Evolution of the anti-truncated stellar profiles of S0 galaxies since $z=0.6$ in the SHARDS survey: I - Sample and Methods

Abstract

The controversy about the origin of the structure of S0--E/S0 galaxies may be due to the difficulty of comparing surface brightness profiles with different depths, photometric corrections and PSF effects (almost always ignored). We aim to quantify the properties of Type-III (anti-truncated) discs in a sample of S0 galaxies at 0.2<z<0.6. In this paper, we present the sample selection and describe in detail the methods to robustly trace the structure in their outskirts and correct for PSF effects. We have selected and classified a sample of 150 quiescent galaxies at 0.2<z<0.6 in the GOODS-N field. We perform a quantitative structural analysis of 44 S0-E/S0 galaxies. We corrected their surface brightness profiles for PSF distortions and analysed the biases in the structural and photometric parameters when the PSF correction is not applied. Additionally, we have developed Elbow, an automatic statistical method to determine whether a possible break is significant - or not - and its type and made it publicly available. We found 14 anti-truncated S0-E/S0 galaxies in the range 0.2<z<0.6 (~30% of the final sample). This fraction is similar to the those reported in the local Universe. In our sample, ~25% of the Type-III breaks observed in PSF-uncorrected profiles are artifacts, and their profiles turn into a Type I after PSF correction. PSF effects also soften Type-II profiles. We found that the profiles of Type-I S0 and E/S0 galaxies of our sample are compatible with the inner profiles of the Type-III, in contrast with the outer profiles. We have obtained the first robust and reliable sample of 14 anti-truncated S0--E/S0 galaxies beyond the local Universe, in the range 0.2<z<0.6. PSF effects significantly affect the shape of the surface brightness profiles in galaxy discs even in the case of the narrow PSF of HST/ACS images, so future studies on the subject should make an effort to correct them.

Accepted for publishing in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 75 pages, 57 figures

References in corpus (19)

• Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Three Year Results: Implications for Cosmology
• 3D-HST WFC3-selected Photometric Catalogs in the Five CANDELS/3D-HST Fields: Photometry, Photometric Redshifts and Stellar Masses
• Detection of quiescent galaxies in a bicolor sequence from z=0-2
• The stellar mass assembly of galaxies from z=0 to z=4. Analysis of a sample selected in the rest-frame near-infrared with Spitzer
• The structure of galactic disks: Studying late-type spiral galaxies using SDSS
• The Outer Disks of Early-Type Galaxies. I. Surface-Brightness Profiles of Barred Galaxies
• The First Appearance of the Red Sequence of Galaxies in Proto-Clusters at 2<~z<~3
• Cold Dark Matter Substructure and Galactic Disks II: Dynamical Effects of Hierarchical Satellite Accretion
• The Atlas3D project - XXIV. The intrinsic shape distribution of early-type galaxies
• The influence of diffuse scattered light I. The PSF and its role to observations of the edge-on galaxy NGC 5907
• On the formation of extended galactic disks by tidally disrupted dwarf galaxies
• Formation of S0 galaxies through mergers. V. Antitruncated stellar discs resulting from major mergers
• The influence of diffuse scattered light II. Observations of galaxy haloes and thick discs and hosts of BCGs
• Formation of S0 galaxies through mergers. Evolution in the Tully-Fisher relation since $z\sim 1$
• X-ray selected starbursts in the GOODS-North
• How to bend galaxy disc profiles: the role of halo spin
• Cosmological Simulations of the Preheating Scenario for Galaxy Cluster Formation: Comparison to Analytic Models and Observations
• Influence of galaxy stellar mass and observed wavelength on disc breaks in S${}^4$G, NIRS0S, and SDSS data
• The environmental dependence of the structure of galactic discs in STAGES S0 galaxies: implications for S0 formation

Cited by in corpus (8)

• The Fornax Deep Survey with VST. VIII. Connecting the accretion history with the cluster density
• Euclid preparation: XVI. Exploring the ultra low-surface brightness Universe with Euclid/VIS
• Extragalactic Magnetism with SOFIA (Legacy Program) -- I: The magnetic field in the multi-phase interstellar medium of M51
• Stellar halos from The Dragonfly Edge-on Galaxies Survey
• The Dragonfly Edge-on Galaxies Survey: Shaping the outer disc of NGC 4565 via accretion
• Euclid: Early Release Observations -- The surface brightness and colour profiles of the far outskirts of galaxies in the Perseus cluster
• The truncation of the disk of NGC 4565: Detected up to z=4 kpc, with star formation, and affected by the warp
• Flares, Warps, Truncations, and Satellite: The Ultra-thin Galaxy UGC 11859