We constrain the slope of the star formation rate (log Ψ) to stellar mass (log M ⋆ ) relation down to log(M ⋆ /M ⊙ ) = 8.4 (log(M ⋆ /M ⊙ ) = 9.2) at z = 0.5 (z = 2.5) with a mass-complete sample of 39,106 star-forming galaxies selected from the 3D-HST photometric catalogs, using deep photometry in the CANDELS fields. For the first time, we find that the slope is dependent on stellar mass, such that it is steeper at low masses (log Ψ ∝ log M ⋆ ) than at high masses (log Ψ ∝ (0.3 − 0.6) log M ⋆ ). These steeper low mass slopes are found for three different star formation indicators: the combination of the ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR), calibrated from a stacking analysis of Spitzer/MIPS 24µm imaging; β-corrected UV SFRs; and Hα SFRs. The normalization of the sequence evolves differently in distinct mass regimes as well: for galaxies less massive than log(M ⋆ /M ⊙ ) < 10 the specific SFR (Ψ/M ⋆ ) is observed to be roughly self-similar with Ψ/M ⋆ ∝ (1 + z) 1.9 , whereas more massive galaxies show a stronger evolution with Ψ/M ⋆ ∝ (1 + z) 2.2−3.5 for log(M ⋆ /M ⊙ ) = 10.2 − 11.2. The fact that we find a steep slope of the star formation sequence for the lower mass galaxies will help reconcile theoretical galaxy formation models with the observations.
The 3D-HST and CANDELS programs have provided WFC3 and ACS spectroscopy and photometry over ≈ 900 arcmin 2 in five fields: AEGIS, COSMOS, GOODS-North, GOODS-South, and the UKIDSS UDS field. All these fields have a wealth of publicly available imaging datasets in addition to the HST data, which makes it possible to construct the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of objects over a wide wavelength range. In this paper we describe a photometric analysis of the CANDELS and 3D-HST HST imaging and the ancillary imaging data at wavelengths 0.3 µm -8 µm. Objects were selected in the WFC3 near-IR bands, and their SEDs were determined by carefully taking the effects of the point spread function in each observation into account. A total of 147 distinct imaging datasets were used in the analysis. The photometry is made available in the form of six catalogs: one for each field, as well as a master catalog containing all objects in the entire survey. We also provide derived data products: photometric redshifts, determined with the EAZY code, and stellar population parameters determined with the FAST code. We make all the imaging data that were used in the analysis available, including our reductions of the WFC3 imaging in all five fields. 3D-HST is a spectroscopic survey with the WFC3 and ACS grisms, and the photometric catalogs presented here constitute a necessary first step in the analysis of these grism data. All the data presented in this paper are available through the 3D-HST website. 16
Spectroscopic+photometric redshifts, stellar mass estimates, and rest-frame colors from the 3D-HST survey are combined with structural parameter measurements from CANDELS imaging to determine the galaxy size-mass distribution over the redshift range 0 < z < 3. Separating early-and late-type galaxies on the basis of star-formation activity, we confirm that early-type galaxies are on average smaller than late-type galaxies at all redshifts, and we find a significantly different rate of average size evolution at fixed galaxy mass, with fast evolution for the early-type population, R eff ∝ (1 + z) −1.48 , and moderate evolution for the late-type population, R eff ∝ (1 + z) −0.75 . The large sample size and dynamic range in both galaxy mass and redshift, in combination with the high fidelity of our measurements due to the extensive use of spectroscopic data, not only fortify previous results, but also enable us to probe beyond simple average galaxy size measurements. At all redshifts the slope of the size-mass relation is shallow, R eff ∝ M 0.22 * , for late-type galaxies with stellar mass > 3 × 10 9 M , and steep, R eff ∝ M 0.75 * , for early-type galaxies with stellar mass > 2 × 10 10 M . The intrinsic scatter is 0.2 dex for all galaxy types and redshifts. For late-type galaxies, the logarithmic size distribution is not symmetric but is skewed toward small sizes: at all redshifts and masses a tail of small late-type galaxies exists that overlaps in size with the early-type galaxy population. The number density of massive (∼ 10 11 M ), compact (R eff < 2kpc) early-type galaxies increases from z = 3 to z = 1.5 − 2 and then strongly decreases at later cosmic times.
We present reduced data and data products from the 3D-HST survey, a 248-orbit HST Treasury program. The survey obtained WFC3 G141 grism spectroscopy in four of the five CANDELS fields: AEGIS, COSMOS, GOODS-S, and UDS, along with WFC3 H 140 imaging, parallel ACS G800L spectroscopy, and parallel I 814 imaging. In a previous paper, we presented photometric catalogs in these four fields and in GOODS-N, the fifth CANDELS field. Here we describe and present the WFC3 G141 spectroscopic data, again augmented with data from GO-1600 in GOODS-N (PI: B. Weiner). We developed software to automatically and optimally extract interlaced two-dimensional (2D) and one-dimensional (1D) spectra for all objects in the Skelton et al. (2014) photometric catalogs. The 2D spectra and the multi-band photometry were fit simultaneously to determine redshifts and emission line strengths, taking the morphology of the galaxies explicitly into account. The resulting catalog has redshifts and line strengths (where available) for 22,548 unique objects down to JH 24 IR (79,609 unique objects down to JH 26 IR ). Of these, 5459 galaxies are at > z 1.5 and 9621 are at < < z 0.7 1.5, where Hα falls in the G141 wavelength coverage. The typical redshift error for JH 24 IR galaxies is s »´+z 0.003 1 z ( ), i.e., one native WFC3 pixel. The s 3 limit for emission line fluxes of point sources is´-2.1 10 17 erg s −1 cm −2 . All 2D and 1D spectra, as well as redshifts, line fluxes, and other derived parameters, are publicly available.
In this paper we study a key phase in the formation of massive galaxies: the transition of star forming galaxies into massive (M stars ∼ 10 11 M ⊙ ), compact (r e ∼ 1 kpc) quiescent galaxies, which takes place from z ∼ 3 to z ∼ 1.5. We use HST grism redshifts and extensive photometry in all five 3D-HST/CANDELS fields, more than doubling the area used previously for such studies, and combine these data with Keck MOSFIRE and NIRSPEC spectroscopy. We first confirm that a population of massive, compact, star forming galaxies exists at z 2, using K-band spectroscopy of 25 of these objects at 2.0 < z < 2.5. They have a median [NII]/Hα ratio of 0.6, are highly obscured with SFR(tot)/SFR(Hα) ∼ 10, and have a large range of observed line widths. We infer from the kinematics and spatial distribution of Hα that the galaxies have rotating disks of ionized gas that are a factor of ∼ 2 more extended than the stellar distribution. By combining measurements of individual galaxies, we find that the kinematics are consistent with a nearly Keplerian fall-off from V rot ∼ 500 km s −1 at 1 kpc to V rot ∼ 250 km s −1 at 7 kpc, and that the total mass out to this radius is dominated by the dense stellar component. Next, we study the size and mass evolution of the progenitors of compact massive galaxies. Even though individual galaxies may have had complex histories with periods of compaction and mergers, we show that the population of progenitors likely followed a simple inside-out growth track in the size-mass plane of ∆ log r e ∼ 0.3∆ log M stars . This mode of growth gradually increases the stellar mass within a fixed physical radius, and galaxies quench when they reach a stellar density or velocity dispersion threshold. As shown in other studies, the mode of growth changes after quenching, as dry mergers take the galaxies on a relatively steep track in the size-mass plane.
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