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Early assembly of the most massive galaxies

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Early assembly of the most massive galaxies. / Collins, Chris A.; Stott, John P.; Hilton, Matt et al.
In: Nature, Vol. 458, No. 7238, 02.04.2009, p. 603-606.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Collins, CA, Stott, JP, Hilton, M, Kay, ST, Stanford, SA, Davidson, M, Hosmer, M, Hoyle, B, Liddle, A, Lloyd-Davies, E, Mann, RG, Mehrtens, N, Miller, CJ, Nichol, RC, Romer, AK, Sahlén, M, Viana, PTP & West, MJ 2009, 'Early assembly of the most massive galaxies', Nature, vol. 458, no. 7238, pp. 603-606. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07865

APA

Collins, C. A., Stott, J. P., Hilton, M., Kay, S. T., Stanford, S. A., Davidson, M., Hosmer, M., Hoyle, B., Liddle, A., Lloyd-Davies, E., Mann, R. G., Mehrtens, N., Miller, C. J., Nichol, R. C., Romer, A. K., Sahlén, M., Viana, P. T. P., & West, M. J. (2009). Early assembly of the most massive galaxies. Nature, 458(7238), 603-606. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07865

Vancouver

Collins CA, Stott JP, Hilton M, Kay ST, Stanford SA, Davidson M et al. Early assembly of the most massive galaxies. Nature. 2009 Apr 2;458(7238):603-606. doi: 10.1038/nature07865

Author

Collins, Chris A. ; Stott, John P. ; Hilton, Matt et al. / Early assembly of the most massive galaxies. In: Nature. 2009 ; Vol. 458, No. 7238. pp. 603-606.

Bibtex

@article{9dfec1b9127f4b028fc7c547af002916,
title = "Early assembly of the most massive galaxies",
abstract = "The current consensus is that galaxies begin as small density fluctuations in the early Universe and grow by in situ star formation and hierarchical merging. Stars begin to form relatively quickly in sub-galactic-sized building blocks called haloes which are subsequently assembled into galaxies. However, exactly when this assembly takes place is a matter of some debate. Here we report that the stellar masses of brightest cluster galaxies, which are the most luminous objects emitting stellar light, some 9 billion years ago are not significantly different from their stellar masses today. Brightest cluster galaxies are almost fully assembled 4-5 billion years after the Big Bang, having grown to more than 90 per cent of their final stellar mass by this time. Our data conflict with the most recent galaxy formation models based on the largest simulations of dark-matter halo development. These models predict protracted formation of brightest cluster galaxies over a Hubble time, with only 22 per cent of the stellar mass assembled at the epoch probed by our sample. Our findings suggest a new picture in which brightest cluster galaxies experience an early period of rapid growth rather than prolonged hierarchical assembly.",
author = "Collins, {Chris A.} and Stott, {John P.} and Matt Hilton and Kay, {Scott T.} and Stanford, {S. Adam} and Michael Davidson and Mark Hosmer and Ben Hoyle and Andrew Liddle and Ed Lloyd-Davies and Mann, {Robert G.} and Nicola Mehrtens and Miller, {Christopher J.} and Nichol, {Robert C.} and Romer, {A. Kathy} and Martin Sahl{\'e}n and Viana, {Pedro T P} and West, {Michael J.}",
year = "2009",
month = apr,
day = "2",
doi = "10.1038/nature07865",
language = "English",
volume = "458",
pages = "603--606",
journal = "Nature",
issn = "0028-0836",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
number = "7238",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Early assembly of the most massive galaxies

AU - Collins, Chris A.

AU - Stott, John P.

AU - Hilton, Matt

AU - Kay, Scott T.

AU - Stanford, S. Adam

AU - Davidson, Michael

AU - Hosmer, Mark

AU - Hoyle, Ben

AU - Liddle, Andrew

AU - Lloyd-Davies, Ed

AU - Mann, Robert G.

AU - Mehrtens, Nicola

AU - Miller, Christopher J.

AU - Nichol, Robert C.

AU - Romer, A. Kathy

AU - Sahlén, Martin

AU - Viana, Pedro T P

AU - West, Michael J.

PY - 2009/4/2

Y1 - 2009/4/2

N2 - The current consensus is that galaxies begin as small density fluctuations in the early Universe and grow by in situ star formation and hierarchical merging. Stars begin to form relatively quickly in sub-galactic-sized building blocks called haloes which are subsequently assembled into galaxies. However, exactly when this assembly takes place is a matter of some debate. Here we report that the stellar masses of brightest cluster galaxies, which are the most luminous objects emitting stellar light, some 9 billion years ago are not significantly different from their stellar masses today. Brightest cluster galaxies are almost fully assembled 4-5 billion years after the Big Bang, having grown to more than 90 per cent of their final stellar mass by this time. Our data conflict with the most recent galaxy formation models based on the largest simulations of dark-matter halo development. These models predict protracted formation of brightest cluster galaxies over a Hubble time, with only 22 per cent of the stellar mass assembled at the epoch probed by our sample. Our findings suggest a new picture in which brightest cluster galaxies experience an early period of rapid growth rather than prolonged hierarchical assembly.

AB - The current consensus is that galaxies begin as small density fluctuations in the early Universe and grow by in situ star formation and hierarchical merging. Stars begin to form relatively quickly in sub-galactic-sized building blocks called haloes which are subsequently assembled into galaxies. However, exactly when this assembly takes place is a matter of some debate. Here we report that the stellar masses of brightest cluster galaxies, which are the most luminous objects emitting stellar light, some 9 billion years ago are not significantly different from their stellar masses today. Brightest cluster galaxies are almost fully assembled 4-5 billion years after the Big Bang, having grown to more than 90 per cent of their final stellar mass by this time. Our data conflict with the most recent galaxy formation models based on the largest simulations of dark-matter halo development. These models predict protracted formation of brightest cluster galaxies over a Hubble time, with only 22 per cent of the stellar mass assembled at the epoch probed by our sample. Our findings suggest a new picture in which brightest cluster galaxies experience an early period of rapid growth rather than prolonged hierarchical assembly.

U2 - 10.1038/nature07865

DO - 10.1038/nature07865

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:63849322268

VL - 458

SP - 603

EP - 606

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

SN - 0028-0836

IS - 7238

ER -