopic Hubble Space Telescope observations of the z~11 candidate galaxy strongly lensed by the MACSJ0647.7+7015 galaxy cluster. The three lensed images are faint and we show that these early slitless grism observations are of sufficient depth to investigate whether this high-redshift candidate, identified by its strong photometric break at ~1.5 micron, could possibly be an emission line galaxy at a much lower redshift. While such an interloper would imply the existence of a rather peculiar object, we show here that such strong emission lines would clearly have been detected. Comparing realistic, two-dimensional simulations to these new observations we would expect the necessary emission lines to be detected at >5 sigma while we see no evidence for such lines in the dispersed data of any of the three lensed images. We therefore exclude that this object could be a low redshift emission line interloper, which significantly increases the likelihood of this candidate being a bona fide z~11 galaxy.Comment: 14 Pages. 6 Figures. 2nd revised version. Accepted. To appear in ApJ. Please contact [email protected] for comments on this pape

Metallicities of Emission-Line Galaxies from HST ACS PEARS and HST WFC3 ERS Grism Spectroscopy at 0.6 is less than z is less than 2.4

Galaxies selected on the basis of their emission line strength. show low metallicities, regardless of their redshifts. We conclude this from a sample of faint galaxies at redshifts between 0.6 < z < 2.4, selected by their prominent emission lines in low resolution grism spectra in the optiCa.i with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and in the near-infrared using Wide-Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Using a sample of 11 emission line galaxies (ELGs) at 0.6 < z < 2.4 with luminosities of -22 approx < MB approx -19 which have [OII], H-Beta, and [OIII] line flux measurements from the combination of two grism spectral surveys, we use the R23 method to derive the gas-phase oxygen abundances: 7.5 <12+log(0/H)<8.5. The galaxy stellar masses are derived using Bayesian based Markov Chain Monte Carlo (pi MC(exp 2)) fitting of their Spectral Energy Distribution (SED), and span the mass range 8.1 < log(M(stellar)/M(solar)) < 10.1. These galaxies show a mass-metal1icity (M-L) and Luminosity-Metallicity (LZ) relation, which is offset by -<J.6 dex in meta1licity at given absolute magnitude and stellar mass relative to the local SDSS galaxies, as well as continuum selected DEEP2 samples at similar redshifts. The emission-line selected galaxies most resemble the local "green peas" galaxies and Lyman-alpha galaxies at z approx = 0.3 and z approx = 2.3 in the M-Z and L-Z relations and their morphologies. The G - M(sub 20) morphology analysis shows that 10 out of 11 show disturbed morphology, even as the star-forming regions are compact. These galaxies may be intrinsically metal poor, being at early stages of formation, or the low metallicities may be due to gas infall and accretion due to mergers

The road to the red sequence: A detailed view of the formation of a massive galaxy at z~2

(Abridged) We present here a detailed analysis of the star formation history (SFH) of FW4871, a massive galaxy at z=1.893+-0.002. We compare rest-frame optical and NUV slitless grism spectra from the Hubble Space Telescope with a large set of composite stellar populations to constrain the underlying star formation history. Even though the morphology features prominent tidal tails, indicative of a recent merger, there is no sign of on-going star formation within an aperture encircling one effective radius, which corresponds to a physical extent of 2.6 kpc. A model assuming truncation of an otherwise constant SFH gives a formation epoch zF~10, with a truncation after 2.7 Gyr, giving a mass-weighted age of 1.5 Gyr and a stellar mass of 0.8-3E11Msun, implying star formation rates of 30-110 Msun/yr. A more complex model including a recent burst of star formation places the age of the youngest component at 145 Myr, with a mass contribution lower than 20%, and a maximum amount of dust reddening of E(B-V)<0.4 mag (95% confidence levels). This low level of dust reddening is consistent with the low emission observed at 24 micron, corresponding to rest-frame 8 micron, where PAH emission should contribute significantly if a strong formation episode were present. The colour profile of FW4871 does not suggest a significant radial trend in the properties of the stellar populations out to 3Re. We suggest that the recent merger that formed FW4871 is responsible for the quenching of its star formation.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables. In press (Astronomical Journal

FIGS: Spectral fitting constraints on the star formation history of massive galaxies since Cosmic Noon

We constrain the stellar population properties of a sample of 52 massive galaxies, with stellar mass log Ms>10.5, over the redshift range 0.5<z<2 by use of observer-frame optical and near-infrared slitless spectra from HST's ACS and WFC3 grisms. The deep exposures (~100 ks) allow us to target individual spectra of massive galaxies to F160W=22.5AB. Our spectral fitting approach uses a set of six base models adapted to the redshift and spectral resolution of each observation, and fits the weights of the base models, including potential dust attenuation, via an MCMC method. Our sample comprises a mixed distribution of quiescent (19) and star-forming galaxies (33). We quantify the width of the age distribution (Dt) that is found to dominate the variance of the retrieved parameters according to Principal Component Analysis. The population parameters follow the expected trend towards older ages with increasing mass, and Dt appears to weakly anti-correlate with stellar mass, suggesting a more efficient star formation at the massive end. As expected, the redshift dependence of the relative stellar age (measured in units of the age of the Universe at the source) in the quiescent sample rejects the hypothesis of a single burst (aka monolithic collapse). Radial colour gradients within each galaxy are also explored, finding a wider scatter in the star-forming subsample, but no conclusive trend with respect to the population parameters.Comment: 20 pages, 12+3 figures, 4+3 tables. MNRAS, in pres

Early-type galaxies in the PEARS survey: Probing the stellar populations at moderate redshift

Using HST/ACS slitless grism spectra from the PEARS program, we study the stellar populations of morphologically selected early-type galaxies in the GOODS North and South fields. The sample - extracted from a visual classification of the (v2.0) HST/ACS images and restricted to redshifts z>0.4 - comprises 228 galaxies (F775W<24 ABmag) out to z~1.3 over 320 arcmin2, with a median redshift zM=0.75. This work significantly increases our previous sample from the GRAPES survey in the HUDF (18 galaxies over ~11 arcmin2; Pasquali et al. 2006b). The grism data allow us to separate the sample into `red' and `blue' spectra, with the latter comprising 15% of the total. Three different grids of models parameterising the star formation history are used to fit the low-resolution spectra. Over the redshift range of the sample - corresponding to a cosmic age between 5 and 10 Gyr - we find a strong correlation between stellar mass and average age, whereas the **spread** of ages (defined by the RMS of the distribution) is roughly ~1 Gyr and independent of stellar mass. The best-fit parameters suggest it is formation epoch and not formation timescale, that best correlates with mass in early-type galaxies. This result - along with the recently observed lack of evolution of the number density of massive galaxies - motivates the need for a channel of (massive) galaxy formation bypassing any phase in the blue cloud, as suggested by the simulations of Dekel et al. (2009).Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables. Submitted for publication in Ap

Expectations of the size evolution of massive galaxies at 3≤z≤63 \leq z \leq 6 from the TNG50 simulation: the CEERS/JWST view

We present a catalog of about 25,000 images of massive ($M_{\star} \ge 10^9 M_{\odot}$) galaxies at redshift $3 \leq z \leq 6$ from the TNG50 cosmological simulation, tailored for observations at multiple wavelengths carried out with JWST. The synthetic images were created with the SKIRT radiative transfer code, including the effects of dust attenuation and scattering. The noiseless images were processed with the mirage simulator to mimic the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) observational strategy (e.g., noise, dithering pattern, etc.) of the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) survey. In this paper, we analyze the predictions of the TNG50 simulation for the size evolution of galaxies at $3 \leq z \leq 6$ and the expectations for CEERS to probe that evolution. In particular, we investigate how sizes depend on wavelength, redshift, mass, and angular resolution of the images. We find that the effective radius accurately describes the three-dimensional half-mass radius of TNG50 galaxies. Sizes observed at 2~$\mu$m are consistent with those measured at 3.56~$\mu$m at all redshifts and masses. At all masses, the population of higher-$z$ galaxies is more compact than their lower-$z$ counterparts. However, the intrinsic sizes are smaller than the mock observed sizes for the most massive galaxies, especially at $z \lesssim 4$. This discrepancy between the mass and light distribution may point to a transition in the galaxy morphology at $z$=4-5, where massive compact systems start to develop more extended stellar structures.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (20 pages, 12 figures). Data publicly released at https://www.tng-project.org/costantin22 and at https://www.lucacostantin.com/OMEG