We explore the dependence of galaxy stellar population properties that are derived from broad-band spectral energy distribution fitting - such as age, stellar mass, dust reddening, etc. - on a ...variety of parameters, such as star formation histories, age grid, metallicity, initial mass function (IMF), dust reddening and reddening law, filter setup and wavelength coverage. Mock galaxies are used as test particles. We confirm our earlier results based on real z= 2 galaxies, that usually adopted τ-models lead to overestimate the star formation rate and to underestimate the stellar mass. Here, we show that - for star-forming galaxies - galaxy ages, masses and reddening can be well determined simultaneously only when the correct star formation history is identified. This is the case for inverted-τ models at high-z, for which we find that the mass recovery (at fixed IMF) is as good as ∼0.04 dex. However, since the right star formation history is usually unknown, we quantify the offsets generated by adopting standard fitting setups. Stellar masses are generally underestimated, which results from underestimating the age. For mixed fitting setups with a variety of star formation histories the median mass recovery at z∼ 2-3 is as decent as ∼0.1 dex (at fixed IMF), albeit with large scatter. The situation worsens towards lower redshifts, because of the variety of possible star formation histories and ages. At z∼ 0.5 the stellar mass can be underestimated by as much as ∼0.6 dex (at fixed IMF). A practical trick to improve upon this figure is to exclude reddening from the fitting parameters, as this helps to avoid unrealistically young and dusty solutions. Stellar masses are underestimated by a smaller amount (∼0.3 dex at z∼ 0.5). Reddening and the star formation rate should then be determined via a separate fitting. As expected, the recovery of properties is better for passive galaxies, for which e.g. the mass can be fully recovered (within ∼0.01 dex at fixed IMF) when using a fitting setup including metallicity effects. In both cases of star-forming as well as passive galaxies, the recovery of physical parameters is dependent on the spectral range involved in the fitting. We find that a coverage from the rest-frame ultraviolet to the rest-frame near-infrared appears to be optimal. We also quantify the effect of narrowing the wavelength coverage or adding and removing filter bands, which can be useful for planning observational surveys. Finally, we provide scaling relations that allow the transformation of stellar masses obtained using different template fitting setups and stellar population models.
Fitting synthetic spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to the multiband photometry of galaxies to derive their star formation rates (SFRs), stellar masses, ages, etc. requires making a priori ...assumptions about their star formation histories (SFHs). A widely adopted parametrization of the SFH, the so-called τ models where SFR ∝ e−t/τ is shown to lead to unrealistically low ages when applied to a sample of actively star-forming galaxies at z∼ 2, a problem shared by other SFHs when the age is left as a free parameter in the fitting procedure. This happens because the SED of such galaxies, at all wavelengths, is dominated by their youngest stellar populations, which outshine the older ones. Thus, the SED of such galaxies conveys little information on the beginning of star formation (SF), i.e. on the age of their oldest stellar populations. To cope with this problem, besides τ models (hereafter called direct-τ models), we explore a variety of SFHs, such as constant SFR and inverted-τ models (with SFR ∝ e+t/τ), along with various priors on age, including assuming that SF started at high redshift in all the galaxies in the test sample. We find that inverted-τ models with such latter assumption give SFRs and extinctions in excellent agreement with the values derived using only the UV part of the SED, which is the one most sensitive to ongoing SF and reddening. These models are also shown to accurately recover the SFRs and masses of mock galaxies at z∼ 2 constructed from semi-analytic models, which we use as a further test. All other explored SFH templates do not fulfil these two tests as well as inverted-τ models do. In particular, direct-τ models with unconstrained age in the fitting procedure overestimate SFRs and underestimate stellar mass, and would exacerbate an apparent mismatch between the cosmic evolution of the volume densities of SFR and stellar mass. We conclude that for high-redshift star-forming galaxies an exponentially increasing SFR with a high formation redshift is preferable to other forms of the SFH so far adopted in the literature.
We present a 0.4-8 m multi-wavelength photometric catalog in the Extended Groth Strip (EGS) field. This catalog is built on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3 and ACS data from the Cosmic Assembly ...Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS), and it incorporates the existing HST data from the All-wavelength Extended Groth strip International Survey (AEGIS) and the 3D-HST program. The catalog is based on detections in the F160W band reaching a depth of F160W = 26.62 AB (90% completeness, point sources). It includes the photometry for 41,457 objects over an area of arcmin2 in the following bands: HST/ACS F606W and F814W; HST WFC3 F125W, F140W, and F160W; Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT)/Megacam u*, , , and CFHT/WIRCAM J, H, and KS; Mayall/NEWFIRM J1, J2, J3, H1, H2, and K; Spitzer IRAC 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 m. We are also releasing value-added catalogs that provide robust photometric redshifts and stellar mass measurements. The catalogs are publicly available through the CANDELS repository.
This is the first in a series of papers examining the demographics of star-forming (SF) galaxies at 0.2 < z < 2.5 in CANDELS. We study 9100 galaxies from GOODS-S and UDS, having published values of ...redshifts, masses, star formation rates (SFRs), and dust attenuation (AV) derived from UV-optical spectral energy distribution fitting. In agreement with previous works, we find that the UVJ colors of a galaxy are closely correlated with its specific star formation rate (SSFR) and AV. We define rotated UVJ coordinate axes, termed SSED and CSED, that are parallel and perpendicular to the SF sequence and derive a quantitative calibration that predicts SSFR from CSED with an accuracy of ∼0.2 dex. SFRs from UV-optical fitting and from UV+IR values based on Spitzer/MIPS 24 m agree well overall, but systematic differences of order 0.2 dex exist at high and low redshifts. A novel plotting scheme conveys the evolution of multiple galaxy properties simultaneously, and dust growth, as well as star formation decline and quenching, exhibit "mass-accelerated evolution" ("downsizing"). A population of transition galaxies below the SF main sequence is identified. These objects are located between SF and quiescent galaxies in UVJ space, and have lower AV and smaller radii than galaxies on the main sequence. Their properties are consistent with their being in transit between the two regions. The relative numbers of quenched, transition, and SF galaxies are given as a function of mass and redshift.
We examine the fraction of massive ( ) compact star-forming galaxies (cSFGs) that host an active galactic nucleus (AGN) at . These cSFGs are likely the direct progenitors of the compact quiescent ...galaxies observed at this epoch, which are the first population of passive galaxies to appear in large numbers in the early Universe. We identify cSFGs that host an AGN using a combination of Hubble WFC3 imaging and Chandra X-ray observations in four fields: the Chandra Deep Fields, the Extended Groth Strip, and the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey field. We find that (65/166) of cSFGs at host an X-ray detected AGN. This fraction is 3.2 times higher than the incidence of AGN in extended star-forming galaxies with similar masses at these redshifts. This difference is significant at the level. Our results are consistent with models in which cSFGs are formed through a dissipative contraction that triggers a compact starburst and concurrent growth of the central black hole. We also discuss our findings in the context of cosmological galaxy evolution simulations that require feedback energy to rapidly quench cSFGs. We show that the AGN fraction peaks precisely where energy injection is needed to reproduce the decline in the number density of cSFGs with redshift. Our results suggest that the first abundant population of massive quenched galaxies emerged directly following a phase of elevated supermassive black hole growth and further hints at a possible connection between AGN and the rapid quenching of star formation in these galaxies.
We calculate stellar masses for ∼400 000 massive luminous galaxies at redshift ∼0.2-0.7 using the first two years of data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). Stellar masses are ...obtained by fitting model spectral energy distributions to u, g, r, i, z magnitudes, and simulations with mock galaxies are used to understand how well the templates recover the stellar mass. Accurate BOSS spectroscopic redshifts are used to constrain the fits. We find that the distribution of stellar masses in BOSS is narrow (Δlog M ∼ 0.5 dex) and peaks at about log M/M ∼ 11.3 (for a Kroupa initial stellar mass function), and that the mass sampling is uniform over the redshift range 0.2-0.6, in agreement with the intended BOSS target selection. The galaxy masses probed by BOSS extend over ∼1012 M, providing unprecedented measurements of the high-mass end of the galaxy mass function. We find that the galaxy number density above ∼2.5 × 1011 M agrees with previous determinations. We perform a comparison with semi-analytic galaxy formation models tailored to the BOSS target selection and volume, in order to contain incompleteness. The abundance of massive galaxies in the models compare fairly well with the BOSS data, but the models lack galaxies at the massive end. Moreover, no evolution with redshift is detected from ∼0.6 to 0.4 in the data, whereas the abundance of massive galaxies in the models increases to redshift zero. Additionally, BOSS data display colour-magnitude (mass) relations similar to those found in the local Universe, where the most massive galaxies are the reddest. On the other hand, the model colours do not display a dependence on stellar mass, span a narrower range and are typically bluer than the observations. We argue that the lack of a colour-mass relation for massive galaxies in the models is mostly due to metallicity, which is too low in the models.
We apply The Tractor image modeling code to improve upon existing multi-band photometry for the Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (SERVS). SERVS consists of post-cryogenic Spitzer ...observations at 3.6 and 4.5 m over five well-studied deep fields spanning 18 deg2. In concert with data from ground-based near-infrared (NIR) and optical surveys, SERVS aims to provide a census of the properties of massive galaxies out to z 5. To accomplish this, we are using The Tractor to perform "forced photometry." This technique employs prior measurements of source positions and surface brightness profiles from a high-resolution fiducial band from the VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations survey to model and fit the fluxes at lower-resolution bands. We discuss our implementation of The Tractor over a square-degree test region within the XMM Large Scale Structure field with deep imaging in 12 NIR/optical bands. Our new multi-band source catalogs offer a number of advantages over traditional position-matched catalogs, including (1) consistent source cross-identification between bands, (2) de-blending of sources that are clearly resolved in the fiducial band but blended in the lower resolution SERVS data, (3) a higher source detection fraction in each band, (4) a larger number of candidate galaxies in the redshift range 5 < z < 6, and (5) a statistically significant improvement in the photometric redshift accuracy as evidenced by the significant decrease in the fraction of outliers compared to spectroscopic redshifts. Thus, forced photometry using The Tractor offers a means of improving the accuracy of multi-band extragalactic surveys designed for galaxy evolution studies. We will extend our application of this technique to the full SERVS footprint in the future.
ABSTRACT We combine Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Wide Field Camera3 (WFC3) imaging and G141 grism observations from the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) and ...3D-HST surveys to produce a catalog of grism spectroscopic redshifts for galaxies in the CANDELS/GOODS-South field. The WFC3/G141 grism spectra cover a wavelength range of m with a resolving power of for point sources, thus providing rest-frame optical spectra for galaxies out to . The catalog is selected in the H-band (F160W) and includes both galaxies with and without previously published spectroscopic redshifts. Grism spectra are extracted for all H-band detected galaxies with H 24 and a CANDELS photometric redshift . The resulting spectra are visually inspected to identify emission lines, and redshifts are determined using cross-correlation with empirical spectral templates. To establish the accuracy of our redshifts, we compare our results against high-quality spectroscopic redshifts from the literature. Using a sample of 411 control galaxies, this analysis yields a precision of for the grism-derived redshifts, which is consistent with the accuracy reported by the 3D-HST team. Our final catalog covers an area of 153 arcmin2 and contains 1019 redshifts for galaxies in GOODS-S. Roughly 60% (608/1019) of these redshifts are for galaxies with no previously published spectroscopic redshift. These new redshifts span a range of and have a median redshift of z = 1.282. The catalog contains a total of 234 new redshifts for galaxies at . In addition, we present 20 galaxy pair candidates identified for the first time using the grism redshifts in our catalog, including four new galaxy pairs at , nearly doubling the number of such pairs previously identified.
We investigate the environmental quenching of galaxies, especially those with stellar masses (M*) < 109.5 M , beyond the local universe. Essentially all local low-mass quenched galaxies (QGs) are ...believed to live close to massive central galaxies, which is a demonstration of environmental quenching. We use CANDELS data to test whether or not such a dwarf QG-massive central galaxy connection exists beyond the local universe. For this purpose, we only need a statistically representative, rather than complete, sample of low-mass galaxies, which enables our study to z 1.5. For each low-mass galaxy, we measure the projected distance (dproj) to its nearest massive neighbor (M* > 1010.5 M ) within a redshift range. At a given z and M*, the environmental quenching effect is considered to be observed if the dproj distribution of QGs ( ) is significantly skewed toward lower values than that of star-forming galaxies ( ). For galaxies with 108 M < M* < 1010 M , such a difference between and is detected up to z ∼ 1. Also, about 10% of the quenched galaxies in our sample are located between two and four virial radii (RVir) of the massive halos. The median projected distance from low-mass QGs to their massive neighbors, , decreases with satellite M* at M* 109.5 M , but increases with satellite M* at M* 109.5 M . This trend suggests a smooth, if any, transition of the quenching timescale around M* ∼ 109.5 M at 0.5 < z < 1.0.
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