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Register a new userThe Properties and Evolution of a K-band Selected Sample of Massive Galaxies at z~0.4 - 2 in the Palomar/DEEP2 Survey
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Christopher J. Conselice
Publication date
2007
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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We present the results of a study on the properties and evolution of massive (M_* > 10^11 M_0) galaxies at z~0.4 - 2 utilising Keck spectroscopy, near-Infrared Palomar imaging, and Hubble, Chandra, and Spitzer data covering fields targeted by the DEEP2 galaxy spectroscopic survey. Our sample is K band selected based on wide-area NIR imaging from the Palomar Observatory Wide-Field Infrared Survey, which covers 1.53 deg^2 to K_s,vega~20.5. Our major findings include: (i) statistically the mass and number densities of M_* > 10^11 M_0 galaxies show little evolution between z = 0 - 1, and from z ~ 0 - 2 for M_* > 10^11.5 M_0 galaxies. (ii) Using Hubble ACS imaging, we find that M_* > 10^11 selected galaxies show a nearly constant elliptical fraction of ~70-90% at all redshifts. The remaining objects are peculiars possibly undergoing mergers at z > 0.8, while spirals dominate the remainder at lower redshifts. (iii) We find that only a fraction (~60%) of massive galaxies with M_* > 10^11 M_0 are on the red-sequence at z~1.4, while nearly 100% evolve onto it by z~0.4. (iv) By utilising Spitzer MIPS imaging and [OII] line fluxes we argue that M_* > 10^11.5 galaxies have a steeply declining star formation rate density ~(1+z)^6. By examining the contribution of star formation to the evolution of the mass function, as well as the merger history through the CAS parameters, we determine that M_* >10^11 M_0 galaxies undergo on average 0.9^+0.7_-0.5 major mergers at 0.4 < z < 1.4. (v) A high (5%) fraction of all M_* > 10^11 M_0 galaxies are X-ray emitters. Roughly half of these are morphologically distorted ellipticals or peculiars. We compare our results with the Millennium simulation, finding that the number and mass densities of M_* > 10^11.5 M_0 galaxies are under predicted by a factor of > 100.
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We present in this paper an analysis of the faint and red near-infrared selected galaxy population found in near-infrared imaging from the Palomar Observatory Wide-Field Infrared Survey. This survey covers 1.53 deg^2 to 5-sigma detection limits of K_vega = 20.5-21 and J_vega = 22.5, and overlaps with the DEEP2 spectroscopic redshift survey. We discuss the details of this NIR survey, including our J and K band counts. We show that the K-band galaxy population has a redshift distribution that varies with K-magnitude, with most K < 17 galaxies at z < 1.5 and a significant fraction (38.3+/-0.3%) of K > 19 systems at z > 1.5. We further investigate the stellar masses and morphological properties of K-selected galaxies, particularly extremely red objects, as defined by (R-K) > 5.3 and (I-K) > 4. One of our conclusions is that the ERO selection is a good method for picking out galaxies at z > 1.2, and within our magnitude limits, the most massive galaxies at these redshifts. The ERO limit finds 75% of all M_* > 10^{11} M_0 galaxies at z ~ 1.5 down to K_vega = 19.7. We further find that the morphological break-down of K < 19.7 EROs is dominated by early-types (57+/-3%) and peculiars (34+/-3%). However, about a fourth of the early-types are distorted ellipticals, and within CAS parameter space these bridge the early-type and peculiar population, suggesting a morphological evolutionary sequence. We also investigate the use of a (I-K) > 4 selection to locate EROs, finding that it selects galaxies at slightly higher average redshifts (<z> = 1.43+/-0.32) than the (R-K) > 5.3 limit with <z> = 1.28+/-0.23. Finally, by using the redshift distribution of K < 20 selected galaxies, and the properties of our EROs, we are able to rule out all monolithic collapse models for the formation of massive galaxies.
We derive the number density evolution of massive field galaxies in the redshift range 0.4 < z < 1.2 using the K-band selected field galaxy sample from the Munich Near-IR Cluster Survey (MUNICS). We rely on spectroscopically calibrated photometric redshifts to determine distances and absolute magnitudes in the rest-frame K-band. To assign mass-to-light ratios, we use two different approaches. First, we use an approach which maximizes the stellar mass for any K-band luminosity at any redshift. We take the mass-to-light ratio of a Simple Stellar Population (SSP) which is as old as the universe at the galaxys redshift as a likely upper limit. Second, we assign each galaxy a mass-to-light ratio by fitting the galaxys colours against a grid of composite stellar population models and taking their M/L. We compute the number density of galaxies more massive than 2 x 10^10 h^-2 Msun, 5 x 10^10 h^-2 Msun, and 1 x 10^11 h^-2 Msun, finding that the integrated stellar mass function is roughly constant for the lowest mass limit and that it decreases with redshift by a factor of ~ 3 and by a factor of ~ 6 for the two higher mass limits, respectively. This finding is in qualitative agreement with models of hierarchical galaxy formation, which predict that the number density of ~ M* objects is fairly constant while it decreases faster for more massive systems over the redshift range our data probe.
We study the properties of galaxies at z=2 in a Lambda CDM universe, using two different types of hydrodynamic simulation methods (Eulerian TVD and SPH) and a spectrophotometric analysis in the Un, G, R filter set. The simulated galaxies at z=2 satisfy the color-selection criteria proposed by Adelberger et al. (2004) when we assume Calzetti extinction with E(B-V)=0.15. We find that the number density of simulated galaxies brighter than R<25.5 at z=2 is about 2e-2 h^3/Mpc^3, roughly one order of magnitude larger than that of Lyman break galaxies at z=3. The most massive galaxies at z=2 have stellar masses >~1e11 Msun, and their observed-frame G-R colors lie in the range 0.0<G-R<1.0. They typically have been continuously forming stars with a rate exceeding 30 Msun/yr over a few Gyrs from z=10 to z=2, although the TVD simulation indicates a more sporadic star formation history than the SPH simulations. Of order half of their stellar mass was already assembled by z~4. The reddest massive galaxies at z=2 with G-R >= 1.0 and Mstar>1e10 Msun/h finished the build-up of their stellar mass by z~3. Interestingly, our study suggests that the majority of the most massive galaxies at z=2 should be detectable at rest-frame UV wavelengths, contrary to some recent claims made on the basis of near-IR studies of galaxies at the same epoch, provided the median extinction is less than E(B-V)<0.3. However, our results also suggest that the fraction of stellar mass contained in galaxies that pass the color-selection criteria could be as low as 50% of the total stellar mass in the Universe at z=2. Our simulations suggest that the missing stellar mass is contained in fainter (R>25.5) and intrinsically redder galaxies. Our results do not suggest that hierarchical galaxy formation fails to account for the massive galaxies at z>=1. (abridged)
Wide-field optical and near--IR ($JHK$) imaging is presented for two rich galaxy clusters: Abell~370 at $z=0.374$ and Abell~851 (Cl0939+47) at $z=0.407$. Galaxy catalogs selected from the near--IR images are 90% complete to approximately 1.5 mag below $K^ast$ resulting in samples with $sim$100 probable member galaxies per cluster in the central $sim$2 Mpc. Comparison with $HST$ WFPC images yields subsamples of $sim$70 galaxies in each cluster with morphological types. Analysis of the complete samples and the $HST$ subsamples shows that the $zsim 0.4$ E/S0s are bluer than those in the Bower et al. (1992) Coma sample in the optical$-K$ color by $0.13$~mag for Abell~370 and by $0.18$~mag for Abell~851. If real, the bluing of the E/S0 populations at moderate redshift is consistent with that calculated from the Bruzual and Charlot (1993) models of passive elliptical galaxy evolution. In both clusters the intrinsic scatter of the known E/S0s about their optical$-K$ color--mag relation is small ($sim 0.06$ mag) and not significantly different from that of Coma E/S0s as given by Bower et al. (1992), indicating that the galaxies within each cluster formed at the same time at an early epoch.
We present Spitzer observations for a sample of close major-merger galaxy pairs (KPAIR sample) selected from 2MASS/SDSS-DR3 cross-matches. The goals are to study the star formation activity in these galaxies and to set a local bench mark for the cosmic evolution of close major mergers. The Spitzer KPAIR sample (27 pairs, 54 galaxies) includes all spectroscopically confirmed S+S and S+E pairs in a parent sample that is complete for primaries brighter than K=12.5 mag, projected separations of 5< s < 20 kpc/h, and mass ratios<2.5. The Spitzer data consist of images in 7 bands (3.6, 4.5, 5.8, 8, 24, 70, 160 um). Compared to single spiral galaxies in a control sample, only spiral galaxies in S+S pairs show significantly enhanced specific star formation rate (sSFR=SFR/M), whereas spiral galaxies in S+E pairs do not. Furthermore, the SFR enhancement of spiral galaxies in S+S pairs is highly mass-dependent. Only those with $rm M gsim 10^{10.5} M_sun$ show significant enhancement. Relatively low mass ($rm M sim 10^{10} M_sun$) spirals in S+S pairs have about the same SFR/M compared to their counterparts in the control sample. There is evidence for a correlation between the global star formation activities (but not the nuclear activities) of the component galaxies in massive S+S major-merger pairs (the Holmberg effect). There is no significant difference in the SFR/M between the primaries and the secondaries, nor between spirals of SEP<1 and those of SEP.1. The contribution of KPAIR galaxies to the cosmic SFR density in the local universe is only 1.7%.
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