The star formation histories of z similar to 1 post-starburst galaxies

Author(s):Show less -

Wild, Vivienne ^[1] ; Aldeen, Laith Taj ^{[1, 2]} ; Carnall, Adam ^[3] ; Maltby, David ^[4] ; Almaini, Omar ^[4] ; Werle, Ariel ^{[5, 6]} ; Wilkinson, Aaron ^{[1, 7]} ; Rowlands, Kate ^[8] ; Bolzonella, Micol ^[9] ; Castellano, Marco ^[10] ; Garguilo, Adriana ^[11] ; McLure, Ross ^[3] ; Pentericci, Laura ^[10] ; Pozzetti, Lucia ^[9]

Affiliation:Show less -

^[1] Univ St Andrews, Sch Phys & Astron, Scottish Univ Phys Alliance SUPA, St Andrews KY16 9SS, Fife - Scotland

^[2] Univ Babylon, Coll Sci, Dept Phys, POB 4, Babylon - Iraq

^[3] Univ Edinburgh, SUPA Inst Astron, Royal Observ, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, Midlothian - Scotland

^[4] Univ Nottingham, Sch Phys & Astron, Nottingham NG7 2RD - England

^[5] Univ Fed Santa Catarina, CFM, Dept Fis, BR-88040900 Florianopolis, SC - Brazil

^[6] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Astron Geofis & Ciencias Atmosfer, R Matao 1226, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[7] Univ Ghent, Sterrenkundig Observ, Krijgslaan 281 S9, B-9000 Ghent - Belgium

^[8] Space Telescope Sci Inst, 3700 San Martin Dr, Baltimore, MD 21218 - USA

^[9] INAF, Osservatorio Astrofis & Sci Spazio Bologna, Via Gobetti 93-3, I-40129 Bologna - Italy

^[10] INAF, Osservatorio Astron Roma, Via Frascati 33, I-00078 Monte Porzio Catone, RM - Italy

^[11] INAF, IASF, Via Alfonso Corti 12, I-20133 Milan - Italy

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society; v. 494, n. 1, p. 529-548, MAY 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

We present the star formation histories of 39 galaxies with high-quality rest-frame optical spectra at 0.5 < z < 1.3 selected to have strong Balmer absorption lines and/or Balmer break, and compare to a sample of spectroscopically selected quiescent galaxies at the same redshift. Photometric selection identifies a majority of objects that have clear evidence for a recent short-lived burst of star formation within the last 1.5 Gyr, i.e. `post-starburst' galaxies, however we show that good quality continuum spectra are required to obtain physical parameters such as burst mass fraction and burst age. Dust attenuation appears to be the primary cause for misidentification of post-starburst galaxies, leading to contamination in spectroscopic samples where only the {[}OII] emission line is available, as well as a small fraction of objects lost from photometric samples. The 31 confirmed post-starburst galaxies have formed 40-90 per cent of their stellar mass in the last 1-1.5 Gyr. We use the derived star formation histories to find that the post-starburst galaxies are visible photometrically for 0.5-1 Gyr. This allows us to update a previous analysis to suggest that 25-50 per cent of the growth of the red sequence at z similar to 1 could be caused by a starburst followed by rapid quenching. We use the inferred maximum historical star formation rates of several 100-1000 M-circle dot yr(-1) and updated visibility times to confirm that sub-mm galaxies are likely progenitors of post-starburst galaxies. The short quenching time-scales of 100-200 Myr are consistent with cosmological hydrodynamic models in which rapid quenching is caused by the mechanical expulsion of gas due to an acive galactic neucleus. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 19/01768-6 - Large-scale structure in the local universe with the S-PLUS survey
• Grantee: Ariel Werle
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Technical Training Program - Technical Training