The structural evolution of Milky-Way-like star-forming galaxies since z ∼ 1.3

Journal Article · Sun Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/778/2/115· OSTI ID:22341954

Patel, Shannon G.; Fumagalli, Mattia; Franx, Marijn; Labbé, Ivo; Muzzin, Adam ^[1]; Van Dokkum, Pieter G.; Leja, Joel; Skelton, Rosalind E.; Momcheva, Ivelina; Nelson, Erica June ^[2]; Van der Wel, Arjen; Rix, Hans-Walter ^[3]; Brammer, Gabriel ^[4]; Whitaker, Katherine E. ^[5]; Lundgren, Britt; Wake, David A. ^[6]

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1. Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9513, NL-2300 AA Leiden (Netherlands)
2. Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 (United States)
3. Max-Planck-Institut fur extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse, D-85748 Garching (Germany)
4. European Southern Observatory, Alonson de Cordova 3107, Casilla 19001, Vitacura, Santiago (Chile)
5. Astrophysics Science Division, Goddard Space Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
6. Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706 (United States)

We follow the structural evolution of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) like the Milky Way by selecting progenitors to z ∼ 1.3 based on the stellar mass growth inferred from the evolution of the star-forming sequence. We select our sample from the 3D-HST survey, which utilizes spectroscopy from the HST/WFC3 G141 near-IR grism and enables precise redshift measurements for our sample of SFGs. Structural properties are obtained from Sérsic profile fits to CANDELS WFC3 imaging. The progenitors of z = 0 SFGs with stellar mass M = 10{sup 10.5} M {sub ☉} are typically half as massive at z ∼ 1. This late-time stellar mass growth is consistent with recent studies that employ abundance matching techniques. The descendant SFGs at z ∼ 0 have grown in half-light radius by a factor of ∼1.4 since z ∼ 1. The half-light radius grows with stellar mass as r{sub e} ∝M {sup 0.29}. While most of the stellar mass is clearly assembling at large radii, the mass surface density profiles reveal ongoing mass growth also in the central regions where bulges and pseudobulges are common features in present day late-type galaxies. Some portion of this growth in the central regions is due to star formation as recent observations of Hα maps for SFGs at z ∼ 1 are found to be extended but centrally peaked. Connecting our lookback study with galactic archeology, we find the stellar mass surface density at R = 8 kpc to have increased by a factor of ∼2 since z ∼ 1, in good agreement with measurements derived for the solar neighborhood of the Milky Way.

• OSTI ID: 22341954
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 778; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ABUNDANCE
DENSITY
GALAXIES
GROWTH
MASS
MILKY WAY
NEAR INFRARED RADIATION
RED SHIFT
SPECTROSCOPY
STAR EVOLUTION
STARS
SURFACES
VISIBLE RADIATION