arXiv · astro-ph/0609548
What do we learn from IRAC observations of galaxies at 2 < z < 3.5?
Abstract
We analyze very deep HST, VLT and Spitzer photometry of galaxies at 2 2 galaxies. The estimated distributions of these properties do not change significantly when adding IRAC data to the UBVIJHK photometry. However, for individual galaxies the addition of IRAC can improve the constraints on the stellar populations, especially for red galaxies: uncertainties in stellar mass decrease by a factor of 2.7 for red (U-V > 1) galaxies, but only by a factor of 1.3 for blue (U-V < 1) galaxies. We find a similar color-dependence of the improvement for estimates of age and dust extinction. In addition, the improvement from adding IRAC depends on the availability of full near-infrared JHK coverage; if only K-band were available, the mass uncertainties of blue galaxies would decrease by a more substantial factor 1.9. Finally, we find that a trend of galaxy color with stellar mass is already present at z>2. The most massive galaxies at high redshift have red rest-frame U-V colors compared to lower mass galaxies even when allowing for complex star formation histories.
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Stijn Wuyts, Ivo Labbe, Marijn Franx, Gregory Rudnick, Pieter G. van Dokkum, Giovanni G. Fazio, Natascha M. Forster Schreiber, Jiasheng Huang, Alan F. M. Moorwood, Hans-Walter Rix, Huub Rottgering, Paul van der Werf. 2006-09-19. What do we learn from IRAC observations of galaxies at 2 < z < 3.5?. https://doi.org/10.1086/509708
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