Early assembly of the most massive galaxies

Chris A. Collins (), John P. Stott, Matt Hilton, Scott T. Kay, S. Adam Stanford, Michael Davidson, Mark Hosmer, Ben Hoyle, Andrew Liddle, Ed Lloyd-Davies, Robert G. Mann, Nicola Mehrtens, Christopher J. Miller, Robert C. Nichol, A. Kathy Romer, Martin Sahlén, Pedro T. P. Viana and Michael J. West
Additional contact information
Chris A. Collins: Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Twelve Quays House, Egerton Wharf, Birkenhead, CH41 1LD, UK
John P. Stott: Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Twelve Quays House, Egerton Wharf, Birkenhead, CH41 1LD, UK
Matt Hilton: Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Twelve Quays House, Egerton Wharf, Birkenhead, CH41 1LD, UK
Scott T. Kay: Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
S. Adam Stanford: University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA
Michael Davidson: SUPA, Institute of Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
Mark Hosmer: Astronomy Centre, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK
Ben Hoyle: ICG, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 2EG, UK
Andrew Liddle: Astronomy Centre, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK
Ed Lloyd-Davies: Astronomy Centre, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK
Robert G. Mann: SUPA, Institute of Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
Nicola Mehrtens: Astronomy Centre, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK
Christopher J. Miller: Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 85719, USA
Robert C. Nichol: ICG, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 2EG, UK
A. Kathy Romer: Astronomy Centre, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK
Martin Sahlén: Astronomy Centre, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK
Pedro T. P. Viana: Rua do Campo Alegre, 687, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
Michael J. West: European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Vitacura, Casilla 19001, Santiago 19, Chile

Nature, 2009, vol. 458, issue 7238, 603-606

Abstract: Massive galaxies in a hurry The favoured model of galaxy formation is the cold dark-matter-dominated Universe, in which all galaxies grow via hierarchical merging over cosmic time. Now a study of stellar masses in some of the most massive galaxies in the Universe suggests that 9 billion years ago the brightest galaxies at the centres of large clusters were almost as massive as their counterparts today. That means that these 'brightest cluster galaxies' had grown to more than 90% of their final stellar mass by about 5 billion years after the Big Bang, in contradiction to the popular galaxy formation models predicting hierarchical assembly. The new findings suggest that in these extremely luminous galaxies at least, there was an early period of rapid growth.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07865

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