Discovery of massive evolved galaxies at z > 3 in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field

We have identified six early-type galaxies at z > 2.8 in the central 5.76 arcmin(2) Hubble Ultra Deep Field NICMOS region based on a pronounced broadband discontinuity between the NICMOS F110W and F160W bandpasses. These galaxies have red observed optical and near-infrared colors (AB(F775W) - AB(F160W) greater than or equal to 2) that cannot be explained entirely by dust reddening ( indicating advanced age), and their luminosities at rest-frame optical wavelengths suggest a substantial stellar mass. One of the galaxies is detected in the X-ray and is likely to have an active nuclear region, while the rest are estimated to be at least 1 Gyr old at z approximate to 3 and contain a total stellar mass of (0.4-9.1) x 10(10) h(-2) M-.. We calculate a cumulative comoving stellar mass density of rho(star) = (0.7 1.2) x 10(7) h M-. Mpc(-3) for massive evolved galaxies of M > 10(9) h(-2) M-. at z > 2.5. Comparison of the stellar mass density confined in galaxies of different types shows that massive evolved galaxies contribute approximate to16% - 28% of total stellar mass density even at these early epochs. Finally, an analysis of their morphology observed in the ACS and NICMOS images shows that the active galaxy has compact structure, while the rest are less concentrated. The presence of massive evolved galaxies at z similar to 3, when the universe was only 2 Gyr old, suggests that early star formation may have been particularly efficient in massive halos.