More Like this

1. The MASSIVE survey – XVIII. Deep wide-field K -band photometry and local scaling relations for massive early-type galaxies

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty1649  

   Quenneville, Matthew E; Blakeslee, John P; Ma, Chung-Pei; Greene, Jenny E; Gwyn, Stephen_D J; Ciccone, Stephanie; Nyiri, Blanka (October 2023, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT We present wide-field, deep K-band photometry of 98 luminous early-type galaxies (ETGs) from the MASSIVE survey based on observations taken with the WIRCam instrument on the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope. Using these images, we extract accurate total K-band luminosities (LK) and half-light radii (Re) for this sample of galaxies. We use these new values to explore the size–luminosity and Faber–Jackson relations for massive ETGs. Within this volume-limited sample, we find clear evidence for curvature in both relations, indicating that the most luminous galaxies tend to have larger sizes and smaller velocity dispersions than expected from a simple power-law fit to less luminous galaxies. Our measured relations are qualitatively consistent with the most massive elliptical galaxies forming largely through dissipationless mergers. When the sample is separated into fast and slow rotators, we find the slow rotators to exhibit similar changes in slope with increasing LK, suggesting that low-mass and high-mass slow rotators have different formation histories. The curvatures in the Re–LK and σ–LK relations cancel, leading to a relation between dynamical mass and luminosity that is well described by a single power law: Reσ2 ∝ LKb with b ≈ 1.2. This is consistent with the tilt of the fundamental plane observed in lower mass elliptical galaxies. 

   more » « less
2. Massive Quenched Galaxies at z ∼ 0.7 Retain Large Molecular Gas Reservoirs

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aa85dc  

   Suess, Katherine A.; Bezanson, Rachel; Spilker, Justin S.; Kriek, Mariska; Greene, Jenny E.; Feldmann, Robert; Hunt, Qiana; Narayanan, Desika (September 2017, The Astrophysical Journal)
3. Mapping gas around massive galaxies: cross-correlation of DES Y3 galaxies and Compton- y maps from SPT and Planck

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad1167  

   Sánchez, J.; Omori, Y.; Chang, C.; Bleem, L_E; Crawford, T.; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Raghunathan, S.; Zacharegkas, G.; Abbott, T_M_C; Aguena, M.; et al (April 2023, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT We cross-correlate positions of galaxies measured in data from the first three years of the Dark Energy Survey with Compton-y maps generated using data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and the Planck mission. We model this cross-correlation measurement together with the galaxy autocorrelation to constrain the distribution of gas in the Universe. We measure the hydrostatic mass bias or, equivalently, the mean halo bias-weighted electron pressure 〈bhPe 〉, using large-scale information. We find 〈bhPe 〉 to be $$[0.16^{+0.03}_{-0.04},0.28^{+0.04}_{-0.05},0.45^{+0.06}_{-0.10},0.54^{+0.08}_{-0.07},0.61^{+0.08}_{-0.06},0.63^{+0.07}_{-0.08}]$$ meV cm−3 at redshifts z ∼ [0.30, 0.46, 0.62, 0.77, 0.89, 0.97]. These values are consistent with previous work where measurements exist in the redshift range. We also constrain the mean gas profile using small-scale information, enabled by the high-resolution of the SPT data. We compare our measurements to different parametrized profiles based on the cosmo-OWLS hydrodynamical simulations. We find that our data are consistent with the simulation that assumes an AGN heating temperature of 108.5 K but are incompatible with the model that assumes an AGN heating temperature of 108.0 K. These comparisons indicate that the data prefer a higher value of electron pressure than the simulations within r500c of the galaxies’ haloes. 

   more » « less
4. Early galaxies and early dark energy: a unified solution to the hubble tension and puzzles of massive bright galaxies revealed by JWST

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae1932  

   Shen, Xuejian; Vogelsberger, Mark; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael; Tacchella, Sandro; Naidu, Rohan_P (September 2024, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT JWST has revealed a large population of UV-bright galaxies at $$z\gtrsim 10$$ and possibly overly massive galaxies at $$z\gtrsim 7$$, challenging standard galaxy formation models in the ΛCDM cosmology. We use an empirical galaxy formation model to explore the potential of alleviating these tensions through an Early Dark Energy (EDE) model, originally proposed to solve the Hubble tension. Our benchmark model demonstrates excellent agreement with the UV luminosity functions (UVLFs) at $$4\lesssim z \lesssim 10$$ in both ΛCDM and EDE cosmologies. In the EDE cosmology, the UVLF measurements at $$z\simeq 12$$ based on spectroscopically confirmed galaxies (eight galaxies at $$z\simeq 11\!-\!13.5$$) exhibit no tension with the benchmark model. Photometric constraints at $$12 \lesssim z\lesssim 16$$ can be fully explained within EDE via either moderately increased star-formation efficiencies ($$\epsilon _{\ast}\sim 3\!-\!10\ \hbox{per cent}$$ at $$M_{\rm halo}\sim 10^{10.5}{\, \rm M_\odot }$$) or enhanced UV variabilities ($$\sigma _{\rm UV}\sim 0.8\!-\!1.3$$ mag at $$M_{\rm halo}\sim 10^{10.5}{\, \rm M_\odot }$$) that are within the scatter of hydrodynamical simulation predictions. A similar agreement is difficult to achieve in $$\Lambda$$CDM, especially at $$z\gtrsim 14$$, where the required $$\sigma _{\rm UV}$$ exceeds the maximum value seen in simulations. Furthermore, the implausibly large cosmic stellar mass densities inferred from some JWST observations are no longer in tension with cosmology when the EDE is considered. Our findings highlight EDE as an intriguing unified solution to a fundamental problem in cosmology and the recent tensions raised by JWST observations. Data at the highest redshifts reached by JWST will be crucial for differentiating modified galaxy formation physics from new cosmological physics. 

   more » « less
5. The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey. VII. The Environments and Properties of Radio Galaxies in Clusters at z ∼ 1

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab5af0  

   Moravec, Emily; Gonzalez, Anthony H.; Stern, Daniel; Clarke, Tracy; Brodwin, Mark; Decker, Bandon; Eisenhardt, Peter R.; Mo, Wenli; Pope, Alexandra; Stanford, Spencer A.; et al (January 2020, The Astrophysical Journal)