NUK - logo
E-viri
  • CANDELS: THE PROGENITORS OF...
    Barro, Guillermo; Faber, S M; Perez-Gonzalez, Pablo G; Koo, David C; Williams, Christina C; Kocevski, Dale D; Trump, Jonathan R; MOZENA, MARK; McGrath, Elizabeth; van der Wel, Arjen

    The Astrophysical journal, 03/2013, Letnik: 765, Številka: 2
    Journal Article

    We combine high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3 images with multi-wavelength photometry to track the evolution of structure and activity of massive galaxies at redshifts z = 1.4-3 in two fields of the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey. We detect compact, star-forming galaxies (cSFGs) whose number densities, masses, sizes, and star formation rates (SFRs) qualify them as likely progenitors of compact, quiescent, massive galaxies (cQGs) at z = 1.5-3. In summary, we propose two evolutionary tracks of QG formation: an early (z > or ~ 2), formation path of rapidly quenched cSFGs fading into cQGs that later enlarge within the quiescent phase, and a late-arrival (z < o ~ 2) path in which larger SFGs form extended QGs without passing through a compact state.