期刊
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
卷 730, 期 1, 页码 -出版社
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/730/1/38
关键词
cosmology: observations; galaxies: evolution; galaxies: formation
We investigate the stellar structure of massive, quiescent galaxies at z similar to 2, based on Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3 imaging from the Early Release Science program. Our sample of 14 galaxies has stellar masses of M-* > 10(10.8) M-circle dot and photometric redshifts of 1.5 < z < 2.5. In agreement with previous work, their half-light radii are < 2 kpc, much smaller than equally massive galaxies in the present-day universe. A significant subset of the sample appears highly flattened in projection, which implies, considering viewing angle statistics, that a significant fraction of the galaxies in our sample have pronounced disks. This is corroborated by two-dimensional surface brightness profile fits. We estimate that 65% +/- 15% of the population of massive, quiescent z similar to 2 galaxies are disk dominated. The median disk scale length is 1.5 kpc, substantially smaller than the disks of equally massive galaxies in the present-day universe. Our results provide strong observational evidence that the much-discussed ultra-dense high-redshift galaxies should generally be thought of as disk-like stellar systems with the majority of stars formed from gas that had time to settle into a disk.
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