The morphologies of massive galaxies at 1<z<3 in the CANDELS-UDS field: Compact bulges, and the rise and fall of massive disks

V. A. Bruce, J. S. Dunlop, M. Cirasuolo, R. J. McLure, T. A. Targett, E. F. Bell, D. J. Croton, A. Dekel, S. M. Faber, H. C. Ferguson, N. A. Grogin, D. D. Kocevski, A. M. Koekemoer, D. C. Koo, K. Lai, J. M. Lotz, E. J. McGrath, J. A. Newman, A. Van Der Wel

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

We have used high-resolution, HST WFC3/IR, near-infrared imaging to conduct a detailed bulge-disk decomposition of the morphologies of ≃ 200 of the most massive (M * > 1011 M·) galaxies at 1 < z < 3 in the CANDELS-UDS field. We find that, while such massive galaxies at low redshift are generally bulge-dominated, at redshifts 1<z<2 they are predominantly mixed bulge+disk systems, and by z > 2 they are mostly disk-dominated. Interestingly, we find that while most of the quiescent galaxies are bulge-dominated, a significant fraction (25-40%) of the most quiescent galaxies, have disk-dominated morphologies. Thus, our results suggest that the physical mechanisms which quench star-formation activity are not simply connected to those responsible for the morphological transformation of massive galaxies.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Intriguing Life of Massive Galaxies
EditorsDaniel Thomas, Anna Pasquali, Ignacio Ferreras
Pages49-52
Number of pages4
EditionS295
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2012

Publication series

NameProceedings of the International Astronomical Union
NumberS295
Volume8
ISSN (Print)1743-9213
ISSN (Electronic)1743-9221

Keywords

  • cD
  • galaxies: elliptical and lenticular
  • galaxies: evolution
  • galaxies: high-redshift
  • galaxies: structure

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