The mass assembly and star formation characteristics of field galaxies of known morphology

被引：267

作者：

Brinchmann, J ^{[1
]}

Ellis, RS ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Cambridge, Inst Astron, Cambridge CB3 0HA, England

来源：

ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL | 2000年 / 536卷 / 02期

关键词：

galaxies : evolution; galaxies : fundamental parameters; galaxies : stellar content;

D O I：

10.1086/312738

中图分类号：

P1 [天文学];

学科分类号：

0704 ;

摘要：

We discuss a new method for inferring the stellar mass of a distant galaxy of known redshift based on the combination of a near-IR luminosity and multiband optical photometry. The typical uncertainty for field galaxies with I < 22 in the redshift range 0 < z < 1 is a factor of 2. We apply this method to a newly constructed sample of 321 field galaxies with redshifts and Hubble Space Telescope morphologies enabling us to construct the stellar mass density associated with various morphologies as a function of redshift. We find a marked decline with time in the stellar mass associated with peculiar galaxies accompanied by a modest rise in that observed for elliptical galaxies. The result suggests that peculiar galaxies decline in abundance because they transform and merge into regular systems. The star formation rate per unit stellar mass indicates that massive systems completed the bulk of their star formation before redshift 1, whereas dwarf galaxies continue to undergo major episodes of activity until the present epoch.

引用

页码：L77 / L80

页数：4

共 31 条

[1] The morphologies of distant galaxies .2. Classifications from the Hubble Space Telescope Medium Deep Survey [J].