2009/11/22 by Manuel Aravena, F. Bertoldi, Frank Bertoldi +18
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy formation and evolution #Luminous infrared galaxy #Physics #Planck #Population #Redshift #astro-ph.CO
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/708/1/l36
Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters
arxiv created 2009/11/22 · openalex publication_date 2009/12/16 · arxiv updated 2015/05/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) represent a dust-obscured high-redshift population undergoing massive star formation activity. Their properties and space density have suggested that they may evolve into spheroidal galaxies residing in galaxy clusters. In this Letter, we report the discovery of compact (∼10''–20'') galaxy overdensities centered at the position of three SMGs detected with the Max-Planck millimeter bolometer camera in the COSMOS field. These associations are statistically significant. The photometric redshifts of galaxies in these structures are consistent with their associated SMGs; all of them are between z = 1.4and2.5, implying projected physical sizes of ∼170 kpc for the overdensities. Our results suggest that about 30% of the radio-identified bright SMGs in that redshift range form in galaxy density peaks in the crucial epoch when most stars formed.