UV-bright Star-forming Clumps and Their Host Galaxies in UVCANDELS at 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 1

Alec Martin*, Yicheng Guo, Xin Wang, Anton M. Koekemoer, Marc Rafelski, Harry I. Teplitz, Rogier A. Windhorst, Anahita Alavi, Norman A. Grogin, Laura Prichard, Ben Sunnquist, Daniel Ceverino, Nima Chartab, Christopher J. Conselice, Y. Sophia Dai, Avishai Dekel, Jonathan P. Gardner, Eric Gawiser, Nimish P. Hathi, Matthew J. HayesRolf A. Jansen, Zhiyuan Ji, David C. Koo, Ray A. Lucas, Nir Mandelker, Vihang Mehta, Bahram Mobasher, Kalina V. Nedkova, Joel Primack, Swara Ravindranath, Brant E. Robertson, Michael J. Rutkowski, Zahra Sattari, Emmaris Soto, L. Y.Aaron Yung

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Giant star-forming clumps are a prominent feature of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) and contain important clues on galaxy formation and evolution. However, the basic demographics of clumps and their host galaxies remain uncertain. Using the Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 F275W images from the Ultraviolet Imaging of the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey, we detect and analyze giant star-forming clumps in galaxies at 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 1, connecting two epochs when clumps are common (at cosmic high noon, z ∼ 2) and rare (in the local Universe). We construct a clump sample whose rest-frame 1600 Å luminosity is 3 times higher than the most luminous local H ii regions (M UV ≤ −16 AB). In our sample, 35% ± 3% of low-mass galaxies (log[M /M ] < 10) are clumpy (i.e., containing at least one off-center clump). This fraction changes to 22% ± 3% and 22% ± 4% for intermediate (10 ≤ log[M /M ] ≤ 10.5) and high-mass (log[M /M ] > 10.5) galaxies, in agreement with previous studies. When compared to similar-mass nonclumpy SFGs, low- and intermediate-mass clumpy SFGs tend to have higher star formation rates (SFRs) and bluer rest-frame U − V colors, while high-mass clumpy SFGs tend to be larger than nonclumpy SFGs. However, clumpy and nonclumpy SFGs have similar Sérsic index, indicating a similar underlying density profile. Furthermore, we investigate how the UV luminosity of star-forming regions correlates with the physical properties of host galaxies. On average, more luminous star-forming regions reside in more luminous, smaller, and/or higher specific SFR galaxies and are found closer to their hosts’ galactic centers.

Original languageAmerican English
Article number106
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume955
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Oct 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work is based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Incorporated, under NASA contract NAS5-26555. Support for program numbers HST-GO-15647 and HST-AR-15798 was provided through a grant from the STScI under NASA contract NAS5-26555.

Funding Information:
D.C. is a Ramon-Cajal Researcher and is supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MICIU/FEDER) under research grant No. PGC2018-094975-C21.

Funding Information:
Y.S.D. acknowledges the support from National Key R&D Program of China for grant No. 2022YFA1605300, and the NSFC grant Nos. 12273051 and 11933003.

Funding Information:
This work is based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Incorporated, under NASA contract NAS5-26555. Support for program numbers HST-GO-15647 and HST-AR-15798 was provided through a grant from the STScI under NASA contract NAS5-26555.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.

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