Exploring the Evolutionary Paths of the Most Massive Galaxies since z ~ 2

Pérez-González, Pablo G.; Trujillo, I.; Barro, Guillermo; Gallego, Jesús; Zamorano, Jaime; Conselice, Christopher J.
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 687, Issue 1, pp. 50-58.

Advertised on:
11
2008
Number of authors
6
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
68
Refereed citations
60
Description
We use Spitzer MIPS data from the FIDEL Legacy Project in the extended Groth strip to analyze the stellar mass assembly of massive (M>1011 Msolar) galaxies at z<2 as a function of structural parameters. We find 24 μm emission for more than 85% of the massive galaxies morphologically classified as disks, and for more than 57% of the massive systems morphologically classified as spheroids at any redshift, with about 8% of sources harboring a bright X-ray- and/or infrared-emitting AGN. More noticeably, ~60% of all compact massive galaxies at z=1-2 are detected at 24 μm, even when rest-frame optical colors reveal that they are dead and evolving passively. For spheroid-like galaxies at a given stellar mass, the sizes of MIPS nondetections are smaller by a factor of ~1.2 in comparison with IR-bright sources. We find that disklike massive galaxies present specific SFRs ranging from 0.04 to 0.2 Gyr-1 at z<1 (SFRs ranging from 1 to 10 Msolar yr-1), typically a factor of 3-6 higher than massive spheroid-like objects in the same redshift range. At z>1, and more pronouncedly at z>1.3, the median specific SFRs of the disks and spheroids detected by MIPS are very similar, ranging from 0.1 to 1 Gyr-1 (SFR=10-200 Msolar yr-1). We estimate that massive spheroid-like galaxies may have doubled (at the most) their stellar mass from star-forming events at z<2: less than 20% mass increase at 1.7
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Traces of Galaxy Formation: Stellar populations, Dynamics and Morphology
We are a large, diverse, and very active research group aiming to provide a comprehensive picture for the formation of galaxies in the Universe. Rooted in detailed stellar population analysis, we are constantly exploring and developing new tools and ideas to understand how galaxies came to be what we now observe.
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