3D Spectroscopy Unveils Massive Galaxy Formation Modes at High-z
Abstract
Massive (stellar mass ≥ 1011 M ⊙) galaxies at high redshift (z ≥ 1. 5) remain mysterious objects. Their extremely small sizes (effective radii of 1 - 2 kpc) make them as dense as globular clusters, whereas in the present day Universe similar mass systems are large with old and metal-rich stellar populations. In order to explore this development, we present near-IR IFU observations with SINFONI@VLT for ten massive galaxies at z ∼ 1. 4 solely selected by their high stellar mass which allows us to retrieve velocity dispersions, kinematic maps and dynamical masses. We join this with imaging from the GOODS NICMOS Survey (GNS), which was carried out by our group, and which is the largest sample of massive galaxies (80 objects) at high redshift (1. 7 < z < 3) to date. With these data we show how their morphology changes, possibly as a result of minor merging events also seen in the kinematics.
- Publication:
-
Environment and the Formation of Galaxies: 30 years later
- Pub Date:
- 2011
- DOI:
- 10.1007/978-3-642-20285-8_32
- Bibcode:
- 2011ASSP...27..163B