Measuring star formation in high-z massive galaxies: A mid-infrared to submillimeter study of the GOODS NICMOS Survey sample

TL;DR

This study measures the average star formation rates of massive high-redshift galaxies using multi-wavelength stacking, revealing that disk-like galaxies dominate star formation and may influence galaxy size evolution.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive mid-infrared to submillimeter flux measurements for high-z massive galaxies and highlights the importance of galaxy morphology in star formation activity.

Findings

Disk-like galaxies have higher star formation rates than spheroid-like galaxies.

Star formation could contribute to size evolution of high-z galaxies.

Proper statistical treatment is crucial for stacking analyses.

Abstract

We present measurements of the mean mid-infrared-to-submillimeter flux densities of massive (M\ast \approx 2 \times 10^11 Msun) galaxies at redshifts 1.7 < z < 2.9, obtained by stacking positions of known objects taken from the GOODS NICMOS Survey (GNS) catalog on maps: at 24 {\mu}m (Spitzer/MIPS); 70, 100, and 160{\mu}m (Herschel/PACS); 250, 350, 500{\mu}m (BLAST); and 870{\mu}m (LABOCA). A modified blackbody spectrum fit to the stacked flux densities indicates a median [interquartile] star-formation rate of SFR = 63 [48, 81] Msun yr^-1 . We note that not properly accounting for correlations between bands when fitting stacked data can significantly bias the result. The galaxies are divided into two groups, disk-like and spheroid-like, according to their Sersic indices, n. We find evidence that most of the star formation is occurring in n \leq 2 (disk-like) galaxies, with median [interquartile] SFR = 122 [100,150] Msun yr^-1, while there are indications that the n > 2 (spheroid-like) population may be forming stars at a median [interquartile] SFR = 14 [9,20] Msun yr^-1, if at all. Finally, we show that star formation is a plausible mechanism for size evolution in this population as a whole, but find only marginal evidence that it is what drives the expansion of the spheroid-like galaxies.