Forrest, Ben and Annunziatella, Marianna and Wilson, Gillian and Marchesini, Danilo and Muzzin, Adam and Cooper, M. C. and Marsan, Z. Cemile and McConachie, Ian and Chan, Jeffrey C. C. and Gomez, Percy and Kado-Fong, Erin and Barbera, Francesco La and Labbé, Ivo and Lange-Vagle, Daniel and Nantais, Julie and Nonino, Mario and Peña, Theodore and Saracco, Paolo and Stefanon, Mauro and van der Burg, Remco F. J. (2020) An Extremely Massive Quiescent Galaxy at z = 3.493: Evidence of Insufficiently Rapid Quenching Mechanisms in Theoretical Models. The Astrophysical Journal, 890 (1). L1. ISSN 2041-8213
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Abstract
We present spectra of the most massive quiescent galaxy yet spectroscopically confirmed at z > 3, verified via the detection of Balmer absorption features in the H- and K-bands of Keck/MOSFIRE. The spectra confirm a galaxy with no significant ongoing star formation, consistent with the lack of rest-frame UV flux and overall photometric spectral energy distribution. With a stellar mass of ${3.1}_{-0.2}^{+0.1}\times {10}^{11}\,{M}_{\odot }$ at z = 3.493, this galaxy is nearly three times more massive than the highest redshift spectroscopically confirmed absorption-line-identified galaxy known. The star formation history of this quiescent galaxy implies that it formed >1000 M⊙ yr−1 for almost 0.5 Gyr beginning at z ∼ 7.2, strongly suggestive that it is the descendant of massive dusty star-forming galaxies at 5 < z < 7 recently observed with ALMA. While galaxies with similarly extreme stellar masses are reproduced in some simulations at early times, such a lack of ongoing star formation is not seen there. This suggests the need for a quenching process that either starts earlier or is more rapid than that currently prescribed, challenging our current understanding of how ultra-massive galaxies form and evolve in the early universe.
Item Type: | Article |
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Subjects: | OA Open Library > Physics and Astronomy |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email support@oaopenlibrary.com |
Date Deposited: | 25 May 2023 12:21 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jan 2024 04:11 |
URI: | http://archive.sdpublishers.com/id/eprint/873 |