Ultra Massive Passive Galaxies at z~1.7. Issue Volume 11:Issue S319(2015) (17th August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Arcila-Osejo, Liz; Sawicki, Marcin; Golob, Anneya; Arnouts, Stephane; Moutard, Thibaud
• Editors: Kaviraj, S.
• Is Part Of: Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. Volume 11:Issue S319(2015)
• Page Start: 111
• Page End: 111
• Publication Date: 2016-08-17
• Subjects: galaxies: evolution, -- galaxies: high-redshift, -- galaxies: surveys; Astronomy -- Congresses; Astronomy -- Periodicals; 520
• DOI: 10.1017/S174392131501025X
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1743-9213

Abstract

Abstract: At redshift z~1.7 the Universe was at the peak of its star-formation activity. It is thus a puzzle why some galaxies, many of them very massive (M* ⩾ 10 11 M⊙), had already chosen to stop forming stars. These ultra-massive galaxies, guaranteed to be the central galaxies of their host dark matter halos, must have attained very high rates of star formation to assemble their stellar masses in such a short amount of time. Using the largest (to date) K-selected gzK s survey of passive galaxies (in an effective area of ~ 27.5 deg 2 ) we study the demographics of these dead monsters, hoping to help understand the quenching mechanism that shut them down.