arXiv subjects

Alec Martin

Publications and source records attributed to Alec Martin.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Recent star formation in 0.5<z<1.5 quiescent galaxies

Observations of massive, quiescent galaxies reveal a relatively uniform evolution: following prolific star formation in the early universe, these galaxies quench and transition to their characteristic quiescent state in the local universe. The debate on the relative role and frequency of the process(es) driving this evolution is robust. In this letter, we identify 0.5<z<1.5 massive, quiescent galaxies in the HST/UVCANDELS extragalactic deep fields using traditional color selection methods and model their spectral energy distributions, which incorporates novel UV images. This analysis reveals ~15% of massive, quiescent galaxies have experienced minor, recent star formation(<10% of total stellar mass within the past ~1Gyr). We find only a marginal, positive correlation between the probability for recent star formation and a measure of the richness of the local environment from a statistical analysis. Assuming the recent star formation present in these quiescent galaxies is physically linked to the local environment, these results suggest only a minor role for dynamic external processes (galaxy mergers and interactions) in the formation and evolution of these galaxies at this redshift.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

UVCANDELS: Catalogs of photometric redshifts and galaxy physical properties

The UltraViolet imaging of the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey Fields (UVCANDELS) program provides deep HST F275W and F435W imaging over four CANDELS fields (GOODS-N, GOODS-S, COSMOS, and EGS). We combine this newly acquired UV imaging with existing HST imaging from CANDELS as well as existing ancillary data to obtain robust photometric redshifts and reliable estimates for galaxy physical properties for over 150,000 galaxies in the $\sim$430 arcmin$^2$ UVCANDELS area. Here, we leverage the power of the new UV photometry to not only improve the photometric redshift measurements in these fields, but also constrain the full redshift probability distribution combining multiple redshift fitting tools. Furthermore, using the full UV-to-IR photometric dataset, we measure the galaxy physical properties by fitting templates from population synthesis models with two different parameterizations (flexible and fixed-form) of the star-formation histories (SFHs). Compared to the flexible SFH parametrization, we find that the fixed-form SFHs systematically underestimate the galaxy stellar masses, both at the low- ($\lesssim10^9 M_\odot$) and high- ($\gtrsim10^{10} M_\odot$) mass end, by as much as $\sim0.5$ dex. This underestimation is primarily due the limited ability of fixed-form SFH parameterization to simultaneously capture the chaotic nature of star-formation in these galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

JWST Reveals a Surprisingly High Fraction of Galaxies Being Spiral-like at $0.5\leq z\leq4$

Spiral arms are one of the most important features used to classify the morphology of local galaxies. The cosmic epoch when spiral arms first appeared contains essential clues to the evolution of disk galaxies. In this letter, we used James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) images from the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey to visually identify spiral galaxies with redshift $0.5\leq z\leq4$ and stellar mass $\geq10^{10}\; M_\odot$. Out of 873 galaxies, 216 were found to have a spiral structure. The spiral galaxies in our sample have higher star formation rates (SFRs) and larger sizes than non-spiral galaxies. We found the observed spiral fraction decreases from 48% at $z\sim0.75$ to 8% at $z\sim2.75$. These fractions are higher than the fractions observed with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We even detect possible spiral-like features at redshifts $z>3$. We artificially redshifted low redshift galaxies to high redshifts and re-inspected them to evaluate observational effects. By varying the input spiral fraction of the redshifted sample, we found that the input fraction of $\sim35$% matches the observed fraction at $z=2-3$ the best. We are able to rule out spiral fractions being $<20$% (2$\sigma$) and $<10$% (3$\sigma$) for real galaxies at $z\sim3$. This fraction is surprisingly high and implies that the formation of spiral arms, as well as disks, was earlier in the universe.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

The UV luminosity function at 0.6 < z < 1 from UVCANDELS

UVCANDELS is a HST Cycle-26 Treasury Program awarded 164 orbits of primary ultraviolet (UV) F275W imaging and coordinated parallel optical F435W imaging in four CANDELS fields: GOODS-N, GOODS-S, EGS, and COSMOS, covering a total area of $\sim426$ arcmin$^2$. This is $\sim2.7$ times larger than the area covered by previous deep-field space UV data combined, reaching a depth of about 27 and 28 ABmag ($5\sigma$ in $0.2"$ apertures) for F275W and F435W, respectively. Along with the new photometric catalogs, we present an analysis of the rest-frame UV luminosity function (LF), relying on our UV-optimized aperture photometry method yielding a factor of $1.5\times$ increase than the H-isophot aperture photometry in the signal-to-noise ratios of galaxies in our F275W imaging. Using well tested photometric redshift measurements we identify 5810 galaxies at redshifts $0.6<z<1$, down to an absolute magnitude of $M_\text{UV} = -14.2$. In order to minimize the effect of uncertainties in estimating the completeness function, especially at the faint-end, we restrict our analysis to sources above $30\%$ completeness, which provides a final sample of 4726 galaxies at $-21.5<M_\text{UV}<-15.5$. We performed a maximum likelihood estimate to derive the best-fit parameters of the UV LF. We report a best-fit faint-end slope of $\alpha = -1.359^{+0.041}_{-0.041}$ at $z \sim 0.8$. Creating sub-samples at $z\sim0.7$ and $z\sim0.9$, we observe a possible evolution of $\alpha$ with redshift. The unobscured UV luminosity density at $M_\text{UV}<-10$ is derived as $\rho_\text{UV}=1.339^{+0.027}_{-0.030}\ (\times10^{26} \text{ergs/s/Hz/Mpc}^3)$ using our best-fit LF parameters. The new F275W and F435 photometric catalogs from UVCANDELS have been made publicly available on the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

The Lyman Continuum Escape Fraction of Star-forming Galaxies at $2.4\lesssim z\lesssim3.0$ from UVCANDELS

The UltraViolet Imaging of the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey Fields (UVCANDELS) survey is a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Cycle-26 Treasury Program, allocated in total 164 orbits of primary Wide-Field Camera 3 Ultraviolet and Visible light F275W imaging with coordinated parallel Advanced Camera for Surveys F435W imaging, on four of the five premier extragalactic survey fields: GOODS-N, GOODS-S, EGS, and COSMOS. We introduce this survey by presenting a comprehensive analysis of the absolute escape fraction ($f_{\rm esc}^{\rm abs}$) of Lyman continuum (LyC) radiation through stacking the UV images of a population of star-forming galaxies with secure redshifts at $2.4\leq z\leq3.0$. Our stacking benefits from the catalogs of high-quality spectroscopic redshifts compiled from archival ground-based data and HST slitless spectroscopy, carefully vetted by dedicated visual inspection efforts. We develop a robust stacking method to apply to 10 samples of in total 56 galaxies, and perform detailed Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of the intergalactic medium (IGM) attenuation, to take into account the sample variance of the mean IGM transmission when measuring $f_{\rm esc}^{\rm abs}$. The full stack at $z\approx2.44$ from 28 galaxies places a stringent 1-$\sigma$ upper limit of $f_{\rm esc}^{\rm abs}\lesssim5\%$, whereas the full stack at $z\approx2.72$ of equal number of galaxies gives an upper limit of $f_{\rm esc}^{\rm abs}\lesssim26\%$ at 1-$\sigma$ confidence level. These new F275W and F435W imaging mosaics from UVCANDELS have been made publicly available on the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST).

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arXiv2023

UV-Bright Star-Forming Clumps and Their Host Galaxies in UVCANDELS at 0.5 $\leq$ z $\leq$ 1

Giant star-forming clumps are a prominent feature of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) and contain important clues on galaxy formation and evolution. However, basic demographics of clumps and their host galaxies remain uncertain. Using the HST/WFC3 F275W images from the Ultraviolet Imaging of the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (UVCANDELS), we detect and analyze giant star-forming clumps in galaxies at 0.5 $\leq$ z $\leq$ 1, connecting two epochs when clumps are common (at cosmic high-noon, z $\sim$ 2) and rare (in the local universe). We construct a clump sample whose rest-frame 1600 {\AA} luminosity is 3 times higher than the most luminous local HII regions (M$_{UV} \leq -$16 AB). In our sample, 35 $\pm$ 3$\%$ of low-mass galaxies (log[M$_{*}$/M$_{\odot}$] $<$ 10) are clumpy (i.e., containing at least one off-center clump). This fraction changes to 22 $\pm$ 3$\%$ and 22 $\pm$ 4$\%$ for intermediate (10 $\leq$ log[M$_{*}$/M$_{\odot}$] $\leq$ 10.5) and high-mass (log[M$_{*}$/M$_{\odot}$] $>$ 10.5) galaxies in agreement with previous studies. When compared to similar-mass non-clumpy SFGs, low- and intermediate-mass clumpy SFGs tend to have higher SFRs and bluer rest-frame U-V colors, while high-mass clumpy SFGs tend to be larger than non-clumpy SFGs. However, clumpy and non-clumpy SFGs have similar S\'ersic index, indicating a similar underlying density profile. Furthermore, we investigate how UV luminosity of star-forming regions correlates with the physical properties of host galaxies. On average, more luminous star-forming regions reside in more luminous, smaller, and/or higher-specific SFR galaxies and are found closer to their hosts' galactic center.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Fraction of Clumpy Star-Forming Galaxies at $0.5\leq z\leq 3$ in UVCANDELS: Dependence on Stellar Mass and Environment

High-resolution imaging of galaxies in rest-frame UV has revealed the existence of giant star-forming clumps prevalent in high redshift galaxies. Studying these sub-structures provides important information about their formation and evolution and informs theoretical galaxy evolution models. We present a new method to identify clumps in galaxies' high-resolution rest-frame UV images. Using imaging data from CANDELS and UVCANDELS, we identify star-forming clumps in an HST/F160W$\leq 25$ AB mag sample of 6767 galaxies at $0.5\leq z\leq 3$ in four fields, GOODS-N, GOODS-S, EGS, and COSMOS. We use a low-pass band filter in Fourier space to reconstruct the background image of a galaxy and detect small-scale features (clumps) on the background-subtracted image. Clumpy galaxies are defined as those having at least one off-center clump that contributes a minimum of 10$\%$ of the galaxy's total rest-frame UV flux. We measure the fraction of clumpy galaxies ($\rm f_{clumpy}$) as a function of stellar mass, redshift, and galaxy environment. Our results indicate that $\rm f_{clumpy}$ increases with redshift, reaching $\sim 65\%$ at $z\sim 1.5$. We also find that $\rm f_{clumpy}$ in low-mass galaxies ($\rm 9.5\leq log(M_*/M_\odot)\leq 10$) is 10$\%$ higher compared to that of their high-mass counterparts ($\rm log(M_*/M_\odot)>10.5$). Moreover, we find no evidence of significant environmental dependence of $\rm f_{clumpy}$ for galaxies at the redshift range of this study. Our results suggest that the fragmentation of gas clouds under violent disk instability remains the primary driving mechanism for clump formation, and incidents common in dense environments, such as mergers, are not the dominant processes.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

The Dwarf Galaxy Population at $z\sim 0.7$: A Catalog of Emission Lines and Redshifts from Deep Keck Observations

We present a catalog of spectroscopically measured redshifts over $0 < z < 2$ and emission line fluxes for 1440 galaxies. The majority ($\sim$65\%) of the galaxies come from the HALO7D survey, with the remainder from the DEEPwinds program. This catalog includes redshifts for 646 dwarf galaxies with $\log(M_{\star}/M_{\odot}) < 9.5$. 810 catalog galaxies did not have previously published spectroscopic redshifts, including 454 dwarf galaxies. HALO7D used the DEIMOS spectrograph on the Keck II telescope to take very deep (up to 32 hours exposure, with a median of $\sim$7 hours) optical spectroscopy in the COSMOS, EGS, GOODS-North, and GOODS-South CANDELS fields, and in some areas outside CANDELS. We compare our redshift results to existing spectroscopic and photometric redshifts in these fields, finding only a 1\% rate of discrepancy with other spectroscopic redshifts. We measure a small increase in median photometric redshift error (from 1.0\% to 1.3\%) and catastrophic outlier rate (from 3.5\% to 8\%) with decreasing stellar mass. We obtained successful redshift fits for 75\% of massive galaxies, and demonstrate a similar 70-75\% successful redshift measurement rate in $8.5 < \log(M_{\star}/M_{\odot}) < 9.5$ galaxies, suggesting similar survey sensitivity in this low-mass range. We describe the redshift, mass, and color-magnitude distributions of the catalog galaxies, finding HALO7D galaxies representative of CANDELS galaxies up to \textit{i}-band magnitudes of 25. The catalogs presented will enable studies of star formation (SF), the mass-metallicity relation, SF-morphology relations, and other properties of the $z\sim0.7$ dwarf galaxy population.

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