CaltechAUTHORS
Published September 1, 2006 | Version Published
Journal Article Open

Spitzer Observations of z ~ 3 Lyman Break Galaxies: Stellar Masses and Mid-Infrared Properties

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon University of Oxford
  • 2. ROR icon Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
  • 3. ROR icon University of Arizona
  • 4. ROR icon Shanghai Normal University
  • 5. ROR icon Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
  • 6. ROR icon California Institute of Technology

Abstract

We describe the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z ~ 3, using deep mid-infrared and optical observations of the extended Groth strip, obtained with IRAC and MIPS on board Spitzer and from the ground, respectively. We focus on LBGs with detections at all four IRAC bands, in particular the 26 galaxies with IRAC 8 μm band (rest-frame K-band) detections. We use stellar population-synthesis models and probe the stellar content of these galaxies. Based on best-fit continuous star formation models, we derive estimates of the stellar mass for these LBGs. As in previous studies, we find that a fraction of LBGs have very red colors and large estimated stellar masses (M_* > 5 × 10^(10) M_⊙); the current Spitzer data allow us, for the first time, to study these massive LBGs in detail. We discuss the link between these LBGs and submillimeter-luminous galaxies, and we find that the number density of these massive LBGs at high redshift is higher than predicted by current semianalytic models of galaxy evolution.

Additional Information

© 2006 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2005 December 14; accepted 2006 May 12. We thank the anonymous referee for his/her suggestions on improving the manuscript. We thank S. Miyazaki for making the SUBARU R-band image available. This work is based on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under NASA contract 1407. Support for this work was provided by NASA through contract 1256790, issued by the JPL. D. R. acknowledges support from the Leverhulme Trust via a Research Fellowship grant.

Attached Files

Published - RIGapj06.pdf

Files

RIGapj06.pdf

Files (571.8 kB)

Name Size
md5:374e8de682df56a81b85e75270c3d05a
571.8 kB Preview Download

Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
18093
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20100430-135757620

Funding

NASA
1256790
Leverhulme Trust

Dates

Created
2010-05-11
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2021-11-08
Created from EPrint's last_modified field