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- ItemNew criteria for the selection of galaxy close pairs from cosmological simulations: Evolution of the major and minor merger fraction in MUSE deep fields(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2019) Ventou, E.; Contini, T.; Bouché, N.; Epinat, B.; Brinchmann, J.; Inami, H.; Richard, J.; Schroetter, I.; Soucail, G.; Steinmetz, M.; Weilbacher, P.M.It remains a challenge to assess the merger fraction of galaxies at different cosmic epochs in order to probe the evolution of their mass assembly. Using the Illustris cosmological simulation project, we investigate the relation between the separation of galaxies in a pair, both in velocity and projected spatial separation space, and the probability that these interacting galaxies will merge in the future. From this analysis, we propose a new set of criteria to select close pairs of galaxies along with a new corrective term to be applied to the computation of the galaxy merger fraction. We then probe the evolution of the major and minor merger fraction using the latest Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) deep observations over the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, Hubble Deep Field South, COSMOS-Gr30, and Abell 2744 regions. From a parent sample of 2483 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts, we identify 366 close pairs spread over a large range of redshifts (0:2 < z < 6) and stellar masses (107-1011 M ). Using the stellar mass ratio between the secondary and primary galaxy as a proxy to split the sample into major, minor, and very minor mergers, we found a total of 183 major, 142 minor, and 47 very minor close pairs corresponding to a mass ratio range of 1:1-1:6, 1:6-1:100, and lower than 1:100, respectively. Due to completeness issues, we do not consider the very minor pairs in the analysis. Overall, the major merger fraction increases up to z ≈2-3 reaching 25% for pairs where the most massive galaxy has a stellar mass M· = 109:5 M . Beyond this redshift, the fraction decreases down to ∼5% at z≈6. The major merger fraction for lower-mass primary galaxies with M· = 109:5 M seems to follow a more constant evolutionary trend with redshift. Thanks to the addition of new MUSE fields and new selection criteria, the increased statistics of the pair samples allow us to significantly shorten the error bars compared to our previous analysis. The evolution of the minor merger fraction is roughly constant with cosmic time, with a fraction of 20% at z < 3 and a slow decrease to 8-13% in the redshift range 3 ≤ z ≤ 6.
- ItemEvidence for ram-pressure stripping in a cluster of galaxies at z = 0.7(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2019) Boselli, A.; Epinat, B.; Contini, T.; Abril-Melgarejo, V.; Boogaard, L. A.; Pointecouteau, E.; Ventou, E.; Brinchmann, J.; Carton, D.; Finley, H.; Michel-Dansac, L.; Soucail, G.; Weilbacher, P.M.Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) observations of the cluster of galaxies CGr32 (M200≅ 2×1014 M⊙) at = 0.73 reveal the presence of two massive star-forming galaxies with extended tails of diffuse gas detected in the [O II]λλ3727-3729 Å emission-line doublet. The tails, which have a cometary shape with a typical surface brightness of a few 10-18 erg s-1 cm-2 arcsec-2, extend up to ≅ 100 kpc (projected distance) from the galaxy discs, and are not associated with any stellar component. All this observational evidence suggests that the gas was removed during a ram-pressure stripping event. This observation is thus the first evidence that dynamical interactions with the intracluster medium were active when the Universe was only half its present age. The density of the gas derived using the observed [O II]λ3729/[O II]λ3726 line ratio implies a very short recombination time, suggesting that a source of ionisation is necessary to keep the gas ionised within the tail.
- ItemThe MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Field Survey : XII. Mg II emission and absorption in star-forming galaxies(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2018) Feltre, Anna; Bacon, Roland; Tresse, Laurence; Finley, Hayley; Carton, David; Blaizot, Jérémy; Bouché, Nicolas; Garel, Thibault; Inami, Hanae; Boogaard, Leindert A.; Brinchmann, Jarle; Charlot, Stéphane; Chevallard, Jacopo; Contini, Thierry; Michel-Dansac, Leo; Mahler, Guillaume; Marino, Raffaella A.; Maseda, Michael V.; Richard, Johan; Schmidt, Kasper B.; Verhamme, AnneThe physical origin of the near-ultraviolet Mg II emission remains an underexplored domain, unlike more typical emission lines that are detected in the spectra of star-forming galaxies. We explore the nebular and physical properties of a sample of 381 galaxies between 0.70 < z < 2.34 drawn from the MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Survey. The spectra of these galaxies show a wide variety of profiles of the Mg II λλ2796, 2803 resonant doublet, from absorption to emission. We present a study on the main drivers for the detection of Mg II emission in galaxy spectra. By exploiting photoionization models, we verified that the emission-line ratios observed in galaxies with Mg II in emission are consistent with nebular emission from HII regions. From a simultaneous analysis of MUSE spectra and ancillary Hubble Space Telescope information through spectral energy distribution fitting, we find that galaxies with Mg II in emission have lower stellar masses, smaller sizes, bluer spectral slopes, and lower optical depth than those with absorption. This leads us to suggest that Mg II emission is a potential tracer of physical conditions that are not merely related to those of the ionized gas. We show that these differences in Mg II emission and absorption can be explained in terms of a higher dust and neutral gas content in the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies showing Mg II in absorption, which confirms the extreme sensitivity of Mg II to the presence of the neutral ISM. We conclude with an analogy between the Mg II doublet and the Ly α line that lies in their resonant nature. Further investigations with current and future facilities, including the James Webb Space Telescope, are promising because the detection of Mg II emission and its potential connection with Lyα could provide new insights into the ISM content in the early Universe.
- ItemDecoding Galactic Merger Histories(Basel : MDPI, 2017) Bell, Eric; Monachesi, Antonela; D’Souza, Richard; Harmsen, Benjamin; de Jong, Roelof; Radburn-Smith, David; Bailin, Jeremy; Holwerda, BenneGalaxy mergers are expected to influence galaxy properties, yet measurements of individual merger histories are lacking. Models predict that merger histories can be measured using stellar halos and that these halos can be quantified using observations of resolved stars along their minor axis. Such observations reveal that Milky Way-mass galaxies have a wide range of stellar halo properties and show a correlation between their stellar halo masses and metallicities. This correlation agrees with merger-driven models where stellar halos are formed by satellite galaxy disruption. In these models, the largest accreted satellite dominates the stellar halo properties. Consequently, the observed diversity in the stellar halos of MilkyWay-mass galaxies implies a large range in the masses of their largest merger partners. In particular, the Milky Way's low mass halo implies an unusually quiet merger history. We used these measurements to seek predicted correlations between the bulge and central black hole (BH) mass and the mass of the largest merger partner. We found no significant correlations: while some galaxies with large bulges and BHs have large stellar halos and thus experienced a major or minor merger, half have small stellar halos and never experienced a significant merger event. These results indicate that bulge and BH growth is not solely driven by merger-related processes.