The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS): The Morphological Content and Environmental Dependence of the Galaxy Color-Magnitude Relation at z ~ 0.7

Abstract

We study the environmental dependence and the morphological composition of the galaxy color-magnitude diagram at z~0.7, using a pilot subsample of COSMOS. The sample includes ~2000 galaxies with I_AB<24 and photometric redshift within 0.61<z<0.85, covering an area of 270 arcmin². Galaxy morphologies are estimated via a nonparametric automatic technique. The (V-z^') versus z^' color-magnitude diagram shows a clear red sequence dominated by early-type galaxies and a remarkably well-defined ``blue sequence'' described by late-type objects. While the percentage of objects populating the two sequences is a function of environment, also following a clear morphology/color-density relation at this redshift, we establish that their normalization and slope are independent of local density. We identify and study a number of objects with ``anomalous'' colors, given their morphology, polluting the two sequences. Red late-type galaxies are found to be mostly highly inclined or edge-on spiral galaxies for which colors are dominated by internal reddening by dust. In a sample of color-selected red galaxies, these would represent 33% contamination with respect to truly passive spheroidals. Conversely, the population of blue early-type galaxies is composed of objects of moderate luminosity and mass, concurring to only ~5% of the mass in spheroidal galaxies. The majority of them (~70%) occupy a position in the μ_B-r₅₀ plane not consistent with their being precursors of current-epoch elliptical galaxies. Their fraction with respect to the whole galaxy population does not depend on the environment, at variance with the general early-type class. In a color-mass diagram, color sequences are even better defined, with red galaxies covering in general a wider range of masses at nearly constant color, and blue galaxies showing a more pronounced dependence of color on mass. While the red sequence is adequately reproduced by models of passive evolution, the blue sequence is better interpreted as a specific star formation sequence. The substantial invariance of its slope and normalization with respect to local density suggests that the overall ``secular'' star formation is driven more by galaxy mass than by environment.

Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555 also based on data collected at the Subaru Telescope, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan; XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and NASA; the European Southern Observatory, Chile; Kitt Peak National Observatory, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which are operated by AURA, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation; the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.; and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, operated by the National Research Council of Canada, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique de France, and the University of Hawaii.