NIR spectroscopic observation of massive galaxies in the protocluster at z = 3.09

TL;DR

This study uses near-infrared spectroscopy to identify and analyze massive galaxies within a protocluster at z=3.09, revealing their properties, mass, and active galactic nuclei presence, and estimating the protocluster's mass and evolutionary status.

Contribution

First spectroscopic confirmation of massive protocluster galaxies at z=3.09, including red and quiescent galaxies, and detailed analysis of their properties and AGN activity.

Findings

39 galaxies confirmed at 2.0<z<3.4

24 protocluster members identified, including red and quiescent galaxies

Protocluster mass estimated at 2-5×10^14 M_sun

Abstract

We present the results of near-infrared spectroscopic observations of the $K$-band selected candidate galaxies in the protocluster at $z=3.09$ in the SSA22 field. We observed 67 candidates with $K_{\rm AB}<24$ and confirmed redshifts of the 39 galaxies at $2.0< z_{\rm spec}< 3.4$. Of the 67 candidates, 24 are certainly protocluster members with $3.04\leq z_{\rm spec}\leq 3.12$, which are massive red galaxies those have been unidentified in previous optical observations of the SSA22 protocluster. Many distant red galaxies (DRGs; $J-K_{\rm AB}>1.4$), hyper extremely red objects (HEROs; $J-K_{\rm AB}>2.1$), {\it Spitzer} MIPS 24 $\mu$m sources, active galactic nuclei (AGNs) as well as the counterparts of Ly$\alpha$ blobs and the AzTEC/ASTE 1.1-mm sources in the SSA22 field are also found to be the protocluster members. The mass of the SSA22 protocluster is estimated to be $\sim2-5\times10^{14}~M_{\odot}$ and this system is plausibly a progenitor of the most massive clusters of galaxies in the current Universe. The reddest ($J-K_{\rm AB}\geq 2.4$) protocluster galaxies are massive galaxies with $M_{\rm star}\sim10^{11}~M_{\odot}$ showing quiescent star formation activities and plausibly dominated by old stellar populations. Most of these massive quiescent galaxies host moderately luminous AGNs detected by X-ray. There are no significant differences in the [O{\footnotesize III}] $\lambda$5007/H$\beta$ emission line ratios, and [O{\footnotesize III}] $\lambda$5007 line widths and spatial extents of the protocluster galaxies from those of massive galaxies at $z\sim2-3$ in the general field.