The Link between Submillimetre Galaxies and Luminous Ellipticals:\n Near-Infrared IFU Spectroscopy of Submillimetre Galaxies

2006/06/15 by A. M. Swinbank, Chapman, Swinbank, Mark +15
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0606372

openalex publication_date 2006/06/15 · openalex created_date 2022/10/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We present two-dimensional spectroscopy covering the rest-frame wavelengths\nof strong optical emission lines in six luminous submillimetre galaxies at\nz=1.3--2.5. Together with HST ACS and NICMOS imaging we map the dynamics and\nmorphologies of these systems on scales from 4--11kpc. Four of the systems show\nmultiple components in their spatially-resolved spectra with average velocity\noffsets of ~180km/s across 8kpc in projection. From the ensemble properties\nfrom our survey and the literature, we estimate the typical dynamical masses of\nbright sub-mm galaxies as (5+/-3) x10¹¹Mo. This is similar to recent\nestimates of their stellar masses -- suggesting that the dynamics of the\ncentral regions of these galaxies are baryon dominated, with a substantial\nfraction of those baryons in stars by the epoch of observation. Combining our\ndynamical mass estimates with stellar luminosities for this population we\ninvestigate whether submillimetre galaxies can evolve onto the Faber-Jackson\nrelation for local ellipticals. Adopting a typical lifetime of\ntau_burst~300Myr for the submillimetre-luminous phase we find that the\nstellar populations of sub-mm galaxies should fade to place them on the\nFaber-Jackson relation, at M_K ~ -25.1. Furthermore, using the same starburst\nlifetime we correct the observed space density of submillimetre galaxies for\nthe duty cycle to derive a volume density of the progenitors of ~1x10^-4\nMpc^-3. This is consistent with the space density of local luminous\nearly-type galaxies with M_K ~ -25.1, indicating that submillimetre galaxies\ncan evolve onto the scaling relations observed for local early-type galaxies,\nand the observed population at z~2 is then sufficient to account for the\nformation of the whole population of >~3 L^* ellipticals seen at z~0.\n

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