THE ROLE of QUENCHING TIME in the EVOLUTION of the MASS-SIZE RELATION of PASSIVE GALAXIES from the WISP SURVEY

A. Zanella; C. Scarlata; E. M. Corsini; A. G. Bedregal; E. Dalla Bontà; H. Atek; A. J. Bunker; J. Colbert; Y. S. Dai; A. Henry; M. Malkan; C. Martin; M. Rafelski; M. J. Rutkowski; B. Siana; H. Teplitz

doi:10.3847/0004-637X/824/2/68

THE ROLE of QUENCHING TIME in the EVOLUTION of the MASS-SIZE RELATION of PASSIVE GALAXIES from the WISP SURVEY

A. Zanella, C. Scarlata, E. M. Corsini, A. G. Bedregal, E. Dalla Bontà, H. Atek, A. J. Bunker, J. Colbert, Y. S. Dai, A. Henry, M. Malkan, C. Martin, M. Rafelski, M. J. Rutkowski, B. Siana, H. Teplitz

Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

We analyze how passive galaxies at z ∼ 1.5 populate the mass-size plane as a function of their stellar age, to understand if the observed size growth with time can be explained with the appearance of larger quenched galaxies at lower redshift. We use a sample of 32 passive galaxies extracted from the Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared Spectroscopic Parallel (WISP) survey with spectroscopic redshift 1.3 ≲ z ≲ 2.05, specific star formation rates lower than 0.01 Gyr^-1, and stellar masses above 4.5 × 10¹⁰ M _Ȯ. All galaxies have spectrally determined stellar ages from fitting of their rest-frame optical spectra and photometry with stellar population models. When dividing our sample into young (age ≤2.1 Gyr) and old (age >2.1 Gyr) galaxies we do not find a significant trend in the distributions of the difference between the observed radius and that predicted by the mass-size relation. This result indicates that the relation between the galaxy age and its distance from the mass-size relation, if it exists, is rather shallow, with a slope α -0.6. At face value, this finding suggests that multiple dry and/or wet minor mergers, rather than the appearance of newly quenched galaxies, are mainly responsible for the observed time evolution of the mass-size relation in passive galaxies.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	68
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	824
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/824/2/68
State	Published - Jun 20 2016

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© 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Keywords

galaxies: evolution
galaxies: fundamental parameters
galaxies: high-redshift
galaxies: structure

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10.3847/0004-637X/824/2/68

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Zanella, A., Scarlata, C., Corsini, E. M., Bedregal, A. G., Dalla Bontà, E., Atek, H., Bunker, A. J., Colbert, J., Dai, Y. S., Henry, A., Malkan, M., Martin, C., Rafelski, M., Rutkowski, M. J., Siana, B., & Teplitz, H. (2016). THE ROLE of QUENCHING TIME in the EVOLUTION of the MASS-SIZE RELATION of PASSIVE GALAXIES from the WISP SURVEY. Astrophysical Journal, 824(2), [68]. https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/824/2/68

Zanella, A, Scarlata, C, Corsini, EM, Bedregal, AG, Dalla Bontà, E, Atek, H, Bunker, AJ, Colbert, J, Dai, YS, Henry, A, Malkan, M, Martin, C, Rafelski, M, Rutkowski, MJ, Siana, B & Teplitz, H 2016, 'THE ROLE of QUENCHING TIME in the EVOLUTION of the MASS-SIZE RELATION of PASSIVE GALAXIES from the WISP SURVEY', Astrophysical Journal, vol. 824, no. 2, 68. https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/824/2/68

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abstract = "We analyze how passive galaxies at z ∼ 1.5 populate the mass-size plane as a function of their stellar age, to understand if the observed size growth with time can be explained with the appearance of larger quenched galaxies at lower redshift. We use a sample of 32 passive galaxies extracted from the Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared Spectroscopic Parallel (WISP) survey with spectroscopic redshift 1.3 ≲ z ≲ 2.05, specific star formation rates lower than 0.01 Gyr-1, and stellar masses above 4.5 × 1010 M Ȯ. All galaxies have spectrally determined stellar ages from fitting of their rest-frame optical spectra and photometry with stellar population models. When dividing our sample into young (age ≤2.1 Gyr) and old (age >2.1 Gyr) galaxies we do not find a significant trend in the distributions of the difference between the observed radius and that predicted by the mass-size relation. This result indicates that the relation between the galaxy age and its distance from the mass-size relation, if it exists, is rather shallow, with a slope α -0.6. At face value, this finding suggests that multiple dry and/or wet minor mergers, rather than the appearance of newly quenched galaxies, are mainly responsible for the observed time evolution of the mass-size relation in passive galaxies.",

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author = "A. Zanella and C. Scarlata and Corsini, {E. M.} and Bedregal, {A. G.} and {Dalla Bont{\`a}}, E. and H. Atek and Bunker, {A. J.} and J. Colbert and Dai, {Y. S.} and A. Henry and M. Malkan and C. Martin and M. Rafelski and Rutkowski, {M. J.} and B. Siana and H. Teplitz",

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AU - Scarlata, C.

AU - Corsini, E. M.

AU - Bedregal, A. G.

AU - Dalla Bontà, E.

AU - Atek, H.

AU - Bunker, A. J.

AU - Colbert, J.

AU - Dai, Y. S.

AU - Henry, A.

AU - Malkan, M.

AU - Martin, C.

AU - Rafelski, M.

AU - Rutkowski, M. J.

AU - Siana, B.

AU - Teplitz, H.

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AB - We analyze how passive galaxies at z ∼ 1.5 populate the mass-size plane as a function of their stellar age, to understand if the observed size growth with time can be explained with the appearance of larger quenched galaxies at lower redshift. We use a sample of 32 passive galaxies extracted from the Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared Spectroscopic Parallel (WISP) survey with spectroscopic redshift 1.3 ≲ z ≲ 2.05, specific star formation rates lower than 0.01 Gyr-1, and stellar masses above 4.5 × 1010 M Ȯ. All galaxies have spectrally determined stellar ages from fitting of their rest-frame optical spectra and photometry with stellar population models. When dividing our sample into young (age ≤2.1 Gyr) and old (age >2.1 Gyr) galaxies we do not find a significant trend in the distributions of the difference between the observed radius and that predicted by the mass-size relation. This result indicates that the relation between the galaxy age and its distance from the mass-size relation, if it exists, is rather shallow, with a slope α -0.6. At face value, this finding suggests that multiple dry and/or wet minor mergers, rather than the appearance of newly quenched galaxies, are mainly responsible for the observed time evolution of the mass-size relation in passive galaxies.

KW - galaxies: evolution

KW - galaxies: fundamental parameters

KW - galaxies: high-redshift

KW - galaxies: structure

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THE ROLE of QUENCHING TIME in the EVOLUTION of the MASS-SIZE RELATION of PASSIVE GALAXIES from the WISP SURVEY

Abstract

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