12 research outputs found
Chemical pre-processing of cluster galaxies over the past 10 billion years in the IllustrisTNG simulations
We use the IllustrisTNG simulations to investigate the evolution of the
mass-metallicity relation (MZR) for star-forming cluster galaxies as a function
of the formation history of their cluster host. The simulations predict an
enhancement in the gas-phase metallicities of star-forming cluster galaxies
(10^9< M_star<10^10 M_sun) at z<1.0 in comparisons to field galaxies. This is
qualitatively consistent with observations. We find that the metallicity
enhancement of cluster galaxies appears prior to their infall into the central
cluster potential, indicating for the first time a systematic "chemical
pre-processing" signature for {\it infalling} cluster galaxies. Namely,
galaxies which will fall into a cluster by z=0 show a ~0.05 dex enhancement in
the MZR compared to field galaxies at z<0.5. Based on the inflow rate of gas
into cluster galaxies and its metallicity, we identify that the accretion of
pre-enriched gas is the key driver of the chemical evolution of such galaxies,
particularly in the stellar mass range (10^9< M_star<10^10 M_sun). We see
signatures of an environmental dependence of the ambient/inflowing gas
metallicity which extends well outside the nominal virial radius of clusters.
Our results motivate future observations looking for pre-enrichment signatures
in dense environments.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter
ZFOURGE: Extreme 5007 emission may be a common early-lifetime phase for star-forming galaxies at
Using the \prospector\ spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code, we
analyze the properties of 19 Extreme Emission Line Galaxies (EELGs) identified
in the bluest composite SED in the \zfourge\ survey at .
\prospector\ includes a physical model for nebular emission and returns
probability distributions for stellar mass, stellar metallicity, dust
attenuation, and nonparametric star formation history (SFH). The EELGs show
evidence for a starburst in the most recent 50 Myr, with the median EELG having
a specific star formation rate (sSFR) of 4.6 Gyr and forming 15\% of its
mass in this short time. For a sample of more typical star-forming galaxies
(SFGs) at the same redshifts, the median SFG has a sSFR of 1.1 Gyr and
forms only of its mass in the last 50 Myr. We find that virtually all of
our EELGs have rising SFHs, while most of our SFGs do not. From our analysis,
we hypothesize that many, if not most, star-forming galaxies at
undergo an extreme H+[\hbox{{\rm O}\kern 0.1em{\sc iii}}] emission
line phase early in their lifetimes. In a companion paper, we obtain
spectroscopic confirmation of the EELGs as part of our {\sc MOSEL} survey. In
the future, explorations of uncertainties in modeling the UV slope for galaxies
at are needed to better constrain their properties, e.g. stellar
metallicities.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures (main figure is fig 5), accepted for publication
in Ap
Consistent dynamical and stellar masses with potential light IMF in massive quiescent galaxies at using velocity dispersions measurements with MOSFIRE
We present the velocity dispersion measurements of four massive
quiescent galaxies at based on deep H and
Kband spectra using the Keck/MOSFIRE near-infrared spectrograph. We find
high velocity dispersions of order km/s based on strong
Balmer absorption lines and combine these with size measurements based on
HST/WFC3 F160W imaging to infer dynamical masses. The velocity dispersion are
broadly consistent with the high stellar masses and small sizes. Together with
evidence for quiescent stellar populations, the spectra confirm the existence
of a population of massive galaxies that formed rapidly and quenched in the
early universe . Investigating the evolution at constant velocity
dispersion between and , we find a large increase in
effective radius dex and in dynamical-to-stellar mass ratio
of 0.33$\pm0.08$ dex, with low expected
contribution from dark matter. The dynamical masses for our $z\sim3.5$ sample
are consistent with the stellar masses for a Chabrier initial mass function
(IMF), with the ratio =
-0.130.10 dex suggesting an IMF lighter than Salpeter may be common for
massive quiescent galaxies at . This is surprising in light of the
Salpeter or heavier IMFs found for high velocity dispersion galaxies at
and cores of present-day ellipticals, which these galaxies are thought
to evolve into. Future imaging and spectroscopic observations with resolved
kinematics using the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope could rule out
potential systematics from rotation, and confirm these results.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Accepted to ApJ Letter
MOSEL: Strong [OIII]5007 \AA\ Emitting Galaxies at (3<z<4) from the ZFOURGE Survey
To understand how strong emission line galaxies (ELGs) contribute to the
overall growth of galaxies and star formation history of the universe, we
target Strong ELGs (SELGs) from the ZFOURGE imaging survey that have blended
(Hb+[OIII]) rest-frame equivalent widths of >230A and 2.5<zphot<4.0. Using
Keck/MOSFIRE, we measure 49 redshifts for galaxies brighter than Ks=25 mag as
part of our Multi-Object Spectroscopic Emission Line (MOSEL) survey. Our
spectroscopic success rate is ~53% and zphot uncertainty is sigma_z=
[Delta(z)/(1+z)]=0.0135. We confirm 31 ELGs at 3<zspec<3.8 and show that Strong
ELGs have spectroscopic rest-frame [OIII]5007A equivalent widths of 100-500A
and tend to be lower mass systems [log(Mstar/Msun)~8.2-9.6] compared to more
typical star-forming galaxies. The Strong ELGs lie ~0.9 dex above the
star-forming main-sequence at z~3.5 and have high inferred gas fractions of
fgas~>60%, i.e. the inferred gas masses can easily fuel a starburst to double
stellar masses within ~10-100 Myr. Combined with recent results using ZFOURGE,
our analysis indicates that 1) strong [OIII]5007A emission signals an early
episode of intense stellar growth in low mass (Mstar<0.1M*) galaxies and 2)
many, if not most, galaxies at z>3 go through this starburst phase. If true,
low-mass galaxies with strong [OIII]5007A emission (EW_rest>200A) may be an
increasingly important source of ionizing UV radiation at z>3.Comment: Astrophysical Journal, in pres
Introducing the FLAMINGOS-2 Split-K Medium-band Filters: The Impact on Photometric Selection of High-z Galaxies in the FENIKS-pilot survey
Deep near-infrared photometric surveys are efficient in identifying high-redshift galaxies, however, they can be prone to systematic errors in photometric redshift. This is particularly salient when there is limited sampling of key spectral features of a galaxy's spectral energy distribution (SED), such as for quiescent galaxies where the expected age-sensitive Balmer/4000 Å break enters the K-band at z > 4. With single-filter sampling of this spectral feature, degeneracies between SED models and redshift emerge. A potential solution to this comes from splitting the K band into multiple filters. We use simulations to show an optimal solution is to add two medium-band filters, Kblue (λcen = 2.06 μm, Δλ = 0.25 μm) and Kred (λcen = 2.31 μm, Δλ = 0.27 μm), that are complementary to the existing Ks filter. We test the impact of the K-band filters with simulated catalogs comprised of galaxies with varying ages and signal-to-noise. The results suggest that the K-band filters do improve photometric redshift constraints on z > 4 quiescent galaxies, increasing precision and reducing outliers by up to 90%. We find that the impact from the K-band filters depends on the signal-to-noise, the redshift, and the SED of the galaxy. The filters we designed were built and used to conduct a pilot of the FLAMINGOS-2 Extragalactic Near-Infrared K-band Split survey. While no new z > 4 quiescent galaxies are identified in the limited area pilot, the Kblue and Kred filters indicate strong Balmer/4000 Å breaks in existing candidates. Additionally, we identify galaxies with strong nebular emission lines, for which the K-band filters increase photometric redshift precision and in some cases indicate extreme star formation
A giant galaxy in the young Universe with a massive ring
In the local (redshift z ≈ 0) Universe, collisional ring galaxies make up only ~0.01% of galaxies1 and are formed by head-on galactic collisions that trigger radially propagating density waves2–4. These striking systems provide key snapshots for dissecting galactic disks and are studied extensively in the local Universe5–9. However, not much is known about distant (z > 0.1) collisional rings10–14. Here we present a detailed study of a ring galaxy at a look-back time of 10.8 Gyr (z = 2.19). Compared with our Milky Way, this galaxy has a similar stellar mass, but has a stellar half-light radius that is 1.5–2.2 times larger and is forming stars 50 times faster. The extended, diffuse stellar light outside the star-forming ring, combined with a radial velocity on the ring and an intruder galaxy nearby, provides evidence for this galaxy hosting a collisional ring. If the ring is secularly evolved15,16, the implied large bar in a giant disk would be inconsistent with the current understanding of the earliest formation of barred spirals17–21. Contrary to previous predictions10–12, this work suggests that massive collisional rings were as rare 11 Gyr ago as they are today. Our discovery offers a unique pathway for studying density waves in young galaxies, as well as constraining the cosmic evolution of spiral disks and galaxy groups
Decoupled black hole accretion and quenching : the relationship between BHAR, SFR and quenching in Milky Way- and Andromeda-mass progenitors since z=2.5
We investigate the relationship between the black hole accretion rate (BHAR) and star formation rate (SFR) for Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31)-mass progenitors from z = 0.2 to 2.5. We source galaxies from the K-s-band-selected ZFOURGE survey, which includes multiwavelength data spanning 0.3-160 mu m. We use decomposition software to split the observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of our galaxies into their active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and star-forming components, which allows us to estimate BHARs and SFRs from the infrared (IR). We perform tests to check the robustness of these estimates, including a comparison with BHARs and SFRs derived from X-ray stacking and far-IR analysis, respectively. We find that, as the progenitors evolve their relative black hole-galaxy growth (i.e. their BHAR/SFR ratio) increases from low to high redshift. The MW-mass progenitors exhibit a log-log slope of 0.64 +/- 0.11, while the M31-mass progenitors are 0.39 +/- 0.08. This result contrasts with previous studies that find an almost flat slope when adopting X-ray-/AGN-selected or mass-limited samples and is likely due to their use of a broad mixture of galaxies with different evolutionary histories. Our use of progenitor-matched samples highlights the potential importance of carefully selecting progenitors when searching for evolutionary relationships between BHAR/SFRs. Additionally, our finding that BHAR/SFR ratios do not track the rate at which progenitors quench casts doubts over the idea that the suppression of star formation is predominantly driven by luminous AGN feedback (i.e. high BHARs)
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SATELLITE QUENCHING and GALACTIC CONFORMITY at 0.3 < z < 2.5
We measure the evolution of the quiescent fraction and quenching efficiency of satellites around star-forming and quiescent central galaxies with stellar mass at . We combine imaging from three deep near-infrared-selected surveys (ZFOURGE/CANDELS, Ultra Deep Survey, and UltraVISTA), which allows us to select a stellar-mass complete sample of satellites with . Satellites for both star-forming and quiescent central galaxies ("centrals") have higher quiescent fractions compared to field galaxies matched in stellar mass at all redshifts. We also observe "galactic conformity": satellites around quiescent centrals are more likely to be quenched compared to the satellites around star-forming centrals. In our sample, this conformity signal is significant at for , whereas it is only weakly significant at and . Therefore, conformity (and thus satellite quenching) has been present for a significant fraction of the age of the universe. The satellite quenching efficiency increases with increasing stellar mass of the central, but does not appear to depend on the stellar mass of the satellite to the mass limit of our sample. When we compare the satellite quenching efficiency of star-forming centrals with stellar masses 0.2 dex higher than quiescent centrals (which should account for any difference in halo mass), the conformity signal decreases, but remains statistically significant at . This is evidence that satellite quenching is connected to the star formation properties of the central galaxy as well as to the mass of the halo. We discuss physical effects that may contribute to galactic conformity, and emphasize that they must allow for continued star formation in the central galaxy even as the satellites are quenched