Related papers: Distant early-type galaxies: tracers of the galaxy…
Hierarchical models predict that massive early-type galaxies (mETGs) are the latest systems to be in place into the cosmic scenario (at z<~0.5), conflicting with the observational phenomenon of galaxy mass downsizing, which poses that the…
The advent of the Spitzer Space Telescope has revolutionized our understanding of the history of star formation and galaxy mass assembly in the Universe. The tremendous leap in sensitivity from previous mid-to-far IR missions has allowed…
In this series of lectures I review recent observational progress in constraining models of galaxy formation and evolution highlighting the importance advances in addressing questions of the assembly history and origin of the Hubble…
An introduction is given to projects investigating galaxy evolution quantitatively by spectroscopic observations of very distant galaxies that have weak apparent brightnesses and small sizes as it is feasible with 10m-class telescopes like…
Understanding the formation history of massive galaxies is one of most popular and longstanding problems in astronomy, with observations and theory addressing how and when these systems assembled. Since the most massive galaxies in today's…
We present deep Keck spectroscopy for a sample of I<22.5 field early-type galaxies selected morphologically in the redshift range 0.56<z<1.02 in the HDF-N. Using velocity dispersions determined from the Keck spectra in conjunction with…
We present results on the size evolution of passively evolving galaxies at 1<z<2 drawn from the Wide Field Camera 3 Early Release Science program. Our sample was constructed using an analog to the passive BzK selection criterion, which…
Galaxies are found to obey scaling relations between a number of observables. These relations follow different trends at the low- and the high-mass ends. The processes driving the curvature of scaling relations remain uncertain. In this…
We determine the evolution of the co-moving density of the most massive ($M_* \geq 10^{12} M_\odot$) early-type galaxy population in the redshift range of $z = 0.15$ - 0.45 in different stellar mass ranges using data from the Sloan Digital…
The formation of the first galaxies at redshifts z~10-15 signaled the transition from the simple initial state of the universe to one of ever increasing complexity. We here review recent progress in understanding their assembly process with…
New information has recently become available on the fundamental plane for various samples of early-type galaxies with redshift up to 1.3, both in clusters and in the field. This information is reviewed and clues are derived on the…
Some aspects of the chemical evolution of late-type dwarf galaxies are reviewed, together with their implications on three issues of cosmological relevance: similarity to primeval galaxies, derivation of the primordial helium abundance,…
A standard paradigm is now available for the recent evolution (z < 10) of structure on galactic and larger scales. Most of the matter is assumed to be dark and dissipationless and to cluster hierarchically from gaussian initial conditions.…
The slow evolution of the M/L ratios, colors, and line strengths of cluster early-type galaxies to z=1 suggests that their stars were formed at very high redshift. At the same time, morphological studies of distant clusters indicate…
We have used the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys to measure the mass density function of morphologically selected early-type galaxies in the Gemini Deep Deep Survey fields, over the redshift range 0.9 < z < 1.6. Our…
We present the second of two papers concerning the origin and evolution of local early-type galaxies exhibiting dust features. We use optical and radio data to examine the nature of active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity in these objects,…
Projected axis ratio measurements of 880 early-type galaxies at redshifts 1<z<2.5 selected from CANDELS are used to reconstruct and model their intrinsic shapes. The sample is selected on the basis of multiple rest-frame colors to reflect…
The problem of the formation and evolution of field massive galaxies is briefly reviewed from an observational perspective. The motivations and the characteristics of the K20 survey are outlined. The redshift distribution of Ks<20 galaxies,…
We examine the distribution of stellar masses of galaxies in MS 1054-03 and RX J0152.7-1357, two X-ray selected clusters of galaxies at z=0.83. Our stellar mass estimates, from spectral energy distribution fitting, reproduce the dynamical…
We present results from an optical-IR photometric study of early-type galaxies in 19 galaxy clusters out to z=0.9. The galaxy sample is selected on the basis of morphologies determined from HST WFPC2 images, and is photometrically defined…