The Rest-Frame K-Band Luminosity Function of Galaxies in Clusters to z = 1.3

Creators: De Propris, Roberto; Stanford, S. A.; Eisenhardt, Peter R.; Holden, Brad P.; Rosati, Piero

Abstract

We derive the rest-frame K-band luminosity function for galaxies in 32 clusters at 0.6 < z < 1.3 using deep 3.6 and 4.5 μm imaging from the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Array Camera. The luminosity functions approximate the stellar mass function of the cluster galaxies. Their dependence on redshift indicates that massive cluster galaxies (to the characteristic luminosity M^*_K) are fully assembled at least at z ~ 1.3 and that little significant accretion takes place at later times. The existence of massive, highly evolved galaxies at these epochs is likely to represent a significant challenge to theories of hierarchical structure formation where such objects are formed by the late accretion of spheroidal systems at z < 1.

Additional Information

© 2007 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2006 October 25; accepted 2007 January 31. We would like to acknowledge the anonymous referee for an informative report that helped make the paper clearer. We also thank Steve Willner for some comments on this paper. This work is based on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA. R. D. P. acknowledges support from a PPARC grant while at the University of Bristol. S. A. S.'s work was performed under the auspices of the US Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, by the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, under contract W-7405-Eng-48.

Attached Files

Published - PROaj07.pdf

Files

PROaj07.pdf

Files (161.1 kB)

Name	Size	Download all
PROaj07.pdf md5:19116bc01c7ea7916a9beafa545e6393	161.1 kB	Preview Download

Additional details

	All versions	This version
Views	0	0
Downloads	0	0
Data volume	0 Bytes	0 Bytes