13 research outputs found
The Morphology of Passively Evolving Galaxies at Z-2 from HST/WFC3 in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
We discuss near-IR images of six passive galaxies (SSFR< 10(exp -2)/Gyr) at redshift 1.3 < z < 2.4 with stellar mass M approx 10(exp 11) solar mass, selected from the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS), obtained with WFC3/IR and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). These WFC3 images provide the deepest and highest angular resolution view of the optical rest-frame morphology of such systems to date. We find that the light profile of these; galaxies is generally regular and well described by a Sersic model with index typical of today's spheroids. We confirm the existence of compact and massive early-type galaxies at z approx. 2: four out of six galaxies have T(sub e) approx. 1 kpc or less. The WFC3 images achieve limiting surface brightness mu approx. 26.5 mag/sq arcsec in the F160W bandpass; yet there is no evidence of a faint halo in the five compact galaxies of our sample, nor is a halo observed in their stacked image. We also find very weak "morphological k-correction" in the galaxies between the rest-frame UV (from the ACS z band), and the rest-frame optical (WFC3 H band): the visual classification, Sersic indices and physical sizes of these galaxies are independent or only mildly dependent on the wavelength, within the errors
Tidal Dwarf Galaxies at Intermediate Redshifts
We present the first attempt at measuring the production rate of tidal dwarf
galaxies (TDGs) and estimating their contribution to the overall dwarf
population. Using HST/ACS deep imaging data from GOODS and GEMS surveys in
conjunction with photometric redshifts from COMBO-17 survey, we performed a
morphological analysis for a sample of merging/interacting galaxies in the
Extended Chandra Deep Field South and identified tidal dwarf candidates in the
rest-frame optical bands. We estimated a production rate about 1.4 {\times}
10^{-5} per Gyr per comoving volume for long-lived TDGs with stellar mass 3
{\times} 10^{8-9} solar mass at 0.5<z<1.1. Together with galaxy merger rates
and TDG survival rate from the literature, our results suggest that only a
marginal fraction (less than 10%) of dwarf galaxies in the local universe could
be tidally-originated. TDGs in our sample are on average bluer than their host
galaxies in the optical. Stellar population modelling of optical to
near-infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for two TDGs favors a burst
component with age 400/200 Myr and stellar mass 40%/26% of the total,
indicating that a young stellar population newly formed in TDGs. This is
consistent with the episodic star formation histories found for nearby TDGs.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space
Scienc
CANDELS : constraining the AGN-merger connection with host morphologies at z ~ 2
Using Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3 imaging taken as part of the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey, we examine the role that major galaxy mergers play in triggering active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity at z ~ 2. Our sample consists of 72 moderate-luminosity (L X ~ 1042-44 erg s-1) AGNs at 1.5 < z < 2.5 that are selected using the 4 Ms Chandra observations in the Chandra Deep Field South, the deepest X-ray observations to date. Employing visual classifications, we have analyzed the rest-frame optical morphologies of the AGN host galaxies and compared them to a mass-matched control sample of 216 non-active galaxies at the same redshift. We find that most of the AGNs reside in disk galaxies (51.4+5.8 - 5.9%), while a smaller percentage are found in spheroids (27.8+5.8 - 4.6%). Roughly 16.7+5.3 - 3.5% of the AGN hosts have highly disturbed morphologies and appear to be involved in a major merger or interaction, while most of the hosts (55.6+5.6 - 5.9%) appear relatively relaxed and undisturbed. These fractions are statistically consistent with the fraction of control galaxies that show similar morphological disturbances. These results suggest that the hosts of moderate-luminosity AGNs are no more likely to be involved in an ongoing merger or interaction relative to non-active galaxies of similar mass at z ~ 2. The high disk fraction observed among the AGN hosts also appears to be at odds with predictions that merger-driven accretion should be the dominant AGN fueling mode at z ~ 2, even at moderate X-ray luminosities. Although we cannot rule out that minor mergers are responsible for triggering these systems, the presence of a large population of relatively undisturbed disk-like hosts suggests that the stochastic accretion of gas plays a greater role in fueling AGN activity at z ~ 2 than previously thought
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CEERS Key Paper. III. The Diversity of Galaxy Structure and Morphology at z = 3-9 with JWST
We present a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of the morphological and structural properties of a large sample of galaxies at z = 3-9 using early James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) CEERS NIRCam observations. Our sample consists of 850 galaxies at z > 3 detected in both Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/WFC3 and CEERS JWST/NIRCam images, enabling a comparison of HST and JWST morphologies. We conduct a set of visual classifications, with each galaxy in the sample classified three times. We also measure quantitative morphologies across all NIRCam filters. We find that galaxies at z > 3 have a wide diversity of morphologies. Galaxies with disks make up 60% of galaxies at z = 3, and this fraction drops to ∼30% at z = 6-9, while galaxies with spheroids make up ∼30%-40% across the redshift range, and pure spheroids with no evidence for disks or irregular features make up ∼20%. The fraction of galaxies with irregular features is roughly constant at all redshifts (∼40%-50%), while those that are purely irregular increases from ∼12% to ∼20% at z > 4.5. We note that these are apparent fractions, as many observational effects impact the visibility of morphological features at high redshift. On average, Spheroid-only galaxies have a higher Sérsic index, smaller size, and higher axis ratio than disk or irregular galaxies. Across all redshifts, smaller spheroid and disk galaxies tend to be rounder. Overall, these trends suggest that galaxies with established disks and spheroids exist across the full redshift range of this study, and further work with large samples at higher redshift is needed to quantify when these features first formed. © 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]