Lyman Break Galaxies Under a Microscope: The Small Scale Dynamics and Mass of an Arc in the Cluster 1E0657-56

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

Scientific paper

10.1086/507090

Using the near-infrared integral-field spectrograph SPIFFI on the VLT, we have studied the spatially-resolved dynamics in the z=3.2 strongly lensed galaxy 1E0657-56 ``arc+core''. The lensing configuration suggests that the high surface brightness ``core'' is the M=20 magnified central 1 kpc of the galaxy (seen at a spatial resolution of about 200 pc in the source plane), whereas the fainter ``arc'' is a more strongly magnified peripheral region of the same galaxy at about a half-light radius, which otherwise appears to be a typical z=3 Lyman break galaxy. The overall shape of the position-velocity diagram resembles the ``rotation curves'' of the inner few kpcs of nearby L* spiral galaxies. The projected velocities rise rapidly to 75 km/s within the core. This implies a dynamical mass of M_dyn = 10^9.3 M_sun within the central kpc, and suggests that in this system the equivalent of the mass of a present-day L* bulge at the same radius was already in place by z>=3. Approximating the circular velocity of the halo by the measured asymptotic velocity of the rotation curve, we estimate a dark matter halo mass of M_halo = 10^11.7 +/- 0.3, in good agreement with large-scale clustering studies of Lyman break galaxies. The baryonic collapse fraction is low compared to actively star-forming ``BX'' and low-redshift galaxies around z=2, perhaps implying comparatively less gas infall to small radii or efficient feedback. Even more speculatively, the high central mass density might indicate highly dissipative gas collapse in very early stages of galaxy evolution, in approximate agreement with what is expected for ``inside-out'' galaxy formation models.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Lyman Break Galaxies Under a Microscope: The Small Scale Dynamics and Mass of an Arc in the Cluster 1E0657-56 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 Lyman Break Galaxies Under a Microscope: The Small Scale Dynamics and Mass of an Arc in the Cluster 1E0657-56, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Lyman Break Galaxies Under a Microscope: The Small Scale Dynamics and Mass of an Arc in the Cluster 1E0657-56 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-621568

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.