The MOSDEF Survey: Differences in SFR and Metallicity for Morphologically-Selected Mergers at z ~ 2
Creators
Abstract
We study the properties of 55 morphologically-identified merging galaxy systems at z ~ 2. These systems are flagged as mergers based on features such as tidal tails, double nuclei, and asymmetry. Our sample is drawn from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey, along with a control sample of isolated galaxies at the same redshift. We consider the relationships between stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), and gas-phase metallicity for both merging and non-merging systems. In the local universe, merging systems are characterized by an elevated SFR and depressed metallicity compared to isolated systems at a given mass. Our results indicate SFR enhancement and metallicity deficit for merging systems relative to non-merging systems for a fixed stellar mass at z ~ 2, though larger samples are required to establish these preliminary results with higher statistical significance. In future work, it will be important to establish if the enhanced SFR and depressed metallicity in high-redshift mergers deviate from the "fundamental metallicity relation," as is observed in mergers in the local universe, and therefore shed light on gas flows during galaxy interactions.
Additional Information
Based on data obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation. We acknowledge support from NSF AAG grants AST-1312780, 1312547, 1312764, and 1313171, archival grant AR-13907 provided by NASA through the Space Telescope Science Institute, and grant NNX16AF54G from the NASA ADAP program. We also acknowledge a NASA contract supporting the "WFIRST Extragalactic Potential Observations (EXPO) Science Investigation Team" (15-WFIRST15-0004), administered by GSFC. We also thank Jeyhan Kartaltepe for sharing the CANDELS morphological merger catalog. We wish to extend special thanks to those of Hawaiian ancestry on whose sacred mountain we are privileged to be guests. Without their generous hospitality, most of the observations presented herein would not have been possible. Data Availability: The data underlying this article will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.Attached Files
Submitted - 2008.04327.pdf
Files
2008.04327.pdf
Additional details
Identifiers
- Eprint ID
- 105289
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20200909-084900028
Related works
- Describes
- http://arxiv.org/abs/2008.04327 (URL)
Funding
- NSF
- AST-1312780
- NSF
- AST-1312547
- NSF
- AST-1312764
- NSF
- AST-1313171
- NASA
- AR-13907
- NASA
- NNX16AF54G
- NASA
- 15-WFIRST15-0004
- W. M. Keck Foundation
Dates
- Created
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2020-09-09Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2023-06-02Created from EPrint's last_modified field