VLT/X-Shooter Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and HST Imaging of Gravitationally-Lensed z~2 Compact Quiescent Galaxies

TL;DR

This study uses gravitational lensing and near-infrared spectroscopy to analyze two compact, quiescent galaxies at z~2, revealing their ages, morphologies, and passive nature, thus shedding light on galaxy evolution.

Contribution

First spectroscopic analysis of near-IR selected, gravitationally-lensed z~2 quiescent galaxies near M* mass, revealing their ages, morphologies, and passive status.

Findings

Galaxies are at redshifts z=1.71 and z=2.15.

Ages are approximately 1.7 to 2.4 Gyr.

Both galaxies show no evidence of active star formation or AGN activity.

Abstract

Quiescent massive galaxies at z~2 are thought to be the progenitors of present-day massive ellipticals. Observations revealed them to be extraordinarily compact. The determination of stellar ages, star formation rates and dust properties via spectroscopic measurements has up to now only been feasible for the most luminous and massive specimens (~3x M*). Here we present a spectroscopic study of two near-infrared selected galaxies which are close to the characteristic stellar mass M* (~0.9x M* and ~1.3x M*) and whose observed brightness has been boosted by the gravitational lensing effect. We measure the redshifts of the two galaxies to be z=1.71\pm0.02 and z=2.15\pm0.01. By fitting stellar population synthesis models to their spectro-photometric SEDs we determine their ages to be 2.4^{+0.8}_{-0.6} Gyr and 1.7\pm0.3 Gyr, respectively, which implies that the two galaxies have higher mass-to-light ratios than most quiescent z~2 galaxies in other studies. We find no direct evidence for active star-formation or AGN activity in either of the two galaxies, based on the non-detection of emission lines. Based on the derived redshifts and stellar ages we estimate the formation redshifts to be z=4.3^{+3.4}_{-1.2} and z=4.3^{+1.0}_{-0.6}, respectively. We use the increased spatial resolution due to the gravitational lensing to derive constraints on the morphology. Fitting Sersic profiles to the de-lensed images of the two galaxies confirms their compactness, with one of them being spheroid-like, and the other providing the first confirmation of a passive lenticular galaxy at a spectroscopically derived redshift z~2.