The LEGA-C galaxy survey: multiple quenching channels for quiescent galaxies at $z\sim 1$

Abstract

We analyzed the sizes and star-formation histories (SFHs) of 2908 galaxies with $M_{\star }\ge 10^9$ M${}_{\odot }$ at $0.6<z<1.0$, drawn from the LEGA-C survey. The goal is to investigate the connection between galaxy sizes with SFH, stellar age, and metallicity. SFHs were derived with Prospector by fitting the high signal-to-noise, high spectral resolution spectroscopy drawn from the LEGA-C DR3 together with the broadband photometry from the UltraVISTA catalog. Galaxy sizes were measured by fitting a 2D S{é}rsic profile to the HST ACS~F814W images. We find diverse SFHs and quenching timescales ($τ_\rm{q}$). The main quiescent population quenched over $τ_\rm{q}=1.23\pm0.04$ Gyr, whereas compact post-starburst galaxies (PSBs) quenched much faster, $τ_\rm{q}=0.13\pm0.03$ Gyr. At fixed stellar mass, smaller quiescent galaxies quenched more rapidly than larger ones; at fixed size, the dependence on stellar mass is weak. Larger quiescent galaxies are marginally younger, quenched more slowly, and have near-solar metallicities, while compact quiescent galaxies are older, metal-rich, and quenched faster. PSBs formed half their mass later ($z_\rm{form}\sim1.9$) and quenched on the shortest timescales. The general trends with galaxy size, $Z_{\star }$, and $z_\rm{form}$ for the quiescent populations remain consistent regardless of the method used to derive the stellar properties. We conclude that compact quiescent galaxies are consistent with both early, moderately fast quenching and with more rapid, late quenching. While this may suggest the existence of multiple quenching channels, our data are also compatible with a continuous distribution of quenching timescales. These findings suggest that different physical mechanisms may drive quenching across galaxy populations, potentially leading to similar morphological outcomes despite differing evolutionary histories.

16 pages, 12 figures, accepted

References in corpus (67)

• Mass and environment as drivers of galaxy evolution in SDSS and zCOSMOS and the origin of the Schechter function
• The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) -- Overview
• Star Formation in AEGIS Field Galaxies since z=1.1 : The Dominance of Gradually Declining Star Formation, and the Main Sequence of Star-Forming Galaxies
• A Highly Consistent Framework for the Evolution of the Star-Forming "Main Sequence" from z~0-6
• 3D-HST+CANDELS: The Evolution of the Galaxy Size-Mass Distribution since $z=3$
• Detection of quiescent galaxies in a bicolor sequence from z=0-2
• Combined CO & Dust Scaling Relations of Depletion Time and Molecular Gas Fractions with Cosmic Time, Specific Star Formation Rate and Stellar Mass
• Compaction and Quenching of High-z Galaxies in Cosmological Simulations: Blue and Red Nuggets
• The SAMI Galaxy Survey: instrument specification and target selection
• The Atlas3D Project - XXX. Star formation histories and stellar population scaling relations of early-type galaxies
• COLD GASS, an IRAM Legacy Survey of Molecular Gas in Massive Galaxies: II. The non-universality of the Molecular Gas Depletion Timescale
• What do we learn from IRAC observations of galaxies at 2 < z < 3.5?
• The Main Sequence of star-forming galaxies across cosmic times
• The Relation Between SFR and Stellar Mass for Galaxies at 3.5 $\le z\le$ 6.5 in CANDELS
• The Size Evolution of Star-forming and Quenched Galaxies in the IllustrisTNG simulation
• Full spectrum fitting with photometry in pPXF: stellar population versus dynamical masses, non-parametric star formation history and metallicity for 3200 LEGA-C galaxies at redshift z~0.8
• A Turnover in the Galaxy Main Sequence of Star Formation at $M_{\ast }\sim 10^{10}{M}_{\odot }$ for Redshifts $z<1.3$
• A massive quiescent galaxy at redshift 4.658
• Bursting and Quenching in Massive Galaxies without Major Mergers or AGNs
• The AIMSS Project I: Bridging the Star Cluster - Galaxy Divide
• Morphology and star formation in IllustrisTNG: the build-up of spheroids and discs
• Charting the evolution of the ages and metallicities of massive galaxies since z=0.7
• The evolution of star formation histories of quiescent galaxies
• Fast, Slow, Early, Late: Quenching Massive Galaxies at z~0.8
• A surprising abundance of massive quiescent galaxies at 3 < z < 5 in the first data from JWST CEERS
• The environments of starburst and post-starburst galaxies at z=0.4-0.8
• The VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz Large Project: Evolution of specific star formation rates out to $z\sim 5$
• A New Census of the 0.2< z <3.0 Universe, Part II: The Star-Forming Sequence
• Predicting Quiescence: The Dependence of Specific Star Formation Rate on Galaxy Size and Central Density at 0.5<z<2.5
• SDSS IV MaNGA: The global and local stellar mass assemby histories of galaxies
• Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the wavelength-dependent sizes and profiles of galaxies revealed by MegaMorph
• Supermassive black holes as the regulators of star formation in central galaxies
• Beyond UVJ: More Efficient Selection of Quiescent Galaxies With UV / Mid-IR Fluxes
• Minor Mergers or Progenitor Bias? The Stellar Ages of Small and Large Quenched Early-Type Galaxies
• Recovering the star formation histories of recently-quenched galaxies: the impact of model and prior choices
• Mini-quenching of $z=4-8$ galaxies by bursty star formation
• Chasing passive galaxies in the early Universe: a critical analysis in CANDELS GOODS-South
• Nearly all Massive Quiescent Disk Galaxies have a Surprisingly Large Atomic Gas Reservoir
• Rejuvenation in $z\sim 0.8$ quiescent galaxies in LEGA-C
• The GOGREEN survey: Post-infall environmental quenching fails to predict the observed age difference between quiescent field and cluster galaxies at z>1
• Color gradients along the quiescent galaxy sequence: clues to quenching and structural growth
• The colors and sizes of recently quenched galaxies: a result of compact starburst before quenching
• Elemental Abundances and Ages of $z\sim 0.7$ Quiescent Galaxies on the Mass-Size Plane: Implication for Chemical Enrichment and Star-Formation Quenching
• The bending of the star-forming main sequence traces the cold- to hot-accretion transition mass over 0<z<4
• The properties of the Malin 1 galaxy giant disk: A panchromatic view from the NGVS and GUViCS surveys
• The diverse evolutionary pathways of post-starburst galaxies
• Rapid Quenching of Galaxies at Cosmic Noon
• Spatial Decorrelation of Young Stars and Dense Gas as a Probe of the Star Formation-Feedback Cycle in Galaxies
• Star-forming early- and quiescent late-type galaxies in the local Universe
• Stellar Dynamics and Star-Formation Histories of z $\sim$ 1 Radio-loud Galaxies
• A combined VANDELS and LEGA-C study: the evolution of quiescent galaxy size, stellar mass and age from $\text{z}=0.6$ to $\text{z}=1.3$
• Gravitational Potential and Surface Density Drive Stellar Populations -- II. Star-Forming Galaxies
• The Size-Mass relation at Rest-Frame $1.5\mu$m from JWST/NIRCam in the COSMOS-WEB and PRIMER-COSMOS fields
• The Compact Structures of Massive $z\sim 0.7$ Post-Starburst Galaxies in the SQuIGG$\vec{L}$E Sample
• Nonparametric galaxy morphology from UV to submm wavelengths
• Evidence for (and Against) Progenitor Bias in the Size Growth of Compact Red Galaxies
• Charting the main sequence of star-forming galaxies out to redshifts z<5.7
• Stellar mass as the "glocal" driver of galaxies' stellar population properties
• Chemical evolution of local post-starburst galaxies: Implications for the mass-metallicity relation
• More is better: Strong constraints on the stellar properties of LEGA-C z ~ 1 galaxies with Prospector
• Nonparametric galaxy morphology from stellar and nebular emission with the CALIFA sample
• Evolution of the Sérsic Index up to z=2.5 from JWST and HST
• MOSEL and IllustrisTNG: Massive Extended Galaxies at z=2 Quench Later Than Normal-size Galaxies
• DESI Massive Post-Starburst Galaxies at $\mathbf{z}\sim 1.2$ have compact structures and dense cores
• Self-regulated growth of galaxy sizes along the star-forming main sequence
• Euclid Quick Data Release (Q1). A probabilistic classification of quenched galaxies
• Transforming galaxies with EASE: widespread structural changes enabled by short-lived spirals

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Reconstructing the Assembly of Massive Galaxies. III: Quiescent Galaxies Loose Angular Momentum as They Evolve in a Mass-dependent Fashion