The UV-optical Color Gradients in Star-Forming Galaxies at 0.5<z<1.5: Origins and Link to Galaxy Assembly

TL;DR

This study investigates UV-optical color gradients in star-forming galaxies at redshifts 0.5 to 1.5, revealing how dust and stellar mass distribution influence galaxy assembly processes.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of UV-optical color gradients in a large sample of star-forming galaxies at z~1, linking gradients to dust and stellar mass buildup.

Findings

Dust reddening explains negative color gradients in low-mass SFGs.

High-mass SFGs retain shallow negative gradients after dust correction.

Low-mass SFGs grow mass self-similarly, high-mass SFGs grow inside-out.

Abstract

The rest-frame UV-optical (i.e., NUV-B) color index is sensitive to the low-level recent star formation and dust extinction, but it is insensitive to the metallicity. In this Letter, we have measured the rest-frame NUV-B color gradients in ~1400 large ($\rm r_e>0.18^{\prime\prime}$), nearly face-on (b/a>0.5) main-sequence star-forming galaxies (SFGs) between redshift 0.5 and 1.5 in the CANDELS/GOODS-S and UDS fields. With this sample, we study the origin of UV-optical color gradients in the SFGs at z~1 and discuss their link with the buildup of stellar mass. We find that the more massive, centrally compact, and more dust extinguished SFGs tend to have statistically more negative raw color gradients (redder centers) than the less massive, centrally diffuse, and less dusty SFGs. After correcting for dust reddening based on optical-SED fitting, the color gradients in the low-mass ($M_{\ast} <10^{10}M_{\odot}$) SFGs generally become quite flat, while most of the high-mass ($M_{\ast} > 10^{10.5}M_{\odot}$) SFGs still retain shallow negative color gradients. These findings imply that dust reddening is likely the principal cause of negative color gradients in the low-mass SFGs, while both increased central dust reddening and buildup of compact old bulges are likely the origins of negative color gradients in the high-mass SFGs. These findings also imply that at these redshifts the low-mass SFGs buildup their stellar masses in a self-similar way, while the high-mass SFGs grow inside out.