Bibcode
Fu, Hai; Cooray, Asantha; Feruglio, C.; Ivison, R. J.; Riechers, D. A.; Gurwell, M.; Bussmann, R. S.; Harris, A. I.; Altieri, B.; Aussel, H.; Baker, A. J.; Bock, J.; Boylan-Kolchin, M.; Bridge, C.; Calanog, J. A.; Casey, C. M.; Cava, A.; Chapman, S. C.; Clements, D. L.; Conley, A.; Cox, P.; Farrah, D.; Frayer, D.; Hopwood, R.; Jia, J.; Magdis, G.; Marsden, G.; Martínez-Navajas, P.; Negrello, M.; Neri, R.; Oliver, S. J.; Omont, A.; Page, M. J.; Pérez-Fournon, I.; Schulz, B.; Scott, D.; Smith, A.; Vaccari, M.; Valtchanov, I.; Vieira, J. D.; Viero, M.; Wang, L.; Wardlow, J. L.; Zemcov, M.
Bibliographical reference
Nature, Volume 498, Issue 7454, pp. 338-341 (2013).
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6
2013
Journal
Citations
123
Refereed citations
120
Description
Stellar archaeology shows that massive elliptical galaxies formed
rapidly about ten billion years ago with star-formation rates of above
several hundred solar masses per year. Their progenitors are probably
the submillimetre bright galaxies at redshifts z greater than 2.
Although the mean molecular gas mass (5×1010 solar
masses) of the submillimetre bright galaxies can explain the formation
of typical elliptical galaxies, it is inadequate to form elliptical
galaxies that already have stellar masses above 2×1011
solar masses at z~2. Here we report multi-wavelength high-resolution
observations of a rare merger of two massive submillimetre bright
galaxies at z = 2.3. The system is seen to be forming stars at a rate of
2,000 solar masses per year. The star-formation efficiency is an order
of magnitude greater than that of normal galaxies, so the gas reservoir
will be exhausted and star formation will be quenched in only around 200
million years. At a projected separation of 19kiloparsecs, the two
massive starbursts are about to merge and form a passive elliptical
galaxy with a stellar mass of about 4×1011 solar
masses. We conclude that gas-rich major galaxy mergers with intense star
formation can form the most massive elliptical galaxies by z~1.5.
Related projects
Formation and Evolution of Galaxies: Observations in Infrared and other Wavelengths
This IAC research group carries out several extragalactic projects in different spectral ranges, using space as well as ground-based telescopes, to study the cosmological evolution of galaxies and the origin of nuclear activity in active galaxies. The group is a member of the international consortium which built the SPIRE instrument for the
Ismael
Pérez Fournon