Building the largest spectroscopic sample of ultra-compact massive galaxies with the Kilo Degree Survey

Abstract

Ultra-compact massive galaxies UCMGs, i.e. galaxies with stellar masses $M_{\ast }>8\times 10^{10}{M}_{\odot }$ and effective radii $R_e<1.5$ kpc, are very rare systems, in particular at low and intermediate redshifts. Their origin as well as their number density across cosmic time are still under scrutiny, especially because of the paucity of spectroscopically confirmed samples. We have started a systematic census of UCMG candidates within the ESO Kilo Degree Survey, together with a large spectroscopic follow-up campaign to build the largest possible sample of confirmed UCMGs. This is the third paper of the series and the second based on the spectroscopic follow-up program. Here, we present photometrical and structural parameters of 33 new candidates at redshifts $0.15\lesssim z\lesssim 0.5$ and confirm 19 of them as UCMGs, based on their nominal spectroscopically inferred $M_{\ast }$ and $R_e$. This corresponds to a success rate of $\sim 58\%$, nicely consistent with our previous findings. The addition of these 19 newly confirmed objects, allows us to fully assess the systematics on the system selection, and finally reduce the number density uncertainties. Moreover, putting together the results from our current and past observational campaigns and some literature data, we build the largest sample of UCMGs ever collected, comprising 92 spectroscopically confirmed objects at $0.1\lesssim z\lesssim 0.5$. This number raises to 116, allowing for a $3\sigma$ tolerance on the $M_{\ast }$ and $R_e$ thresholds for the UCMG definition. For all these galaxies we have estimated the velocity dispersion values at the effective radii which have been used to derive a preliminary mass-velocity dispersion correlation.

References in corpus (78)

• Stellar population synthesis at the resolution of 2003
• Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
• Measuring Reddening with SDSS Stellar Spectra and Recalibrating SFD
• Accurate photometric redshifts for the CFHT Legacy Survey calibrated using the VIMOS VLT Deep Survey
• The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
• Improving the full spectrum fitting method: accurate convolution with Gauss-Hermite functions
• From dwarf spheroidals to cDs: Simulating the galaxy population in a LCDM cosmology
• The SAURON project - IV. The mass-to-light ratio, the virial mass estimator and the fundamental plane of elliptical and lenticular galaxies
• Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): survey diagnostics and core data release
• The Tenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment
• Measuring and Modelling the Redshift Evolution of Clustering: the Hubble Deep Field North
• Passively Evolving Early-type Galaxies at 1.4<z<2.5 in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
• Evolutionary Stellar Population Synthesis with MILES. Part I: The Base Models and a New Line Index System
• The Growth of Massive Galaxies Since z=2
• The Two Phases of Galaxy Formation
• A systematic variation of the stellar initial mass function in early-type galaxies
• The size evolution of galaxies since z~3: combining SDSS, GEMS and FIRES
• Wet Disc Contraction to Galactic Blue Nuggets and Quenching to Red Nuggets
• The Galactic disk mass-budget : I. stellar mass-function and density
• Cosmic Variance and Its Effect on the Luminosity Function Determination in Deep High z Surveys
• Galaxy formation in WMAP1 and WMAP7 cosmologies
• The first and second data releases of the Kilo-Degree Survey
• SPIDER VIII - Constraints on the Stellar Initial Mass Function of Early-type Galaxies from a Variety of Spectral Features
• The Formation of Massive, Compact Galaxies at z=2 in the Illustris Simulation
• Dissipation and Extra Light in Galactic Nuclei: IV. Evolution in the Scaling Relations of Spheroids
• Counting Low-Mass Stars in Integrated Light
• Stellar masses of SDSS-III BOSS galaxies at z~0.5 and constraints to galaxy formation models
• An Over-Massive Black Hole in the Compact Lenticular Galaxy NGC1277
• The third data release of the Kilo-Degree Survey and associated data products
• WINGS: a WIde-field Nearby Galaxy-cluster Survey. I - Optical imaging
• Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Spectroscopic analysis
• A high stellar velocity dispersion for a compact massive galaxy at z=2.2
• Superdense massive galaxies in the Nearby Universe
• Evidence For A Mild Steepening And Bottom-Heavy IMF In Massive Galaxies From Sodium And Titanium-Oxide Indicators
• The stellar IMF determined in early-type galaxies from a non-degenerate set of optical line indices
• Superdense galaxies and the mass-size relation at low redshift
• Superdense Massive Galaxies in Wings Local Clusters
• Curvature in the scaling relations of early-type galaxies
• Red Nuggets at High Redshift: Structural Evolution of Quiescent Galaxies Over 10 Gyr of Cosmic History
• On the Dearth of Compact, Massive, Red Sequence Galaxies in the Local Universe
• NGC1277: a massive compact relic galaxy in the nearby Universe
• Deep Absorption Line Studies of Quiescent Galaxies at z~2: The Dynamical Mass-Size Relation, and First Constraints on the Fundamental plane
• Variations of the stellar initial mass function in the progenitors of massive early-type galaxies and in extreme starburst environments
• The diverse evolutionary paths of simulated high-z massive, compact galaxies to z=0
• KiDS+VIKING-450: A new combined optical & near-IR dataset for cosmology and astrophysics
• An inventory of the stellar initial mass function in early-type galaxies
• Hunting for Supermassive Black Holes in Nearby Galaxies with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope
• The evolution of the number density of compact galaxies
• Two new confirmed massive relic galaxies: red nuggets in the present-day Universe
• Massive relic galaxies challenge the co-evolution of SMBHs and their host galaxies
• Photometric redshifts for Quasars in multi band Surveys
• The 2-degree Field Lensing Survey: design and clustering measurements
• The initial mass function of a massive relic galaxy
• A single population of red globular clusters around the massive compact galaxy NGC 1277
• 2DPHOT: A Multi-purpose Environment for the Two-dimensional Analysis of Wide-field Images
• Evolution of galaxy size--stellar mass relation from the Kilo Degree Survey
• A catalogue of photometric redshifts for the SDSS-DR9 galaxies
• The Number Density of Quiescent Compact Galaxies at Intermediate Redshift
• MRK 1216 & NGC 1277 - An orbit-based dynamical analysis of compact, high velocity dispersion galaxies
• Expected number of massive galaxy relics in the present-day Universe
• Machine Learning based photometric redshifts for the KiDS ESO DR2 galaxies
• Young ages and other intriguing properties of massive compact galaxies in the Local Universe
• Bottom-heavy initial mass function in a nearby compact L*-galaxy
• Towards a census of super-compact massive galaxies in the Kilo Degree Survey
• Photometric redshift estimation based on data mining with PhotoRApToR
• A cooperative approach among methods for photometric redshifts estimation: an application to KiDS data
• Dozens of compact and high velocity-dispersion early-type galaxies in Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Evolution of central dark matter of early-type galaxies up to z ~ 0.8
• The first sample of spectroscopically confirmed ultra-compact massive galaxies in the Kilo Degree Survey
• The last 6 Gyr of dark matter assembly in massive galaxies from the Kilo Degree Survey
• The abundance of compact quiescent galaxies since z ~ 0.6
• A cosmological context for compact massive galaxies
• Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): Accurate number densities & environments of massive ultracompact galaxies at 0.02 < z < 0.3
• Digging for red nuggets: discovery of hot halos surrounding massive, compact, relic galaxies
• Ultramassive dense early-type galaxies: velocity dispersions and number density evolution since z=1.6
• Imaging of Three Possible Low Redshift Analogs to High Redshift Compact Red Galaxies
• A Search for Moderate-Redshift Survivors from the Population of Luminous Compact Passive Galaxies at High Redshift
• Compact Quiescent Galaxies at Intermediate Redshifts

Cited by in corpus (17)

• The massive relic galaxy NGC 1277 is dark matter deficient. From dynamical models of integral-field stellar kinematics out to five effective radii
• The stellar halos of ETGs in the IllustrisTNG simulations: II. Accretion, merger history, and dark halo connection
• INSPIRE: INvestigating Stellar Population In RElics -- I. Survey presentation and pilot program
• Photometric redshifts with machine learning, lights and shadows on a complex data science use case
• INSPIRE: INvestigating Stellar Population In RElics II. First Data Release (DR1)
• INSPIRE: INvestigating Stellar Population In RElics III. Second data release (DR2): testing the systematics on the stellar velocity dispersion
• The first catalogue of spectroscopically confirmed red nuggets at z~0.7 from the VIPERS survey. Linking high-z red nuggets and local relics
• Disc cloaking: Establishing a lower limit to the number density of local compact massive spheroids/bulges and the potential fate of some high-z red nuggets
• INSPIRE: INvestigating Stellar Population In RElics IV. The Initial Mass Function slope in relics
• Compact galaxies and the size-mass galaxy distribution from a colour-selected sample at 0.04 < z < 0.15 supplemented by ugrizYJHK photometric redshifts
• Nature versus nurture: relic nature and environment of the most massive passive galaxies at $z<0.5$
• The Puzzling Origin of Massive Compact Galaxies in MaNGA
• Globular Cluster Systems of Massive Compact Elliptical Galaxies in the Local Universe: Evidence for Relic Red Nuggets?
• Environments of red nuggets at z~0.7 from the VIPERS survey
• Toward a stellar population catalog in the Kilo Degree Survey: the impact of stellar recipes on stellar masses and star formation rates
• Total and dark mass from observations of galaxy centers with Machine Learning
• INSPIRE: INvestigating Stellar Populations In RElics. IX. KiDS J0842+0059: the first fully confirmed relic beyond the local Universe