Bibcode
DOI
Buitrago, Fernando; Trujillo, I.; Conselice, Christopher J.; Bouwens, Rychard J.; Dickinson, Mark; Yan, Haojing
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 687, Issue 2, pp. L61-L64.
Advertised on:
11
2008
Journal
Citations
392
Refereed citations
356
Description
We measure the sizes of 82 massive (M>=1011
Msolar) galaxies at 1.7<=z<=3 utilizing deep HST NICMOS
data taken in the GOODS North and South fields. Our sample is almost an
order of magnitude larger than previous studies at these redshifts,
providing the first statistical study of massive galaxy sizes at z>2,
confirming the extreme compactness of these systems. We split our sample
into disk-like (n<=2) and spheroid-like (n>2) galaxies based on
their Sérsic indices, and find that at a given stellar mass
disk-like galaxies at z~2.3 are a factor of 2.6 +/- 0.3 smaller than
present-day equal-mass systems, and spheroid-like galaxies at the same
redshifts are 4.3 +/- 0.7 smaller than comparatively massive elliptical
galaxies today. At z>2 our results are compatible with both a
leveling off, or a mild evolution in size. Furthermore, the high density
(~2 × 1010 Msolar kpc-3) of
massive galaxies at these redshifts, which are similar to present-day
globular clusters, possibly makes any further evolution in sizes beyond
z=3 unlikely.
Related projects
Traces of Galaxy Formation: Stellar populations, Dynamics and Morphology
We are a large, diverse, and very active research group aiming to provide a comprehensive picture for the formation of galaxies in the Universe. Rooted in detailed stellar population analysis, we are constantly exploring and developing new tools and ideas to understand how galaxies came to be what we now observe.
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Martín Navarro