Massive post-starburst galaxies at z > 1 are compact proto-spheroids
We investigate the relationship between the quenching of star formation and the structural transformation of massive galaxies, using a large sample of photometrically-selected poststarburst galaxies in the UKIDSS UDS field. We find that post-starburst galaxies at highredshift (z > 1) show high Sé...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Oxford University Press
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45532/ |
| _version_ | 1848797148760506368 |
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| author | Almaini, Omar Wild, Vivienne Maltby, David T. Hartley, William G. Simpson, Chris Hatch, Nina A. McLure, Ross J. Dunlop, James S. Rowlands, Kate |
| author_facet | Almaini, Omar Wild, Vivienne Maltby, David T. Hartley, William G. Simpson, Chris Hatch, Nina A. McLure, Ross J. Dunlop, James S. Rowlands, Kate |
| author_sort | Almaini, Omar |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | We investigate the relationship between the quenching of star formation and the structural transformation of massive galaxies, using a large sample of photometrically-selected poststarburst galaxies in the UKIDSS UDS field. We find that post-starburst galaxies at highredshift (z > 1) show high Sérsic indices, significantly higher than those of active star-forming galaxies, but with a distribution that is indistinguishable from the old quiescent population. We conclude that the morphological transformation occurs before (or during) the quenching of star formation. Recently quenched galaxies are also the most compact; we find evidence that massive post-starburst galaxies (M_ > 1010:5 M_) at high redshift (z > 1) are on average smaller than comparable quiescent galaxies at the same epoch. Our findings are consistent with a scenario in which massive passive galaxies are formed from three distinct phases: (1) gas-rich dissipative collapse to very high densities, forming the proto-spheroid; (2) rapid quenching of star formation, to create the “red nugget” with post-starburst features; (3) a gradual growth in size as the population ages, perhaps as a result of minor mergers. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:59:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-45532 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:59:16Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-455322020-05-04T18:58:54Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45532/ Massive post-starburst galaxies at z > 1 are compact proto-spheroids Almaini, Omar Wild, Vivienne Maltby, David T. Hartley, William G. Simpson, Chris Hatch, Nina A. McLure, Ross J. Dunlop, James S. Rowlands, Kate We investigate the relationship between the quenching of star formation and the structural transformation of massive galaxies, using a large sample of photometrically-selected poststarburst galaxies in the UKIDSS UDS field. We find that post-starburst galaxies at highredshift (z > 1) show high Sérsic indices, significantly higher than those of active star-forming galaxies, but with a distribution that is indistinguishable from the old quiescent population. We conclude that the morphological transformation occurs before (or during) the quenching of star formation. Recently quenched galaxies are also the most compact; we find evidence that massive post-starburst galaxies (M_ > 1010:5 M_) at high redshift (z > 1) are on average smaller than comparable quiescent galaxies at the same epoch. Our findings are consistent with a scenario in which massive passive galaxies are formed from three distinct phases: (1) gas-rich dissipative collapse to very high densities, forming the proto-spheroid; (2) rapid quenching of star formation, to create the “red nugget” with post-starburst features; (3) a gradual growth in size as the population ages, perhaps as a result of minor mergers. Oxford University Press 2017-08-04 Article PeerReviewed Almaini, Omar, Wild, Vivienne, Maltby, David T., Hartley, William G., Simpson, Chris, Hatch, Nina A., McLure, Ross J., Dunlop, James S. and Rowlands, Kate (2017) Massive post-starburst galaxies at z > 1 are compact proto-spheroids. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 472 (1). pp. 1401-1412. ISSN 1365-2966 galaxies: evolution – galaxies: formation – galaxies: fundamental parameters – galaxies: structure – galaxies: high-redshift https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/472/2/1401/4064374/Massive-poststarburst-galaxies-at-zgt1-are-compact doi:10.1093/mnras/stx1957 doi:10.1093/mnras/stx1957 |
| spellingShingle | galaxies: evolution – galaxies: formation – galaxies: fundamental parameters – galaxies: structure – galaxies: high-redshift Almaini, Omar Wild, Vivienne Maltby, David T. Hartley, William G. Simpson, Chris Hatch, Nina A. McLure, Ross J. Dunlop, James S. Rowlands, Kate Massive post-starburst galaxies at z > 1 are compact proto-spheroids |
| title | Massive post-starburst galaxies at z > 1 are compact proto-spheroids |
| title_full | Massive post-starburst galaxies at z > 1 are compact proto-spheroids |
| title_fullStr | Massive post-starburst galaxies at z > 1 are compact proto-spheroids |
| title_full_unstemmed | Massive post-starburst galaxies at z > 1 are compact proto-spheroids |
| title_short | Massive post-starburst galaxies at z > 1 are compact proto-spheroids |
| title_sort | massive post-starburst galaxies at z > 1 are compact proto-spheroids |
| topic | galaxies: evolution – galaxies: formation – galaxies: fundamental parameters – galaxies: structure – galaxies: high-redshift |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45532/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45532/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45532/ |