Improved SED-fitting Assumptions Result in Inside-out Quenching at z ~ 0.5 and Quenching at All Radii Simultaneously at z ~ 1
Many studies conclude that galaxies quench from the inside-out by examining profiles of specific star formation rate (sSFR). These are usually measured by fitting spectral energy distributions (SEDs) assuming a fixed dust law and uniform priors on all parameters. Here, we examine the effects of more...
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2025-01-01
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| author | Alexander de la Vega Susan A. Kassin Camilla Pacifici Stéphane Charlot Emma Curtis-Lake Jacopo Chevallard Timothy M. Heckman Anton M. Koekemoer Weichen Wang |
| author_facet | Alexander de la Vega Susan A. Kassin Camilla Pacifici Stéphane Charlot Emma Curtis-Lake Jacopo Chevallard Timothy M. Heckman Anton M. Koekemoer Weichen Wang |
| author_sort | Alexander de la Vega |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Many studies conclude that galaxies quench from the inside-out by examining profiles of specific star formation rate (sSFR). These are usually measured by fitting spectral energy distributions (SEDs) assuming a fixed dust law and uniform priors on all parameters. Here, we examine the effects of more physically motivated priors: a flexible dust law, an exponential prior on the dust attenuation A _V , and Gaussian priors that favor extended star formation histories. This results in model colors that better trace observations. We then perform radial SED fits to multiband flux profiles measured from Hubble Space Telescope images for 1440 galaxies at 0.4 < z < 1.5 of stellar masses 10 ^10 –10 ^11.5 M _⊙ using both the traditional and the more physically motivated assumptions. The latter results in star formation rate and A _V profiles that agree with measurements from spectroscopy and A _V profiles that behave correctly as a function of inclination. Since green valley galaxies at z ∼ 1.3 are expected to evolve into quiescent galaxies at z ∼ 0.9, we compare their sSFR profiles using the more physically motivated assumptions. Their slopes are similar at all masses (0.06–0.08 dex kpc ^−1 ), and the normalizations for the quiescent galaxies are lower. Therefore, the sSFR profiles decline with time as quenching occurs at all radii simultaneously. We compare profiles of green valley galaxies at z ∼ 0.9 and quiescent galaxies at z ∼ 0.5. The former are shallower at all masses by ~0.1 dex kpc ^−1 . The sSFR profiles steepen with time as galaxies quench from the inside-out. In summary, galaxies at z ∼ 1 quench at all radii simultaneously while galaxies at z ∼ 0.7 quench from the inside-out. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-57abf27216a0414c854d0a6bd495097e2025-02-12T07:38:41ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01980216810.3847/1538-4357/ada8a2Improved SED-fitting Assumptions Result in Inside-out Quenching at z ~ 0.5 and Quenching at All Radii Simultaneously at z ~ 1Alexander de la Vega0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6219-5558Susan A. Kassin1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3838-8093Camilla Pacifici2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4196-0617Stéphane Charlot3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3458-2275Emma Curtis-Lake4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9551-0534Jacopo Chevallard5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7636-0534Timothy M. Heckman6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6670-6370Anton M. Koekemoer7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6610-2048Weichen Wang8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9593-8274Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; alexandd@ucr.eduDepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; alexandd@ucr.edu; Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USASpace Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USASorbonne Université , CNRS, UMR7095, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, 98 bis bd Arago, 75014 Paris, FranceCentre for Astrophysics Research, Department of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics, University of Hertfordshire , Hatfield AL10 9AB, UKSub-department of Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UKDepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; alexandd@ucr.eduSpace Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USADepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA ; alexandd@ucr.edu; Department of Physics, University of Milan Bicocca , Piazza della Scienza 3, I-20126 Milan, ItalyMany studies conclude that galaxies quench from the inside-out by examining profiles of specific star formation rate (sSFR). These are usually measured by fitting spectral energy distributions (SEDs) assuming a fixed dust law and uniform priors on all parameters. Here, we examine the effects of more physically motivated priors: a flexible dust law, an exponential prior on the dust attenuation A _V , and Gaussian priors that favor extended star formation histories. This results in model colors that better trace observations. We then perform radial SED fits to multiband flux profiles measured from Hubble Space Telescope images for 1440 galaxies at 0.4 < z < 1.5 of stellar masses 10 ^10 –10 ^11.5 M _⊙ using both the traditional and the more physically motivated assumptions. The latter results in star formation rate and A _V profiles that agree with measurements from spectroscopy and A _V profiles that behave correctly as a function of inclination. Since green valley galaxies at z ∼ 1.3 are expected to evolve into quiescent galaxies at z ∼ 0.9, we compare their sSFR profiles using the more physically motivated assumptions. Their slopes are similar at all masses (0.06–0.08 dex kpc ^−1 ), and the normalizations for the quiescent galaxies are lower. Therefore, the sSFR profiles decline with time as quenching occurs at all radii simultaneously. We compare profiles of green valley galaxies at z ∼ 0.9 and quiescent galaxies at z ∼ 0.5. The former are shallower at all masses by ~0.1 dex kpc ^−1 . The sSFR profiles steepen with time as galaxies quench from the inside-out. In summary, galaxies at z ∼ 1 quench at all radii simultaneously while galaxies at z ∼ 0.7 quench from the inside-out.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada8a2Galaxy evolutionSpectral energy distributionGalaxy quenching |
| spellingShingle | Alexander de la Vega Susan A. Kassin Camilla Pacifici Stéphane Charlot Emma Curtis-Lake Jacopo Chevallard Timothy M. Heckman Anton M. Koekemoer Weichen Wang Improved SED-fitting Assumptions Result in Inside-out Quenching at z ~ 0.5 and Quenching at All Radii Simultaneously at z ~ 1 The Astrophysical Journal Galaxy evolution Spectral energy distribution Galaxy quenching |
| title | Improved SED-fitting Assumptions Result in Inside-out Quenching at z ~ 0.5 and Quenching at All Radii Simultaneously at z ~ 1 |
| title_full | Improved SED-fitting Assumptions Result in Inside-out Quenching at z ~ 0.5 and Quenching at All Radii Simultaneously at z ~ 1 |
| title_fullStr | Improved SED-fitting Assumptions Result in Inside-out Quenching at z ~ 0.5 and Quenching at All Radii Simultaneously at z ~ 1 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improved SED-fitting Assumptions Result in Inside-out Quenching at z ~ 0.5 and Quenching at All Radii Simultaneously at z ~ 1 |
| title_short | Improved SED-fitting Assumptions Result in Inside-out Quenching at z ~ 0.5 and Quenching at All Radii Simultaneously at z ~ 1 |
| title_sort | improved sed fitting assumptions result in inside out quenching at z 0 5 and quenching at all radii simultaneously at z 1 |
| topic | Galaxy evolution Spectral energy distribution Galaxy quenching |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada8a2 |
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