CLEAR: The Morphological Evolution of Galaxies in the Green Valley

Vicente Estrada-Carpenter; Casey Papovich; Ivelina Momcheva; Gabriel Brammer; Raymond C. Simons; Nikko J. Cleri; Mauro Giavalisco; Jasleen Matharu; Jonathan R. Trump; Benjamin Weiner; Zhiyuan Ji

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acd4be

The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2023)

CLEAR: The Morphological Evolution of Galaxies in the Green Valley

Vicente Estrada-Carpenter,
Casey Papovich,
Ivelina Momcheva,
Gabriel Brammer,
Raymond C. Simons,
Nikko J. Cleri,
Mauro Giavalisco,
Jasleen Matharu,
Jonathan R. Trump,
Benjamin Weiner,
Zhiyuan Ji

Affiliations

Vicente Estrada-Carpenter: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA; Department of Astronomy & Physics, Saint Mary’s University , 923 Robie Street, Halifax, NS B3H 3C3, Canada
Casey Papovich: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
Ivelina Momcheva: ORCiD; Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Max-Planck-Institut fr Astronomie , Knigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
Gabriel Brammer: ORCiD; Cosmic Dawn Centre, University of Copenhagen , Blegdamsvej 17, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Raymond C. Simons: ORCiD; Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Nikko J. Cleri: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
Mauro Giavalisco: ORCiD; Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts , Amherst, MA 01003, USA
Jasleen Matharu: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
Jonathan R. Trump: ORCiD; Department of Physics, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Benjamin Weiner: ORCiD; MMT/Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Zhiyuan Ji: ORCiD; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acd4be
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 951, no. 2
p. 115

Abstract

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Quiescent galaxies having more compact morphologies than star-forming galaxies has been a consistent result in the field of galaxy evolution. What is not clear is at what point this divergence happens, i.e., when do quiescent galaxies become compact, and how big of a role does the progenitor effect play in this result? Here we aim to model the morphological and star formation histories of high-redshift (0.8 10.2) with stellar population fits using Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3 G102 and G141 grism spectra plus photometry from the CANDELS Ly α Emission at Reionization (CLEAR) survey, constraining the star formation histories for a sample of ∼400 massive galaxies using flexible star formation histories. We develop a novel approach to classifying galaxies by their star formation activity in a way that highlights the green valley population, by modeling the specific star formation rate distributions as a function of redshift and deriving the probability that a galaxy is quiescent ( P _Q ). Using P _Q and our flexible star formation histories we outline the evolutionary paths of our galaxies in relation to stellar mass, Sérsic index, effective radius R _eff , and stellar mass surface density. We find that the galaxies show no appreciable stellar mass growth after entering the green valley (a net decrease of 4%) while their stellar mass surface densities increase by ∼0.25 dex. Therefore galaxies are becoming compact during the green valley and this is due to an increase in the Sérsic index and a decrease in R _eff .

Published in The Astrophysical Journal

ISSN: 1538-4357 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Astronomy: Astrophysics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0004-637X

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