Journal article
The rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2.3
Nature, Vol.498(7454), pp.338-341
2013
DOI: 10.1038/nature12184
PMID: 23698363
Abstract
Stellar archaeology1 shows that massive elliptical galaxies formed rapidly about ten billion years ago with star-formation rates of above several hundred solar masses per year. Their progenitors are probably the submillimetre bright galaxies2 at redshifts z greater than 2. Although the mean molecular gas mass3 (5 × 1010 solar masses) of the submillimetre bright galaxies can explain the formation of typical elliptical galaxies, it is inadequate to form elliptical galaxies4 that already have stellar masses above 2 × 1011 solar masses at z ≈ 2. Here we report multi-wavelength high-resolution observations of a rare merger of two massive submillimetre bright galaxies at z = 2.3. The system is seen to be forming stars at a rate of 2,000 solar masses per year. The star-formation efficiency is an order of magnitude greater than that of normal galaxies, so the gas reservoir will be exhausted and star formation will be quenched in only around 200 million years. At a projected separation of 19 kiloparsecs, the two massive starbursts are about to merge and form a passive elliptical galaxy with a stellar mass of about 4 × 1011 solar masses. We conclude that gas-rich major galaxy mergers with intense star formation can form the most massive elliptical galaxies by z ≈ 1.5
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2.3
- Creators
- Hai Fu - University of California, IrvineAsantha Cooray - University of California, IrvineC Feruglio - Institut de RadioAstronomie Millimétrique, 300 Rue de la Piscine, Domaine Universitaire, 38406 Saint Martin d’Hères, France,R. J Ivison - UK Astronomy Technology CentreD.A Riechers - Cornell UniversityM Gurwell - Harvard UniversityR. S Bussmann - Center for Astrophysics Harvard & SmithsonianA. I Harris - Department of Astronomy [College Park]B Altieri - European Space AgencyH Aussel - Université Paris DiderotA. J BakerJ Bock - California Institute of TechnologyM Boylan-Kolchin - Department of Physics and Astronomy [Irvine]C Bridge - California Institute of TechnologyJ. A Calanog - Department of Physics and Astronomy [Irvine]C. M CaseyA Cava - Universidad Complutense de MadridS. C ChapmanD. L ClementsA Conley - University of Colorado BoulderP Cox - Institut de RadioAstronomie Millimétrique, 300 Rue de la Piscine, Domaine Universitaire, 38406 Saint Martin d’Hères, France,D Farrah - Virginia TechD Frayer - National Radio Astronomy ObservatoryR Hopwood - Imperial College LondonJ Jia - University of California, IrvineG Magdis - University of OxfordG Marsden - University of British ColumbiaP Martínez-NavajasM Negrello - INAFR Neri - Institut de RadioAstronomie Millimétrique, 300 Rue de la Piscine, Domaine Universitaire, 38406 Saint Martin d’Hères, France,S J Oliver - Astronomy CentreA Omont - Institut d'Astrophysique de ParisM J PageI Pérez-FournonB Schulz - California Institute of TechnologyD Scott - University of British ColumbiaA Smith - University of SussexM Vaccari - University of the Western CapeI Valtchanov - European Space AgencyJ. D Vieira - Computing and Mathematical Sciences [Pasadena]]M Viero - California Institute of TechnologyL Wang - University of SussexJ L Wardlow - Department of Physics and Astronomy [Irvine]M Zemcov - California Institute of Technology
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Nature, Vol.498(7454), pp.338-341
- DOI
- 10.1038/nature12184
- PMID
- 23698363
- NLM abbreviation
- Nature
- ISSN
- 0028-0836
- eISSN
- 1476-4679
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2013
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9984199851802771
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