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Dust and gas in star forming galaxies at z~3 - extending galaxy uniformity to 11.5 billion years

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posted on 2023-06-09, 06:31 authored by G E Magdis, D Rigopoulou, E Daddi, M Bethermin, C Feruglio, Mark Sargent, H Dannerbauer, M Dickinson, D Elbaz, C Gomez Guijarro, J-S Huang, S Toft, F Valentino
We present millimetre dust emission measurements of two Lyman Break Galaxies at z~3 and construct for the first time fully sampled infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs), from mid-IR to the Rayleigh-Jeans tail, of individually detected, unlensed, UV-selected, main sequence (MS) galaxies at z=3. The SED modelling of the two sources confirms previous findings, based on stacked ensembles, of an increasing mean radiation field with redshift, consistent with a rapidly decreasing gas metallicity in z > 2 galaxies. Complementing our study with CO[3-2] emission line observations, we measure the molecular gas mass (M_H2) reservoir of the systems using three independent approaches: 1) CO line observations, 2) the dust to gas mass ratio vs metallicity relation and 3) a single band, dust emission flux on the Rayleigh-Jeans side of the SED. All techniques return consistent M_H2 estimates within a factor of ~2 or less, yielding gas depletion time-scales (tau_dep ~ 0.35 Gyrs) and gas-to-stellar mass ratios (M_H2/M* ~ 0.5-1) for our z~3 massive MS galaxies. The overall properties of our galaxies are consistent with trends and relations established at lower redshifts, extending the apparent uniformity of star-forming galaxies over the last 11.5 billion years.

Funding

From gas to stars: 12 billion years of galaxy growth; G1946-02; Royal Society; LT150041

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Astronomy and Astrophysics

ISSN

0004-6361

Publisher

EDP Sciences

Volume

603

Department affiliated with

  • Physics and Astronomy Publications

Research groups affiliated with

  • Astronomy Centre Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-06-06

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2017-06-06

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-06-05

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