EXPLORING THE CHEMICAL LINK BETWEEN LOCAL ELLIPTICALS AND THEIR HIGH-REDSHIFT PROGENITORS

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

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/778/2/L24· OSTI ID:22364123

Leja, Joel; Van Dokkum, Pieter G.; Momcheva, Ivelina; Nelson, Erica ^[1]; Brammer, Gabriel ^[2]; Skelton, Rosalind E. ^[3]; Whitaker, Katherine E. ^[4]; Andrews, Brett H. ^[5]; Franx, Marijn; Patel, Shannon G. ^[6]; Kriek, Mariska ^[7]; Van der Wel, Arjen ^[8]; Bezanson, Rachel ^[9]; Conroy, Charlie ^[10]; Förster Schreiber, Natascha ^[11]

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1. Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 (United States)
2. European Southern Observatory, Alonson de Córdova 3107, Casilla 19001, Vitacura, Santiago (Chile)
3. South African Astronomical Observatory, Observatory Road, Cape Town (South Africa)
4. Astrophysics Science Division, Goddard Space Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
5. Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States)
6. Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9513, NL 2300 RA, Leiden (Netherlands)
7. Astronomy Department, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
8. Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
9. Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
10. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)
11. Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse, D-85748 Garching (Germany)

We present Keck/MOSFIRE K-band spectroscopy of the first mass-selected sample of galaxies at z ∼ 2.3. Targets are selected from the 3D-Hubble Space Telescope Treasury survey. The six detected galaxies have a mean [N II]λ6584/Hα ratio of 0.27 ± 0.01, with a small standard deviation of 0.05. This mean value is similar to that of UV-selected galaxies of the same mass. The mean gas-phase oxygen abundance inferred from the [N II]/Hα ratios depends on the calibration method, and ranges from 12+log(O/H){sub gas} = 8.57 for the Pettini and Pagel calibration to 12+log(O/H){sub gas} = 8.87 for the Maiolino et al. calibration. Measurements of the stellar oxygen abundance in nearby quiescent galaxies with the same number density indicate 12+log(O/H){sub stars} = 8.95, similar to the gas-phase abundances of the z ∼ 2.3 galaxies if the Maiolino et al. calibration is used. This suggests that these high-redshift star forming galaxies may be progenitors of today's massive early-type galaxies. The main uncertainties are the absolute calibration of the gas-phase oxygen abundance and the incompleteness of the z ∼ 2.3 sample: the galaxies with detected Hα tend to be larger and have higher star formation rates than the galaxies without detected Hα, and we may still be missing the most dust-obscured progenitors.

• OSTI ID: 22364123
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 778, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ABUNDANCE
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
CALIBRATION
COSMIC DUST
DENSITY
ELEMENT ABUNDANCE
EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY
GALAXIES
MASS
OXYGEN
RED SHIFT
SPACE
STARS
TELESCOPES