A comparison of the most massive quiescent galaxies from $z\sim 3$ to the present: slow evolution in size, and spheroid-dominated

Abstract

We use Hubble Space Telescope imaging to study the structural properties of ten of the most massive ($M\ge 10^{11.25}$ Msun) quiescent galaxies (QGs) in the UKIDSS UDS at $2.5<z<3.0$. The low spatial density of these galaxies required targeted WFC3 $H_{160}$ imaging, as such systems are rare in existing surveys like CANDELS. We fit Sersic models to the 2D light profiles and find that the median half-light radius is $R_e\sim 3$ kpc, a factor of $\sim 3$ smaller than QGs with similar masses at $z\sim 0$. Complementing our sample with similarly massive QGs at lower redshifts, we find that the median size evolves as $R_e\propto H(z{)}^{-0.85\pm 0.12}$ (or alternatively, $R_e\propto (1+z{)}^{-0.90\pm 0.12}$). This rate of evolution is slower than that for lower mass QGs. When compared to low redshift QGs, the axis ratio distribution for our high redshift massive QG sample is most consistent with those in which spheroids are dominant. These observations point to earlier size growth among massive QGs that also resulted in spheroidal systems. Finally, we measured residual-corrected surface brightness profiles for our sample. These show that the Sersic parameterization is generally representative out to several effective radii and does not miss excess low surface brightness light. The sizes inferred from the light profiles therefore confirm the compactness of these most massive high redshift QGs.

15 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

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• Beyond UVJ: Color Selection of Galaxies in the JWST Era
• Crowded Field Galaxy Photometry: Precision Colors in the CLASH Clusters
• Compact, bulge dominated structures of spectroscopically confirmed quiescent galaxies at z~3
• The galaxy mass-size relation in CARLA clusters and proto-clusters at 1.4 < z < 2.8: larger cluster galaxy sizes
• Massive High-Redshift Quiescent Galaxies With JWST
• The evolution of compact massive quiescent and starforming galaxies derived from the $R_e-R_h$ and $M_{\mathrm{star}}-M_h$ relations
• The cosmic epoch dependence of environmental effects on size evolution of red-sequence early-type galaxies
• HST F160W Imaging of Very Massive Galaxies at $1.5<z<3.0$: Diversity of Structures and the Effect of Close Pairs on Number Density Estimates
• Testing the Breathing Mode in Intermediate Mass Galaxies and its Predicted Star Formation Rate-Size Anti-Correlation
• A subarcsecond near-infrared view of massive galaxies at z > 1 with Gemini Multiconjugate Adaptive Optics