An Extremely Massive Quiescent Galaxy at z = 3.493: Evidence of Insufficiently Rapid Quenching Mechanisms in Theoretical Models
Date Issued
2020
Author(s)
Forrest, Ben
•
Annunziatella, Marianna
•
Wilson, Gillian
•
Marchesini, Danilo
•
Muzzin, Adam
•
Cooper, M. C.
•
Marsan, Z. Cemile
•
McConachie, Ian
•
Chan, Jeffrey C. C.
•
Gomez, Percy
•
Kado-Fong, Erin
•
L Barbera, Francesco
•
Labbé, Ivo
•
Lange-Vagle, Daniel
•
Nantais, Julie
•
•
Peña, Theodore
•
•
Stefanon, Mauro
•
van der Burg, Remco F. J.
Abstract
We present spectra of the most massive quiescent galaxy yet spectroscopically confirmed at z > 3, verified via the detection of Balmer absorption features in the H- and K-bands of Keck/MOSFIRE. The spectra confirm a galaxy with no significant ongoing star formation, consistent with the lack of rest-frame UV flux and overall photometric spectral energy distribution. With a stellar mass of ${3.1}_{-0.2}^{+0.1}\times {10}^{11}\,{M}_{\odot }$ at z = 3.493, this galaxy is nearly three times more massive than the highest redshift spectroscopically confirmed absorption-line-identified galaxy known. The star formation history of this quiescent galaxy implies that it formed >1000 M⊙ yr-1 for almost 0.5 Gyr beginning at z ∼ 7.2, strongly suggestive that it is the descendant of massive dusty star-forming galaxies at 5 < z < 7 recently observed with ALMA. While galaxies with similarly extreme stellar masses are reproduced in some simulations at early times, such a lack of ongoing star formation is not seen there. This suggests the need for a quenching process that either starts earlier or is more rapid than that currently prescribed, challenging our current understanding of how ultra-massive galaxies form and evolve in the early universe.
Volume
890
Issue
1
Start page
L1
Issn Identifier
2041-8205
Ads BibCode
2020ApJ...890L...1F
Rights
open.access
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