COSMOS2020: Exploring the Dawn of Quenching for Massive Galaxies at 3 < z < 5 with a New Color-selection Method
We select and characterize a sample of massive (log( M _* / M _⊙ ) > 10.6) quiescent galaxies (QGs) at 3 < z < 5 in the latest Cosmological Evolution Survey catalog (COSMOS2020). QGs are selected using a new rest-frame color-selection method, based on their probability of belonging to the q...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astronomical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/accadc |
| _version_ | 1827829980880437248 |
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| author | Katriona M. L. Gould Gabriel Brammer Francesco Valentino Katherine E. Whitaker John. R. Weaver Claudia del P. Lagos Francesca Rizzo Maximilien Franco Bau-Ching Hsieh Olivier Ilbert Shuowen Jin Georgios Magdis Henry J. McCracken Bahram Mobasher Marko Shuntov Charles L. Steinhardt Victoria Strait Sune Toft |
| author_facet | Katriona M. L. Gould Gabriel Brammer Francesco Valentino Katherine E. Whitaker John. R. Weaver Claudia del P. Lagos Francesca Rizzo Maximilien Franco Bau-Ching Hsieh Olivier Ilbert Shuowen Jin Georgios Magdis Henry J. McCracken Bahram Mobasher Marko Shuntov Charles L. Steinhardt Victoria Strait Sune Toft |
| author_sort | Katriona M. L. Gould |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We select and characterize a sample of massive (log( M _* / M _⊙ ) > 10.6) quiescent galaxies (QGs) at 3 < z < 5 in the latest Cosmological Evolution Survey catalog (COSMOS2020). QGs are selected using a new rest-frame color-selection method, based on their probability of belonging to the quiescent group defined by a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) trained on rest-frame colors ( NUV − U , U − V , V − J ) of similarly massive galaxies at 2 < z < 3. We calculate the quiescent probability threshold above which a galaxy is classified as quiescent using simulated galaxies from the shark semi-analytical model. We find that, at z ≥ 3 in shark , the GMM/ NUVU − VJ method outperforms classical rest-frame UVJ selection and is a viable alternative. We select galaxies as quiescent based on their probability in COSMOS2020 at 3 < z < 5, and compare the selected sample to both UVJ - and NUVrJ -selected samples. We find that, although the new selection matches UVJ and NUVrJ in number, the overlap between color selections is only ∼50%–80%, implying that rest-frame color commonly used at lower-redshift selections cannot be equivalently used at z > 3. We compute median rest-frame spectral energy distributions for our sample and find the median QG at 3 < z < 5 has a strong Balmer/4000 Å break, and residual NUV flux indicating recent quenching. We find the number densities of the entire quiescent population (including post-starbursts) more than doubles from 3.5 ± 2.2 × 10 ^−6 Mpc ^−3 at 4 < z < 5 to 1.4 ± 0.4 × 10 ^−5 Mpc ^−3 at 3 < z < 4, confirming that the onset of massive galaxy quenching occurs as early as 3 < z < 5. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:14:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9fd4905453a646ef92bde38091da9414 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-3881 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:14:11Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astronomical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-9fd4905453a646ef92bde38091da94142023-09-03T10:48:33ZengIOP PublishingThe Astronomical Journal1538-38812023-01-01165624810.3847/1538-3881/accadcCOSMOS2020: Exploring the Dawn of Quenching for Massive Galaxies at 3 < z < 5 with a New Color-selection MethodKatriona M. L. Gould0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4196-5960Gabriel Brammer1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2680-005XFrancesco Valentino2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6477-4011Katherine E. Whitaker3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7160-3632John. R. Weaver4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1614-196XClaudia del P. Lagos5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3021-8564Francesca Rizzo6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9705-2461Maximilien Franco7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3560-8599Bau-Ching Hsieh8https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5615-4904Olivier Ilbert9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7303-4397Shuowen Jin10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8412-7951Georgios Magdis11https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4872-2294Henry J. McCracken12https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9489-7765Bahram Mobasher13https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5846-4404Marko Shuntov14https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7087-0701Charles L. Steinhardt15https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3780-6801Victoria Strait16https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6338-7295Sune Toft17https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3631-7176Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, DenmarkCosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, DenmarkCosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark; European Southern Observatory , Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei Munchen, GermanyCosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USACosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark; Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USACosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), M468, University of Western Australia , 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; ARC of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , AustraliaCosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, DenmarkDepartment of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USAAcademia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics , No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, TaiwanAix Marseille Univ , CNRS, CNES, LAM, Marseille, FranceCosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; DTU-Space, Technical University of Denmark , Elektrovej 327, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, DenmarkCosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark; DTU-Space, Technical University of Denmark , Elektrovej 327, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, DenmarkInstitut d’Astrophysique de Paris, UMR 7095, CNRS, and Sorbonne Université , 98 bis boulevard Arago, F-75014 Paris, FranceDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside , 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USACosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, DenmarkCosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, DenmarkCosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, DenmarkCosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, DenmarkWe select and characterize a sample of massive (log( M _* / M _⊙ ) > 10.6) quiescent galaxies (QGs) at 3 < z < 5 in the latest Cosmological Evolution Survey catalog (COSMOS2020). QGs are selected using a new rest-frame color-selection method, based on their probability of belonging to the quiescent group defined by a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) trained on rest-frame colors ( NUV − U , U − V , V − J ) of similarly massive galaxies at 2 < z < 3. We calculate the quiescent probability threshold above which a galaxy is classified as quiescent using simulated galaxies from the shark semi-analytical model. We find that, at z ≥ 3 in shark , the GMM/ NUVU − VJ method outperforms classical rest-frame UVJ selection and is a viable alternative. We select galaxies as quiescent based on their probability in COSMOS2020 at 3 < z < 5, and compare the selected sample to both UVJ - and NUVrJ -selected samples. We find that, although the new selection matches UVJ and NUVrJ in number, the overlap between color selections is only ∼50%–80%, implying that rest-frame color commonly used at lower-redshift selections cannot be equivalently used at z > 3. We compute median rest-frame spectral energy distributions for our sample and find the median QG at 3 < z < 5 has a strong Balmer/4000 Å break, and residual NUV flux indicating recent quenching. We find the number densities of the entire quiescent population (including post-starbursts) more than doubles from 3.5 ± 2.2 × 10 ^−6 Mpc ^−3 at 4 < z < 5 to 1.4 ± 0.4 × 10 ^−5 Mpc ^−3 at 3 < z < 4, confirming that the onset of massive galaxy quenching occurs as early as 3 < z < 5.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/accadcQuenched galaxiesHigh-redshift galaxiesGalaxy classification systemsGaussian mixture model |
| spellingShingle | Katriona M. L. Gould Gabriel Brammer Francesco Valentino Katherine E. Whitaker John. R. Weaver Claudia del P. Lagos Francesca Rizzo Maximilien Franco Bau-Ching Hsieh Olivier Ilbert Shuowen Jin Georgios Magdis Henry J. McCracken Bahram Mobasher Marko Shuntov Charles L. Steinhardt Victoria Strait Sune Toft COSMOS2020: Exploring the Dawn of Quenching for Massive Galaxies at 3 < z < 5 with a New Color-selection Method The Astronomical Journal Quenched galaxies High-redshift galaxies Galaxy classification systems Gaussian mixture model |
| title | COSMOS2020: Exploring the Dawn of Quenching for Massive Galaxies at 3 < z < 5 with a New Color-selection Method |
| title_full | COSMOS2020: Exploring the Dawn of Quenching for Massive Galaxies at 3 < z < 5 with a New Color-selection Method |
| title_fullStr | COSMOS2020: Exploring the Dawn of Quenching for Massive Galaxies at 3 < z < 5 with a New Color-selection Method |
| title_full_unstemmed | COSMOS2020: Exploring the Dawn of Quenching for Massive Galaxies at 3 < z < 5 with a New Color-selection Method |
| title_short | COSMOS2020: Exploring the Dawn of Quenching for Massive Galaxies at 3 < z < 5 with a New Color-selection Method |
| title_sort | cosmos2020 exploring the dawn of quenching for massive galaxies at 3 z 5 with a new color selection method |
| topic | Quenched galaxies High-redshift galaxies Galaxy classification systems Gaussian mixture model |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/accadc |
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