The rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2.3
Stellar archaeology shows that massive elliptical galaxies formed rapidly about ten billion years ago with star-formation rates of above several hundred solar masses per year. Their progenitors are probably the submillimetre bright galaxies at redshifts z greater than 2. Although the mean molecular...
| Hlavní autoři: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Médium: | Journal article |
| Jazyk: | English |
| Vydáno: |
2013
|
| _version_ | 1826278140287123456 |
|---|---|
| author | Fu, H Cooray, A Feruglio, C Ivison, R Riechers, D Gurwell, M Bussmann, R Harris, A Altieri, B Aussel, H Baker, A Bock, J Boylan-Kolchin, M Bridge, C Calanog, J Casey, C Cava, A Chapman, S Clements, D Conley, A Cox, P Farrah, D Frayer, D Hopwood, R Jia, J |
| author_facet | Fu, H Cooray, A Feruglio, C Ivison, R Riechers, D Gurwell, M Bussmann, R Harris, A Altieri, B Aussel, H Baker, A Bock, J Boylan-Kolchin, M Bridge, C Calanog, J Casey, C Cava, A Chapman, S Clements, D Conley, A Cox, P Farrah, D Frayer, D Hopwood, R Jia, J |
| author_sort | Fu, H |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Stellar archaeology shows that massive elliptical galaxies formed rapidly about ten billion years ago with star-formation rates of above several hundred solar masses per year. Their progenitors are probably the submillimetre bright galaxies at redshifts z greater than 2. Although the mean molecular gas mass (5 × 10 10 solar masses) of the submillimetre bright galaxies can explain the formation of typical elliptical galaxies, it is inadequate to form elliptical galaxies that already have stellar masses above 2 × 10 11 solar masses at z ≈ 2. Here we report multi-wavelength high-resolution observations of a rare merger of two massive submillimetre bright galaxies at z = 2.3. The system is seen to be forming stars at a rate of 2,000 solar masses per year. The star-formation efficiency is an order of magnitude greater than that of normal galaxies, so the gas reservoir will be exhausted and star formation will be quenched in only around 200 million years. At a projected separation of 19 kiloparsecs, the two massive starbursts are about to merge and form a passive elliptical galaxy with a stellar mass of about 4 × 10 11 solar masses. We conclude that gas-rich major galaxy mergers with intense star formation can form the most massive elliptical galaxies by z ≈ 1.5. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T23:39:29Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:6ece0b50-e30c-4c7c-b1de-d5f33e8e8ac1 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T23:39:29Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:6ece0b50-e30c-4c7c-b1de-d5f33e8e8ac12022-03-26T19:26:48ZThe rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2.3Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:6ece0b50-e30c-4c7c-b1de-d5f33e8e8ac1EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2013Fu, HCooray, AFeruglio, CIvison, RRiechers, DGurwell, MBussmann, RHarris, AAltieri, BAussel, HBaker, ABock, JBoylan-Kolchin, MBridge, CCalanog, JCasey, CCava, AChapman, SClements, DConley, ACox, PFarrah, DFrayer, DHopwood, RJia, JStellar archaeology shows that massive elliptical galaxies formed rapidly about ten billion years ago with star-formation rates of above several hundred solar masses per year. Their progenitors are probably the submillimetre bright galaxies at redshifts z greater than 2. Although the mean molecular gas mass (5 × 10 10 solar masses) of the submillimetre bright galaxies can explain the formation of typical elliptical galaxies, it is inadequate to form elliptical galaxies that already have stellar masses above 2 × 10 11 solar masses at z ≈ 2. Here we report multi-wavelength high-resolution observations of a rare merger of two massive submillimetre bright galaxies at z = 2.3. The system is seen to be forming stars at a rate of 2,000 solar masses per year. The star-formation efficiency is an order of magnitude greater than that of normal galaxies, so the gas reservoir will be exhausted and star formation will be quenched in only around 200 million years. At a projected separation of 19 kiloparsecs, the two massive starbursts are about to merge and form a passive elliptical galaxy with a stellar mass of about 4 × 10 11 solar masses. We conclude that gas-rich major galaxy mergers with intense star formation can form the most massive elliptical galaxies by z ≈ 1.5. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Fu, H Cooray, A Feruglio, C Ivison, R Riechers, D Gurwell, M Bussmann, R Harris, A Altieri, B Aussel, H Baker, A Bock, J Boylan-Kolchin, M Bridge, C Calanog, J Casey, C Cava, A Chapman, S Clements, D Conley, A Cox, P Farrah, D Frayer, D Hopwood, R Jia, J The rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2.3 |
| title | The rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2.3 |
| title_full | The rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2.3 |
| title_fullStr | The rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2.3 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2.3 |
| title_short | The rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2.3 |
| title_sort | rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2 3 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fuh therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT cooraya therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT feruglioc therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT ivisonr therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT riechersd therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT gurwellm therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT bussmannr therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT harrisa therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT altierib therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT ausselh therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT bakera therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT bockj therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT boylankolchinm therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT bridgec therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT calanogj therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT caseyc therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT cavaa therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT chapmans therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT clementsd therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT conleya therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT coxp therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT farrahd therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT frayerd therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT hopwoodr therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT jiaj therapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT fuh rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT cooraya rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT feruglioc rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT ivisonr rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT riechersd rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT gurwellm rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT bussmannr rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT harrisa rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT altierib rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT ausselh rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT bakera rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT bockj rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT boylankolchinm rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT bridgec rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT calanogj rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT caseyc rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT cavaa rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT chapmans rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT clementsd rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT conleya rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT coxp rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT farrahd rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT frayerd rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT hopwoodr rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 AT jiaj rapidassemblyofanellipticalgalaxyof400billionsolarmassesataredshiftof23 |