The Physical Nature of Rest-UV Galaxy Morphology during the Peak Epoch of Galaxy Formation

By D. Law, C. Steidel, D. Erb, M. Pettini, Naveen A. Reddy, A. Shapley, K. Adelberger, David J. Simenc. 2006

133 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Motivated by the irregular and little-understood morphologies of z ~ 2-3 galaxies, we use nonparametric coefficients to quantify the morphologies of 216 galaxies that have been spectroscopically confirmed to lie at redshifts z = 1.8-3.4 in the GOODS-N field. Using measurements of UV and optical spectral lines, multiband photometric data, and stellar population models, we statistically assess possible correlations between galaxy morphology and physical observables such as stellar mass, star formation rate, and the strength of galaxy-scale outflows. We find evidence that dustier galaxies have more nebulous UV morphologies and that larger, more luminous galaxies may drive stronger outflows, but we otherwise conclude that UV morphology is either statistically decoupled from the majority of physical observables or determined by too complex a combination of physical processes to provide characterizations with predictive power. Given the absence of strong correlations between UV morphology and physical parameters such as star formation rates, we are therefore unable to support the hypothesis that morphologically irregular galaxies predominantly represent major galaxy mergers. Comparing galaxy samples, we find that IR-selected BzK galaxies and radio-selected submillimeter galaxies have UV morphologies similar to the optically selected sample, while distant red galaxies are more nebulous.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/664fd740481a61c93760e0f51d15453f65b94f24

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Citations in the corpus

DIFFUSE Lyα EMITTING HALOS: A GENERIC PROPERTY OF HIGH-REDSHIFT STAR-FORMING GALAXIES (2011, result): “These de-convolved angular sizes are also consistent with measurements of similar galaxies in deep HST/ACS images (e.g., Peter et al. 2007; Law et al. 2007.)”
DO HOT HALOS AROUND GALAXIES CONTAIN THE MISSING BARYONS? (2010, background): “Winds are also observed directly at z ∼ 2–3 in galaxies undergoing periods of intense star formation and AGN activity (e.g., Pettini et al. 2001; Geach et al. 2005; Law et al. 2007), but appear insufficient to expel the missing baryons (Martin 2005).”
The Evolution of Galaxy Structure Over Cosmic Time (2014, methodology): “Other popular parameters include the multiplicity index, Ψ, which is a measure of the potential energy of a light distribution (e.g., Law et al. 2007).”
The n ature of submillimetre galaxies in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations (2009, background): “The short answer is, at this epoch most star-forming galaxies are compact and disturbed (Giavalisco 2002), hence such traits are not necessarily indicative of an ongoing merger as would be the case locally (Law et al. 2007).”
SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES AT REDSHIFTS ∼4, 5, AND 6 IN THE GOODS-SOUTH FIELD (2009, background): “Though this result is, on average, in qualitative agreement with the observations at z ∼ 2 and 3 by Law et al. (2007), we note that cases of nucleated absorbers and “fuzzier” emitters are also present.”
LSD: Lyman-break galaxies Stellar populations and Dynamics – I. Mass, metallicity and gas at z∼ 3.1 (2009, result): “Our results are also similar to those of Weiner et al. (2008) at z = 1.4 and Law et al. (2007) at z = 2.5, who detected the presence of stronger galactic winds in more massive galaxies.”
DUST OBSCURATION AND METALLICITY AT HIGH REDSHIFT: NEW INFERENCES FROM UV, Hα, AND 8 μm OBSERVATIONS OF z ∼ 2 STAR-FORMING GALAXIES (2010, methodology): “In addition, allowed ages were restricted to be longer than the dynamical time-scale of ≃ 70 Myr, as inferred from velocity dispersion and size measurements of z ∼ 2 LBGs (Erb et al. 2006b; Law et al. 2007).”
GOODS-HERSCHEL MEASUREMENTS OF THE DUST ATTENUATION OF TYPICAL STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT HIGH REDSHIFT: OBSERVATIONS OF ULTRAVIOLET-SELECTED GALAXIES AT z ∼ 2 (2011, methodology): “The lower limit to the allowed ages (70Myr) was adopted to reflect the typical dynamical time-scale as inferred from velocity dispersion and size measurements of z ∼ 2 LBGs (Erb et al. 2006; Law et al. 2007).”
CONSTRAINTS ON THE ASSEMBLY AND DYNAMICS OF GALAXIES. I. DETAILED REST-FRAME OPTICAL MORPHOLOGIES ON KILOPARSEC SCALE OF z ∼ 2 STAR-FORMING GALAXIES (2010, methodology): “Finally, a third classification parameter, the Multiplicity (Ψ), introduced by Law et al. (2007a), is somewhat analogous to theM20 parameter, in that it is sensitive to the presence and distribution of multiple clumps of flux.”
Resolved spectroscopy of gravitationally lensed galaxies: recovering coherent velocity fields in subluminous z ~ 2-3 galaxies (2009, background): “Integral field unit (IFU) spectroscopy of nebular emission lines is now yielding valuable kinematic data for a growing sample of luminous high-redshift star forming galaxies (Genzel et al. 2006, 2008; Förster Schreiber et al. 2006, 2009; Law et al. 2007b, 2009).”
THE KILOPARSEC-SCALE KINEMATICS OF HIGH-REDSHIFT STAR-FORMING GALAXIES (2009, methodology): “Early results from such IFS programs with (Genzel et al. 2006; Law et al. 2007a; Wright et al. 2007, 2009) and without (Förster Schreiber et al. 2006; Bouché et al. 2007; Genzel et al. 2008; Nesvadba et al. 2008; van Starkenburg et al. 2008)7 adaptive optics, in addition to a small number of…”
Galaxy merger morphologies and time-scales from simulations of equal-mass gas-rich disc mergers (2008, methodology): “Designating galaxy pixels based on signal-to-noise cuts (e.g. Law et al. 2007) will result in unreliable G values.”
The properties of the star-forming interstellar medium at z = 0.84-2.23 from HiZELS : mapping the internal dynamics and metallicity gradients in high-redshift disc galaxies. (2012, methodology): “First, we note that the Hα half-light radii for the SHiZELS galaxies (rh = 2.4 ± 0.8 kpc) are comparable to the average rest-frame UV/optical half-light radii of star-forming galaxies at this redshift (e.g. Conselice et al. 2003; Law et al. 2007; Swinbank et al. 2010).”
CONSTRAINTS ON THE ASSEMBLY AND DYNAMICS OF GALAXIES. II. PROPERTIES OF KILOPARSEC-SCALE CLUMPS IN REST-FRAME OPTICAL EMISSION OF z ∼ 2 STAR-FORMING GALAXIES (2011, background): “…optical morphologies for MD 41, consistent with the general findings for rest-UV selected samples atz∼ 2, and in contrast to those for samples selected at longer wavelengths wi typically redder rest-frame optical colors (Peter et al. 2007; Law et al. 2007; Toft et al. 2007; Cameron et al. 2010).”
THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE WIDE FIELD CAMERA 3 EARLY RELEASE SCIENCE DATA: PANCHROMATIC FAINT OBJECT COUNTS FOR 0.2–2 μm WAVELENGTH (2010, background): “At redshifts >∼ 2–3, deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging surveys and ground-based spectroscopy have revealed a paucity of massive galaxies and few classical disks or spheroids (e.g., Law et al. 2007, 2009).”