From Peculiar Morphologies to Hubble-type Spirals: The relation between galaxy dynamics and morphology in star-forming galaxies at z~1.5

Abstract

We present an analysis of the gas dynamics of star-forming galaxies at z~1.5 using data from the KMOS Galaxy Evolution Survey (KGES). We quantify the morphology of the galaxies using $HST$ CANDELS imaging parametrically and non-parametrically. We combine the H$\alpha$ dynamics from KMOS with the high-resolution imaging to derive the relation between stellar mass (M${}_{\ast }$) and stellar specific angular momentum (j${}_{\ast }$). We show that high-redshift star-forming galaxies at z~1.5 follow a power-law trend in specific stellar angular momentum with stellar mass similar to that of local late-type galaxies of the form j${}_{\ast }$$\propto$M${}_{\ast }^{0.53\pm 0.10}$. The highest specific angular momentum galaxies are mostly disc-like, although generally, both peculiar morphologies and disc-like systems are found across the sequence of specific angular momentum at a fixed stellar mass. We explore the scatter within the j${}_{\ast }$-M${}_{\ast }$ plane and its correlation with both the integrated dynamical properties of a galaxy (e.g. velocity dispersion, Toomre Q${}_{\mathrm{g}}$, H$\alpha$ star formation rate surface density ${\Sigma }_{\mathrm{SFR}}$) and its parameterised rest-frame UV/optical morphology (e.g. Sérsic index, bulge to total ratio, Clumpiness, Asymmetry and Concentration). We establish that the position in the j${}_{\ast }$-M${}_{\ast }$ plane is strongly correlated with the star-formation surface density and the Clumpiness of the stellar light distribution. Galaxies with peculiar rest-frame UV/optical morphologies have comparable specific angular momentum to disc-dominated galaxies of the same stellar mass, but are clumpier and have higher star-formation rate surface densities. We propose that the peculiar morphologies in high--redshift systems are driven by higher star formation rate surface densities and higher gas fractions leading to a more clumpy inter-stellar medium.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Comments welcome. 25 pages, 14 figures. The full pdf, which includes an additional 17 pages of supplementary figures is available on this http://astro.dur.ac.uk/KROSS/publications.html

References in corpus (109)

• Galactic Stellar and Substellar Initial Mass Function
• The Dust Content and Opacity of Actively Star-Forming Galaxies
• The Global Schmidt Law in Star Forming Galaxies
• Nine-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Parameter Results
• The EAGLE project: Simulating the evolution and assembly of galaxies and their environments
• The UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS)
• The Formation of Galactic Disks
• CANDELS: The Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey
• CANDELS: The Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey - The Hubble Space Telescope Observations, Imaging Data Products and Mosaics
• The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) -- Overview
• The EAGLE simulations of galaxy formation: calibration of subgrid physics and model variations
• Galaxies on FIRE (Feedback In Realistic Environments): Stellar Feedback Explains Cosmologically Inefficient Star Formation
• 3D-HST+CANDELS: The Evolution of the Galaxy Size-Mass Distribution since $z=3$
• A simple model to interpret the ultraviolet, optical and infrared emission from galaxies
• UniverseMachine: The Correlation between Galaxy Growth and Dark Matter Halo Assembly from z=0-10
• FIRE-2 Simulations: Physics versus Numerics in Galaxy Formation
• Rotation Curves of Spiral Galaxies
• What Shapes the Luminosity Function of Galaxies?
• The Relationship Between Stellar Light Distributions of Galaxies and their Formation Histories
• The Herschel view of the dominant mode of galaxy growth from z=4 to the present day
• UltraVISTA: a new ultra-deep near-infrared survey in COSMOS
• The COSMOS Survey: Hubble Space Telescope / Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS) Observations and Data Processing
• The SINS survey of z~2 galaxy kinematics: properties of the giant star forming clumps
• The KMOS^3D Survey: design, first results, and the evolution of galaxy kinematics from 0.7<z<2.7
• Structural Parameters of Galaxies in CANDELS
• First Results from the X-ray and Optical Survey of the Chandra Deep Field South
• The Evolution of Galaxy Structure over Cosmic Time
• An ALMA survey of Sub-millimeter Galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: Physical properties derived from ultraviolet-to-radio modelling
• SINFONI Integral Field Spectroscopy of z~2 UV-selected Galaxies: Rotation Curves and Dynamical Evolution
• A Public Ks-selected Catalog in the COSMOS/UltraVISTA Field: Photometry, Photometric Redshifts and Stellar Population Parameters
• ZAP -- Enhanced PCA Sky Subtraction for Integral Field Spectroscopy
• Bulge Growth and Quenching since z = 2.5 in CANDELS/3D-HST
• Angular momentum and galaxy formation revisited
• A CANDELS - 3D-HST Synergy: Resolved Star Formation Patterns at 0.7 < z < 1.5
• Dynamical Properties of z~2 Star Forming Galaxies and a Universal Star Formation Relation
• Recovering galaxy stellar population properties from broad-band spectral energy distribution fitting
• Evolution of the angular momentum of protogalaxies from tidal torques: Zel'dovich approximation
• The KMOS Redshift One Spectroscopic Survey (KROSS): Dynamical properties, gas and dark matter fractions of typical z~1 star-forming galaxies
• The effects of feedback on the morphology of galaxy discs
• The long lives of giant clumps and the birth of outflows in gas-rich galaxies at high redshift
• Galaxy Morphology and Star Formation in the Illustris Simulation at z=0
• The role of mergers and halo spin in shaping galaxy morphology
• Gas kinematics, morphology, and angular momentum in the FIRE simulations
• Morphology and star formation in IllustrisTNG: the build-up of spheroids and discs
• Pixel-based correction for Charge Transfer Inefficiency in the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys
• Is Turbulence in the Interstellar Medium Driven by Feedback or Gravity? An Observational Test
• Feedback and the Structure of Simulated Galaxies at redshift z=2
• The Evolution and Origin of Ionized Gas Velocity Dispersion from $z\sim 2.6$ to $z\sim 0.6$ with KMOS${}^{3D}$
• The SAMI Galaxy Survey: the link between angular momentum and optical morphology
• Angular momentum evolution of galaxies in EAGLE
• Resolved spectroscopy of gravitationally lensed galaxies: global dynamics and star-forming clumps on ~100pc scales
• An HST/WFC3-IR Morphological Survey of Galaxies at z = 1.5-3.6: I. Survey Description and Morphological Properties of Star Forming Galaxies
• The angular momentum distribution and baryon content of star forming galaxies at z~1-3
• The effective stability parameter for two-component galactic discs: Is 1/Q ~ 1/Q_stars + 1/Q_gas ?
• A Critical Assessment of Stellar Mass Measurement Methods
• CANDELS Visual Classifications: Scheme, Data Release, and First Results
• Fundamental Mass-Spin-Morphology Relation of Spiral Galaxies
• Angular Momentum and Galaxy Formation Revisited: Effects of Variable Mass-to-light Ratios
• The Atlas3D project - XXIV. The intrinsic shape distribution of early-type galaxies
• The origin of the diverse morphologies and kinematics of Milky Way-mass galaxies in the FIRE-2 simulations
• What FIREs Up Star Formation: the Emergence of the Kennicutt-Schmidt Law from Feedback
• A Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Survey of K-selected Galaxies at z ~ 2.3: Comparison of Stellar Population Synthesis Codes and Constraints from the Rest-frame NIR
• Giant clumps in the FIRE simulations: a case study of a massive high-redshift galaxy
• Hubble Space Telescope H-alpha imaging of star-forming galaxies at z = 1-1.5: evolution in the size and luminosity of giant HII regions
• The KMOS Deep Survey (KDS) I: dynamical measurements of typical star-forming galaxies at z $\simeq$ 3.5
• The Assembly History of Disk Galaxies: I - The Tully-Fisher Relation to z~1.3 from Deep Exposures with DEIMOS
• The KMOS Redshift One Spectroscopic Survey (KROSS): the origin of disk turbulence in z~0.9 star-forming galaxies
• The Taiwan ECDFS Near-Infrared Survey: Ultra-deep J and Ks Imaging in the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South
• Flat rotation curves and low velocity dispersions in KMOS star-forming galaxies at z~1
• The KMOS Redshift One Spectroscopic Survey (KROSS): rotational velocities and angular momentum of z~0.9 galaxies
• The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Towards a unified dynamical scaling relation for galaxies of all types
• High Angular Momentum Halo Gas: a Feedback and Code-Independent Prediction of LCDM
• The morphologies of massive galaxies from z~3 - Witnessing the 2 channels of bulge growth
• An HST/WFC3-IR Morphological Survey of Galaxies at z = 1.5-3.6: II. The Relation between Morphology and Gas-Phase Kinematics
• Angular momentum evolution of galaxies over the past 10-Gyr: A MUSE and KMOS dynamical survey of 400 star-forming galaxies from z=0.3-1.7
• The relationship between the morphology and kinematics of galaxies and its dependence on dark matter halo structure in EAGLE
• The angular momentum-mass relation: a fundamental law from dwarf irregulars to massive spirals
• Detection of Massive Forming Galaxies at Redshifts Greater than One
• Angular Momentum and Galaxy Formation Revisited: Scaling Relations for Disks and Bulges
• Towards a resolved Kennicutt-Schmidt law at high redshift
• A catalog of polychromatic bulge-disk decompositions of ~ 17.600 galaxies in CANDELS
• Angular Momentum Regulates Atomic Gas Fractions of Galactic Disks
• How galaxies lose their angular momentum
• The Decomposed Bulge and Disk Size-Mass Relations of Massive Galaxies at 1<z<3 in CANDELS
• The Tumultuous Formation of the Hubble Sequence at z > 1 Examined with HST/WFC3 Observations of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
• Empirical distributions of galactic $\lambda$ spin parameters from the SDSS
• 3D Spectroscopy with VLT/GIRAFFE - IV: Angular Momentum and Dynamical Support of Intermediate Redshift Galaxies
• The star formation rate and stellar content contributions of morphological components in the EAGLE simulations
• Testing Star Formation Laws in a Starburst Galaxy At Redshift 3 Resolved with ALMA
• Morpho-kinematics of z~1 galaxies probe the hierarchical scenario
• Galaxy disc scaling relations: A tight linear galaxy -- halo connection challenges abundance matching
• Deep MUSE observations in the HDFS. Morpho-kinematics of distant star-forming galaxies down to $10^8$M${}_{\odot }$
• KROSS-SAMI: A Direct IFS Comparison of the Tully-Fisher Relation Across 8 Gyr Since $z\approx 1$
• Galactic angular momentum in cosmological zoom-in simulations. I. Disk and bulge components and the galaxy--halo connection
• Low Angular Momentum in Clumpy, Turbulent Disk Galaxies
• Structural and Dynamical Properties of Galaxies in a Hierarchical Universe: Sizes and Specific Angular Momenta
• Angular momentum and local gravitational instability in galaxy discs: does $Q$ correlate with $j$ or $M$?
• The angular momentum of disc galaxies at z=1
• The $I\kappa \epsilon \alpha$ model of feedback-regulated galaxy formation
• Dark-ages Reionization and Galaxy Formation Simulation -- XVII. Sizes, angular momenta and morphologies of high redshift galaxies
• The Dynamics and Distribution of Angular Momentum in HiZELS Star-Forming Galaxies at z = 0.8 - 3.3
• Angular Momentum across the Hubble sequence from the CALIFA survey
• The Evolution of Sizes and Specific Angular Momenta in Hierarchical Models of Galaxy Formation and Evolution
• Angular momentum of $z\sim 1.5$ galaxies and their local analogues with adaptive optics
• The specific angular momenta of superthin galaxies: Cue to their origin?
• Formation of disc galaxies around z~2
• Time-average properties of $z\sim 0.6$ major mergers: mergers significantly scatter high-z scaling relations
• MaNGA: Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory
• Spatially-resolved galaxy angular momentum

Cited by in corpus (16)

• The specific angular momentum of disc galaxies and its connection with galaxy morphology, bar structure and disc gravitational instability
• The KMOS Galaxy Evolution Survey (KGES): the angular momentum of star-forming galaxies over the last ~10 Gyr
• The Evolution of Gas-Phase Metallicity and Resolved Abundances in Star-forming Galaxies at $z\approx 0.6-1.8$
• KURVS: The outer rotation curve shapes and dark matter fractions of $z\sim 1.5$ star-forming galaxies
• Stellar angular momentum can be controlled from cosmological initial conditions
• Galaxy morphologies at cosmic noon with JWST: A foundation for exploring gas transport with bars and spiral arms
• The MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Field Survey XVI. The angular momentum of low-mass star-forming galaxies. A cautionary tale and insights from TNG50
• The resolved chemical abundance properties within the interstellar medium of star-forming galaxies at $\text{z}\approx 1.5$
• Searching for the connection between ionizing-photon escape and the surface density of star formation at z~3
• Multiresolution angular momentum measurements of z~1.5-2 star-forming galaxies
• The evolution of galaxy scaling relations in clusters at 0.5<z<1.5
• Automatic identification of outliers in Hubble Space Telescope galaxy images
• Dark Matter Fraction in Disk-Like Galaxies Over the Past 10 Gyr
• Kinematic scaling relations of disc galaxies from ionised gas at $z\sim 1$ and their connection with dark matter haloes
• A Shallow Slope for the Stellar Mass--Angular Momentum Relation of Star-Forming Galaxies at $1.5<z<2.5$
• KURVS: chemical properties from multiple strong line calibrations for star-forming galaxies at $z\sim 1.5$