Infrared Luminous Lyman Break Galaxies: A Population that Bridges LBGs and SCUBA Galaxies

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Issue Date
2005-11-20Author
Huang, J. S.
Rigopoulou, D.
Willner, S. P.
Papovich, Casey J.
Shu, C.
Ashby, M. L. N.
Barmby, P.
Bundy, K.
Conselice, C. J.
Egami, E.
Pérez-González, P. G.
Rosenberg, J. L.
Smith, H. A.
Wilson, Graham Wallace
Fazio, G. G.
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
A deep mid- and far-infrared survey in the extended Groth strip (EGS) area gives 3.6 to 8 μm flux densities or upper limits for 253 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs). The LBGs are a diverse population but with properties correlated with luminosity. The LBGs show a factor of 30 range in indicated stellar mass and a factor of 10 range in apparent dust content relative to stellar mass. About 5% of LBGs are luminous at all wavelengths, with powerful emission at rest 6 μm. In the rest 0.9 to 2 μm spectral range these galaxies have stellar spectral slopes with no sign of an AGN power-law component, suggesting that their emission is mainly powered by intensive star formation. Galaxies in this luminous population share the infrared properties of cold Submillimeter Common-User Bolometric Array (SCUBA) sources: both are massive and dusty starburst galaxies at 2 < z < 3; their stellar mass is larger than 1011 M☉. We suggest that these galaxies are the progenitors of present-day giant elliptical galaxies, with a substantial fraction of their stars already formed at z ≈ 3.
Description
This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://iopscience.iop.org/0004-637X/634/1/137/.
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Citation
Huang, J.-S. et al. (2005). "Infrared Luminous Lyman Break Galaxies: A Population that Bridges LBGs and SCUBA Galaxies." Astrophysical Journal, 634(1):137-141. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/491697.
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