28 research outputs found
Evolution since z = 0.5 of the Morphology-Density relation for Clusters of Galaxies
Using traditional morphological classifications of galaxies in 10
intermediate-redshift (z~0.5) clusters observed with WFPC-2 on the Hubble Space
Telescope, we derive relations between morphology and local galaxy density
similar to that found by Dressler for low-redshift clusters. Taken
collectively, the `morphology-density' relationship, M-D, for these more
distant, presumably younger clusters is qualitatively similar to that found for
the local sample, but a detailed comparison shows two substantial differences:
(1) For the clusters in our sample, the M-D relation is strong in centrally
concentrated ``regular'' clusters, those with a strong correlation of radius
and surface density, but nearly absent for clusters that are less concentrated
and irregular, in contrast to the situation for low redshift clusters where a
strong relation has been found for both. (2) In every cluster the fraction of
elliptical galaxies is as large or larger than in low-redshift clusters, but
the S0 fraction is 2-3 times smaller, with a proportional increase of the
spiral fraction. Straightforward, though probably not unique, interpretations
of these observations are (1) morphological segregation proceeds
hierarchically, affecting richer, denser groups of galaxies earlier, and (2)
the formation of elliptical galaxies predates the formation of rich clusters,
and occurs instead in the loose-group phase or even earlier, but S0's are
generated in large numbers only after cluster virialization.Comment: 35 pages, 19 figures, uses psfig. Accepted for publication in Ap
Demonstrating Diversity in Star Formation Histories with the CSI Survey
We present coarse but robust star formation histories (SFHs) derived from
spectro-photometric data of the Carnegie-Spitzer-IMACS Survey, for 22,494
galaxies at 0.3<z<0.9 with stellar masses of 10^9 Msun to 10^12 Msun. Our study
moves beyond "average" SFHs and distribution functions of specific star
formation rates (sSFRs) to individually measured SFHs for tens of thousands of
galaxies. By comparing star formation rates (SFRs) with timescales of 10^10,
10^9, and 10^8 years, we find a wide diversity of SFHs: 'old galaxies' that
formed most or all of their stars early; galaxies that formed stars with
declining or constant SFRs over a Hubble time, and genuinely 'young galaxies'
that formed most of their stars since z=1. This sequence is one of decreasing
stellar mass, but, remarkably, each type is found over a mass range of a factor
of 10. Conversely, galaxies at any given mass follow a wide range of SFHs,
leading us to conclude that: (1) halo mass does not uniquely determine SFHs;
(2) there is no 'typical' evolutionary track; and (3) "abundance matching" has
limitations as a tool for inferring physics. Our observations imply that SFHs
are set at an early epoch, and that--for most galaxies--the decline and
cessation of star formation occurs over a Hubble-time, without distinct
"quenching" events. SFH diversity is inconsistent with models where galaxy
mass, at any given epoch, grows simply along relations between SFR and stellar
mass, but is consistent with a 2-parameter lognormal form, lending credence to
this model from a new and independent perspective.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures; accepted by ApJ; version 2 - no substantive
changes; clarifications and correction
The Influence of Environment on the Star Formation Rates of Galaxies
We have used a sample of 15749 galaxies taken from the Las Campanas Redshift
Survey to investigate the effects of environment on the rate of star formation
(SFR) in galaxies. The size and homogeneity of this data set allows us to
sample, for the first time, the entire range of galactic environment, from the
voids to the clusters, in a uniform manner, thus, we could decouple the local
galaxy density from the membership in associations. This decoupling is very
crucial for constraining the physical processes responsible for the
environmental dependencies of SFR. On the other hand, the use of an
automatically-measured concentration index (C), rather than Hubble type, allows
us to cleanly separate the morphological component from the SFR vs. environment
relationship. We find that cluster galaxies exhibit lower SFR for the same C
than field galaxies, while a further division of clusters by `richness' reveals
a new possible excitation of `starbursts' in poor clusters. Meanwhile, a more
general environmental investigation reveals that the SFR of a given C shows a
continuous correlation with the local density. Interestingly, this trend is
also observed both inside and outside of clusters, implying that physical
processes responsible for this correlation might not be intrinsic to the
cluster environment. On the other hand, galaxies with differing levels of SFR
appear to respond differently to the local density. Low levels of SFR are more
sensitive to environment inside than outside of clusters. In contrast, high
levels of SFR, identified as ``starbursts'', are as sensitive to local density
in the field as in clusters. We conclude that at least two separate processes
are responsible for the environmental sensitivity of the SFR.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Ap
The Evolution of Early-Type Galaxies in Distant Clusters III.: M/L_V Ratios in the z=0.33 Cluster CL1358+62
Keck spectroscopy and Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 imaging over a 1.5x1.5 Mpc
field of CL1358+62 at z=0.33 are used to study the Fundamental Plane of
galaxies based on a new, large sample of 53 galaxies. First, we have
constructed the Fundamental Plane for the 30 E and S0 galaxies and find that it
has the following shape: r_e = sigma**(1.31+-0.13) * _e**(-0.86+-0.10),
similar to that found locally. The 1-sigma intrinsic scatter about this plane
is 14% in M/L(V), comparable to that observed in Coma. We conclude that these E
and S0 galaxies are structurally mature and homogeneous, like those observed in
nearby clusters. The M/L(V) ratios of these early-type galaxies are offset from
the Coma Fundamental Plane by delta log M/L(V) = -0.13+- 0.03 (q0=0.1),
indicative of mild luminosity evolution. This evolution suggests a formation
epoch for the stars of z > 1. We have also analyzed the M/L(V) ratios of
galaxies of type S0/a and later. These early-type spirals follow a different
plane from the E and S0 galaxies, with a scatter that is twice as large as the
scatter for the E/S0s. The difference in the tilt between the plane of the
spirals and the plane of the E/S0s is shown to be due to a systematic
correlation of velocity dispersion with residual from the plane of the
early-type galaxies. These residuals also correlate with the residuals from the
Color-Magnitude relation. Thus for spirals in clusters, we see a systematic
variation in the luminosity-weighted mean properties of the stellar populations
with central velocity dispersion. If this is a relative age trend, then
luminosity-weighted age is positively correlated with dispersion. [abridged
version]Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures; revised version, accepted by ApJ on 13 August
199
Loose Groups of Galaxies in the Las Campanas Redshift Survey
A ``friends-of-friends'' percolation algorithm has been used to extract a
catalogue of dn/n = 80 density enhancements (groups) from the six slices of the
Las Campanas Redshift Survey (LCRS). The full catalogue contains 1495 groups
and includes 35% of the LCRS galaxy sample. A clean sample of 394 groups has
been derived by culling groups from the full sample which either are too close
to a slice edge, have a crossing time greater than a Hubble time, have a
corrected velocity dispersion of zero, or contain a 55-arcsec ``orphan'' (a
galaxy with a mock redshift which was excluded from the original LCRS redshift
catalogue due to its proximity to another galaxy -- i.e., within 55 arcsec).
Median properties derived from the clean sample include: line-of-sight velocity
dispersion sigma_los = 164km/s, crossing time t_cr = 0.10/H_0, harmonic radius
R_h = 0.58/h Mpc, pairwise separation R_p = 0.64/h Mpc, virial mass M_vir =
(1.90x10^13)/h M_sun, total group R-band luminosity L_tot = (1.30x10^11)/h^2
L_sun, and R-band mass-to-light ratio M/L = 171h M_sun/L_sun; the median number
of observed members in a group is 3.Comment: 32 pages of text, 27 figures, 7 tables. Figures 1, 4, 6, 7, and 8 are
in gif format. Tables 1 and 3 are in plain ASCII format (in paper source) and
are also available at http://www-sdss.fnal.gov:8000/~dtucker/LCLG . Accepted
for publication in the September 2000 issue of ApJ
The UV Upturn in Elliptical Galaxies as an Age Indicator
We show that the UV flux of old stellar systems can tell us about their ages.
Two independent populations synthesis groups that have had wildly different
views have here worked together and generated two solutions that can be easily
tested using space telescopes. Proposed tests will constrain the ages of giant
Es, that are often considered the oldest populations in the universe, and thus
cosmology.Comment: LaTeX and 11 eps figures Accepted for publication in Ap
On the Origin of the UV Upturn in Elliptical Galaxies. I. Sensitivity of UV Population Synthesis to Various Input Parameters
We present models of the late stages of stellar evolution intended to explain
the UV upturn phenomenon in elliptical galaxies. Such models are sensitive to
values of a number of poorly-constrained physical parameters, including
metallicity, age, stellar mass loss, helium enrichment, and the distribution of
stars on the zero age horizontal branch (HB). We explore the sensitivity of the
results to values of these parameters, and reach the following conclusions.
Old, metal rich galaxies, such as giant ellipticals, naturally develop a UV
upturn within a reasonable time scale - less than a Hubble time - without the
presence of young stars. The most likely stars to dominate the UV flux of such
populations are low mass, core helium burning (HB and evolved HB) stars.
Metal-poor populations produce a higher ratio of UV-to-V flux, due to opacity
effects, but only metal-rich stars develop a UV upturn, in which the flux
increases towards shorter UV wavelengths. Model color-magnitude diagrams and
corresponding integrated spectra (for various values of age, metallicity,
helium enrichment, mass loss efficiency, initial mass function, and the HB mass
dispersion factor) are available on S.Y.'s world wide web site
http://shemesh.gsfc.nasa.gov/model.html.Comment: LaTeX, 38p text. 19 postscript Figures and 11 gif figures. PS file
also at http://shemesh.gsfc.nasa.gov/astronomy.html. ApJ, vol 486, in pres
Fitting the integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies
Fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies is an almost
universally used technique that has matured significantly in the last decade.
Model predictions and fitting procedures have improved significantly over this
time, attempting to keep up with the vastly increased volume and quality of
available data. We review here the field of SED fitting, describing the
modelling of ultraviolet to infrared galaxy SEDs, the creation of
multiwavelength data sets, and the methods used to fit model SEDs to observed
galaxy data sets. We touch upon the achievements and challenges in the major
ingredients of SED fitting, with a special emphasis on describing the interplay
between the quality of the available data, the quality of the available models,
and the best fitting technique to use in order to obtain a realistic
measurement as well as realistic uncertainties. We conclude that SED fitting
can be used effectively to derive a range of physical properties of galaxies,
such as redshift, stellar masses, star formation rates, dust masses, and
metallicities, with care taken not to over-interpret the available data. Yet
there still exist many issues such as estimating the age of the oldest stars in
a galaxy, finer details ofdust properties and dust-star geometry, and the
influences of poorly understood, luminous stellar types and phases. The
challenge for the coming years will be to improve both the models and the
observational data sets to resolve these uncertainties. The present review will
be made available on an interactive, moderated web page (sedfitting.org), where
the community can access and change the text. The intention is to expand the
text and keep it up to date over the coming years.Comment: 54 pages, 26 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics &
Space Scienc