Exploring the formation and evolution of massive ellipticals with Extremely Red Objects
arXiv:astro-ph/0012057 · doi:10.1007/10854354_15
Abstract
Extremely Red Objects (EROs) provide the important possibility to shed light on the formation and evolution of the present-day massive ellipticals. On one hand, they allow to select z>1 old passively evolving spheroidals and to compare their abundance with the predictions of galaxy formation scenarios. On the other hand, they provide the possibility to find dust obscured starbursts, a fraction of which may trace the formation of proto-ellipticals at z>2. In this paper, the most recent results on EROs are reviewed and the main implications discussed.
5 pages, 1 figure, invited contribution, to appear in the proceedings of the Deep Fields Workshop, Garching, October 2000