MAHALO Deep Cluster Survey II. Characterizing massive forming galaxies in the Spiderweb protocluster at z = 2.2

Shimakawa, Rhythm; Koyama, Yusei; Röttgering, Huub J. A.; Kodama, Tadayuki; Hayashi, Masao; Hatch, Nina A.; Dannerbauer, Helmut; Tanaka, Ichi; Tadaki, Ken-ichi; Suzuki, Tomoko L.; Fukagawa, Nao; Cai, Zheng; Kurk, Jaron D.
Bibliographical reference

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 481, Issue 4, p.5630-5650

Advertised on:
12
2018
Number of authors
13
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
55
Refereed citations
42
Description
This paper is the second in a series presenting the results of our deep H α-line survey towards protoclusters at z > 2, based on narrow-band imaging with the Subaru Telescope. This work investigates massive galaxies in a protocluster region associated with a radio galaxy (PKS 1138 - 262), the Spiderweb galaxy, at z = 2.2. Our 0.5 mag deeper narrow-band imaging than previous surveys collects a total of 68 H α emitters (HAE). Here, 17 out of the 68 are newly discovered protocluster members. First, a very high characteristic stellar mass of M_\star ^\ast = 10^{11.73} M⊙ is measured from a Schechter function fit to the mass distribution of HAEs. Together with the Chandra X-ray data, we find that four out of six massive HAEs (M⋆ > 1011 M⊙) show bright X-ray emission, suggesting that they host active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Their mass estimates, therefore, would be affected by the nuclear emission from AGNs. Notably, the X-ray-detected HAEs are likely positioned near the boundary between star-forming and quiescent populations in the rest-frame UVJ plane. Moreover, our deep narrow-band data succeed in probing the bright H α (+ [N II]) line nebula of the Spiderweb galaxy extending over ˜100 physical kpc. These results suggest that the massive galaxies in the Spiderweb protocluster are on the way to becoming the bright red sequence objects seen in local galaxy clusters, where AGNs might play an essential role in their quenching processes, though a more statistical database is needed to build a general picture.
Related projects
Galaxy proto-cluster
Molecular Gas and Dust in Galaxies Across Cosmic Time
Two of the most fundamental questions in astrophysics are the conversion of molecular gas into stars and how this physical process is a function of environments on all scales, ranging from planetary systems, stellar clusters, galaxies to galaxy clusters. The main goal of this internal project is to get insight into the formation and evolution of
Helmut
Dannerbauer