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What Turns Galaxies Off? the Different Morphologies of Star-Forming and Quiescent Galaxies Since z Approximates 2 from CANDELSWe use HST/WFC3 imaging from the CANDELS multicyc1e treasury survey, in conjunction with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, to explore the evolution of galactic structure for galaxies with stellar masses > 3 x 10(exp 10) Solar Mass from Z= 2.2 to the present epoch, a time span of 10 Gyr. We explore the relationship between rest-frame optical color, stellar mass, star formation activity and the structural parameters of galaxies as determined from parametric fits to the surface brightness profiles of galaxies. We confirm the dramatic evolution from z= 2.2 to the present day in the number density of non-star-forming galaxies above 3 x 10(exp 10) Solar Mass reported by other authors. We find that the vast majority of these quiescent systems have concentrated light profiles, as parameterized by the Sersic index, and the population of concentrated galaxies grows similarly rapidly. We examine the joint distribution of star formation activity, Sersic index, stellar mass, mass divided by radius (a proxy for velocity dispersion), and stellar surface density. Quiescence correlates poorly with stellar mass at all z < 2.2 (given the approx < 0.2 dex scatter between halo mass and stellar mass at z approximates 0 inferred by More et al, this argues against halo mass being the only factor determining quiescence). Quiescence correlates better with Sersic index, 'velocity dispersion' and stellar surface density, where Sersic index correlates the best (increasingly so at lower redshift). Yet, there is significant scatter between quiescence and galaxy structure: while the vast majority of quiescent galaxies have prominent bulges, many of them have significant disks, and a number of bulge-dominated galaxies have significant star formation. Noting the rarity of quiescent galaxies without prominent bulges, we argue that a prominent bulge (and, perhaps by association, a supermassive black hole) is a necessary but not sufficient condition for quenching star formation on galactic scales over the last 10 Gyr; such a result is qualitatively consistent with the expectations of the AGN feedback paradigm.
Document ID
20120010141
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Bell, Eric F.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
VanDerWel, Arjen
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Astronomie Heidelberg, Germany)
Papovich, Casey
(Texas A&M Univ. College Station, TX, United States)
Kocevski, Dale
(Lick Observatory Santa Cruz, CA, United States)
Lotz, Jennifer
(Space Telescope Science Inst. Baltimore, MD, United States)
McIntosh, Daniel H.
(Missouri Univ. Kansas City, MO, United States)
Kartaltepe, Jeyhan
(National Optical Astronomy Observatories Tucson, AZ, United States)
Faber, S. M.
(Lick Observatory Santa Cruz, CA, United States)
Ferguson, Harry
(Space Telescope Science Inst. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Koekemoer, Anton
(Space Telescope Science Inst. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Grogin, Norman
(Space Telescope Science Inst. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Wuyts, Stijn
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Extraterrestrische Physik Garching, Germany)
Cheung, Edmong
(Lick Observatory Santa Cruz, CA, United States)
Conselice, Christopher J.
(Nottingham Univ. United Kingdom)
Dunlop, James S.
(Edinburgh Univ. United Kingdom)
Giavalisco, Mauro
(Massachusetts Univ. Amherst, MA, United States)
Herrington, Jessica
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Koo, David
(Lick Observatory Santa Cruz, CA, United States)
McGrath, Elizabeth J.
(Lick Observatory Santa Cruz, CA, United States)
DeMello, Duilia
(Catholic Univ. of America Washington, DC, United States)
Rix, Hans-Walter
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Astronomie Heidelberg, Germany)
Robaina, Aday R.
(Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya Barcelona, Spain)
Williams, Christina C.
(Massachusetts Univ. Amherst, MA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
September 6, 2011
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.JA.01295.2012
GSFC.JA.00174.2012
Report Number: GSFC.JA.01295.2012
Report Number: GSFC.JA.00174.2012
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-26555
CONTRACT_GRANT: HST GO-12060
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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