Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Mar 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008aspc..381..485n&link_type=abstract
The Second Annual Spitzer Science Center Conference: Infrared Diagnostics of Galaxy Evolution. ASP Conference Series, Vol. 381,
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The All Wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey (AEGIS) combines panchromatic space- and ground based photometry, HST images, and high resolution spectroscopy. We use this dataset to study the history of star formation and stellar mass buildup in field galaxies out to z=1.4, from a combination of UV-/optical and Spitzer MIPS IR-derived star formation rates, and stellar masses. We find that the specific star formation rates of field galaxies as a function of stellar mass and z can be well described by exponential star formation histories with mass-dependent e-folding times τ, and possibly mass-dependent switch-on redshifts (``staged'' τ models), throughout the stellar mass range we can observe (˜ 10^{10} M_{&sun;} at z<1). This model allows a first quantification of the mass dependency of star formation timescales in field galaxies from direct observations of masses and star formation rates up to z>1.
Our results suggest that gradual gas exhaustion, including loss or heating of cold gas, may be a dominant process in the evolution of star formation in field galaxies over a wide range in mass and redshift, consistent with the regular morphologies of strongly star-forming, IR-luminous galaxies at intermediate z. An increasing fraction of younger galaxies towards lower masses may explain the observed high specific star formation rates without requiring a high fraction of starbursts.
The inferred mass-dependent parametrization of star formation timescales and ages qualitatively reproduces the observed color-magnitude bimodality, and suggests that this bimodality can be a natural consequence of different evolutionary timescales of galaxies.
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