H-ATLAS/GAMA: quantifying the morphological evolution of the galaxy population using cosmic calorimetry
Using results from the Herschel Astrophysical Terrahertz Large-Area Survey (H-ATLAS) and the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) project, we show that, for galaxy masses above ≃ 108 M⊙, 51 per cent of the stellar mass-density in the local Universe is in early-type galaxies (ETGs; Sérsic n > 2.5) whil...
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| Format: | Article |
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Oxford University Press
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42390/ |
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| author | Eales, Stephen Fullard, Andrew Allen, Matthew Smith, M.W.L. Baldry, Ivan Bourne, Nathan Clark, C.J.R. Driver, Simon Dunne, Loretta Dye, S. Graham, Alister W. Ibar, Edo Hopkins, Andrew Ivison, Rob Kelvin, Lee S. Maddox, Steve Maraston, Claudia Robotham, Aaron S.G. Smith, Dan Taylor, Edward N. Valiante, Elisabetta Werf, Paul van der Baes, Maarten Brough, Sarah Clements, David Cooray, Asantha Gomez, Haley Loveday, Jon Phillipps, Steven Scott, Douglas Serjeant, Steve |
| author_facet | Eales, Stephen Fullard, Andrew Allen, Matthew Smith, M.W.L. Baldry, Ivan Bourne, Nathan Clark, C.J.R. Driver, Simon Dunne, Loretta Dye, S. Graham, Alister W. Ibar, Edo Hopkins, Andrew Ivison, Rob Kelvin, Lee S. Maddox, Steve Maraston, Claudia Robotham, Aaron S.G. Smith, Dan Taylor, Edward N. Valiante, Elisabetta Werf, Paul van der Baes, Maarten Brough, Sarah Clements, David Cooray, Asantha Gomez, Haley Loveday, Jon Phillipps, Steven Scott, Douglas Serjeant, Steve |
| author_sort | Eales, Stephen |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Using results from the Herschel Astrophysical Terrahertz Large-Area Survey (H-ATLAS) and the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) project, we show that, for galaxy masses above ≃ 108 M⊙, 51 per cent of the stellar mass-density in the local Universe is in early-type galaxies (ETGs; Sérsic n > 2.5) while 89 per cent of the rate of production of stellar mass-density is occurring in late-type galaxies (LTGs; Sérsic n < 2.5). From this zero-redshift benchmark, we have used a calorimetric technique to quantify the importance of the morphological transformation of galaxies over the history of the Universe. The extragalactic background radiation contains all the energy generated by nuclear fusion in stars since the big bang. By resolving this background radiation into individual galaxies using the deepest far-infrared survey with the Herschel Space Observatory and a deep near-infrared/optical survey with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and using measurements of the Sérsic index of these galaxies derived from the HST images, we estimate that ≃83 per cent of the stellar mass-density formed over the history of the Universe occurred in LTGs. The difference between this value and the fraction of the stellar mass-density that is in LTGs today implies there must have been a major transformation of LTGs into ETGs after the formation of most of the stars. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:48:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-42390 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:48:35Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-423902020-05-04T17:15:41Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42390/ H-ATLAS/GAMA: quantifying the morphological evolution of the galaxy population using cosmic calorimetry Eales, Stephen Fullard, Andrew Allen, Matthew Smith, M.W.L. Baldry, Ivan Bourne, Nathan Clark, C.J.R. Driver, Simon Dunne, Loretta Dye, S. Graham, Alister W. Ibar, Edo Hopkins, Andrew Ivison, Rob Kelvin, Lee S. Maddox, Steve Maraston, Claudia Robotham, Aaron S.G. Smith, Dan Taylor, Edward N. Valiante, Elisabetta Werf, Paul van der Baes, Maarten Brough, Sarah Clements, David Cooray, Asantha Gomez, Haley Loveday, Jon Phillipps, Steven Scott, Douglas Serjeant, Steve Using results from the Herschel Astrophysical Terrahertz Large-Area Survey (H-ATLAS) and the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) project, we show that, for galaxy masses above ≃ 108 M⊙, 51 per cent of the stellar mass-density in the local Universe is in early-type galaxies (ETGs; Sérsic n > 2.5) while 89 per cent of the rate of production of stellar mass-density is occurring in late-type galaxies (LTGs; Sérsic n < 2.5). From this zero-redshift benchmark, we have used a calorimetric technique to quantify the importance of the morphological transformation of galaxies over the history of the Universe. The extragalactic background radiation contains all the energy generated by nuclear fusion in stars since the big bang. By resolving this background radiation into individual galaxies using the deepest far-infrared survey with the Herschel Space Observatory and a deep near-infrared/optical survey with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and using measurements of the Sérsic index of these galaxies derived from the HST images, we estimate that ≃83 per cent of the stellar mass-density formed over the history of the Universe occurred in LTGs. The difference between this value and the fraction of the stellar mass-density that is in LTGs today implies there must have been a major transformation of LTGs into ETGs after the formation of most of the stars. Oxford University Press 2015-08-05 Article PeerReviewed Eales, Stephen, Fullard, Andrew, Allen, Matthew, Smith, M.W.L., Baldry, Ivan, Bourne, Nathan, Clark, C.J.R., Driver, Simon, Dunne, Loretta, Dye, S., Graham, Alister W., Ibar, Edo, Hopkins, Andrew, Ivison, Rob, Kelvin, Lee S., Maddox, Steve, Maraston, Claudia, Robotham, Aaron S.G., Smith, Dan, Taylor, Edward N., Valiante, Elisabetta, Werf, Paul van der, Baes, Maarten, Brough, Sarah, Clements, David, Cooray, Asantha, Gomez, Haley, Loveday, Jon, Phillipps, Steven, Scott, Douglas and Serjeant, Steve (2015) H-ATLAS/GAMA: quantifying the morphological evolution of the galaxy population using cosmic calorimetry. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 452 (4). pp. 3489-3507. ISSN 0035-8711 galaxies: bulges galaxies: evolution galaxies: star formation https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/mnras/stv1300 doi:10.1093/mnras/stv1300 doi:10.1093/mnras/stv1300 |
| spellingShingle | galaxies: bulges galaxies: evolution galaxies: star formation Eales, Stephen Fullard, Andrew Allen, Matthew Smith, M.W.L. Baldry, Ivan Bourne, Nathan Clark, C.J.R. Driver, Simon Dunne, Loretta Dye, S. Graham, Alister W. Ibar, Edo Hopkins, Andrew Ivison, Rob Kelvin, Lee S. Maddox, Steve Maraston, Claudia Robotham, Aaron S.G. Smith, Dan Taylor, Edward N. Valiante, Elisabetta Werf, Paul van der Baes, Maarten Brough, Sarah Clements, David Cooray, Asantha Gomez, Haley Loveday, Jon Phillipps, Steven Scott, Douglas Serjeant, Steve H-ATLAS/GAMA: quantifying the morphological evolution of the galaxy population using cosmic calorimetry |
| title | H-ATLAS/GAMA: quantifying the morphological evolution of the galaxy population using cosmic calorimetry |
| title_full | H-ATLAS/GAMA: quantifying the morphological evolution of the galaxy population using cosmic calorimetry |
| title_fullStr | H-ATLAS/GAMA: quantifying the morphological evolution of the galaxy population using cosmic calorimetry |
| title_full_unstemmed | H-ATLAS/GAMA: quantifying the morphological evolution of the galaxy population using cosmic calorimetry |
| title_short | H-ATLAS/GAMA: quantifying the morphological evolution of the galaxy population using cosmic calorimetry |
| title_sort | h-atlas/gama: quantifying the morphological evolution of the galaxy population using cosmic calorimetry |
| topic | galaxies: bulges galaxies: evolution galaxies: star formation |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42390/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42390/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42390/ |