Measuring star formation in high-z massive galaxies: a mid-infrared to submillimetre study of the GOODS NICMOS Survey sample

Viero, M. P.; Moncelsi, L.; Mentuch, E.; Buitrago, F.; Bauer, A. E.; Chapin, E. L.; Conselice, C. J.; Devlin, M. J.; Halpern, M.; Marsden, G.; Netterfield, C. B.; Pascale, E.; Pérez-González, P. G.; Rex, M.; Scott, D.; Smith, M. W. L.; Truch, M. D. P.; Trujillo, I.; Wiebe, D. V.
Referencia bibliográfica

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 421, Issue 3, pp. 2161-2169.

Fecha de publicación:
4
2012
Número de autores
19
Número de autores del IAC
1
Número de citas
29
Número de citas referidas
28
Descripción
We present measurements of the mean mid-infrared to submillimetre flux densities of massive (M★≳ 1011 M&sun;) galaxies at redshifts 1.7 < z < 2.9, obtained by stacking positions of known objects taken from the GOODS NICMOS Survey (GNS) catalogue on maps at 24 ?m (Spitzer/MIPS); 70, 100 and 160 ?m (Herschel/PACS); 250, 350 and 500 ?m (BLAST); and 870 ?m (LABOCA). A modified blackbody spectrum fit to the stacked flux densities indicates a median [interquartile] star formation rate (SFR) of SFR = 63[48, 81] M&sun; yr-1. We note that not properly accounting for correlations between bands when fitting stacked data can significantly bias the result. The galaxies are divided into two groups, disc-like and spheroid-like, according to their Sérsic indices, n. We find evidence that most of the star formation is occurring in n≤ 2 (disc-like) galaxies, with median [interquartile] SFR = 122[100, 150] M&sun; yr-1, while there are indications that the n > 2 (spheroid-like) population may be forming stars at a median [interquartile] SFR = 14[9, 20] M&sun; yr-1, if at all. Finally, we show that star formation is a plausible mechanism for size evolution in this population as a whole, but find only marginal evidence that it is what drives the expansion of the spheroid-like galaxies.
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