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Color evolution from z = 0 to z = 1Rest frame Stroemgren photometry (3500 A, 4100 A, 4750 A, and 5500 A) is presented for 509 galaxies in 17 rich clusters between z = 0 and z = 1 as a test of color evolution. Our observations confirm a strong, rest frame, Butcher-Oemler effect where the fraction of blue galaxies increases from 20% at z = 0.4 to 80% at z = 0.9. We also find that a majority of these blue cluster galaxies are composed of normal disk or post-starburst systems based on color criteria. When comparing our colors to the morphological results from Hubble Space Telescope HST imaging, we propose that the blue cluster galaxies are a population of late-type, low surface brightness objects which fade and are then destroyed by the cluster tidal field. After isolating the red objects from Butcher-Oemler objects, we have compared the mean color of these old, non-star-forming objects with spectral energy distribution models in the literature as a test for passive galaxy evolution in ellipticals. We find good agreement with single-burst models which predict a mean epoch of galaxy formation at z = 5. Tracing the red envelope for ellipticals places the earliest epoch of galaxy formation at z = 10.
Document ID
19950051845
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Rakos, Karl D.
(University of Vienna Vienna, Austria)
Schombert, James M.
(California Institute of Technology CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
January 20, 1995
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 1
Volume: 439
Issue: 1
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
95A83444
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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