The Morphologically Divided Redshift Distribution of Faint Galaxies


Abstract in English

We have constructed a morphologically divided redshift distribution of faint field galaxies using a statistically unbiased sample of 196 galaxies brighter than I = 21.5 for which detailed morphological information (from the Hubble Space Telescope) as well as ground-based spectroscopic redshifts are available. Galaxies are classified into 3 rough morphological types according to their visual appearance (E/S0s, Spirals, Sdm/dE/Irr/Pecs), and redshift distributions are constructed for each type. The most striking feature is the abundance of low to moderate redshift Sdm/dE/Irr/Pecs at I < 19.5. This confirms that the faint end slope of the luminosity function (LF) is steep (alpha < -1.4) for these objects. We also find that Sdm/dE/Irr/Pecs are fairly abundant at moderate redshifts, and this can be explained by strong luminosity evolution. However, the normalization factor (or the number density) of the LF of Sdm/dE/Irr/Pecs is not much higher than that of the local LF of Sdm/dE/Irr/Pecs. Furthermore, as we go to fainter magnitudes, the abundance of moderate to high redshift Irr/Pecs increases considerably. This cannot be explained by strong luminosity evolution of the dwarf galaxy populations alone: these Irr/Pecs are probably the progenitors of present day ellipticals and spiral galaxies which are undergoing rapid star formation or merging with their neighbors. On the other hand, the redshift distributions of E/S0s and spirals are fairly consistent those expected from passive luminosity evolution, and are only in slight disagreement with the non-evolving model.

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