Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21545813j&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #458.13; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.484
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Current galaxy evolution models support recent observations revealing that massive elliptical galaxies are small and compact at high redshift. As these galaxies evolve, they proceed to increase significantly in size as measured in rest-frame blue light, yet the total stellar mass estimates are very similar. Using HST NIC3 F110W and F160W images, we examine eleven massive elliptical galaxies at z˜1 in rest-frame red light. Our best-fit Sersic profiles indicate that these galaxies have small effective radii, consistent with rest-frame blue studies, although larger radii cannot be ruled out at the 3-sigma confidence level. We compute stellar mass density profiles. Our results reveal that light can be seen out to a radius of at least 16 kpc, which is consistent with outer stellar mass profiles of local elliptical galaxies. This contradiction may be explained by biases in Sersic profile fitting due to the dominance of background noise at large radii. Our results suggest that massive elliptical galaxies at z˜1 may not be as dissimilar to local galaxies as previously thought. Jones was supported by the NOAO/KPNO Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program which is funded by the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program and the Department of Defense ASSURE program through Scientific Program Order No. 13 (AST-0754223) of the Cooperative Agreement No. AST-0132798 between the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) and the NSF.
Jones Erica D.
Lotz Jennifer M.
No associations
LandOfFree
Near IR Light Profiles of Massive Elliptical Galaxies at z 1 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Near IR Light Profiles of Massive Elliptical Galaxies at z 1, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Near IR Light Profiles of Massive Elliptical Galaxies at z 1 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-971345