SPIDER. V. MEASURING SYSTEMATIC EFFECTS IN EARLY-TYPE GALAXY STELLAR MASSES FROM PHOTOMETRIC SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTION FITTING

ABSTRACT The stellar mass assembly of galaxies can be affected by both secular and environmental processes. In this study, for the first time, we investigate the stellar mass assembly of $\sim 90\, 000$ low-redshift, central galaxies selected from SDSS group catalogues ($M_{\rm Stellar}\gtrsim 10^{9.5}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$, $M_{\rm Halo}\gtrsim 10^{12}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$) as a function of both stellar mass and halo mass. We use estimates of the times at which 10, 50, and 90 per cent of the stellar mass were assembled from photometric spectral energy distribution fitting, allowing a more complete investigation than single stellar ages alone. We consider trends in both stellar mass and halo mass simultaneously, finding dependences of all assembly times on both. We find that galaxies with higher stellar masses (at constant halo mass) have on average older lookback times, similar to previous studies of galaxy assembly. We also find that galaxies at higher halo mass (at constant stellar mass) have younger lookback times, possibly due to a larger reservoir of gas for star formation. An exception to this is a subsample with high stellar-to-halo mass ratios, which are likely massive, field spirals. We compare these observed trends to those predicted by the TNG300 simulation, finding good agreement overall as a function of either stellar mass or halo mass. However, some differences in the assembly times (of up to ∼3 Gyr) appear when considering both stellar mass and halo mass simultaneously, noticeably at intermediate stellar masses (MStellar ∼ 1011 M⊙). These discrepancies are possibly linked to the quenched fraction of galaxies and the kinetic mode active galactic nucleus feedback implemented in TNG300.

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The MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Field Survey

Astronomy and Astrophysics ◽

10.1051/0004-6361/201833281 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 617 ◽

pp. A62 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Anna Feltre ◽

Roland Bacon ◽

Laurence Tresse ◽

Hayley Finley ◽

David Carton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spectral Energy Distribution ◽

Gas Content ◽

Spectral Energy ◽

Distribution Fitting ◽

Space Telescope ◽

Star Forming ◽

Neutral Gas ◽

Near Ultraviolet ◽

Hubble Ultra Deep Field ◽

Stellar Masses

The physical origin of the near-ultraviolet Mg II emission remains an underexplored domain, unlike more typical emission lines that are detected in the spectra of star-forming galaxies. We explore the nebular and physical properties of a sample of 381 galaxies between 0.70 < z < 2.34 drawn from the MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Survey. The spectra of these galaxies show a wide variety of profiles of the Mg II λλ2796, 2803 resonant doublet, from absorption to emission. We present a study on the main drivers for the detection of Mg II emission in galaxy spectra. By exploiting photoionization models, we verified that the emission-line ratios observed in galaxies with Mg II in emission are consistent with nebular emission from HII regions. From a simultaneous analysis of MUSE spectra and ancillary Hubble Space Telescope information through spectral energy distribution fitting, we find that galaxies with Mg II in emission have lower stellar masses, smaller sizes, bluer spectral slopes, and lower optical depth than those with absorption. This leads us to suggest that Mg II emission is a potential tracer of physical conditions that are not merely related to those of the ionized gas. We show that these differences in Mg II emission and absorption can be explained in terms of a higher dust and neutral gas content in the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies showing Mg II in absorption, which confirms the extreme sensitivity of Mg II to the presence of the neutral ISM. We conclude with an analogy between the Mg II doublet and the Ly α line that lies in their resonant nature. Further investigations with current and future facilities, including the James Webb Space Telescope, are promising because the detection of Mg II emission and its potential connection with Lyα could provide new insights into the ISM content in the early Universe.

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Timing the earliest quenching events with a robust sample of massive quiescent galaxies at 2 < z < 5

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ◽

10.1093/mnras/staa1535 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 496 (1) ◽

pp. 695-707 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

A C Carnall ◽

S Walker ◽

R J McLure ◽

J S Dunlop ◽

D J McLeod ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Distribution ◽

Selection Criteria ◽

Spectral Energy Distribution ◽

Photometric Data ◽

Spectral Energy ◽

Distribution Fitting ◽

Star Forming ◽

Photometric Redshift ◽

The Times ◽

Lower Redshift

ABSTRACT We present a sample of 151 massive (M* > 1010 M⊙) quiescent galaxies at 2 < z < 5, based on a sophisticated Bayesian spectral energy distribution fitting analysis of the CANDELS UDS and GOODS-South fields. Our sample includes a robust sub-sample of 61 objects for which we confidently exclude low-redshift and star-forming solutions. We identify 10 robust objects at z > 3, of which 2 are at z > 4. We report formation redshifts, demonstrating that the oldest objects formed at z > 6; however, individual ages from our photometric data have significant uncertainties, typically ∼0.5 Gyr. We demonstrate that the UVJ colours of the quiescent population evolve with redshift at z > 3, becoming bluer and more similar to post-starburst galaxies at lower redshift. Based upon this, we construct a model for the time evolution of quiescent galaxy UVJ colours, concluding that the oldest objects are consistent with forming the bulk of their stellar mass at z ∼ 6–7 and quenching at z ∼ 5. We report spectroscopic redshifts for two of our objects at z = 3.440 and 3.396, which exhibit extremely weak Ly α emission in ultra-deep VANDELS spectra. We calculate star formation rates based on these line fluxes, finding that these galaxies are consistent with our quiescent selection criteria, provided their Ly α escape fractions are >3 and >10 per cent, respectively. We finally report that our highest redshift robust object exhibits a continuum break at λ ∼ 7000 Å in a spectrum from VUDS, consistent with our photometric redshift of $z_\mathrm{phot}=4.72^{+0.06}_{-0.04}$. If confirmed as quiescent, this object would be the highest redshift known quiescent galaxy. To obtain stronger constraints on the times of the earliest quenching events, high-SNR spectroscopy must be extended to z ≳ 3 quiescent objects.

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