RED-SEQUENCE GALAXIES AT HIGH REDSHIFT BY THE COMBO-17+4 SURVEY
- Max-Planck Institut fuer Astronomie, Koenigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
- Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam, An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam (Germany)
We investigate the evolution of the galaxy population since redshift 2 with a focus on the color bimodality and mass density of the red sequence. We obtain precise and reliable photometric redshifts up to z = 2 by supplementing the optical survey COMBO-17 with observations in four near-infrared bands on 0.2 deg{sup 2} of the COMBO-17 A901-field. Our results are based on an H-band-selected catalog of 10,692 galaxies complete to H = 21fm7. We measure the rest-frame color (U{sub 280}-V) of each galaxy, which across the redshift range of our interest requires no extrapolation and is robust against moderate redshift errors by staying clear of the 4000 A break. We measure the color-magnitude relation of the red sequence as a function of look-back time from the peak in a color-error-weighted histogram, and thus trace the galaxy bimodality out to z {approx_equal} 1.65. The (U{sub 280}-V) of the red sequence is found to evolve almost linearly with look-back time. At high redshift, we find massive galaxies in both the red and the blue population. Red-sequence galaxies with log M{sub *}/M{sub sun}>11 increase in mass density by a factor of {approx}4 from z {approx} 2 to 1 and remain nearly constant at z < 1. However, some galaxies as massive as log M{sub *}/M{sub sun} = 11.5 are already in place at z {approx} 2.
- OSTI ID:
- 21567583
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 727; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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