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We present the first study of spatially integrated higher-order stellar kinematics over cosmic time. We use deep rest-frame optical spectroscopy of quiescent galaxies at redshifts z  = 0.05, 0.3, and 0.8 from the SAMI, MAGPI, and LEGA-C surveys to measure the excess kurtosis h 4 of the stellar velocity distribution, the latter parametrized as a Gauss-Hermite series. Conservatively using a redshift-independent cut in stellar mass (⁠|$M_\star = 10^{11}\, \mathrm{M_\odot }$|⁠) and matching the stellar-mass distributions of our samples, we find 7σ evidence of h 4 increasing with cosmic time, from a median value of 0.019 ± 0.002 at z  = 0.8 to 0.059 ± 0.004 at z  = 0.06. Alternatively, we use a physically motivated sample selection based on the mass distribution of the progenitors of local quiescent galaxies as inferred from numerical simulations; in this case, we find 10σ evidence. This evolution suggests that, over the last 7 Gyr, there has been a gradual decrease in the rotation-to-dispersion ratio and an increase in the radial anisotropy of the stellar velocity distribution, qualitatively consistent with accretion of gas-poor satellites. These findings demonstrate that massive galaxies continue to accrete mass and increase their dispersion support after becoming quiescent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first statistical study of spatially integrated non-Gaussian stellar kinematics spanning 7 Gyr in cosmic time. We use deep, rest-frame optical spectroscopy of massive galaxies (stellar mass |$M_\star \gt 10^{10.5} \, \mathrm{M_\odot }$|⁠) at redshifts z = 0.05, 0.3, and 0.8 from the SAMI, MAGPI, and LEGA-C surveys, to measure the excess kurtosis h 4 of the stellar velocity distribution, the latter parametrized as a Gauss–Hermite series. We find that at all redshifts where we have large enough samples, h 4 anticorrelates with the ratio between rotation and dispersion, highlighting the physical connection between these two kinematic observables. In addition, and independently from the anticorrelation with rotation-to-dispersion ratio, we also find a correlation between h 4 and M ⋆, potentially connected to the assembly history of galaxies. In contrast, after controlling for mass, we find no evidence of independent correlation between h 4 and aperture velocity dispersion or galaxy size. These results hold for both star-forming and quiescent galaxies. For quiescent galaxies, h 4 also correlates with projected shape, even after controlling for the rotation-to-dispersion ratio. At any given redshift, star-forming galaxies have lower h 4 compared to quiescent galaxies, highlighting the link between kinematic structure and star-forming activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the results of a search for high-redshift (z > 9) galaxy candidates in the JWST UNCOVER survey, using deep NIRCam and NIRISS imaging in seven bands over ∼45 arcmin2 and ancillary Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations. The NIRCam observations reach a 5σ limiting magnitude of ∼29.2 AB. The identification of high- z candidates relies on a combination of a dropout selection and photometric redshifts. We find 16 candidates at 9 < z < 12 and three candidates at 12 < z < 13, eight candidates are deemed very robust. Their lensing amplification ranges from μ = 1.2 to 11.5. Candidates have a wide range of (lensing corrected) luminosities and young ages, with low stellar masses [6.8 < log(M⋆/M⊙) < 9.5] and low star formation rates (SFR = 0.2–7 M⊙ yr−1), confirming previous findings in early JWST observations of z > 9. A few galaxies at z ∼ 9−10 appear to show a clear Balmer break between the F 356 W and F 444 W / F 410 M bands, which helps constrain their stellar mass. We estimate blue UV continuum slopes between β = −1.8 and −2.3, typical for early galaxies at z > 9 but not as extreme as the bluest recently discovered sources. We also find evidence for a rapid redshift-evolution of the mass-luminosity relation and a redshift evolution of the UV continuum slope for a given range of intrinsic magnitude, in line with theoretical predictions. These findings suggest that deeper JWST observations are needed to reach the fainter galaxy population at those early epochs, and follow-up spectroscopy will help better constrain the physical properties and star formation histories of a larger sample of galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rejuvenating galaxies are unusual galaxies that fully quench and then subsequently experience a "rejuvenation" event to become star-forming once more. Rejuvenation rates vary substantially in models of galaxy formation: 10%–70% of massive galaxies are expected to experience rejuvenation by z = 0. Measuring the rate of rejuvenation is therefore important for calibrating the strength of star-formation feedback mechanisms. However, these observations are challenging because rejuvenating systems blend in with normal star-forming galaxies in broadband photometry. In this paper, we use the galaxy spectral energy distribution-fitting code Prospector to search for observational markers that distinguish normal star-forming galaxies from rejuvenating galaxies. We find that rejuvenating galaxies have smaller Balmer absorption line equivalent widths (EWs) than normal star-forming galaxies. This is analogous to the well-known "K+A" or post-starburst galaxies, which have strong Balmer absorption due to A-stars dominating the light: in this case, rejuvenating systems have a lack of A-stars, instead resembling "O—A" systems. We find star-forming galaxies that have H β, H γ, and/or H δ absorption EWs ≲3 Å corresponds to a highly pure selection of rejuvenating systems. Interestingly, while this technique is highly effective at identifying mild rejuvenation, "strongly" rejuvenating systems remain nearly indistinguishable from star-forming galaxies due to the well-known stellar outshining effect. We conclude that measuring Balmer absorption line EWs in star-forming galaxy populations is an efficient method to identify rejuvenating populations, and discuss several techniques to either remove or resolve the nebular emission which typically lies on top of these absorption lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore how the presence of detectable molecular gas depends on the inferred star formation histories (SFHs) in eight massive, quiescent galaxies at z ∼ 0.7. Half of the sample have clear detections of molecular gas, traced by CO(2â€"1). We find that the molecular gas content is unrelated to the rate of star formation decline prior to the most recent 1 Gyr, suggesting that the gas reservoirs are not left over from their primary star formation epoch. However, the recent SFHs of CO-detected galaxies demonstrate evidence for secondary bursts of star formation in their last Gyr. The fraction of stellar mass formed in these secondary bursts ranges from f burst ≈ 0.3%â€"6% and ended between t end-burst ≈ 0â€"330 Myr ago. The CO-detected galaxies form a higher fraction of mass in the last Gyr ( f M 1 Gyr = 2.6 % ± 1.8 %) compared to the CO-undetected galaxies ( f M 1 Gyr = 0.2 % ± 0.1 %). The galaxies with gas reservoirs have enhanced late-time star formation, highlighting this as a contributing factor to the observed heterogeneity in the gas reservoirs in high-redshift quiescent galaxies. We find that the amount of gas and star formation driven by these secondary bursts are inconsistent with that expected from dry minor mergers, and instead are likely driven by recently accreted gas, i.e., gas-rich minor mergers. This conclusion would not have been made based on SFRUV+IR measurements alone, highlighting the power of detailed SFH modeling in the interpretation of gas reservoirs. Larger samples are needed to understand the frequency of low-level rejuvenation among quiescent galaxies at intermediate redshifts, and to what extent this drives the diversity of molecular gas reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamical models for 673 galaxies at z = 0.6â€"1.0 with spatially resolved (long-slit) stellar kinematic data from LEGA-C are used to calibrate virial mass estimates defined as M vir = K σ ′ ⋆ , int 2 R , with K a scaling factor, σ ′ ⋆ , int the spatially integrated stellar velocity second moment from the LEGA-C survey, and R the effective radius measured from a SĂ©rsic profile fit to Hubble Space Telescope imaging. The sample is representative for M ⋆ > 3 Ă— 1010 M ⊙ and includes all types of galaxies, irrespective of morphology and color. We demonstrate that using R = R sma (the semimajor axis length of the ellipse that encloses 50% of the light) in combination with an inclination correction on σ ′ ⋆ , int produces an unbiased M vir. We confirm the importance of projection effects on σ ′ ⋆ , int by showing the existence of a similar residual trend between virial mass estimates and inclination for the nearby early-type galaxies in the ATLAS3D survey. Also, as previously shown, when using a SĂ©rsic profile-based R estimate, a SĂ©rsic index-dependent correction to account for nonhomology in the radial profiles is required. With respect to analogous dynamical models for low-redshift galaxies from the ATLAS3D survey we find a systematic offset of 0.1 dex in the calibrated virial constant for LEGA-C, which may be due to physical differences between the galaxy samples or an unknown systematic error. Either way, with our work we establish a common mass scale for galaxies across 8 Gyr of cosmic time with a systematic uncertainty of at most 0.1 dex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Galaxy evolution is driven by a variety of physical processes that are predicted to proceed at different rates for different dark matter haloes and environments across cosmic times. A record of this evolution is preserved in galaxy stellar populations, which we can access using absorption-line spectroscopy. Here we explore the large LEGA-C survey (DR3) to investigate the role of the environment and stellar mass on stellar populations at z ∼ 0.6–1 in the COSMOS field. Leveraging the statistical power and depth of LEGA-C, we reveal significant gradients in Dn4000 and Hδ equivalent widths (EWs) distributions over the stellar mass versus environment 2D spaces for the massive galaxy population (M > 1010M⊙) at z ∼ 0.6–1.0. Dn4000 and Hδ EWs primarily depend on stellar mass, but they also depend on environment at fixed stellar mass. By splitting the sample into centrals and satellites, and in terms of star-forming galaxies and quiescent galaxies, we reveal that the significant environmental trends of Dn4000 and Hδ EW, when controlling for stellar mass, are driven by quiescent galaxies. Regardless of being centrals or satellites, star-forming galaxies reveal Dn4000 and Hδ EWs, which depend strongly on their stellar mass and are completely independent of the environment at 0.6 < z < 1.0. The environmental trends seen for satellite galaxies are fully driven by the trends that hold only for quiescent galaxies, combined with the strong environmental dependency of the quiescent fraction at fixed stellar mass. Our results are consistent with recent predictions from simulations that point toward massive galaxies forming first in overdensities or the most compact dark matter haloes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Galaxy evolution is driven by a variety of physical processes that are predicted to proceed at different rates for different dark matter haloes and environments across cosmic times. A record of this evolution is preserved in galaxy stellar populations, which we can access using absorption-line spectroscopy. Here we explore the large LEGA-C survey (DR3) to investigate the role of the environment and stellar mass on stellar populations at z ∼ 0.6â€"1 in the COSMOS field. Leveraging the statistical power and depth of LEGA-C, we reveal significant gradients in D n 4000 and H δ equivalent widths (EWs) distributions over the stellar mass versus environment 2D spaces for the massive galaxy population (M > 1010 M ⊙) at z ∼ 0.6â€"1.0. D n 4000 and H δ EWs primarily depend on stellar mass, but they also depend on environment at fixed stellar mass. By splitting the sample into centrals and satellites, and in terms of star-forming galaxies and quiescent galaxies, we reveal that the significant environmental trends of D n 4000 and H δ EW, when controlling for stellar mass, are driven by quiescent galaxies. Regardless of being centrals or satellites, star-forming galaxies reveal D n 4000 and H δ EWs, which depend strongly on their stellar mass and are completely independent of the environment at 0.6 < z < 1.0. The environmental trends seen for satellite galaxies are fully driven by the trends that hold only for quiescent galaxies, combined with the strong environmental dependency of the quiescent fraction at fixed stellar mass. Our results are consistent with recent predictions from simulations that point toward massive galaxies forming first in overdensities or the most compact dark matter haloes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the H 160 morphological catalogs for the COSMOS-DASH survey, the largest area near-IR survey using HST-WFC3 to date. Utilizing the “Drift And SHift” observing technique for HST-WFC3 imaging, the COSMOS-DASH survey imaged approximately 0.5 deg2 of the UltraVISTA deep stripes (0.7 deg2, when combined with archival data). Global structural parameters are measured for 51,586 galaxies within COSMOS-DASH using GALFIT (excluding the CANDELS area) with detection using a deep multi-band HST image. We recover consistent results with those from the deeper 3D-HST morphological catalogs, finding that, in general, sizes and Sérsic indices of typical galaxies are accurate to limiting magnitudes of H 160 < 23 and H 160 < 22 ABmag, respectively. In size-mass parameter space, galaxies in COSMOS-DASH demonstrate robust morphological measurements out to z ∼ 2 and down to log (M ⋆ / M ⊙) ∼ 9. With the advantage of the larger area of COSMOS-DASH, we measure a flattening of the quiescent size-mass relation below log (M ⋆ / M ⊙) ∼ 10.5 that persists out to z ∼ 2. We show that environment is not the primary driver of this flattening, at least out to z = 1.2, whereas internal physical processes may instead govern the structural evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the growth of the red sequence through the number density and structural evolution of a sample of young and old quiescent galaxies at 0 < z < 2. The galaxies are selected from the NEWFIRM Medium-Band Survey in the Cosmic Evolution Survey field. We find a large population of massive young recently quenched ("post-starburst") galaxies at z > 1 that are almost non-existent at z < 1; their number density is 5 x 10-5 Mpc-3 at z = 2, whereas it is a factor of 10 less at z = 0.5. The observed number densities of young and old quiescent galaxies at z > 1 is consistent with a simple model in which all old quiescent galaxies were once identified as post-starburst galaxies. We find that the overall population of quiescent galaxies has smaller sizes and slightly more elongated shapes at higher redshift, in agreement with other recent studies. Interestingly, the most recently quenched galaxies at 1 < z < 2 are not larger, and possibly even smaller, than older galaxies at those redshifts. This result is inconsistent with the idea that the evolution of the average size of quiescent galaxies is largely driven by continuous transformations of larger, star-forming galaxies: in that case, the youngest quiescent galaxies would also be the largest. Instead, mergers or other mechanisms appear to be required to explain the size growth of quiescent galaxies from z = 2 to the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scaling relations between galaxy structures and dynamics have been studied extensively for early- and late-type galaxies, both in the local universe and at high redshifts. The abundant differences between the properties of disky and elliptical, or star-forming and quiescent, galaxies seem to be characteristic of the local universe; such clear distinctions begin to disintegrate as observations of massive galaxies probe higher redshifts. In this paper we investigate the existence of the mass fundamental plane of all massive galaxies (σ ≳ 100 km s–1). This work includes local galaxies (0.05 < z < 0.07) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, in addition to 31 star-forming and 72 quiescent massive galaxies at intermediate redshift (z ∼ 0.7) with absorption-line kinematics from deep Keck-DEIMOS spectra and structural parameters from Hubble Space Telescope imaging. In two-parameter scaling relations, star-forming and quiescent galaxies differ structurally and dynamically. However, we show that massive star-forming and quiescent galaxies lie on nearly the same mass fundamental plane, or the relationship between stellar mass surface density, stellar velocity dispersion, and effective radius. The scatter in this relation (measured about log σ) is low: 0.072 dex (0.055 dex intrinsic) at z ∼ 0 and 0.10 dex (0.08 dex intrinsic) at z ∼ 0.7. This 3D surface is not unique: virial relations, with or without a dependence on luminosity profile shapes, can connect galaxy structures and stellar dynamics with similar scatter. This result builds on the recent finding that mass fundamental plane has been stable for early-type galaxies since z ∼ 2. As we now find that this also holds for star-forming galaxies to z ∼ 0.7, this implies that these scaling relations of galaxies will be minimally susceptible to progenitor biases owing to the evolving stellar populations, structures, and dynamics of galaxies through cosmic time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We measure stellar masses and structural parameters for 5500 quiescent and 20,000 star-forming galaxies at 0.3 < z ⩽ 1.5 in the Newfirm Medium Band Survey COSMOS and UKIDSS UDS fields. We combine these measurements to infer velocity dispersions and determine how the number density of galaxies at fixed inferred dispersion, or the velocity dispersion function (VDF), evolves with time for each population. We show that the number of galaxies with high velocity dispersions appears to be surprisingly stable with time, regardless of their star formation history. Furthermore, the overall VDF for star-forming galaxies is constant with redshift, extending down to the lowest velocity dispersions probed by this study. The only galaxy population showing strong evolution are quiescent galaxies with low inferred dispersions, whose number density increases by a factor of ∼4 since z = 1.5. This buildup leads to an evolution in the quiescent fraction of galaxies such that the threshold dispersion above which quiescent galaxies dominate the counts moves to lower velocity dispersion with time. We show that our results are qualitatively consistent with a simple model in which star-forming galaxies quench and are added to the quiescent population. In order to compensate for the migration into the quiescent population, the velocity dispersions of star-forming galaxies must increase, with a rate that increases with dispersion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present evidence of large-scale outflows from three low-mass (log(M*/M☼) ∼ 9.75) star-forming (SFR > 4 M☼ yr–1) galaxies observed at z = 1.24, z = 1.35, and z = 1.75 in the 3D-HST Survey. Each of these galaxies is located within a projected physical distance of 60 kpc around the sight line to the quasar SDSS J123622.93+621526.6, which exhibits well-separated strong (Wλ2796r ≳ 0.8 Å) Mg II absorption systems matching precisely to the redshifts of the three galaxies. We derive the star formation surface densities from the Hα emission in the WFC3 G141 grism observations for the galaxies and find that in each case the star formation surface density well exceeds 0.1 M☼ yr–1 kpc–2, the typical threshold for starburst galaxies in the local universe. From a small but complete parallel census of the 0.65 < z < 2.6 galaxies with H140 ≲ 24 proximate to the quasar sight line, we detect Mg II absorption associated with galaxies extending to physical distances of 130 kpc. We determine that the Wr > 0.8 Å Mg II covering fraction of star-forming galaxies at 1 < z < 2 may be as large as unity on scales extending to at least 60 kpc, providing early constraints on the typical extent of starburst-driven winds around galaxies at this redshift. Our observations additionally suggest that the azimuthal distribution of Wr > 0.4 Å Mg II absorbing gas around star-forming galaxies may evolve from z ∼ 2 to the present, consistent with recent observations of an increasing collimation of star-formation-driven outflows with time from z ∼ 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]