Abstract
A deep mid- and far-infrared survey in the extended Groth strip (EGS) area gives 3.6 to 8 μm flux densities or upper limits for 253 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs). The LBGs are a diverse population but with properties correlated with luminosity. The LBGs show a factor of 30 range in indicated stellar mass and a factor of 10 range in apparent dust content relative to stellar mass. About 5% of LBGs are luminous at all wavelengths, with powerful emission at rest 6 μm. In the rest 0.9 to 2 μm spectral range these galaxies have stellar spectral slopes with no sign of an AGN power-law component, suggesting that their emission is mainly powered by intensive star formation. Galaxies in this luminous population share the infrared properties of cold Submillimeter Common-User Bolometric Array (SCUBA) sources: both are massive and dusty starburst galaxies at 2 < z < 3; their stellar mass is larger than 10 11 M⊙. We suggest that these galaxies are the progenitors of present-day giant elliptical galaxies, with a substantial fraction of their stars already formed at z ≈ 3.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 137-141 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Astrophysical Journal |
Volume | 634 |
Issue number | 1 I |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 20 2005 |
Keywords
- Cosmology: observations
- Galaxies: high-redshift
- Infrared: galaxies
- Surveys
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Space and Planetary Science