AN ULTRA-DEEP NEAR-INFRARED SPECTRUM OF A COMPACT QUIESCENT GALAXY AT z = 2.2

By M. Kriek, P. V. van Dokkum, I. Labbé, M. Franx, G. Illingworth, D. Marchesini, R. Quadri. 2009

697 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Several recent studies have shown that about half of the massive galaxies at z ∼ 2 are in a quiescent phase. Moreover, these galaxies are commonly found to be ultra-compact with half-light radii of ∼1 kpc. We have obtained a ∼29 hr spectrum of a typical quiescent, ultra-dense galaxy at z = 2.1865 with the Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph. The spectrum exhibits a strong optical break and several absorption features, which have not previously been detected in z > 2 quiescent galaxies. Comparison of the spectral energy distribution with stellar population synthesis models implies a low star formation rate (SFR) of 1–3 M☉ yr−1, an age of 1.3–2.2 Gyr, and a stellar mass of ∼2 × 1011 M☉. We detect several faint emission lines, with emission-line ratios of [N ii]/Hα, [S ii]/Hα, and [O ii]/[O iii] typical of low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions. Thus, neither the stellar continuum nor the nebular emission implies active star formation. The current SFR is <1% of the past average SFR. If this galaxy is representative of compact quiescent galaxies beyond z = 2, it implies that quenching of star formation is extremely efficient and also indicates that low luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs) could be common in these objects. Nuclear emission is a potential concern for the size measurement. However, we show that the AGN contributes ≲8% to the rest-frame optical emission. A possible post-starburst population may affect size measurements more strongly; although a 0.5 Gyr old stellar population can make up ≲10% of the total stellar mass, it could account for up to ∼40% of the optical light. Nevertheless, this spectrum shows that this compact galaxy is dominated by an evolved stellar population.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation

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In Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. P. Hopkins
2. L. Hernquist
3. P. V. van Dokkum
4. C. Conroy
5. R. Dav'e
6. A. Dekel
7. M. Franx
8. R. Somerville

In Instrumentation

1. P. V. van Dokkum
2. M. Franx
3. P. Hopkins
4. C. Conroy
5. A. Dekel
6. L. Hernquist
7. R. Dav'e
8. R. Somerville

Citations in the corpus

• ASASSN-14ae: a tidal disruption event at 200 Mpc (2014, background): “0; Kriek et al. 2009) to fit stel- lar population synthesis (SPS) models to the 5.”
• GALAXY STRUCTURE AND MODE OF STAR FORMATION IN THE SFR–MASS PLANE FROM z ∼ 2.5 TO z ∼ 0.1 (2011, methodology): “Stellar Masses We used FAST (Kriek et al. 2009a) to fit BC03 models with exponentially declining SFHs to the λobs ≤ 8 µm broad-band SEDs of the galaxies.”
• THE SFR–M* RELATION AND EMPIRICAL STAR FORMATION HISTORIES FROM ZFOURGE AT 0.5 < z < 4 (2015, methodology): “FAST was run using a grid of Bruzual & Charlot (2003) models assuming a Chabrier (2003) IMF and solar metallicity.”
• HYDROGEN-POOR SUPERLUMINOUS SUPERNOVAE AND LONG-DURATION GAMMA-RAY BURSTS HAVE SIMILAR HOST GALAXIES (2013, methodology): “In cases where the galaxy continuum is well-detected, we construct a stellar model spectrum using the FAST stellar population synthesis code (Kriek et al. 2009) by fitting the observed spectrum (with strong emission lines masked).”
• A SUBSTANTIAL POPULATION OF MASSIVE QUIESCENT GALAXIES AT z ∼ 4 FROM ZFOURGE (2013, methodology): “Stellar population properties were derived by fitting Bruzual & Charlot (2003) models with FAST (Kriek et al. 2009), assuming a Chabrier (2003) initial mass function, exponentially declining star formation histories with timescale τ , and solar metallicity.”
• GOODS-HERSCHEL: STAR FORMATION, DUST ATTENUATION, AND THE FIR–RADIO CORRELATION ON THE MAIN SEQUENCE OF STAR-FORMING GALAXIES UP TO z ≃ 4 (2014, methodology): “Derivation of stellar masses Stellar masses were determined withFAST2 (Kriek et al. 2009) on theU to 4.5µm PSF-matched aperture photometry, using Bruzual & Charlot (2003) delayed exponentially declining star formation histories (SFHs,ψ(t) ∝ t τ 2 exp(−t/τ )) with 0.01< τ <10 Gyr, solar…”
• THE NUMBER DENSITY AND MASS DENSITY OF STAR-FORMING AND QUIESCENT GALAXIES AT 0.4 ⩽ z ⩽ 2.2 (2011, methodology): “SED modeling: stellar masses, AV We measure stellar masses and dust reddening of the NMBS galaxies by fitting a grid of population synthesis models to the NMBS SEDs using theFAST code (Kriek et al. 2009).”
• How do minor mergers promote inside-out growth of ellipticals, transforming the size, density profile and dark matter fraction? (2012, background): “…et al. 2007; Trujillo et al. 2007; Zirm et al. 2007; Buitrago et al. 2008; van Dokkum et al. 2008; Cimatti et al. 2008; Franx et al. 2008; Saracco et al. 2009; Damjanov et al. 2009; Kriek et al. 2009; Bezanson et al. 2009; van Dokkum et al. 2010; Saglia 2010; Whitaker et al. 2012; Onodera 2012).”
• VERY STRONG EMISSION-LINE GALAXIES IN THE WFC3 INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC PARALLEL SURVEY AND IMPLICATIONS FOR HIGH-REDSHIFT GALAXIES, (2011, methodology): “To model the stellar population properties of these galaxies, we use the FAST code (Kriek et al. 2009) to fit Bruzual & Charlot (2003) synthesis models to the continuum magnitudes.”
• CANDELS: THE PROGENITORS OF COMPACT QUIESCENT GALAXIES AT z ∼ 2 (2012, methodology): “In contrast, most of the massive SFGs at these redshifts are still relatively large disks (Kriek et al. 2009a).”
• CAN MINOR MERGING ACCOUNT FOR THE SIZE GROWTH OF QUIESCENT GALAXIES? NEW RESULTS FROM THE CANDELS SURVEY (2011, methodology): “Stellar population parameters, including stellar masses, were measured by fitting the latest S. Charlot & G. Bruzual (2007, private communication) models to the broadband photometry using the FAST code (Kriek et al. 2009b).”
• 3D-HST WFC3-SELECTED PHOTOMETRIC CATALOGS IN THE FIVE CANDELS/3D-HST FIELDS: PHOTOMETRY, PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFTS, AND STELLAR MASSES (2014, methodology): “Stellar Population Parameters We use the FAST code (Kriek et al. 2009) to estimate the stellar masses, star formation rates, ages and and dust extinctions, given the spectroscopic redshift, where available, or the photometric redshift from EAZY z_peak otherwise.”
• The realm of the galaxy protoclusters (2016, background): “It is notoriously challenging to confirm spectroscopically truly “passive” galaxies at z & 2 (Kriek et al., 2006, 2009; Toft et al., 2012), although this situation is improving (e.g., Kriek et al., 2015).”
• 3D-HST+CANDELS: THE EVOLUTION OF THE GALAXY SIZE–MASS DISTRIBUTION SINCE z = 3 (2014, positive): “EAZY is used to compute the rest-frame U − V and V − J colors and the package FAST (Kriek et al. 2009a) is used to estimate stellar masses.”
• THE ASSEMBLY OF MILKY-WAY-LIKE GALAXIES SINCE z ∼ 2.5 (2013, methodology): “4b show the mean star formation rates of the galaxies that went into the analysis, as obtained from SED fits (see Kriek et al. 2009, and Skelton et al., in preparation).”
• MORPHOLOGICAL QUENCHING OF STAR FORMATION: MAKING EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES RED (2009, background): “Kriek et al. (2009) have recently obtained a nearinfrared spectrum of one of the red ETG in their z ∼ 2 sample, which suggest a low but non-zero star formation rate.”
• THE GROWTH OF MASSIVE GALAXIES SINCE z = 2 (2009, methodology): “Furthermore, valuable information is obviously lost — for example, the rich diversity of massive galaxies atz& 2 (see Kriek et al. 2009b) — and the interpretation rests on several simplifying assump- tions.”
• Near infrared spectroscopy and star-formation histories of 3 ≤ z ≤ 4 quiescent galaxies (2018, methodology): “…from faint or absent emission lines, their old effective ages (mass- or light-weighted) of more than half a Gyr from absorption lines, or their large masses from kinematics (e.g., Kriek et al. 2006, 2009; van de Sande et al. 2013; Hill et al. 2016; Belli et al. 2017b,a; Glazebrook et al. 2017).”
• A PUBLIC Ks-SELECTED CATALOG IN THE COSMOS/UltraVISTA FIELD: PHOTOMETRY, PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFTS, AND STELLAR POPULATION PARAMETERS, (2013, methodology): “Stellar Masses, Ages, and Dust Extinction Stellar population parameters are determined by fitting galaxy SEDs using the FAST code (Kriek et al. 2009).”