The Radial Distribution of Star Formation in Galaxies at z  1 from the 3D-HST Survey

E. J. Nelson; P. G. van Dokkum; I. Momcheva; G. Brammer; B. Lundgren; R. E. Skelton; K. E. Whitaker; E. Da Cunha; N. Förster Schreiber; M. Franx; M. Fumagalli; M. Kriek; I. Labbe; J. Leja; S. Patel; H.-W. Rix; K. B. Schmidt; A. van der Wel; S. Wuyts

doi:10.1088/2041-8205/763/1/L16

The Radial Distribution of Star Formation in Galaxies at z 1 from the 3D-HST Survey

E. J. Nelson, P. G. van Dokkum, I. Momcheva, G. Brammer, B. Lundgren, R. E. Skelton, K. E. Whitaker, E. Da Cunha, N. Förster Schreiber, M. Franx, M. Fumagalli, M. Kriek, I. Labbe, J. Leja, S. Patel, H.-W. Rix, K. B. Schmidt, A. van der Wel, S. Wuyts

Department of Physics

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Abstract

The assembly of galaxies can be described by the distribution of their star formation as a function of cosmic time. Thanks to the WFC3 grism on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) it is now possible to measure this beyond the local Universe. Here we present the spatial distribution of Hα emission for a sample of 54 strongly star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1 in the 3D-HST Treasury survey. By stacking the Hα emission, we find that star formation occurred in approximately exponential distributions at z ~ 1, with a median Sérsic index of n = 1.0 ± 0.2. The stacks are elongated with median axis ratios of b/a = 0.58 ± 0.09 in Hα consistent with (possibly thick) disks at random orientation angles. Keck spectra obtained for a subset of eight of the galaxies show clear evidence for rotation, with inclination corrected velocities of 90-330 km s–1. The most straightforward interpretation of our results is that star formation in strongly star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1 generally occurred in disks. The disks appear to be "scaled-up" versions of nearby spiral galaxies: they have EW(Hα) ~ 100 Å out to the solar orbit and they have star formation surface densities above the threshold for driving galactic scale winds.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	L16
Number of pages	6
Journal	The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	763
Early online date	4 Jan 2013
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/763/1/L16
Publication status	Published - 20 Jan 2013

Keywords

galaxies: evolution
galaxies: formation
galaxies: high redshift
galaxies: kinematics and dynamics
galaxies: star formation
galaxies: structure

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10.1088/2041-8205/763/1/L16

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Nelson, E. J., van Dokkum, P. G., Momcheva, I., Brammer, G., Lundgren, B., Skelton, R. E., Whitaker, K. E., Da Cunha, E., Förster Schreiber, N., Franx, M., Fumagalli, M., Kriek, M., Labbe, I., Leja, J., Patel, S., Rix, H.-W., Schmidt, K. B., van der Wel, A., & Wuyts, S. (2013). The Radial Distribution of Star Formation in Galaxies at z 1 from the 3D-HST Survey. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 763, L16. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/763/1/L16

Nelson, EJ, van Dokkum, PG, Momcheva, I, Brammer, G, Lundgren, B, Skelton, RE, Whitaker, KE, Da Cunha, E, Förster Schreiber, N, Franx, M, Fumagalli, M, Kriek, M, Labbe, I, Leja, J, Patel, S, Rix, H-W, Schmidt, KB, van der Wel, A & Wuyts, S 2013, 'The Radial Distribution of Star Formation in Galaxies at z 1 from the 3D-HST Survey', The Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 763, pp. L16. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/763/1/L16

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title = "The Radial Distribution of Star Formation in Galaxies at z 1 from the 3D-HST Survey",

abstract = "The assembly of galaxies can be described by the distribution of their star formation as a function of cosmic time. Thanks to the WFC3 grism on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) it is now possible to measure this beyond the local Universe. Here we present the spatial distribution of Hα emission for a sample of 54 strongly star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1 in the 3D-HST Treasury survey. By stacking the Hα emission, we find that star formation occurred in approximately exponential distributions at z ~ 1, with a median S{\'e}rsic index of n = 1.0 ± 0.2. The stacks are elongated with median axis ratios of b/a = 0.58 ± 0.09 in Hα consistent with (possibly thick) disks at random orientation angles. Keck spectra obtained for a subset of eight of the galaxies show clear evidence for rotation, with inclination corrected velocities of 90-330 km s–1. The most straightforward interpretation of our results is that star formation in strongly star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1 generally occurred in disks. The disks appear to be {"}scaled-up{"} versions of nearby spiral galaxies: they have EW(Hα) ~ 100 {\AA} out to the solar orbit and they have star formation surface densities above the threshold for driving galactic scale winds.",

keywords = "galaxies: evolution, galaxies: formation, galaxies: high redshift, galaxies: kinematics and dynamics, galaxies: star formation, galaxies: structure",

author = "Nelson, {E. J.} and {van Dokkum}, {P. G.} and I. Momcheva and G. Brammer and B. Lundgren and Skelton, {R. E.} and Whitaker, {K. E.} and {Da Cunha}, E. and {F{\"o}rster Schreiber}, N. and M. Franx and M. Fumagalli and M. Kriek and I. Labbe and J. Leja and S. Patel and H.-W. Rix and Schmidt, {K. B.} and {van der Wel}, A. and S. Wuyts",

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doi = "10.1088/2041-8205/763/1/L16",

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T1 - The Radial Distribution of Star Formation in Galaxies at z 1 from the 3D-HST Survey

AU - Nelson, E. J.

AU - van Dokkum, P. G.

AU - Momcheva, I.

AU - Brammer, G.

AU - Lundgren, B.

AU - Skelton, R. E.

AU - Whitaker, K. E.

AU - Da Cunha, E.

AU - Förster Schreiber, N.

AU - Franx, M.

AU - Fumagalli, M.

AU - Kriek, M.

AU - Labbe, I.

AU - Leja, J.

AU - Patel, S.

AU - Rix, H.-W.

AU - Schmidt, K. B.

AU - van der Wel, A.

AU - Wuyts, S.

PY - 2013/1/20

Y1 - 2013/1/20

N2 - The assembly of galaxies can be described by the distribution of their star formation as a function of cosmic time. Thanks to the WFC3 grism on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) it is now possible to measure this beyond the local Universe. Here we present the spatial distribution of Hα emission for a sample of 54 strongly star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1 in the 3D-HST Treasury survey. By stacking the Hα emission, we find that star formation occurred in approximately exponential distributions at z ~ 1, with a median Sérsic index of n = 1.0 ± 0.2. The stacks are elongated with median axis ratios of b/a = 0.58 ± 0.09 in Hα consistent with (possibly thick) disks at random orientation angles. Keck spectra obtained for a subset of eight of the galaxies show clear evidence for rotation, with inclination corrected velocities of 90-330 km s–1. The most straightforward interpretation of our results is that star formation in strongly star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1 generally occurred in disks. The disks appear to be "scaled-up" versions of nearby spiral galaxies: they have EW(Hα) ~ 100 Å out to the solar orbit and they have star formation surface densities above the threshold for driving galactic scale winds.

AB - The assembly of galaxies can be described by the distribution of their star formation as a function of cosmic time. Thanks to the WFC3 grism on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) it is now possible to measure this beyond the local Universe. Here we present the spatial distribution of Hα emission for a sample of 54 strongly star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1 in the 3D-HST Treasury survey. By stacking the Hα emission, we find that star formation occurred in approximately exponential distributions at z ~ 1, with a median Sérsic index of n = 1.0 ± 0.2. The stacks are elongated with median axis ratios of b/a = 0.58 ± 0.09 in Hα consistent with (possibly thick) disks at random orientation angles. Keck spectra obtained for a subset of eight of the galaxies show clear evidence for rotation, with inclination corrected velocities of 90-330 km s–1. The most straightforward interpretation of our results is that star formation in strongly star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1 generally occurred in disks. The disks appear to be "scaled-up" versions of nearby spiral galaxies: they have EW(Hα) ~ 100 Å out to the solar orbit and they have star formation surface densities above the threshold for driving galactic scale winds.

KW - galaxies: evolution

KW - galaxies: formation

KW - galaxies: high redshift

KW - galaxies: kinematics and dynamics

KW - galaxies: star formation

KW - galaxies: structure

UR - http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2041-8205/763/1/L16/meta

U2 - 10.1088/2041-8205/763/1/L16

DO - 10.1088/2041-8205/763/1/L16

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-8205

VL - 763

SP - L16

JO - The Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - The Astrophysical Journal Letters

ER -

The Radial Distribution of Star Formation in Galaxies at z 1 from the 3D-HST Survey

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Keywords

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