[en] This paper studies the properties of kiloparsec-scale clumps in star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 2 through multi-wavelength broadband photometry. A sample of 40 clumps is identified from Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) z-band images through auto-detection and visual inspection from 10 galaxies with 1.5 < z < 2.5 in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, where deep and high-resolution HST/WFC3 and ACS images enable us to resolve structures of z ∼ 2 galaxies down to the kiloparsec scale in the rest-frame UV and optical bands and to detect clumps toward the faint end. The physical properties of clumps are measured through fitting spatially resolved seven-band (BVizYJH) spectral energy distribution to models. On average, the clumps are blue and have similar median rest-frame UV-optical color as the diffuse components of their host galaxies, but the clumps have large scatter in their colors. Although the star formation rate (SFR)-stellar mass relation of galaxies is dominated by the diffuse components, clumps emerge as regions with enhanced specific star formation rates, contributing individually ∼10% and together ∼50% of the SFR of the host galaxies. However, the contributions of clumps to the rest-frame UV/optical luminosity and stellar mass are smaller, typically a few percent individually and ∼20% together. On average, clumps are younger by 0.2 dex and denser by a factor of eight than diffuse components. Clump properties have obvious radial variations in the sense that central clumps are redder, older, more extincted, denser, and less active on forming stars than outskirt clumps. Our results are broadly consistent with a widely held view that clumps are formed through gravitational instability in gas-rich turbulent disks and would eventually migrate toward galactic centers and coalesce into bulges. Roughly 40% of the galaxies in our sample contain a massive clump that could be identified as a proto-bulge, which seems qualitatively consistent with such a bulge-formation scenario.

[en] We report the discovery of large amounts of cold (T ∼ 10⁴ K), chemically young gas in an overdensity of galaxies at redshift z ≈ 1.6 located in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey southern field. The gas is identified thanks to the ultra-strong Mg II λ2800 absorption features it imprints onto the rest-frame UV spectra of galaxies in the background of the overdensity. There is no evidence that the optically thick gas is part of any massive galaxy (i.e., M_star > 4 × 10⁹ M_☉), but rather is associated with the overdensity; less massive and fainter galaxies (25.5 mag < z < 27.5 mag) have too large an impact parameter to be causing ultra-strong absorption systems, based on our knowledge of such systems. The lack of corresponding Fe II absorption features, not detected even in co-added spectra, suggests that the gas is chemically more pristine than the interstellar medium and outflows of star-forming galaxies at similar redshift, including the galaxies of the overdensity itself, and comparable to the most metal-poor stars in the Milky Way halo. A crude estimate of the projected covering factor of the high-column-density gas (N_H ∼> 10²⁰ cm^–2) based on the observed fraction of galaxies with ultra-strong absorbers is C_F ≈ 0.04. A broad, continuum absorption profile extending to the red of the interstellar Mg II absorption line by ∼< 2000 km s^–1 is possibly detected in two independent co-added spectra of galaxies belonging to the overdensity, consistent with a large-scale infall motion of the gas onto the overdensity and its galaxies. Overall, these findings provide the first tentative evidence of accretion of cold, chemically young gas onto galaxies at high redshift, possibly feeding their star formation activity. We suggest the fact that the galaxies are members of a large structure, as opposed to field galaxies, might play a significant role in our ability to detect the accreting gas.

[en] We report the detection of morphology-dependent stellar age in massive quenched galaxies (QGs) at z ∼ 1.2. The sense of the dependence is that compact QGs are 0.5–2 Gyr older than normal-sized ones. The evidence comes from three different age indicators—$D_{n}4000$, ${\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{\delta <!--\; ??\; -->}}$, and fits to spectral synthesis models—applied to their stacked optical spectra. All age indicators consistently show that the stellar populations of compact QGs are older than those of their normal-sized counterparts. We detect weak [O ii] emission in a fraction of QGs, and the strength of the line, when present, is similar between the two samples; however, compact galaxies exhibit a significantly lower frequency of [O ii] emission than normal ones. Fractions of both samples are individually detected in 7 Ms Chandra X-ray images (luminosities ∼10⁴⁰–10⁴¹ erg s⁻¹). The 7 Ms stacks of nondetected galaxies show similarly low luminosities in the soft band only, consistent with a hot gas origin for the X-ray emission. While both [O ii] emitters and nonemitters are also X-ray sources among normal galaxies, no compact galaxy with [O ii] emission is an X-ray source, arguing against an active galactic nucleus (AGN) powering the line in compact galaxies. We interpret the [O ii] properties as further evidence that compact galaxies are older and further along in the process of quenching star formation and suppressing gas accretion. Finally, we argue that the older age of compact QGs is evidence of progenitor bias: compact QGs simply reflect the smaller sizes of galaxies at their earlier quenching epoch, with stellar density most likely having nothing directly to do with cessation of star formation.

[en] We report the detection of color gradients in six massive (stellar mass (M_star) > 10¹⁰ M_sun) and passively evolving (specific star formation rate <10^-11 yr^-1) galaxies at redshift 1.3 < z < 2.5 identified in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field using ultra-deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys and WFC3/IR images. After carefully matching the different point-spread functions, we obtain color maps and multi-band optical/near-IR photometry (BVizYJH) in concentric annuli, from the smallest resolved radial distance (∼1.7 kpc) up to several times the H-band effective radius. We find that the inner regions of these galaxies have redder rest-frame UV-optical colors (U - V, U - B, and B - V) than the outer parts. The slopes of the color gradient have no obvious dependence on the redshift and on the stellar mass of the galaxies. They do mildly depend, however, on the overall dust obscuration (E(B - V)) and rest-frame (U - V) color, with more obscured or redder galaxies having steeper color gradients. The z ∼ 2 color gradients are also steeper than those of local early-type ones. The gradient of a single parameter (age, extinction, or metallicity) cannot fully explain the observed color gradients. Fitting the spatially resolved HST seven-band photometry to stellar population synthesis models, we find that, regardless of assumptions on the metallicity gradient, the redder inner regions of the galaxies have slightly higher dust obscuration than the bluer outer regions, implying that dust partly contributes to the observed color gradients, although the magnitude depends on the assumed extinction law. Due to the age-metallicity degeneracy, the derived age gradient depends on the assumptions for the metallicity gradient. We discuss the implications of a number of assumptions for metallicity gradients on the formation and evolution of these galaxies. We find that the evolution of the mass-size relationship from z ∼ 2 to the present cannot be driven by in situ extended star formation, which implies that accretion or merger is mostly responsible for the growth of their stellar mass and size. The lack of a correlation between the strength of the color gradient and the stellar mass argues against the metallicity gradient predicted by the monolithic-collapse scenario, which would require significant major mergers to evolve into the one observed at the present.

[en] We present the detection of CO (5−4) with signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) > 7–13 and a lower CO transition with S/N > 3 (CO (4−3) for four galaxies, and CO (3−2) for one) with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in bands 3 and 4 in five main-sequence (MS) star-forming galaxies with stellar masses (3–6) × 10¹⁰ M _⊙ at 3 < z < 3.5. We find a good correlation between the total far-infrared luminosity L _FIR and the luminosity of the CO (5−4) transition $L_{\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}(5-<!--\; ???\; -->4)}^{\mathrm{\prime <!--\; ???\; -->}}$, where $L_{\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}(5-<!--\; ???\; -->4)}^{\mathrm{\prime <!--\; ???\; -->}}$ increases with star formation rate (SFR), indicating that CO (5−4) is a good tracer of the obscured SFR in these galaxies. The two galaxies that lie closer to the star-forming MS have CO spectral line energy distribution (SLED) slopes that are comparable to other star-forming populations, such as local submillimeter galaxies and BzK star-forming galaxies; the three objects with higher specific star formation rates have far steeper CO SLEDs, which possibly indicates a more concentrated episode of star formation. By exploiting the CO SLED slopes to extrapolate the luminosity of the CO (1−0) transition and using a classical conversion factor for MS galaxies of ${\mathrm{\alpha <!--\; ??\; -->}}_{\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}=3.8M_{\odot <!--\; ???\; -->}{(\mathrm{K}\mathrm{k}\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-<!--\; ???\; -->1}{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{c}}^{-<!--\; ???\; -->2})}^{-<!--\; ???\; -->1}$, we find that these galaxies are very gas-rich, with molecular gas fractions between 60% and 80% and quite long depletion times, between 0.2 and 1 Gyr. Finally, we obtain dynamical masses that are comparable to the sum of stellar and gas mass (at least for four out of five galaxies), allowing us to put a first constraint on the α _CO parameter for MS galaxies at an unprecedented redshift.

[en] The Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) is designed to document the first third of galactic evolution, over the approximate redshift (z) range 8-1.5. It will image >250,000 distant galaxies using three separate cameras on the Hubble Space Telescope, from the mid-ultraviolet to the near-infrared, and will find and measure Type Ia supernovae at z > 1.5 to test their accuracy as standardizable candles for cosmology. Five premier multi-wavelength sky regions are selected, each with extensive ancillary data. The use of five widely separated fields mitigates cosmic variance and yields statistically robust and complete samples of galaxies down to a stellar mass of 10⁹ M_☉ to z ≈ 2, reaching the knee of the ultraviolet luminosity function of galaxies to z ≈ 8. The survey covers approximately 800 arcmin² and is divided into two parts. The CANDELS/Deep survey (5σ point-source limit H = 27.7 mag) covers ∼125 arcmin² within Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS)-N and GOODS-S. The CANDELS/Wide survey includes GOODS and three additional fields (Extended Groth Strip, COSMOS, and Ultra-deep Survey) and covers the full area to a 5σ point-source limit of H ∼> 27.0 mag. Together with the Hubble Ultra Deep Fields, the strategy creates a three-tiered 'wedding-cake' approach that has proven efficient for extragalactic surveys. Data from the survey are nonproprietary and are useful for a wide variety of science investigations. In this paper, we describe the basic motivations for the survey, the CANDELS team science goals and the resulting observational requirements, the field selection and geometry, and the observing design. The Hubble data processing and products are described in a companion paper.

[en] We use GOODS and CANDELS images to identify progenitors of massive (M > 10¹⁰ M _☉) compact early-type galaxies (ETGs) at z ∼ 1.6. Because merging and accretion increase the size of the stellar component of galaxies, if the progenitors are among known star-forming galaxies, these must be compact themselves. We select candidate progenitors among compact Lyman-break galaxies at z ∼ 3 on the basis of their mass, star-formation rate (SFR), and central stellar density, and we find that these account for a large fraction of, and possibly all, compact ETGs at z ∼ 1.6. We find that the average far-UV spectral energy distribution (SED) of the candidates is redder than that of the non-candidates, but the optical and mid-IR SED are the same, implying that the redder UV of the candidates is inconsistent with larger dust obscuration and consistent with more evolved (aging) star formation. This is in line with other evidence suggesting that compactness is a sensitive predictor of passivity among high-redshift massive galaxies. We also find that the light distribution of both the compact ETGs and their candidate progenitors does not show any extended 'halos' surrounding the compact 'core,' both in individual images and in stacks. We argue that this is generally inconsistent with the morphology of merger remnants, even if gas rich, as predicted by N-body simulations. This suggests that the compact ETGs formed via highly dissipative, mostly gaseous accretion of units whose stellar components are very small and undetected in the Hubble Space Telescope images, with their stellar mass assembling in situ, and that they have not experienced any major merging until the epoch of observations at z ∼ 1.6.

[en] We present the physical extent of [C ii] 158 μm line-emitting gas from 46 star-forming galaxies at z = 4–6 from the ALMA Large Program to INvestigate C ii at Early Times (ALPINE). Using exponential profile fits, we measure the effective radius of the [C ii] line ($r_{\mathrm{e},[\mathrm{C}\mathrm{I}\mathrm{I}]}$) for individual galaxies and compare them with the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) continuum ($r_{\mathrm{e},\mathrm{U}\mathrm{V}}$) from Hubble Space Telescope images. The effective radius $r_{\mathrm{e},[\mathrm{C}\mathrm{I}\mathrm{I}]}$ exceeds $r_{\mathrm{e},\mathrm{U}\mathrm{V}}$ by factors of ∼2–3, and the ratio of $r_{\mathrm{e},[\mathrm{C}\mathrm{I}\mathrm{I}]}/r_{\mathrm{e},\mathrm{U}\mathrm{V}}$ increases as a function of M _star. We do not find strong evidence that the [C ii] line, rest-frame UV, and far-infrared (FIR) continuum are always displaced over ≃1 kpc scale from each other. We identify 30% of isolated ALPINE sources as having an extended [C ii] component over 10 kpc scales detected at 4.1σ–10.9σ beyond the size of rest-frame UV and FIR continuum. One object has tentative rotating features up to ∼10 kpc, where the 3D model fit shows the rotating [C ii]-gas disk spread over 4 times larger than the rest-frame UV-emitting region. Galaxies with the extended [C ii] line structure have high star formation rate, high stellar mass (M _star), low Lyα equivalent width, and more blueshifted (redshifted) rest-frame UV metal absorption (Lyα line), as compared to galaxies without such extended [C ii] structures. Although we cannot rule out the possibility that a selection bias toward luminous objects may be responsible for such trends, the star-formation-driven outflow also explains all these trends. Deeper observations are essential to test whether the extended [C ii] line structures are ubiquitous to high-z star-forming galaxies.

[en] A new set of color selection criteria (VJL) analogous with the BzK method is designed to select both star-forming galaxies (SFGs) and passively evolving galaxies (PEGs) at 2.3 ∼< z ∼< 3.5 by using rest-frame UV-optical (V – J versus J – L) colors. The criteria are thoroughly tested with theoretical stellar population synthesis models and real galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts to evaluate their efficiency and contamination. We apply the well-tested VJL criteria to the HST/WFC3 Early Release Science field and study the physical properties of selected galaxies. The redshift distribution of selected SFGs peaks at z ∼ 2.7, slightly lower than that of Lyman break galaxies at z ∼ 3. Comparing the observed mid-infrared fluxes of selected galaxies with the prediction of pure stellar emission, we find that our VJL method is effective at selecting massive dusty SFGs that are missed by the Lyman break technique. About half of the star formation in massive (M_star > 10¹⁰ M_☉) galaxies at 2.3 ∼< z ∼< 3.5 is contributed by dusty (extinction E(B – V) > 0.4) SFGs, which, however, only account for ∼20% of the number density of massive SFGs. We also use the mid-infrared fluxes to clean our PEG sample and find that galaxy size can be used as a secondary criterion to effectively eliminate the contamination of dusty SFGs. The redshift distribution of the cleaned PEG sample peaks at z ∼ 2.5. We find six PEG candidates at z > 3 and discuss possible methods to distinguish them from dusty contamination. We conclude that at least part of our candidates are real PEGs at z ∼ 3, implying that these types of galaxies began to form their stars at z ∼> 5. We measure the integrated stellar mass density (ISMD) of PEGs at z ∼ 2.5 and set constraints on it at z > 3. We find that the ISMD grows by at least about a factor of 10 in 1 Gyr at 3 < z <5 and by another factor of 10 in the next 3.5 Gyr (1 < z < 3).

[en] Quenched galaxies at z > 2 are nearly all very compact relative to z ∼ 0, suggesting a physical connection between high stellar density and efficient, rapid cessation of star-formation. We present rest-frame UV spectra of Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at z ∼ 3 selected to be candidate progenitors of the quenched galaxies at z ∼ 2 based on their compact rest-frame-optical sizes and high Σ_SFR. We compare their UV properties to those of more extended LBGs of similar mass and star-formation rate (non-candidates). We find that candidate progenitors have faster bulk interstellar medium (ISM) gas velocities and higher equivalent widths of interstellar absorption lines, implying larger velocity spread among absorbing clouds. Candidates deviate from the relationship between equivalent widths of Lyα and interstellar absorption lines in that their Lyα emission remains strong despite high interstellar absorption, possibly indicating that the neutral H I fraction is patchy, such that Lyα photons can escape. We detect stronger C IV P-Cygni features (emission and absorption) and He II emission in candidates, indicative of larger populations of metal-rich Wolf-Rayet stars compared to non-candidates. The faster bulk motions, broader spread of gas velocity, and Lyα properties of candidates are consistent with their ISM being subject to more energetic feedback than non-candidates. Together with their larger metallicity (implying more evolved star-formation activity) this leads us to propose, if speculatively, that they are likely to quench sooner than non-candidates, supporting the validity of selection criteria used to identify them as progenitors of z ∼ 2 passive galaxies. We propose that massive, compact galaxies undergo more rapid growth of their stellar mass content, perhaps because the gas accretion mechanisms are different, and quench sooner than normally sized LBGs at these (early) epochs