WHAT TURNS GALAXIES OFF? THE DIFFERENT MORPHOLOGIES OF STAR-FORMING AND QUIESCENT GALAXIES SINCE z similar to 2 FROM CANDELS

Eric F. Bell, Arjen van der Wel, Casey Papovich, Dale Kocevski, Jennifer Lotz, Daniel H. McIntosh, Jeyhan Kartaltepe, S. M. Faber, Harry Ferguson, Anton Koekemoer, Norman Grogin, Stijn Wuyts, Edmond Cheung, Christopher J. Conselice, Avishai Dekel, James S. Dunlop, Mauro Giavalisco, Jessica Herrington, David C. Koo, Elizabeth J. McGrathDuilia de Mello, Hans-Walter Rix, Aday R. Robaina, Christina C. Williams

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We use HST/WFC3 imaging from the CANDELS Multi-Cycle Treasury Survey, in conjunction with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, to explore the evolution of galactic structure structure for galaxies with stellar masses >3 x 10(10) M-circle dot from z = 2.2 to the present epoch, a time span of 10 Gyr. We explore the relationship between rest-frame optical color, stellar mass, star formation activity, and galaxy structure. We confirm the dramatic increase from z = 2.2 to the present day in the number density of non-star-forming galaxies above 3 x 10(10) M-circle dot reported by others. We further find that the vast majority of these quiescent systems have concentrated light profiles, as parameterized by the Sersic index, and the population of concentrated galaxies grows similarly rapidly. We examine the joint distribution of star formation activity, Sersic index, stellar mass, inferred velocity dispersion, and stellar surface density. Quiescence correlates poorly with stellar mass at all z < 2.2. Quiescence correlates well with Sersic index at all redshifts. Quiescence correlates well with "velocity dispersion" and stellar surface density at z > 1.3, and somewhat less well at lower redshifts. Yet, there is significant scatter between quiescence and galaxy structure: while the vast majority of quiescent galaxies have prominent bulges, many of them have significant disks, and a number of bulge-dominated galaxies have significant star formation. Noting the rarity of quiescent galaxies without prominent bulges, we argue that a prominent bulge (and perhaps, by association, a supermassive black hole) is an important condition for quenching star formation on galactic scales over the last 10 Gyr, in qualitative agreement with the active galactic nucleus feedback paradigm.

Original languageEnglish
Article number167
Pages (from-to)-
Number of pages18
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume753
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Jul 2012

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