Issue |
A&A
Volume 476, Number 1, December II 2007
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 137 - 150 | |
Section | Extragalactic astronomy | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20077632 | |
Published online | 24 September 2007 |
The SWIRE-VVDS-CFHTLS surveys: stellar mass assembly over the last 10 Gyr. Evidence for a major build up of the red sequence between z = 2 and z = 1*
1
Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corporation, Kamuela, HI-96743, USA
2
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, UMR 6110, BP 8, 13376 Marseille Cedex 12, France e-mail: arnouts@cfht.hawaii.edu
3
INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna, Italy
4
Institute for Astronomy, 2680 Woodlawn Dr., University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822, Hawaii
5
Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, UMR 7095, 98 bis Bvd Arago, 75014 Paris, France
6
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Toulouse, UMR 5572, 14 av. E. Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
7
INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, via Brera 28, Milan, Italy
8
University of California, San Diego 9500 Gilman Dr. La Jolla, CA 92093-0424, USA
9
Spitzer Science Center, Mail Stop 314-6, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
10
IASF-INAF, via Bassini 15, 20133 Milano, Italy
11
School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG72RD, UK
12
Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany
13
Centre de Physique Théorique, UMR 6207 CNRS-Université de Provence, 13288 Marseille, France
14
Geneva Observatory, ch. des Maillettes 51, 1290 Sauverny, Switzerland
15
INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, via Moiariello 16, 80131 Napoli, Italy
Received:
12
April
2007
Accepted:
18
September
2007
We present an analysis of the stellar mass growth over
the last 10 Gyr () using a unique large sample of galaxies selected
at
m. We have assembled accurate
photometric and spectroscopic redshifts for ~21 200 and 1500
galaxies, respectively, with F(3.6 μm) ≥ 9.0 μJy by combining
data from Spitzer-SWIRE IRAC, the VIMOS VLT Deep Survey (VVDS),
UKIDSS and very deep optical CFHTLS photometry.
We split our sample into quiescent (red) and active (blue) galaxies
on the basis of an SED fitting procedure that we have compared with
the strong rest-frame color bimodality
.
The present sample contains ~ 4400 quiescent galaxies.
Our measurements of the K-rest frame luminosity function and luminosity density
evolution support the idea that a large fraction of galaxies is already assembled
at z ~ 1.2, with almost 80% and 50% of the active and quiescent populations
already in place, respectively.
Based on the analysis of the evolution of the stellar mass-to-light ratio (in K-band)
for the spectroscopic sub-sample, we derive the stellar mass density for the
entire sample. We find that the global evolution of the stellar mass density
is well reproduced by the star formation rate derived from UV based measurements
when an appropriate dust correction is applied, which supports the idea
of an initial mass function that is on average universal.
Over the last 8 Gyr (z ≤ 1.2) we observe that the stellar mass density
of the active population shows a modest mass growth rate
(
~ 0.005(±0.005)
/Mpc3/yr), consistent with a constant
stellar mass density,
~ 3.1
108
/Mpc3.
In contrast, an increase by a factor of ~2 for the quiescent population over
the same timescale is observed.
As a consequence, the growth of the stellar mass in the quiescent population must
be due to the shutoff of star formation in active galaxies that migrate into the
quiescent population. We estimate this stellar mass flux to be
~ 0.017(±0.004)
/Mpc3/yr, which
balances the major fraction of new stars born according to
our best SFR estimate (
= 0.025(±0.003)
/Mpc3/yr).
From
to
, we observe a major build-up of the quiescent
population with an increase by a factor of ~10 in stellar mass
(a mass growth rate of ~ 0.063
/Mpc3/yr).
This rapid evolution
suggests that we are observing the epoch when, for the first time in the
history of the universe, an increasing fraction of galaxies end their star
formation activity and start to build up the red sequence.
Key words: galaxies: luminosity function, mass function / galaxies: formation
Based on data obtained with the European southern observatory Very Large Telescope, Paranal, Chile, program 070A-9007(A) and on observations obtained with MegaPrime/MegaCam, a joint project of CFHT and CEA/DAPNIA, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institut National des Science de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii. This work is based in part on data products produced at TERAPIX and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, a collaborative project of NRC and CNRS and on data obtained as part of the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey.
© ESO, 2007
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