Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Journal articles
  4. MAGAZ3NE: Massive, Extremely Dusty Galaxies at <i>z</i> ∼ 2 Lead to Photometric Overestimation of Number Densities of the Most Massive Galaxies at 3 < <i>z</i> < 4
 
research article

MAGAZ3NE: Massive, Extremely Dusty Galaxies at z ∼ 2 Lead to Photometric Overestimation of Number Densities of the Most Massive Galaxies at 3 < z < 4

Forrest, Ben
•
Cooper, Michael C.
•
Muzzin, Adam
Show more
December 1, 2024
The Astrophysical Journal

We present rest-frame optical spectra from Keck/MOSFIRE and Keck/NIRES of 16 candidate ultramassive galaxies targeted as part of the Massive Ancient Galaxies at z > 3 Near-Infrared Survey (MAGAZ3NE). These candidates were selected to have photometric redshifts 3 less than or similar to z (phot) <4, photometric stellar masses log(M-& lowast;/M-circle dot) > 11.7, and well-sampled photometric spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from the UltraVISTA and VIDEO surveys. In contrast to previous spectroscopic observations of blue star-forming and poststarburst ultramassive galaxies, candidates in this sample have very red SEDs implying significant dust attenuation, old stellar ages, and/or active galactic nuclei (AGN). Of these galaxies, eight are revealed to be heavily dust-obscured 2.0 < z < 2.7 galaxies with strong emission lines, some showing broad features indicative of AGN, three are Type I AGN hosts at z > 3, one is a z similar to 1.2 dusty galaxy, and four galaxies do not have a confirmed spectroscopic redshift. In fact, none of the sample has divided by z (spec) - z (phot)divided by < 0.5, suggesting difficulties for photometric redshift programs in fitting similarly red SEDs. The prevalence of these red interloper galaxies suggests that the number densities of high-mass galaxies are overestimated at z greater than or similar to 3 in large photometric surveys, helping to resolve the "impossibly early galaxy problem" and leading to much better agreement with cosmological galaxy simulations. A more complete spectroscopic survey of ultramassive galaxies is required to pin down the uncertainties on their number densities in the early Universe.

  • Details
  • Metrics
Type
research article
DOI
10.3847/1538-4357/ad8b1c
Web of Science ID

WOS:001369166800001

Author(s)
Forrest, Ben

University of California System

Cooper, Michael C.

University of California System

Muzzin, Adam

York University - Canada

Wilson, Gillian

University of California System

Marchesini, Danilo

Tufts University

McConachie, Ian

University of California System

Gomez, Percy

WM Keck Observ

Annunziatella, Marianna

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC)

Marsan, Z. Cemile

York University - Canada

Braspenning, Joey

Leiden University - Excl LUMC

Show more
Date Issued

2024-12-01

Publisher

IOP Publishing Ltd

Published in
The Astrophysical Journal
Issue

1

Article Number

51

Subjects

STAR-FORMATION RATE

•

EVOLUTION SURVEY COSMOS

•

NEAR-INFRARED SURVEY

•

LESS-THAN 6

•

STELLAR-MASS

•

QUIESCENT GALAXIES

•

LEGACY SURVEY

•

DEEP-FIELD

•

ILLUSTRISTNG SIMULATIONS

•

BILLION YEARS

•

Science & Technology

•

Physical Sciences

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
GALSPEC  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

Space Telescope Science Institute

Available on Infoscience
January 28, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/245525
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés