arXiv subjects

Dale Kocevski

Publications and source records attributed to Dale Kocevski.

52 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Galaxy Zoo: CANDELS Barred Disks and Bar Fractions

The formation of bars in disk galaxies is a tracer of the dynamical maturity of the population. Previous studies have found that the incidence of bars in disks decreases from the local Universe to z ~ 1, and by z > 1 simulations predict that bar features in dynamically mature disks should be extremely rare. Here we report the discovery of strong barred structures in massive disk galaxies at z ~ 1.5 in deep rest-frame optical images from CANDELS. From within a sample of 876 disk galaxies identified by visual classification in Galaxy Zoo, we identify 123 barred galaxies. Selecting a sub-sample within the same region of the evolving galaxy luminosity function (brighter than L*), we find that the bar fraction across the redshift range 0.5< z < 2 (f_bar = 10.7 +6.3 -3.5% after correcting for incompleteness) does not significantly evolve. We discuss the implications of this discovery in the context of existing simulations and our current understanding of the way disk galaxies have evolved over the last 11 billion years.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

The mass evolution of the first galaxies: stellar mass functions and star formation rates at $4 < z < 7$ in the CANDELS GOODS-South field

We measure new estimates for the galaxy stellar mass function and star formation rates for samples of galaxies at $z \sim 4,~5,~6~\&~7$ using data in the CANDELS GOODS South field. The deep near-infrared observations allow us to construct the stellar mass function at $z \geq 6$ directly for the first time. We estimate stellar masses for our sample by fitting the observed spectral energy distributions with synthetic stellar populations, including nebular line and continuum emission. The observed UV luminosity functions for the samples are consistent with previous observations, however we find that the observed $M_{UV}$ - M$_{*}$ relation has a shallow slope more consistent with a constant mass to light ratio and a normalisation which evolves with redshift. Our stellar mass functions have steep low-mass slopes ($α\approx -1.9$), steeper than previously observed at these redshifts and closer to that of the UV luminosity function. Integrating our new mass functions, we find the observed stellar mass density evolves from $\log_{10} ρ_{*} = 6.64^{+0.58}_{-0.89}$ at $z \sim 7$ to $7.36\pm0.06$ $\text{M}_{\odot} \text{Mpc}^{-3}$ at $z \sim 4$. Finally, combining the measured UV continuum slopes ($β$) with their rest-frame UV luminosities, we calculate dust corrected star-formation rates (SFR) for our sample. We find the specific star-formation rate for a fixed stellar mass increases with redshift whilst the global SFR density falls rapidly over this period. Our new SFR density estimates are higher than previously observed at this redshift.

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arXiv2014

Type Ia Supernova Rate Measurements to Redshift 2.5 from CANDELS : Searching for Prompt Explosions in the Early Universe

The Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) was a multi-cycle treasury program on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) that surveyed a total area of ~0.25 deg^2 with ~900 HST orbits spread across 5 fields over 3 years. Within these survey images we discovered 65 supernovae (SN) of all types, out to z~2.5. We classify ~24 of these as Type Ia SN (SN Ia) based on host-galaxy redshifts and SN photometry (supplemented by grism spectroscopy of 6 SN). Here we present a measurement of the volumetric SN Ia rate as a function of redshift, reaching for the first time beyond z=2 and putting new constraints on SN Ia progenitor models. Our highest redshift bin includes detections of SN that exploded when the universe was only ~3 Gyr old and near the peak of the cosmic star-formation history. This gives the CANDELS high-redshift sample unique leverage for evaluating the fraction of SN Ia that explode promptly after formation (<500 Myr). Combining the CANDELS rates with all available SN Ia rate measurements in the literature we find that this prompt SN Ia fraction is fP=0.53 +0.09 -0.10 (stat) +0.10 -0.26 (sys), consistent with a delay time distribution that follows a simple t^{-1} power law for all times t>40 Myr. However, a mild tension is apparent between ground-based low-z surveys and space-based high-z surveys. In both CANDELS and the sister HST program CLASH, we find a low rate of SN Ia at z>1. This could be a hint that prompt progenitors are in fact relatively rare, accounting for only ~20% of all SN Ia explosions -- though further analysis and larger samples will be needed to examine that suggestion.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

Optical-faint, Far-infrared-bright Herschel Sources in the CANDELS Fields: Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxies at z>1 and the Effect of Source Blending

The Herschel very wide-field surveys have charted hundreds of square degrees in multiple far-IR (FIR) bands. While the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is currently the best resource for optical counterpart identifications over such wide areas, it does not detect a large number of Herschel FIR sources and leaves their nature undetermined. As a test case, we studied seven "SDSS-invisible", very bright 250um sources (S_{250} > 55 mJy) in the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) fields where we have a rich multi-wavelength data set. We took a new approach to decompose the FIR sources, using the near-IR or the optical images directly for position priors. This is an improvement over the previous decomposition efforts where the priors are from mid-IR data that still suffer from the source blending problem in the first place. We found that in most cases the single Herschel sources are made of multiple components that are not necessarily at the same redshifts. Our decomposition succeeded in identifying and extracting their major contributors. We show that these are all ULIRGs at z ~ 1--2 whose high L_IR is mainly due to dust-obscured star formation. Most of them would not be selected as sub-mm galaxies. They all have complicated morphologies indicative of merger or violent instability, and their stellar populations are heterogeneous in terms of stellar masses, ages and formation histories. Their current ULIRG phases are of various degrees of importance in their stellar mass assembly. Our practice provides a promising starting point to develop an automatic routine to reliably study bright Herschel sources.

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arXiv2013

The Progenitors of the Compact Early-Type Galaxies at High-Redshift

We use GOODS and CANDELS images to identify progenitors of massive (log M > 10 Msun) compact "early-type" galaxies (ETGs) at z~1.6. Since merging and accretion increase the size of the stellar component of galaxies, if the progenitors are among known star-forming galaxies, these must be compact themselves. We select candidate progenitors among compact Lyman-break galaxies at z~3 based on their mass, SFR and central stellar density and find that these account for a large fraction of, and possibly all, compact ETGs at z~1.6. We find that the average far-UV SED of the candidates is redder than that of the non-candidates, but the optical and mid-IR SED are the same, implying that the redder UV of the candidates is inconsistent with larger dust obscuration, and consistent with more evolved (aging) star-formation. This is in line with other evidence that compactness is a sensitive predictor of passivity among high-redshift massive galaxies. We also find that the light distribution of both the compact ETGs and their candidate progenitors does not show any extended "halos" surrounding the compact "core", both in individual images and in stacks. We argue that this is generally inconsistent with the morphology of merger remnants, even if gas-rich, as predicted by N-body simulations. This suggests that the compact ETGs formed via highly dissipative, mostly gaseous accretion of units whose stellar components are very small and undetected in the HST images, with their stellar mass assembling in-situ, and that they have not experienced any major merging until the epoch of observations at z~1.6.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

A Critical Assessment of Photometric Redshift Methods: A CANDELS Investigation

We present results from the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) photometric redshift methods investigation. In this investigation, the results from eleven participants, each using a different combination of photometric redshift code, template spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and priors, are used to examine the properties of photometric redshifts applied to deep fields with broad-band multi-wavelength coverage. The photometry used includes U-band through mid-infrared filters and was derived using the TFIT method. Comparing the results, we find that there is no particular code or set of template SEDs that results in significantly better photometric redshifts compared to others. However, we find codes producing the lowest scatter and outlier fraction utilize a training sample to optimize photometric redshifts by adding zero-point offsets, template adjusting or adding extra smoothing errors. These results therefore stress the importance of the training procedure. We find a strong dependence of the photometric redshift accuracy on the signal-to-noise ratio of the photometry. On the other hand, we find a weak dependence of the photometric redshift scatter with redshift and galaxy color. We find that most photometric redshift codes quote redshift errors (e.g., 68% confidence intervals) that are too small compared to that expected from the spectroscopic control sample. We find that all codes show a statistically significant bias in the photometric redshifts. However, the bias is in all cases smaller than the scatter, the latter therefore dominates the errors. Finally, we find that combining results from multiple codes significantly decreases the photometric redshift scatter and outlier fraction. We discuss different ways of combining data to produce accurate photometric redshifts and error estimates.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

CANDELS: The correlation between galaxy morphology and star formation activity at z~2

We discuss the state of the assembly of the Hubble Sequence in the mix of bright galaxies at redshift 1.4< z \le 2.5 with a large sample of 1,671 galaxies down to H_{AB}~26, selected from the HST/ACS and WFC3 images of the GOODS--South field obtained as part of the GOODS and CANDELS observations. We investigate the relationship between the star formation properties and morphology using various parametric diagnostics, such as the Sersic light profile, Gini (G), M_{20}, Concentration (C), Asymmetry (A) and multiplicity parameters. Our sample clearly separates into massive, red and passive galaxies versus less massive, blue and star forming ones, and this dichotomy correlates very well with the galaxies' morphological properties. Star--forming galaxies show a broad variety of morphological features, including clumpy structures and bulges mixed with faint low surface brightness features, generally characterized by disky-type light profiles. Passively evolving galaxies, on the other hand, very often have compact light distribution and morphology typical of today's spheroidal systems. We also find that artificially redshifted local galaxies have a similar distribution with z~2galaxies in a G-M_{20} plane. Visual inspection between the rest-frame optical and UV images show that there is a generally weak morphological k-correction for galaxies at z~2, but the comparison with non-parametric measures show that galaxies in the rest-frame UV are somewhat clumpier than rest-frame optical. Similar general trends are observed in the local universe among massive galaxies, suggesting that the backbone of the Hubble sequence was already in place at z~2.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

Serendipitous discovery of a massive cD galaxy at z=1.096: Implications for the early formation and late evolution of cD galaxies

We have made a serendipitous discovery of a massive cD galaxy at z=1.096 in a candidate rich cluster in the HUDF area of GOODS-South. This brightest cluster galaxy is the most distant cD galaxy confirmed to date. Ultra-deep HST/WFC3 images reveal an extended envelope starting from ~10 kpc and reaching ~70 kpc in radius along the semi-major axis. The spectral energy distributions indicate that both its inner component and outer envelope are composed of an old, passively-evolving stellar population. The cD galaxy lies on the same mass-size relation as the bulk of quiescent galaxies at similar redshifts. The cD galaxy has a higher stellar mass surface density but a similar velocity dispersion to those of more-massive, nearby cDs. If the cD galaxy is one of the progenitors of today's more massive cDs, its size and stellar mass have had to increase on average by factors of $3.4\pm1.1$ and $3.3\pm1.3$ over the past ~8 Gyrs, respectively. Such increases in size and stellar mass without being accompanied by significant increases in velocity dispersion are consistent with evolutionary scenarios driven by both major and minor dry mergers. If such cD envelopes originate from dry mergers, our discovery of even one example proves that some BCGs entered the dry merger phase at epochs earlier than z=1. Our data match theoretical models which predict that the continuance of dry mergers at z<1 can result in structures similar to those of massive cD galaxies seen today. Moreover, our discovery is a surprise given that the extreme depth of the HUDF is essential to reveal such an extended cD envelope at z>1 and, yet, the HUDF covers only a minuscule region of sky. Adding that cDs are rare, Our serendipitous discovery hints that such cDs may be more common than expected. [Abridged]

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

The Discovery of the Most Distant Known Type Ia Supernova at Redshift 1.914

We present the discovery of a Type Ia supernova (SN) at redshift $z = 1.914$ from the CANDELS multi-cycle treasury program on the \textit{Hubble Space Telescope (HST)}. This SN was discovered in the infrared using the Wide-Field Camera 3, and it is the highest-redshift Type Ia SN yet observed. We classify this object as a SN\,Ia by comparing its light curve and spectrum with those of a large sample of Type Ia and core-collapse supernovae (SNe). Its apparent magnitude is consistent with that expected from the $Λ$CDM concordance cosmology. We discuss the use of spectral evidence for classification of $z > 1.5$ SNe\,Ia using {\it HST} grism simulations, finding that spectral data alone can frequently rule out SNe\,II, but distinguishing between SNe\,Ia and SNe\,Ib/c can require prohibitively long exposures. In such cases, a quantitative analysis of the light curve may be necessary for classification. Our photometric and spectroscopic classification methods can aid the determination of SN rates and cosmological parameters from the full high-redshift CANDELS SN sample.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

GOODS-Herschel and CANDELS: The Morphologies of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies at z~2

Using deep 100-160 micron observations in GOODS-S from the GOODS-H survey, combined with HST/WFC3 NIR imaging from CANDELS, we present the first morphological analysis of a complete, FIR selected sample of 52 ULIRGs at z~2. We also make use of a comparison sample of galaxies without Herschel detections but with the same z and magnitude distribution. Our visual classifications of these two samples indicate that the fraction of objects with disk and spheroid morphologies is roughly the same but that there are significantly more mergers, interactions, and irregular galaxies among the ULIRGs. The combination of disk and irregular/interacting morphologies suggests that early stage interactions and minor mergers could play an important role in ULIRGs at z~2. We compare these fractions with those of a z~1 sample across a wide luminosity range and find that the fraction of disks decreases systematically with L_IR while the fraction of mergers and interactions increases, as has been observed locally. At comparable luminosities, the fraction of ULIRGs with various morphological classifications is similar at z~2 and z~1. We investigate the position of the ULIRGs, along with 70 LIRGs, on the specific star formation rate versus redshift plane, and find 52 systems to be starbursts (lie more than a factor of 3 above the main sequence relation). The morphologies of starbursts are dominated by interacting and merging systems (50%). If irregular disks are included as potential minor mergers, then we find that up to 73% of starbursts are involved in a merger or interaction at some level. Although the final coalescence of a major merger may not be required for the high luminosities of ULIRGs at z~2 as is the case locally, the large fraction of interactions at all stages and potential minor mergers suggest that the high star formation rates of ULIRGs are still largely externally triggered at z~2.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

What turns galaxies off? The different morphologies of star-forming and quiescent galaxies since z~2 from CANDELS

We use HST/WFC3 imaging from the CANDELS Multicycle Treasury Survey, in conjunction with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, to explore the evolution of galactic structure for galaxies with stellar masses >3e10M_sun from z=2.2 to the present epoch, a time span of 10Gyr. We explore the relationship between rest-frame optical color, stellar mass, star formation activity and galaxy structure. We confirm the dramatic increase from z=2.2 to the present day in the number density of non-star-forming galaxies above 3e10M_sun reported by others. We further find that the vast majority of these quiescent systems have concentrated light profiles, as parametrized by the Sersic index, and the population of concentrated galaxies grows similarly rapidly. We examine the joint distribution of star formation activity, Sersic index, stellar mass, inferred velocity dispersion, and stellar surface density. Quiescence correlates poorly with stellar mass at all z<2.2. Quiescence correlates well with Sersic index at all redshifts. Quiescence correlates well with `velocity dispersion' and stellar surface density at z>1.3, and somewhat less well at lower redshifts. Yet, there is significant scatter between quiescence and galaxy structure: while the vast majority of quiescent galaxies have prominent bulges, many of them have significant disks, and a number of bulge-dominated galaxies have significant star formation. Noting the rarity of quiescent galaxies without prominent bulges, we argue that a prominent bulge (and perhaps, by association, a supermassive black hole) is an important condition for quenching star formation on galactic scales over the last 10Gyr, in qualitative agreement with the AGN feedback paradigm.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

CANDELS: Correlations of SEDs and Morphologies with Star-formation Status for Massive Galaxies at z ~ 2

We present a study on Spectral Energy Distributions, Morphologies, and star formation for an IRAC-selected extremely red object sample in the GOODS Chandra Deep Field-South. This work was enabled by new HST/WFC3 near-IR imaging from the CANDELS survey as well as the deepest available X-ray data from Chandra 4 Ms observations. This sample consists of 133 objects with the 3.6um limiting magnitude of [3.6] = 21.5, and is approximately complete for galaxies with M >10^{11}M_sun at 1.5 < z < 2.5. We classify this sample into two types, quiescent and star-forming galaxies, in the observed infrared color-color ([3.6]-[24] vs K-[3.6]) diagram. The further morphological study of this sample show a consistent result with the observed color classification. The classified quiescent galaxies are bulge dominated and star-forming galaxies in the sample have disk or irregular morphologies. Our observed infrared color classification is also consistent with the rest-frame color (U-V vs V-J) classification. We also found that quiescent and star-forming galaxies are well separated in the nonparametric morphology parameter (Gini vs M_{20}) diagram measuring their concentration and clumpiness: quiescent galaxies have Gini coefficient higher than 0.58 and star forming galaxies have Gini coefficient lower that 0.58. We argue that the star formation quenching process must lead to or be accompanied by the increasing galaxy concentration. One prominent morphological feature of this sample is that disks are commonly seen in this massive galaxy sample at 1.5 < z < 2.5: 30% of quiescent galaxies and 70% of star forming galaxies with M >10^{11}M_sun have disks in their rest-frame optical morphologies. The prevalence of these extended, relatively undisturbed disks challenges the merging scenario as the main mode of massive galaxy formation.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Rest-frame UV--Optically Selected Galaxies at 2.3<z<3.5: Searching for Dusty Star-forming and Passively-Evolving Galaxies

A new set of color selection criteria (VJL) analogous with the BzK method is designed to select both star-forming galaxies (SFGs) and passively-evolving galaxies (PEGs) at 2.3 10^{10}M_{Sun}) galaxies at 2.3 0.4) SFGs, which however, only account for ~20% of the number density of massive SFGs. We also use the mid-infrared fluxes to clean our PEG sample, and find that galaxy size can be used as a secondary criterion to effectively eliminate the contamination of dusty SFGs. The redshift distribution of the cleaned PEG sample peaks at z~2.5. We find 6 PEG candidates at z>3 and discuss possible methods to distinguish them from dusty contamination. We conclude that at least part of our candidates are real PEGs at z~3, implying that this type of galaxies began to form their stars at z>5. We measure the integrated stellar mass density of PEGs at z~2.5 and set constraints on it at z>3. We find that the integrated stellar mass density grows by at least about factor of 10 in 1 Gyr at 3<z<5 and by another factor of 10 in next 3.5 Gyr (1<z<3).

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Measuring the redshift dependence of the CMB monopole temperature with PLANCK data

We study the power of PLANCK data to constrain deviations of the Cosmic Microwave Background black body temperature from adiabatic evolution using the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich anisotropy induced by clusters of galaxies. We consider two types of data sets: the cosmological signal is removed in the Time Ordered Information or is removed from the final maps; and two different statistical estimators, based on the ratio of temperature anisotropies at two different frequencies and on a fit to the spectral variation of the cluster signal with frequency. To test for systematics, we construct a template from clusters drawn from a hydro-simulation included in the pre-launch Planck Sky Model. We demonstrate that, using a proprietary catalog of X-ray selected clusters with measured redshifts, electron densities and X-ray temperatures, we can constrain deviations of adiabatic evolution, measured by the parameter $α$ in the redshift scaling $T(z)=T_0(1+z)^{1-α}$, with an accuracy of $σ_α=0.011$ in the most optimal case and with $σ_α=0.016$ for a less optimal case. These results represent a factor 2-3 improvement over similar measurements carried out using quasar spectral lines and a factor 6-20 with respect to earlier results using smaller cluster samples.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

A Type Ia Supernova at Redshift 1.55 in Hubble Space Telescope Infrared Observations from CANDELS

We report the discovery of a Type Ia supernova (SNIa) at redshift z=1.55 with the infrared detector of the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3-IR) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This object was discovered in CANDELS imaging data of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, and followed as part of the CANDELS+CLASH Supernova project, comprising the SN search components from those two HST multi-cycle treasury programs. This is the highest redshift SNIa with direct spectroscopic evidence for classification. It is also the first SN Ia at z>1 found and followed in the infrared, providing a full light curve in rest-frame optical bands. The classification and redshift are securely defined from a combination of multi-band and multi-epoch photometry of the SN, ground-based spectroscopy of the host galaxy, and WFC3-IR grism spectroscopy of both the SN and host. This object is the first of a projected sample at z>1.5 that will be discovered by the CANDELS and CLASH programs. The full CANDELS+CLASH SN Ia sample will enable unique tests for evolutionary effects that could arise due to differences in SN Ia progenitor systems as a function of redshift. This high-z sample will also allow measurement of the SN Ia rate out to z~2, providing a complementary constraint on SN Ia progenitor models.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2009

Serendipitous Discovery of an Overdensity of Lyman-Alpha Emitters at z~4.8 in the Cl1604 Supercluster Field

We present results of a spectroscopic search for Lyman-alpha emitters (LAEs) in the Cl1604 supercluster field using the extensive spectroscopic Keck/DEIMOS database taken as part of the Observations of Redshift Evolution in Large Scale Environments (ORELSE) survey. A total of 12 slitmasks were observed and inspected in the Cl1604 field, spanning a survey volume of 1.365x10^4 co-moving Mpc^3. We find a total of 17 high redshift (4.39 < z < 5.67) LAE candidates down to a limiting flux of 1.9x10^(-18) ergs/s/cm (~0.1L* at z~5), 13 of which we classify as high quality. The resulting LAE number density is nearly double that of LAEs found in the Subaru deep field at z~4.9 and nearly an order of magnitude higher than in other surveys of LAEs at similar redshifts, an excess that is essentially independent of LAE luminosity. We also report on the discovery of two possible LAE group structures at z~4.4 and z~4.8 and investigate the effects of cosmic variance of LAEs on our results. Fitting a simple truncated single Gaussian model to a composite spectrum of the 13 high quality LAE candidates, we find a best-fit stellar velocity dispersion of 136 km/s. Additionally, we see modest evidence of a second peak in the composite spectrum, possibly caused by galactic outflows, as well as evidence for a non-trivial Lyman-alpha escape fraction. We find an average LAE star formation rate density (SFRD) of ~5x10^(-3) M_solar/yr/Mpc^3 with moderate evidence for negative evolution in the LAE SFRD from z~4.6 to z~5.7. We measure a best-fit luminosity function generally consistent with measurements from other surveys at similar epochs. Finally, we investigate any possible effects from weak or strong gravitational lensing induced by the foreground supercluster, finding that our LAE candidates are minimally affected by lensing processes.

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