Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Series

Astrophysics and Astronomy

2018

Faculty Scholarship

Articles 1 - 23 of 23

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Studying Galaxy Troughs And Ridges Using Weak Gravitational Lensing With The Kilo-Degree Survey, Margot M. Brouwer, Vasiliy Demchenko, Joachim Harnois-Déraps, Maciej Bilicki, Catherine Heymans, Henk Hoekstra, Konrad Kuijken, Mehmet Alpaslan, Sarah Brough, Yan Chuan Cai, Marcus V. Costa-Duarte, Andrej Dvornik, Thomas Erben, Hendrik Hildebrandt, Benne W. Holwerda, Peter Schneider, Cristóbal Sifón, Edo Van Uitert Dec 2018

Studying Galaxy Troughs And Ridges Using Weak Gravitational Lensing With The Kilo-Degree Survey, Margot M. Brouwer, Vasiliy Demchenko, Joachim Harnois-Déraps, Maciej Bilicki, Catherine Heymans, Henk Hoekstra, Konrad Kuijken, Mehmet Alpaslan, Sarah Brough, Yan Chuan Cai, Marcus V. Costa-Duarte, Andrej Dvornik, Thomas Erben, Hendrik Hildebrandt, Benne W. Holwerda, Peter Schneider, Cristóbal Sifón, Edo Van Uitert

Faculty Scholarship

We study projected underdensities in the cosmic galaxy density field known as 'troughs', and their overdense counterparts, which we call 'ridges'. We identify these regions using a bright sample of foreground galaxies from the photometric Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS), specifically selected to mimic the spectroscopic Galaxy And Mass Assembly survey. Using background galaxies from KiDS, we measure the weak gravitational lensing profiles of the troughs/ridges. We quantify the amplitude of their lensing strength A as a function of galaxy density percentile rank P and galaxy overdensity δ, and find that the skewness in the galaxy density distribution is reflected in the …

Go to article

Substellar And Low-Mass Dwarf Identification With Near-Infrared Imaging Space Observatories, Benne W. Holwerda, J. S. Bridge, R. Ryan, M. A. Kenworthy, N. Pirzkal, M. Andersen, S. Wilkins, R. Smit, S. R. Bernard, T. Meshkat, R. Steele, R. C. Bouwens Dec 2018

Substellar And Low-Mass Dwarf Identification With Near-Infrared Imaging Space Observatories, Benne W. Holwerda, J. S. Bridge, R. Ryan, M. A. Kenworthy, N. Pirzkal, M. Andersen, S. Wilkins, R. Smit, S. R. Bernard, T. Meshkat, R. Steele, R. C. Bouwens

Faculty Scholarship

Aims. We aim to evaluate the near-infrared colors of brown dwarfs as observed with four major infrared imaging space observatories: the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the Euclid mission, and the WFIRST telescope. Methods. We used the SPLAT SPEX/ISPEX spectroscopic library to map out the colors of the M-, L-, and T-type dwarfs. We have identified which color-color combination is optimal for identifying broad type and which single color is optimal to then identify the subtype (e.g., T0-9). We evaluated each observatory separately as well as the narrow-field (HST and JWST) and wide-field (Euclid and …

Go to article

The Causes Of The Red Sequence, The Blue Cloud, The Green Valley, And The Green Mountain, Stephen A. Eales, Maarten Baes, Nathan Bourne, Malcolm Bremer, Michael J.I. Brown, Christopher Clark, David Clements, Pieter De Vis, Simon Driver, Loretta Dunne, Simon Dye, Cristina Furlanetto, Benne W. Holwerda, R. J. Ivison, L. S. Kelvin, Maritza Lara-Lopez, Lerothodi Leeuw, Jon Loveday, Steve Maddox, Michal J. Michalowski, Steven Phillipps, Aaron Robotham, Dan Smith, Matthew Smith, Elisabetta Valiante, Paul Van Der Werf, Angus Wright Nov 2018

The Causes Of The Red Sequence, The Blue Cloud, The Green Valley, And The Green Mountain, Stephen A. Eales, Maarten Baes, Nathan Bourne, Malcolm Bremer, Michael J.I. Brown, Christopher Clark, David Clements, Pieter De Vis, Simon Driver, Loretta Dunne, Simon Dye, Cristina Furlanetto, Benne W. Holwerda, R. J. Ivison, L. S. Kelvin, Maritza Lara-Lopez, Lerothodi Leeuw, Jon Loveday, Steve Maddox, Michal J. Michalowski, Steven Phillipps, Aaron Robotham, Dan Smith, Matthew Smith, Elisabetta Valiante, Paul Van Der Werf, Angus Wright

Faculty Scholarship

The galaxies found in optical surveys fall in two distinct regions of a diagram of optical colour versus absolute magnitude: the red sequence and the blue cloud, with the green valley in between. We show that the galaxies found in a submillimetre survey have almost the opposite distribution in this diagram, forming a 'green mountain'. We show that these distinctive distributions follow naturally from a single, continuous, curved Galaxy Sequence in a diagram of specific star formation rate versus stellar mass, without there being the need for a separate star-forming galaxy main sequence and region of passive galaxies. The cause …

Go to article

The Bright-End Galaxy Candidates At Z ∼ 9 From 79 Independent Hst Fields, T. Morishita, M. Trenti, M. Stiavelli, L. D. Bradley, D. Coe, P. A. Oesch, C. A. Mason, J. S. Bridge, Benne W. Holwerda, R. C. Livermore, B. Salmon, K. B. Schmidt, J. M. Shull, T. Treu Nov 2018

The Bright-End Galaxy Candidates At Z ∼ 9 From 79 Independent Hst Fields, T. Morishita, M. Trenti, M. Stiavelli, L. D. Bradley, D. Coe, P. A. Oesch, C. A. Mason, J. S. Bridge, Benne W. Holwerda, R. C. Livermore, B. Salmon, K. B. Schmidt, J. M. Shull, T. Treu

Faculty Scholarship

We present a full data analysis of the pure-parallel Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging observations in the Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies Survey (BoRG[z9]) in Cycle 22. The medium-deep exposures with five HST/WFC3IR+UVIS filter bands from 79 independent sightlines (∼370 arcmin2) provide the least biased determination of number density for z 9 bright galaxies against cosmic variance. After a strict two-step selection for candidate galaxies, including dropout color and photometric redshift analyses, and revision of previous BoRG candidates, we identify one source at z ∼ 10 and two sources at z ∼ 9. The z ∼ 10 candidate shows evidence of …

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Accurate Number Densities And Environments Of Massive Ultra-Compact Galaxies At 0.02 < Z < 0.3, F. Buitrago, I. Ferreras, L. S. Kelvin, I. K. Baldry, L. Davies, J. Angthopo, S. Khochfar, A. M. Hopkins, S. P. Driver, S. Brough, J. Sabater, C. J. Conselice, J. Liske, Benne W. Holwerda, M. N. Bremer, S. Phillipps, A. R. López-Sánchez, A. W. Graham Nov 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Accurate Number Densities And Environments Of Massive Ultra-Compact Galaxies At 0.02 < Z < 0.3, F. Buitrago, I. Ferreras, L. S. Kelvin, I. K. Baldry, L. Davies, J. Angthopo, S. Khochfar, A. M. Hopkins, S. P. Driver, S. Brough, J. Sabater, C. J. Conselice, J. Liske, Benne W. Holwerda, M. N. Bremer, S. Phillipps, A. R. López-Sánchez, A. W. Graham

Faculty Scholarship

Context. Massive ultra-compact galaxies (MUGs) are common at z = 2-3, but very rare in the nearby Universe. Simulations predict that the few surviving MUGs should reside in galaxy clusters, whose large relative velocities prevent them from merging, thus maintaining their original properties (namely stellar populations, masses, sizes and dynamical state). Aims. Our goal is to obtain a complete census of the MUG population at 0.02 < z < 0.3, determining the number density, population properties and environment. Methods. We have taken advantage of the high-completeness, large-area spectroscopic GAMA survey, complementing it with deeper imaging from the KiDS and VIKING surveys. We find a set of 22 bona-fide MUGs, defined as having high stellar mass (> 8 × 1010 M™) and compact size (Re < 2 kpc). An additional set of seven lower-mass objects (6 × 1010 < Ma/M™ < 8 × 1010) are also potential candidates according to typical mass uncertainties. Results. The comoving number density of MUGs at low redshift (z < 0.3) is constrained at (1.0 ± 0.4)×10-6 Mpc-3, consistent with galaxy evolution models. However, we find a mixed distribution of old and young galaxies, with a quarter of the sample representing (old) relics. MUGs have a predominantly early or swollen disk morphology (Sérsic index 1 < n < 2.5) with high stellar surface densities (â Σea ∼1010 M™ Kpc-2). Interestingly, a large fraction feature close companions- A t least in projection-suggesting that many (but not all) reside in the central regions of groups. Halo masses show these galaxies inhabit average-mass groups. Conclusions. As MUGs are found to be almost equally distributed among environments of different masses, their relative fraction is higher in more massive overdensities, matching the expectations that some of these galaxies fell in these regions at early times. However, there must be another channel leading some of these galaxies to an abnormally low merger history because our sample shows a number of objects that do not inhabit particularly dense environments.

Go to article

Deep Extragalactic Visible Legacy Survey (Devils): Motivation, Design, And Target Catalogue, L. J.M. Davies, A. S.G. Robotham, S. P. Driver, C. P. Lagos, L. Cortese, E. Mannering, C. Foster, C. Lidman, A. Hashemizadeh, S. Koushan, S. O'Toole, I. K. Baldry, M. Bilicki, J. Bland-Hawthorn, M. N. Bremer, M. J.I. Brown, J. J. Bryant, B. Catinella, S. M. Croom, M. W. Grootes, Benne W. Holwerda, M. J. Jarvis, N. Maddox, M. Meyer, A. J. Moffett, S. Phillipps, E. N. Taylor, R. A. Windhorst, C. Wolf Oct 2018

Deep Extragalactic Visible Legacy Survey (Devils): Motivation, Design, And Target Catalogue, L. J.M. Davies, A. S.G. Robotham, S. P. Driver, C. P. Lagos, L. Cortese, E. Mannering, C. Foster, C. Lidman, A. Hashemizadeh, S. Koushan, S. O'Toole, I. K. Baldry, M. Bilicki, J. Bland-Hawthorn, M. N. Bremer, M. J.I. Brown, J. J. Bryant, B. Catinella, S. M. Croom, M. W. Grootes, Benne W. Holwerda, M. J. Jarvis, N. Maddox, M. Meyer, A. J. Moffett, S. Phillipps, E. N. Taylor, R. A. Windhorst, C. Wolf

Faculty Scholarship

The Deep Extragalactic VIsible Legacy Survey (DEVILS) is a large spectroscopic campaign at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) aimed at bridging the near and distant Universe by producing the highest completeness survey of galaxies and groups at intermediate redshifts (0.3 < z < 1.0). Our sample consists of ~60 000 galaxies to Y < 21.2mag, over ~6 deg2 in threewell-studied deep extragalactic fields (Cosmic Origins Survey field, COSMOS; Extended Chandra Deep Field South, ECDFS; and the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission Large-Scale Structure region, XMM-LSS - all Large Synoptic Survey Telescope deep-drill fields). This paper presents the broad experimental design of DEVILS. Our target sample has been selected from deep Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) Y-band imaging (VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations, VIDEO and UltraVISTA), with photometry measured by PROFOUND. Photometric star/galaxy separation is done on the basis of near-infrared colours and has been validated by visual inspection. To maximize our observing efficiency for faint targets, we employ a redshift feedback strategy, which continually updates our target lists, feeding back the results from the previous night's observations. We also present an overview of the initial spectroscopic observations undertaken in late 2017 and early 2018.

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): The Environmental Dependence Of The Galaxy Main Sequence, L. Wang, P. Norberg, S. Brough, M. J.I. Brown, E. Da Cunha, L. J. Davies, S. P. Driver, Benne W. Holwerda, A. M. Hopkins, M. A. Lara-Lopez, J. Liske, J. Loveday, M. W. Grootes, C. C. Popescu, A. H. Wright Oct 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): The Environmental Dependence Of The Galaxy Main Sequence, L. Wang, P. Norberg, S. Brough, M. J.I. Brown, E. Da Cunha, L. J. Davies, S. P. Driver, Benne W. Holwerda, A. M. Hopkins, M. A. Lara-Lopez, J. Liske, J. Loveday, M. W. Grootes, C. C. Popescu, A. H. Wright

Faculty Scholarship

Aims: We aim to investigate if the environment (characterised by the host dark matter halo mass) plays any role in shaping the galaxy star formation main sequence (MS). Methods: The Galaxy and Mass Assembly project (GAMA) combines a spectroscopic survey with photometric information in 21 bands from the far-ultraviolet (FUV) to the far-infrared (FIR). Stellar masses and dust-corrected star-formation rates (SFR) are derived from spectral energy distribution (SED) modelling using MAGPHYS. We use the GAMA galaxy group catalogue to examine the variation of the fraction of star-forming galaxies (SFG) and properties of the MS with respect to the environment. Results: …

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): The Signatures Of Galaxy Interactions As Viewed From Small-Scale Galaxy Clustering, M. L.P. Gunawardhana, P. Norberg, I. Zehavi, D. J. Farrow, J. Loveday, A. M. Hopkins, L. J.M. Davies, L. Wang, M. Alpaslan, J. Bland-Hawthorn, S. Brough, Benne W. Holwerda, M. S. Owers, A. H. Wright Sep 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): The Signatures Of Galaxy Interactions As Viewed From Small-Scale Galaxy Clustering, M. L.P. Gunawardhana, P. Norberg, I. Zehavi, D. J. Farrow, J. Loveday, A. M. Hopkins, L. J.M. Davies, L. Wang, M. Alpaslan, J. Bland-Hawthorn, S. Brough, Benne W. Holwerda, M. S. Owers, A. H. Wright

Faculty Scholarship

Statistical studies of galaxy-galaxy interactions often utilize net change in physical properties of progenitors as a function of the separation between their nuclei to trace both the strength and the observable time-scale of their interaction. In this study, we use two-point auto-, cross-, and mark-correlation functions to investigate the extent to which small-scale clustering properties of star-forming galaxies can be used to gain physical insight into galaxy-galaxy interactions between galaxies of similar optical brightness and stellar mass. The Ha star formers, drawn from the highly spatially complete Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, show an increase in clustering at small …

Go to article

Hst Follow-Up Observations Of Two Bright Z ∼ 8 Candidate Galaxies From The Borg Pure-Parallel Survey, R. C. Livermore, M. Trenti, L. D. Bradley, S. R. Bernard, Benne W. Holwerda, C. A. Mason, T. Treu Jul 2018

Hst Follow-Up Observations Of Two Bright Z ∼ 8 Candidate Galaxies From The Borg Pure-Parallel Survey, R. C. Livermore, M. Trenti, L. D. Bradley, S. R. Bernard, Benne W. Holwerda, C. A. Mason, T. Treu

Faculty Scholarship

We present follow-up imaging of two bright (L > L∗) galaxy candidates at z ≳ 8 from the Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies (BoRG) survey with the F098M filter on the Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 (HST/WFC3). The F098M filter provides an additional constraint on the flux blueward of the spectral break, and the observations are designed to discriminate between low- and high-z photometric redshift solutions for these galaxies. Our results confirm one galaxy, BoRG-0116+1425-747, as a highly probable z ∼ 8 source, but reveal that BoRG-0116+1425-630 - previously the brightest known z > 8 candidate (m AB = 24.5) - is …

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Variation In Galaxy Structure Across The Green Valley, Lee S. Kelvin, Malcolm N. Bremer, Steven Phillipps, Philip A. James, Luke J.M. Davies, Roberto De Propris, Amanda J. Moffett, Susan M. Percival, Ivan K. Baldry, Chris A. Collins, Mehmet Alpaslan, Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Sarah Brough, Michelle Cluver, Simon P. Driver, Abdolhosein Hashemizadeh, Benne W. Holwerda, Jarkko Laine, Maritza A. Lara-Lopez, Jochen Liske, Witold Maciejewski, Nicola R. Napolitano, Samantha J. Penny, Cristina C. Popescu, Anne E. Sansom, Will Sutherland, Edward N. Taylor, Eelco Van Kampen, Lingyu Wang Jul 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Variation In Galaxy Structure Across The Green Valley, Lee S. Kelvin, Malcolm N. Bremer, Steven Phillipps, Philip A. James, Luke J.M. Davies, Roberto De Propris, Amanda J. Moffett, Susan M. Percival, Ivan K. Baldry, Chris A. Collins, Mehmet Alpaslan, Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Sarah Brough, Michelle Cluver, Simon P. Driver, Abdolhosein Hashemizadeh, Benne W. Holwerda, Jarkko Laine, Maritza A. Lara-Lopez, Jochen Liske, Witold Maciejewski, Nicola R. Napolitano, Samantha J. Penny, Cristina C. Popescu, Anne E. Sansom, Will Sutherland, Edward N. Taylor, Eelco Van Kampen, Lingyu Wang

Faculty Scholarship

Using a sample of 472 local Universe (z < 0.06) galaxies in the stellar mass range 10.25 < logM*/M⊙ < 10.75, we explore the variation in galaxy structure as a function of morphology and galaxy colour. Our sample of galaxies is subdivided into red, green, and blue colour groups and into elliptical and non-elliptical (disk-type) morphologies. Using Kilo- Degree Survey (KiDS) and Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) Kilo-Degree Infrared Galaxy Survey (VIKING) derived postage stamp images, a group of eight volunteers visually classified bars, rings, morphological lenses, tidal streams, shells, and signs of merger activity for all systems. We find a significant surplus of rings (2.3s) and lenses (2.9s) in disk-type galaxies as they transition across the green valley. Combined, this implies a joint ring/lens green valley surplus significance of 3.3s relative to equivalent disk-types within either the blue cloud or the red sequence. We recover a bar fraction of ~44 per cent which remains flat with colour, however, we find that the presence of a bar acts to modulate the incidence of rings and (to a lesser extent) lenses, with rings in barred disk-type galaxies more common by ~20-30 percentage points relative to their unbarred counterparts, regardless of colour. Additionally, green valley disk-type galaxies with a bar exhibit a significant 3.0s surplus of lenses relative to their blue/red analogues. The existence of such structures rules out violent transformative events as the primary end-of-life evolutionary mechanism, with a more passive scenario the favoured candidate for the majority of galaxies rapidly transitioning across the green valley.

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Gas Fuelling Of Spiral Galaxies In The Local Universe Ii. - Direct Measurement Of The Dependencies On Redshift And Host Halo Mass Of Stellar Mass Growth In Central Disc Galaxies, M. W. Grootes, A. Dvornik, R. J. Laureijs, R. J. Tuffs, C. C. Popescu, A. S.G. Robotham, J. Liske, M. J.I. Brown, Benne W. Holwerda, L. Wang Jun 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Gas Fuelling Of Spiral Galaxies In The Local Universe Ii. - Direct Measurement Of The Dependencies On Redshift And Host Halo Mass Of Stellar Mass Growth In Central Disc Galaxies, M. W. Grootes, A. Dvornik, R. J. Laureijs, R. J. Tuffs, C. C. Popescu, A. S.G. Robotham, J. Liske, M. J.I. Brown, Benne W. Holwerda, L. Wang

Faculty Scholarship

We present a detailed analysis of the specific star formation rate-stellar mass (sSFR-M*) of z ≤ 0.13 disc central galaxies using a morphologically selected mass-complete sample (M* ≥ 109.5M⊙). Considering samples of grouped and ungrouped galaxies, we find the sSFR-M* relations of disc-dominated central galaxies to have no detectable dependence on host dark-matter halo (DMH) mass, even where weak-lensing measurements indicate a difference in halo mass of a factor ≳ 5.We further detect a gradual evolution of the sSFR-M* relation of non-grouped (field) central disc galaxies with redshift, even over a Δz ≈ 0.04 (≈5 × 108 yr) interval, while …

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Morphological Transformation Of Galaxies Across The Green Valley, M. N. Bremer, S. Phillipps, S. Kelvin, R. De Propris, Rebecca Kennedy, Amanda J. Moffett, S. Bamford, L. J.M. Davies, S. P. Driver, B. Häußler, Benne W. Holwerda, A. Hopkins, P. A. James, J. Liske, S. Percival, N. Taylor May 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Morphological Transformation Of Galaxies Across The Green Valley, M. N. Bremer, S. Phillipps, S. Kelvin, R. De Propris, Rebecca Kennedy, Amanda J. Moffett, S. Bamford, L. J.M. Davies, S. P. Driver, B. Häußler, Benne W. Holwerda, A. Hopkins, P. A. James, J. Liske, S. Percival, N. Taylor

Faculty Scholarship

We explore constraints on the joint photometric and morphological evolution of typical low redshift galaxies as they move from the blue cloud through the green valley and on to the red sequence. We select Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey galaxies with 10.25 < log(M*/Mo˙) < 10.75 and z < 0.2 classified according to their intrinsic u* - r* colour. From single component Śersic fits, we find that the stellar mass-sensitive K-band profiles of red and green galaxy populations are very similar while g-band profiles indicate more disc-like morphologies for the green galaxies: apparent (optical) morphological differences arise primarily from radial mass-to-light ratio variations. Two-component fits show that most green galaxies have significant bulge and disc components and that the blue to red evolution is driven by colour change in the disc. Together, these strongly suggest that galaxies evolve from blue to red through secular disc fading and that a strong bulge is present prior to any decline in star formation. The relative abundance of the green population implies a typical time-scale for traversing the green valley ~1-2 Gyr and is independent of environment, unlike that of the red and blue populations. While environment likely plays a role in triggering the passage across the green valley, it appears to have little effect on time taken. These results are consistent with a green valley population dominated by (early type) disc galaxies that are insufficiently supplied with gas to maintain previous levels of disc star formation, eventually attaining passive colours. No single event is needed to quench their star formation.

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Impact Of The Group Environment On Galaxy Star Formation, S. Barsanti, M. S. Owers, S. Brough, L. J.M. Davies, S. P. Driver, M. L.P. Gunawardhana, Benne W. Holwerda, J. Liske, J. Loveday, K. A. Pimbblet, A. S.G. Robotham, E. N. Taylor Apr 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Impact Of The Group Environment On Galaxy Star Formation, S. Barsanti, M. S. Owers, S. Brough, L. J.M. Davies, S. P. Driver, M. L.P. Gunawardhana, Benne W. Holwerda, J. Liske, J. Loveday, K. A. Pimbblet, A. S.G. Robotham, E. N. Taylor

Faculty Scholarship

We explore how the group environment may affect the evolution of star-forming galaxies. We select 1197 Galaxy And Mass Assembly groups at 0.05 ≤ z ≤ 0.2 and analyze the projected phase space (PPS) diagram, i.e., the galaxy velocity as a function of projected group-centric radius, as a local environmental metric in the low-mass halo regime 1012 ≤ (M 200/M o) < 1014. We study the properties of star-forming group galaxies, exploring the correlation of star formation rate (SFR) with radial distance and stellar mass. We find that the fraction of star-forming group members is higher in the PPS regions dominated by recently accreted galaxies, whereas passive galaxies dominate the virialized regions. We observe a small decline in specific SFR of star-forming galaxies toward the group center by a factor ∼1.2 with respect to field galaxies. Similar to cluster studies, we conclude for low-mass halos that star-forming group galaxies represent an infalling population from the field to the halo and show suppressed star formation.

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): The Effect Of Galaxy Group Environment On Active Galactic Nuclei, Yjan A. Gordon, Kevin A. Pimbblet, Matt S. Owers, Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Sarah Brough, Michael J.I. Brown, Michelle E. Cluver, Scott M. Croom, Benne W. Holwerda, Jonathan Loveday, Smriti Mahajan, Lingyu Wang Apr 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): The Effect Of Galaxy Group Environment On Active Galactic Nuclei, Yjan A. Gordon, Kevin A. Pimbblet, Matt S. Owers, Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Sarah Brough, Michael J.I. Brown, Michelle E. Cluver, Scott M. Croom, Benne W. Holwerda, Jonathan Loveday, Smriti Mahajan, Lingyu Wang

Faculty Scholarship

In galaxy clusters, efficiently accreting active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are preferentially located in the infall regions of the cluster projected phase-space, and are rarely found in the cluster core. This has been attributed to both an increase in triggering opportunities for infalling galaxies, and a reduction of those mechanisms in the hot, virialized, cluster core. Exploiting the depth and completeness (98 per cent at r < 19.8mag) of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly survey (GAMA), we probe down the group halo mass function to assess whether AGNs are found in the same regions in groups as they are in clusters. We select 451 optical AGNs from 7498 galaxies with log10(M*/M⊙) > 9.9 in 695 groups with 11.53 ≤ log10(M200/M⊙) ≤ 14.56 at < 0.15. By analysing the projected phase-space positions of these galaxies, we demonstrate that when split both radially, and into physically derived infalling and core populations, AGN position within group projected phase-space is dependent on halo mass. For groups with log10(M200/M⊙) > 13.5,AGNs are preferentially found in the infalling galaxy populationwith 3.6s confidence. At lower halo masses, we observe no difference in AGN fraction between core …

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Blue Spheroids Within 87 Mpc, Smriti Mahajan, Michael J. Drinkwater, S. Driver, A. M. Hopkins, Alister W. Graham, S. Brough, Michael J.I. Brown, Benne W. Holwerda, Matt S. Owers, Kevin A. Pimbblet Mar 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Blue Spheroids Within 87 Mpc, Smriti Mahajan, Michael J. Drinkwater, S. Driver, A. M. Hopkins, Alister W. Graham, S. Brough, Michael J.I. Brown, Benne W. Holwerda, Matt S. Owers, Kevin A. Pimbblet

Faculty Scholarship

In this paper, we test if nearby blue spheroid (BSph) galaxies may become the progenitors of star-forming spiral galaxies or passively evolving elliptical galaxies. Our sample comprises 428 galaxies of various morphologies in the redshift range 0.002 < Ζ < 0.02 (8-87 Mpc) with panchromatic data from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly survey. We find that BSph galaxies are structurally (mean effective surface brightness, effective radius) very similar to their passively evolving red counterparts. However, their star formation and other properties such as colour, age, and metallicity are more like star-forming spirals than spheroids (ellipticals and lenticulars). We show that BSph galaxies are statistically distinguishable from other spheroids as well as spirals in the multidimensional space mapped by luminosity-weighted age, metallicity, dust mass, and specific star formation rate. We use HI data to reveal that some of the BSphs are (further) developing their discs, hence their blue colours. They may eventually become spiral galaxies - if sufficient gas accretion occurs - or more likely fade into low-mass red galaxies.

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly: The G02 Field, Herschel-Atlas Target Selection And Data Release 3, I. K. Baldry, J. Liske, M. J.I. Brown, A. S.G. Robotham, S. P. Driver, L. Dunne, M. Alpaslan, S. Brough, M. E. Cluver, E. Eardley, D. J. Farrow, C. Heymans, H. Hildebrandt, A. M. Hopkins, L. S. Kelvin, J. Loveday, A. J. Moffett, P. Norberg, M. S. Owers, E. N. Taylor, A. H. Wright, S. P. Bamford, J. Bland-Hawthorn, N. Bourne, M. N. Bremer, M. Colless, C. J. Conselice, S. M. Croom, L. J.M. Davies, C. Foster, M. W. Grootes, Benne W. Holwerda, D. H. Jones Mar 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly: The G02 Field, Herschel-Atlas Target Selection And Data Release 3, I. K. Baldry, J. Liske, M. J.I. Brown, A. S.G. Robotham, S. P. Driver, L. Dunne, M. Alpaslan, S. Brough, M. E. Cluver, E. Eardley, D. J. Farrow, C. Heymans, H. Hildebrandt, A. M. Hopkins, L. S. Kelvin, J. Loveday, A. J. Moffett, P. Norberg, M. S. Owers, E. N. Taylor, A. H. Wright, S. P. Bamford, J. Bland-Hawthorn, N. Bourne, M. N. Bremer, M. Colless, C. J. Conselice, S. M. Croom, L. J.M. Davies, C. Foster, M. W. Grootes, Benne W. Holwerda, D. H. Jones

Faculty Scholarship

We describe data release 3 (DR3) of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. The GAMA survey is a spectroscopic redshift and multiwavelength photometric survey in three equatorial regions each of 60.0 deg2 (G09, G12, and G15), and two southern regions of 55.7 deg2 (G02) and 50.6 deg2 (G23). DR3 consists of: the first release of data covering the G02 region and of data on H-ATLAS (Herschel - Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey) sources in the equatorial regions; and updates to data on sources released in DR2. DR3 includes 154 809 sources with secure redshifts across four regions. A subset …

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Small-Scale Anisotropic Galaxy Clustering And The Pairwise Velocity Dispersion Of Galaxies, J. Loveday, L. Christodoulou, P. Norberg, J. A. Peacock, I. K. Baldry, J. Bland-Hawthorn, M. J.I. Brown, M. Colless, S. P. Driver, Benne W. Holwerda, A. M. Hopkins, P. R. Kafle, J. Liske, A. R. Lopez-Sanchez, E. N. Taylor Mar 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): Small-Scale Anisotropic Galaxy Clustering And The Pairwise Velocity Dispersion Of Galaxies, J. Loveday, L. Christodoulou, P. Norberg, J. A. Peacock, I. K. Baldry, J. Bland-Hawthorn, M. J.I. Brown, M. Colless, S. P. Driver, Benne W. Holwerda, A. M. Hopkins, P. R. Kafle, J. Liske, A. R. Lopez-Sanchez, E. N. Taylor

Faculty Scholarship

The galaxy pairwise velocity dispersion (PVD) can provide important tests of non-standard gravity and galaxy formation models. We describe measurements of the PVD of galaxies in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey as a function of projected separation and galaxy luminosity. Due to the faint magnitude limit (r < 19.8) and highly complete spectroscopic sampling of the GAMA survey, we are able to reliably measure the PVD to smaller scales (r⊥ = 0.01 h -1 Mpc) than previous work. The measured PVD at projected separations r⊥ < 1 h -1 Mpc increases near monotonically with increasing luminosity from σ12 ≈ 200 km s-1 at Mr = -17 mag to σ12 ≈ 600 km s-1 at Mr ≈ -22 mag. Analysis of the Gonzalez-Perez et al. (2014) GALFORM semi-analytic model yields no such trend of PVD with luminosity: the model overpredicts the PVD for faint galaxies. This is most likely a result of the model placing too many low-luminosity galaxies in massive haloes.

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly: Automatic Morphological Classification Of Galaxies Using Statistical Learning, Sreevarsha Sreejith, Sergiy Pereverzyev, Lee S. Kelvin, Francine R. Marleau, Markus Haltmeier, Judith Ebner, Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Simon P. Driver, Alister W. Graham, Benne W. Holwerda, Andrew M. Hopkins, Jochen Liske, Jon Loveday, Amanda J. Moffett, Kevin A. Pimbblet, Edward N. Taylor, Lingyu Wang, Angus H. Wright Mar 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly: Automatic Morphological Classification Of Galaxies Using Statistical Learning, Sreevarsha Sreejith, Sergiy Pereverzyev, Lee S. Kelvin, Francine R. Marleau, Markus Haltmeier, Judith Ebner, Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Simon P. Driver, Alister W. Graham, Benne W. Holwerda, Andrew M. Hopkins, Jochen Liske, Jon Loveday, Amanda J. Moffett, Kevin A. Pimbblet, Edward N. Taylor, Lingyu Wang, Angus H. Wright

Faculty Scholarship

We apply four statistical learning methods to a sample of 7941 galaxies (z < 0.06) from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly survey to test the feasibility of using automated algorithms to classify galaxies. Using 10 features measured for each galaxy (sizes, colours, shape parameters, and stellar mass), we apply the techniques of Support Vector Machines, Classification Trees, Classification Trees with Random Forest (CTRF) and Neural Networks, and returning True Prediction Ratios (TPRs) of 75.8 per cent, 69.0 per cent, 76.2 per cent, and 76.0 per cent, respectively. Those occasions whereby all four algorithms agree with each other yet disagree with the visual classification ('unanimous disagreement') serves as a potential indicator of human error in classification, occurring in ~ 9 per cent of ellipticals, ~ 9 per cent of little blue spheroids, ~ 14 per cent of early-type spirals, ~ 21 per cent of intermediate-type spirals, and ~ 4 per cent of late-type spirals and irregulars. We observe that the choice of parameters rather than that of algorithms is more crucial in determining classification accuracy. Due to its simplicity in formulation and implementation, we recommend the CTRF algorithm for classifying future galaxy data sets. Adopting the CTRF algorithm, the TPRs of the five galaxy types are: E, 70.1 per cent; LBS, 75.6 per cent; S0-Sa, 63.6 per cent; Sab-Scd, 56.4 per cent, and Sd-Irr, 88.9 per cent. Further, we train a binary classifier using this CTRF algorithm that divides galaxies into spheroid-dominated (E, LBS, and S0-Sa) and disc-dominated (Sab-Scd and Sd-Irr), achieving an overall accuracy of 89.8 per cent. This translates into an accuracy of 84.9 per cent for spheroid-dominated systems and 92.5 per cent for disc-dominated systems.

Go to article

Rotation In [C Ii]-Emitting Gas In Two Galaxies At A Redshift Of 6.8, Renske Smit, Rychard J. Bouwens, Stefano Carniani, Pascal A. Oesch, Ivo Labbé, Garth D. Illingworth, Paul Van Der Werf, Larry D. Bradley, Valentino Gonzalez, Jacqueline A. Hodge, Benne W. Holwerda, Roberto Maiolino, Wei Zheng Jan 2018

Rotation In [C Ii]-Emitting Gas In Two Galaxies At A Redshift Of 6.8, Renske Smit, Rychard J. Bouwens, Stefano Carniani, Pascal A. Oesch, Ivo Labbé, Garth D. Illingworth, Paul Van Der Werf, Larry D. Bradley, Valentino Gonzalez, Jacqueline A. Hodge, Benne W. Holwerda, Roberto Maiolino, Wei Zheng

Faculty Scholarship

The earliest galaxies are thought to have emerged during the first billion years of cosmic history, initiating the ionization of the neutral hydrogen that pervaded the Universe at this time. Studying this 'epoch of reionization' involves looking for the spectral signatures of ancient galaxies that are, owing to the expansion of the Universe, now very distant from Earth and therefore exhibit large redshifts. However, finding these spectral fingerprints is challenging. One spectral characteristic of ancient and distant galaxies is strong hydrogen-emission lines (known as Lyman-α lines), but the neutral intergalactic medium that was present early in the epoch of reionization …

Go to article

Feasibility Of The Debris Ring Transit Method For The Solar-Like Star Hd 107146 By An Occulted Galaxy, L. Van Sluijs, D. A.J.H. Vaendel, Benne W. Holwerda, M. A. Kenworthy, G. Schneider Jan 2018

Feasibility Of The Debris Ring Transit Method For The Solar-Like Star Hd 107146 By An Occulted Galaxy, L. Van Sluijs, D. A.J.H. Vaendel, Benne W. Holwerda, M. A. Kenworthy, G. Schneider

Faculty Scholarship

Occulting galaxy pairs have been used to determine the transmission and dust composition within the foreground galaxy. Observations of the nearly face-on ring-like debris disc around the solar-like star HD 107146 by HST/ACS in 2004 and HST/STIS in 2011 reveal that the debris ring is occulting an extended background galaxy over the subsequent decades. Our aim is to use 2004 Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of this system to model the galaxy and apply this to the 2011 observation in order to measure the transmission of the galaxy through the outer regions of the debris disc. We model the galaxy …

Go to article

Herschel Observations Of Edge-On Spirals (Heroes) Iv. Dust Energy Balance Problem, Aleksandr V. Mosenkov, Flor Allaert, Maarten Baes, Simone Bianchi, Peter Camps, Christopher J.R. Clark, Marjorie Decleir, Gert De Geyter, Ilse De Looze, Jacopo Fritz, Gianfranco Gentile, Benne W. Holwerda, Thomas M. Hughes, Fraser Lewis, Matthew W.L. Smith, Joris Verstappen, Sam Verstocken, Sébastien Viaene Jan 2018

Herschel Observations Of Edge-On Spirals (Heroes) Iv. Dust Energy Balance Problem, Aleksandr V. Mosenkov, Flor Allaert, Maarten Baes, Simone Bianchi, Peter Camps, Christopher J.R. Clark, Marjorie Decleir, Gert De Geyter, Ilse De Looze, Jacopo Fritz, Gianfranco Gentile, Benne W. Holwerda, Thomas M. Hughes, Fraser Lewis, Matthew W.L. Smith, Joris Verstappen, Sam Verstocken, Sébastien Viaene

Faculty Scholarship

We present results of the detailed dust energy balance study for the seven large edge-on galaxies in the HEROES sample using three-dimensional (3D) radiative transfer (RT) modelling. Based on available optical and near-infrared (NIR) observations of the HEROES galaxies, we derive the 3D distribution of stars and dust in these galaxies. For the sake of uniformity, we apply the same technique to retrieve galaxy properties for the entire sample: we use a stellar model consisting of a Sérsic bulge and three double-exponential discs (a superthin disc for a young stellar population and thin and thick discs for old populations). For …

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): The Consistency Of Gama And Wise Derived Mass-To-Light Ratios, T. Kettlety, J. Hesling, S. Phillipps, M. N. Bremer, M. E. Cluver, E. N. Taylor, J. Bland-Hawthorn, S. Brough, R. De Propris, S. P. Driver, Benne W. Holwerda, L. S. Kelvin, W. Sutherland, A. H. Wright Jan 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): The Consistency Of Gama And Wise Derived Mass-To-Light Ratios, T. Kettlety, J. Hesling, S. Phillipps, M. N. Bremer, M. E. Cluver, E. N. Taylor, J. Bland-Hawthorn, S. Brough, R. De Propris, S. P. Driver, Benne W. Holwerda, L. S. Kelvin, W. Sutherland, A. H. Wright

Faculty Scholarship

Recent work has suggested that mid-IR wavelengths are optimal for estimating the mass-to-light ratios of stellar populations and hence the stellar masses of galaxies. We compare stellar masses deduced from spectral energy distribution (SED) models, fitted to multiwavelength optical-NIR photometry, to luminosities derived from WISE photometry in the W1 and W2 bands at 3.6 and 4.5 μmfor non-star forming galaxies. The SED-derived masses for a carefully selected sample of low-redshift (z≤0.15) passive galaxies agree with the prediction from stellar population synthesis models such that M*/LW1 ≃0.6 for all such galaxies, independent of other stellar population parameters. The small scatter between …

Go to article

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): The Mechanisms For Quiescent Galaxy Formation At Z < 1, K. Rowlands, V. Wild, N. Bourne, M. Bremer, S. Brough, S. P. Driver, A. M. Hopkins, M. S. Owers, S. Phillipps, K. Pimbblet, A. E. Sansom, L. Wang, M. Alpaslan, J. Bland-Hawthorn, M. Colless, Benne W. Holwerda, E. N. Taylor Jan 2018

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (Gama): The Mechanisms For Quiescent Galaxy Formation At Z < 1, K. Rowlands, V. Wild, N. Bourne, M. Bremer, S. Brough, S. P. Driver, A. M. Hopkins, M. S. Owers, S. Phillipps, K. Pimbblet, A. E. Sansom, L. Wang, M. Alpaslan, J. Bland-Hawthorn, M. Colless, Benne W. Holwerda, E. N. Taylor

Faculty Scholarship

One key problem in astrophysics is understanding how and why galaxies switch off their star formation, building the quiescent population that we observe in the local Universe. From the Galaxy And Mass Assembly and VIsible MultiObject Spectrograph Public Extragalactic Redshift surveys, we use spectroscopic indices to select quiescent and candidate transition galaxies. We identify potentially rapidly transitioning post-starburst (PSB) galaxies and slower transitioning green-valley galaxies. Over the last 8Gyr, the quiescent population has grown more slowly in number density at high masses (M* > 1011M⊙) than at intermediate masses (M* > 1010.6M⊙). There is evolution in both the PSB and green-valley stellar …

Go to article