English

Morphology and structure of extremely red objects at $z\sim1$ in the CANDELS-COSMOS field

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2015-06-03 v1

Abstract

Using high-resolution HST/Wide Field Camera 3 F125W imaging from the CANDELS-COSMOS field, we report the the structural and morphological properties of Extremely Red Objects (EROs) at z1z\sim1. Based on the UVJ color criteria, we separate EROs into two types: old passive galaxies (OGs) and dusty star-forming galaxies (DGs). For a given stellar mass, we find that the mean size of OGs (DGs) is smaller by a factor of 2\sim2 (1.5) than that of present-day early-type (late-type) galaxies at rest-frame optical wavelength. We derive the average effective radii of OGs and DGs, corresponding to 2.09±1.132.09\pm1.13 kpc and 3.27±1.143.27\pm1.14 kpc, respectively. Generally, The DGs are heterogeneous, with mixed features including bulges, disks, and irregular structures, with relatively high M20M_{\rm 20}, small size and low GG, while OGs are elliptical-like compact morphologies with lower M20M_{\rm 20}, larger size and higher GG, indicating the more concentrated and symmetric spatial extent of stellar population distribution in OGs than DGs. The findings imply that OGs and DGs have different evolutionary processes, and the minor merger scenario is the most likely mechanism for the structural properties of OGs. However, the size evolution of DGs is possibly due to the secular evolution of galaxies.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1411.2341,
  title  = {Morphology and structure of extremely red objects at $z\sim1$ in the CANDELS-COSMOS field},
  author = {Guan-Wen Fang and Zhong-Yang Ma and Yang Chen and Xu Kong},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1411.2341},
  year   = {2015}
}