Bibcode
Ricciardelli, E.; Trujillo, I.; Buitrago, F.; Conselice, C. J.
Referencia bibliográfica
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 406, Issue 1, pp. 230-236.
Advertised on:
7
2010
Número de citas
44
Número de citas referidas
38
Descripción
The population of compact massive galaxies observed at z > 1 is
hypothesized, both observationally and in simulations, to be merger
remnants of gas-rich disc galaxies. To probe such a scenario, we analyse
a sample of 12 gas-rich and active star-forming submillimetre galaxies
(SMGs) at 1.8 < z < 3. We present a structural and size
measurement analysis for all of these objects using very deep Advanced
Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object
Spectrometer (NICMOS) imaging in the Great Observatories Origins Deep
Survey (GOODS) North field. Our analysis reveals a heterogeneous mix of
morphologies and sizes. We find that four galaxies (33 +/- 17 per cent)
show clear signs of mergers or interactions, which we classify as
early-stage mergers. The remaining galaxies are divided into two
categories: five of them (42 +/- 18 per cent) are diffuse and regular
disc-like objects, while three (25 +/- 14 per cent) are very compact,
spheroidal systems. We argue that these three categories can be
accommodated into an evolutionary sequence, showing the transformation
from isolated, gas-rich discs with typical sizes of 2-3 kpc, into
compact (<~1 kpc) galaxies through violent major merger events,
compatible with the scenario depicted by theoretical models. Our
findings that some SMGs are already dense and compact provide strong
support to the idea that SMGs are the precursors of the compact, massive
galaxies found at slightly lower redshift.
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