Sign on

SAO/NASA ADS Astronomy Abstract Service

· Find Similar Abstracts (with default settings below)
· Electronic Refereed Journal Article (HTML)
· Full Refereed Journal Article (PDF/Postscript)
· arXiv e-print (arXiv:astro-ph/0504127)
· On-line Data
· References in the article
· Citations to the Article (42) (Citation History)
· Refereed Citations to the Article
· SIMBAD Objects (251)
· NED Objects (247)
· Also-Read Articles (Reads History)
·
· Translate This Page
Title:
Evolution of Field Early-Type Galaxies: The View from GOODS CDFS
Authors:
Ferreras, Ignacio; Lisker, Thorsten; Carollo, C. Marcella; Lilly, Simon J.; Mobasher, Bahram
Affiliation:
AA(Institut für Astronomie, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland; Current address: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.), AB(Institut für Astronomie, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland; Current address: Astronomical Institute, University of Basel, Venusstrasse 7, CH-4102 Binningen, Switzerland.), AC(Institut für Astronomie, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland), AD(Institut für Astronomie, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland), AE(Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218)
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 635, Issue 1, pp. 243-259. (ApJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
12/2005
Origin:
UCP
ApJ Keywords:
Galaxies: Elliptical and Lenticular, cD, Galaxies: Evolution, Galaxies: Stellar Content
DOI:
10.1086/497292
Bibliographic Code:
2005ApJ...635..243F

Abstract

We explore the evolution of field early-type galaxies in a sample extracted from the ACS images of the southern GOODS field. The galaxies are selected by means of a nonparametric analysis, followed by visual inspection of the candidates with a concentrated surface brightness distribution. We furthermore exclude from the final sample those galaxies that are not consistent with an evolution into the Kormendy relation between surface brightness and size that is observed for z=0 ellipticals. The final set, which comprises 249 galaxies with a median redshift zm=0.71, represents a sample of early-type systems not selected with respect to color, with similar scaling relations as those of bona fide elliptical galaxies. The distribution of number counts versus apparent magnitude rejects a constant number density with cosmic time and suggests a substantial decrease with redshift: n~(1+z)-2.5. The majority of the galaxies (78%) feature passively evolving old stellar populations. One-third of those in the upper half of the redshift distribution have blue colors, in contrast to only 10% in the lower redshift subsample. An adaptive binning of the color maps using an optimal Voronoi tessellation is performed to explore the internal color distribution. We find that the red and blue early-type galaxies in our sample have distinct behavior with respect to the color gradients, so that most blue galaxies feature blue cores whereas most of the red early-types are passively evolving stellar populations with red cores, i.e., similar systems to local early-type galaxies. Furthermore, the color gradients and scatter do not evolve with redshift and are compatible with the observations at z=0, assuming a radial dependence of the metallicity within each galaxy. Significant gradients in the stellar age are readily ruled out. This work emphasizes the need for a careful sample selection, as we found that most of those galaxies that were visually classified as candidate early types-but then rejected based on the Kormendy relation-feature blue colors characteristic of recent star formation.
Bibtex entry for this abstract   Preferred format for this abstract (see Preferences)
   

Find Similar Abstracts:

Use: Authors
Title
Keywords (in text query field)
Abstract Text
Return: Query Results Return    items starting with number
Query Form
Database: Astronomy
Physics
arXiv e-prints