Star Formation in High-Redshift Cluster Ellipticals

Abstract

We measure the star formation rates (SFRs) of massive ($M_{\star }>10^{10.1}{M}_{\odot }$) early-type galaxies (ETGs) in a sample of 11 high-redshift ($1.0<z<1.5$) galaxy clusters drawn from the IRAC Shallow Cluster Survey (ISCS). We identify ETGs visually from Hubble Space Telescope imaging and select likely cluster members as having either an appropriate spectroscopic redshift or red sequence color. Mid-infrared SFRs are measured using Spitzer 24 $\mu$m data for isolated cluster galaxies for which contamination by neighbors, and active galactic nuclei, can be ruled out. Cluster ETGs show enhanced specific star formation rates (sSFRs) compared to cluster galaxies in the local Universe, but have sSFRs more than four times lower than that of field ETGs at $1<z<1.5$. Relative to the late-type cluster population, isolated ETGs show substantially quenched mean SFRs, yet still contribute 12% of the overall star formation activity measured in $1<z<1.5$ clusters. We find that new ETGs are likely being formed in ISCS clusters; the fraction of cluster galaxies identified as ETGs increases from 34% to 56% from $z\sim 1.5\to 1.25$. While the fraction of cluster ETGs that are highly star-forming ($\text{SFR}\ge 26M_{\odot }$ yr${}^{-1}$) drops from 27% to 10% over the same period, their sSFRs are roughly constant. All these factors taken together suggest that, particularly at $z\gtrsim 1.25$, the events that created these distant cluster ETGs$-$likely mergers, at least among the most massive$-$were both recent and gas-rich.

12 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (81)

• Stellar population synthesis at the resolution of 2003
• Galactic Stellar and Substellar Initial Mass Function
• Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
• On the variation of the Initial Mass Function
• Simulating the joint evolution of quasars, galaxies and their large-scale distribution
• Energy input from quasars regulates the growth and activity of black holes and their host galaxies
• How Do Galaxies Get Their Gas?
• The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) -- Overview
• EAZY: A Fast, Public Photometric Redshift Code
• Detailed Decomposition of Galaxy Images. II. Beyond Axisymmetric Models
• Galaxy Bimodality due to Cold Flows and Shock Heating
• Interpreting the Cosmic Infrared Background: Constraints on the Evolution of the Dust Enshrouded Star Formation Rate
• An ultra-deep near-infrared spectrum of a compact quiescent galaxy at z=2.2
• zCOSMOS: A Large VLT/VIMOS redshift survey covering 0 < z < 3 in the COSMOS field
• The formation history of elliptical galaxies
• Mid-Infrared Selection of Active Galaxies
• The Relationship Between Stellar Light Distributions of Galaxies and their Formation Histories
• Spectral Energy Distributions of Hard X-ray selected AGNs in the XMDS Survey
• Calibrating Extinction-Free Star Formation Rate Diagnostics with 33GHz Free-Free Emission in NGC6946
• A New Non-Parametric Approach to Galaxy Morphological Classification
• UltraVISTA: a new ultra-deep near-infrared survey in COSMOS
• Galaxy Star-Formation as a Function of Environment in the Early Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• The Evolution of Early-Type Galaxies in Distant Clusters
• PRIMUS: Constraints on Star Formation Quenching and Galaxy Merging, and the Evolution of the Stellar Mass Function From z=0-1
• Wet Disc Contraction to Galactic Blue Nuggets and Quenching to Red Nuggets
• STELIB: a library of stellar spectra at R~2000
• A New Approach to Galaxy Morphology: I. Analysis of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Early Data Release
• Statistical Properties of Collisionless Equal- and Unequal-Mass Merger Remnants of Disk Galaxies
• A Public Ks-selected Catalog in the COSMOS/UltraVISTA Field: Photometry, Photometric Redshifts and Stellar Population Parameters
• Kinematic Structure of Merger Remnants
• The 0.4 < z < 1.3 star formation history of the Universe as viewed in the far-infrared
• Clusters of Galaxies in the First Half of the Universe from the IRAC Shallow Survey
• CIRS: Cluster Infall Regions in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey I. Infall Patterns and Mass Profiles
• The first Herschel view of the mass-SFR link in high-z galaxies
• Reversal of Fortune: Confirmation of an Increasing Star Formation-Density Relation in a Cluster at z=1.62
• In-flight calibration of the Herschel-SPIRE instrument
• The Era of Star Formation in Galaxy Clusters
• The Spitzer Deep, Wide-Field Survey
• Herschel unveils a puzzling uniformity of distant dusty galaxies
• The IRAC Shallow Survey
• Evolution of the Color-Magnitude Relation in Galaxy Clusters at z ~1 from the ACS Intermediate Redshift Cluster Survey
• Determining the Properties and Evolution of Red Galaxies from the Quasar Luminosity Function
• Dissipation and Extra Light in Galactic Nuclei: I. Gas-Rich Merger Remnants
• The Cluster and Field Galaxy AGN Fraction at z = 1 to 1.5: Evidence for a Reversal of the Local Anticorrelation Between Environment and AGN Fraction
• XBootes: An X-Ray Survey of the NDWFS Bootes Field - Paper I Overview and Initial Results
• Photometric Redshifts in the IRAC Shallow Survey
• Multi-wavelength study of XMMU J2235.3-2557: the most massive galaxy cluster at z > 1
• The XMM Cluster Survey: Active Galactic Nuclei and Starburst Galaxies in XMMXCS J2215.9-1738 at z=1.46
• Clusters at Half Hubble Time: Galaxy Structure and Colors in RXJ0152.7-1357 and MS1054-03
• Scaling Relations and Overabundance of Massive Clusters at z>~1 from Weak-Lensing Studies with HST
• Hubble Space Telescope Weak-lensing Study of the Galaxy Cluster XMMU J2235.3-2557 at z=1.4: A Surprisingly Massive Galaxy Cluster when the Universe is One-third of its Current Age
• The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS): The morphological content and enviromental dependence of the galaxy color-magnitude relation at z~0.7
• Balancing the Energy Budget between Star-Formation and AGN in High Redshift Infrared Luminous Galaxies
• The evolution of the galaxy B-band rest-frame morphology to z~2: new clues from the K20/GOODS sample
• SPITZER IRS spectra of Virgo early type galaxies: detection of stellar silicate emission
• Herschel PEP: The star-formation rates of 1.5<z<2.5 massive galaxies
• The evolution of dust-obscured star formation activity in galaxy clusters relative to the field over the last 9 billion years
• Cluster galaxies in XMMU J2235-2557: galaxy population properties in most massive environments at z~1.4
• Evolution of the Color-Magnitude relation in High-Redshift Clusters: Early-type Galaxies in the Lynx Supercluster at z~1.26
• The Formation of Massive Cluster Galaxies
• Spitzer/MIPS 24um Observations of Galaxy Clusters: An Increasing Fraction of Obscured Star-forming Members from z=0.02 to z=0.83
• The Cosmic Evolution of AGN in galaxy clusters
• The Galaxy Cluster Mid-Infrared Luminosity Function at 1.3<z<3.2
• The Evolution of Dusty Star Formation and Stellar Mass Assembly in Clusters: Results from the IRAC 3.6um, 4.5um, 5.8um and 8.0um Cluster Luminosity Functions
• Simultaneous Modeling of the Stellar and Dust Emission in Distant Galaxies: Implications for Star Formation Rate Measurements
• Mid infrared properties of distant infrared luminous galaxies
• Assembly of the Red Sequence in Infrared-Selected Galaxy Clusters from the IRAC Shallow Cluster Survey
• X-Ray Emission from Two Infrared-Selected Galaxy Clusters at z>1.4 in the IRAC Shallow Cluster Survey
• Early-type galaxies at z = 1.3. I. The Lynx supercluster: cluster and groups at z=1.3. Morphology and color-magnitude relation
• The mid-infrared colour-magnitude relation of early-type galaxies in the Coma cluster as measured by Spitzer-IRS
• H$\alpha$ Star Formation Rates of $z$ > 1 Galaxy Clusters in the IRAC Shallow Cluster Survey
• The Evolution of Dusty Star formation in Galaxy Clusters to z = 1: Spitzer IR Observations of the First Red-Sequence Cluster Survey
• Newborn spheroids at high redshift: when and how did the dominant, old stars in today's massive galaxies form?
• The Mid-Infrared Luminosities of Normal Galaxies over Cosmic Time
• Galaxy Cluster Correlation Function to z ~ 1.5 in the IRAC Shallow Cluster Survey
• A WISE View of Star Formation in Local Galaxy Clusters
• The Faint End of the Cluster Galaxy Luminosity Function at High Redshift
• Mass and Redshift Dependence of Star Formation in Relaxed Galaxy Clusters
• Dust-obscured star-formation in the outskirts of XMMU J2235.3-2557, a massive galaxy cluster at z=1.4
• Observational evidence that massive cluster galaxies were forming stars at z~2.5 and did not grow in mass at later times
• A multi-wavelength analysis of Spitzer selected Coma Cluster galaxies: star formation rates and masses

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Star Formation and AGN Activity in Galaxy Clusters from $z=1-2$: a Multi-wavelength Analysis Featuring $Herschel$/PACS
• Star-Forming Brightest Cluster Galaxies at 0.25 < z < 1.25: A Transitioning Fuel Supply
• Measurement of the Splashback Feature around SZ-selected Galaxy Clusters with DES, SPT and ACT
• Spectroscopic Confirmation of a Protocluster at z=3.786
• In and out star formation in z~1.5 quiescent galaxies from rest-frame UV spectroscopy and the far-infrared
• The Evolution of Star Formation Activity in Cluster Galaxies Over $0.15<z<1.5$
• Molecular gas in two companion cluster galaxies at z=1.2
• Massive molecular gas reservoir around the central AGN in the CARLA J1103+3449 cluster at z=1.44
• The XXL survey. XLIX. Linking the members star formation histories to the cluster mass assembly in the z=1.98 galaxy cluster XLSSC 122
• Star formation properties of galaxy cluster A1767