The formation history of massive cluster galaxies as revealed by CARLA
We use a sample of 37 of the densest clusters and protoclusters across 1.3 ≤ z ≤ 3.2 from the Clusters Around Radio-Loud AGN (CARLA) survey to study the formation of massive cluster galaxies. We use optical i′-band and infrared 3.6 and 4.5 μm images to statistically select sources within these proto...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2015
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34887/ |
| _version_ | 1848794954787192832 |
|---|---|
| author | Cooke, Elizabeth A. Hatch, Nina A. Rettura, A. Wylezalek, D. Galametz, A. Stern, D. Brodwin, M. Muldrew, S.I. Almaini, O. Conselice, Christopher J. Eisenhardt, P.R. Hartley, W.G. Jarvis, M. Seymour, N. Stanford, S.A. |
| author_facet | Cooke, Elizabeth A. Hatch, Nina A. Rettura, A. Wylezalek, D. Galametz, A. Stern, D. Brodwin, M. Muldrew, S.I. Almaini, O. Conselice, Christopher J. Eisenhardt, P.R. Hartley, W.G. Jarvis, M. Seymour, N. Stanford, S.A. |
| author_sort | Cooke, Elizabeth A. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | We use a sample of 37 of the densest clusters and protoclusters across 1.3 ≤ z ≤ 3.2 from the Clusters Around Radio-Loud AGN (CARLA) survey to study the formation of massive cluster galaxies. We use optical i′-band and infrared 3.6 and 4.5 μm images to statistically select sources within these protoclusters and measure their median observed colours; 〈i′ − [3.6]〉. We find the abundance of massive galaxies within the protoclusters increases with decreasing redshift, suggesting these objects may form an evolutionary sequence, with the lower redshift clusters in the sample having similar properties to the descendants of the high-redshift protoclusters. We find that the protocluster galaxies have an approximately unevolving observed-frame i′ − [3.6] colour across the examined redshift range. We compare the evolution of the 〈i′ − [3.6]〉 colour of massive cluster galaxies with simplistic galaxy formation models. Taking the full cluster population into account, we show that the formation of stars within the majority of massive cluster galaxies occurs over at least 2 Gyr, and peaks at z ∼ 2–3. From the median i′ − [3.6] colours, we cannot determine the star formation histories of individual galaxies, but their star formation must have been rapidly terminated to produce the observed red colours. Finally, we show that massive galaxies at z > 2 must have assembled within 0.5 Gyr of them forming a significant fraction of their stars. This means that few massive galaxies in z > 2 protoclusters could have formed via dry mergers. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:24:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-34887 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:24:24Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-348872020-05-04T17:16:38Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34887/ The formation history of massive cluster galaxies as revealed by CARLA Cooke, Elizabeth A. Hatch, Nina A. Rettura, A. Wylezalek, D. Galametz, A. Stern, D. Brodwin, M. Muldrew, S.I. Almaini, O. Conselice, Christopher J. Eisenhardt, P.R. Hartley, W.G. Jarvis, M. Seymour, N. Stanford, S.A. We use a sample of 37 of the densest clusters and protoclusters across 1.3 ≤ z ≤ 3.2 from the Clusters Around Radio-Loud AGN (CARLA) survey to study the formation of massive cluster galaxies. We use optical i′-band and infrared 3.6 and 4.5 μm images to statistically select sources within these protoclusters and measure their median observed colours; 〈i′ − [3.6]〉. We find the abundance of massive galaxies within the protoclusters increases with decreasing redshift, suggesting these objects may form an evolutionary sequence, with the lower redshift clusters in the sample having similar properties to the descendants of the high-redshift protoclusters. We find that the protocluster galaxies have an approximately unevolving observed-frame i′ − [3.6] colour across the examined redshift range. We compare the evolution of the 〈i′ − [3.6]〉 colour of massive cluster galaxies with simplistic galaxy formation models. Taking the full cluster population into account, we show that the formation of stars within the majority of massive cluster galaxies occurs over at least 2 Gyr, and peaks at z ∼ 2–3. From the median i′ − [3.6] colours, we cannot determine the star formation histories of individual galaxies, but their star formation must have been rapidly terminated to produce the observed red colours. Finally, we show that massive galaxies at z > 2 must have assembled within 0.5 Gyr of them forming a significant fraction of their stars. This means that few massive galaxies in z > 2 protoclusters could have formed via dry mergers. Oxford University Press 2015-09-21 Article PeerReviewed Cooke, Elizabeth A., Hatch, Nina A., Rettura, A., Wylezalek, D., Galametz, A., Stern, D., Brodwin, M., Muldrew, S.I., Almaini, O., Conselice, Christopher J., Eisenhardt, P.R., Hartley, W.G., Jarvis, M., Seymour, N. and Stanford, S.A. (2015) The formation history of massive cluster galaxies as revealed by CARLA. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 452 (3). pp. 2318-2336. ISSN 1365-2966 galaxies: clusters: general; galaxies: evolution; galaxies: formation; galaxies: high-redshift http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org/content/452/3/2318 doi:10.1093/mnras/stv1413 doi:10.1093/mnras/stv1413 |
| spellingShingle | galaxies: clusters: general; galaxies: evolution; galaxies: formation; galaxies: high-redshift Cooke, Elizabeth A. Hatch, Nina A. Rettura, A. Wylezalek, D. Galametz, A. Stern, D. Brodwin, M. Muldrew, S.I. Almaini, O. Conselice, Christopher J. Eisenhardt, P.R. Hartley, W.G. Jarvis, M. Seymour, N. Stanford, S.A. The formation history of massive cluster galaxies as revealed by CARLA |
| title | The formation history of massive cluster galaxies as revealed by CARLA |
| title_full | The formation history of massive cluster galaxies as revealed by CARLA |
| title_fullStr | The formation history of massive cluster galaxies as revealed by CARLA |
| title_full_unstemmed | The formation history of massive cluster galaxies as revealed by CARLA |
| title_short | The formation history of massive cluster galaxies as revealed by CARLA |
| title_sort | formation history of massive cluster galaxies as revealed by carla |
| topic | galaxies: clusters: general; galaxies: evolution; galaxies: formation; galaxies: high-redshift |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34887/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34887/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34887/ |