Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2002-01-14
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
6 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the ESO/USM Workshop "The Mass of Galaxies at Low and High Redshift", Veni
Scientific paper
10.1007/10899892_34
We derive the number density evolution of massive field galaxies in the redshift range 0.4 < z < 1.2 using the K-band selected field galaxy sample from the Munich Near-IR Cluster Survey (MUNICS). We rely on spectroscopically calibrated photometric redshifts to determine distances and absolute magnitudes in the rest-frame K-band. To assign mass-to-light ratios, we use two different approaches. First, we use an approach which maximizes the stellar mass for any K-band luminosity at any redshift. We take the mass-to-light ratio of a Simple Stellar Population (SSP) which is as old as the universe at the galaxy's redshift as a likely upper limit. Second, we assign each galaxy a mass-to-light ratio by fitting the galaxy's colours against a grid of composite stellar population models and taking their M/L. We compute the number density of galaxies more massive than 2 x 10^10 h^-2 Msun, 5 x 10^10 h^-2 Msun, and 1 x 10^11 h^-2 Msun, finding that the integrated stellar mass function is roughly constant for the lowest mass limit and that it decreases with redshift by a factor of ~ 3 and by a factor of ~ 6 for the two higher mass limits, respectively. This finding is in qualitative agreement with models of hierarchical galaxy formation, which predict that the number density of ~ M* objects is fairly constant while it decreases faster for more massive systems over the redshift range our data probe.
Bender Ralf
de Oliveira Mendes Cl.
Drory Niv
Feulner Georg
Hill Gary J.
No associations
LandOfFree
The Mass Function of Field Galaxies at 0.4 < z < 1.2 Derived From the MUNICS K-Selected Sample 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 The Mass Function of Field Galaxies at 0.4 < z < 1.2 Derived From the MUNICS K-Selected Sample, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Mass Function of Field Galaxies at 0.4 < z < 1.2 Derived From the MUNICS K-Selected Sample will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-90762