ADF22-WEB: A giant barred spiral starburst galaxy in the <i>z</i> = 3.1 SSA22 protocluster core
Abstract In the present-day universe, the most massive galaxies are ellipticals located in the cores of galaxy clusters, harboring the heaviest super-massive black holes (SMBHs). However, the mechanisms that drive the early growth phase and subsequent transformation of the morphology and kinematics of galaxies remain elusive. Here we report (sub)kiloparsec-scale observations of stars, gas, and dust in ADF22.A1, a bright dusty starburst galaxy at $z=3.1$, hosting a heavily obscured active galactic nucleus and residing in a proto-cluster core. ADF22.A1 is a giant spiral galaxy with the kinematics of a rotating disk with rotation velocity $V_{\rm rot}=530\pm 10$ km s$^{-1}$ and diameter $&gt;$30 kpc. The high specific stellar angular momentum of this system, $j_*=3400\pm 600$ kpc km s$^{-1}$, requires a mechanism to effectively spin-up ADF22.A1, indicating the importance of accretion from the cosmic web to supply both gas and angular momentum to galaxies in their early gas-rich starburst phase. In its inner region, gas flows along dust lanes in a bar connected with the bright dusty core and the estimated mass ratio of the bulge to the SMBH matches the local relation, suggesting that bars are a key mechanism to shape the early co-evolution of these components. Comparison with cosmological simulations shows that ADF22.A1 will likely evolve into a massive elliptical, experiencing a significant reduction in angular momentum associated with subsequent galaxy mergers.
Authors
- Bret Lehmer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2192-3296)
- D. J. Rosario (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0001-3587)
- Mariko Kubo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7598-5292)
- Yoichi Tamura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4807-8117)
- Sheng Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9951-8787)
- Toshiki Saito (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2501-9328)
- Charles C. Steidel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4834-7260)
- Ian Smail (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3037-257X)
- A. M. Swinbank (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1192-5837)
- Erik B. Monson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8473-5140)
- Ikki Mitsuhashi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7300-9450)
- R. J. Ivison
- Hideki Umehata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1937-0573)
- Daisuke Iono (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2364-0823)
- Kouichiro Nakanishi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6939-0372)
- D. M. Alexander (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5896-6313)
- Kotaro Kohno (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4052-2394)
- Yuichi Matsuda
Institutions
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Shizuoka University (JP)
- Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies (IE)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- European Southern Observatory (DE)
- Waseda University (JP)
- Durham University (GB)
- The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI (JP)
- Tohoku University (JP)
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Astronomical Institute (CZ)
- Royal Observatory (GB)
- EarthTech International (United States) (US)
- Institute of Astronomy (RU)
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (JP)
- Nagoya University (JP)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (US)
- Newcastle University (GB)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
- Macquarie University (AU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
- Published
- 2025-03-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/pasj/psaf010
- Citations
- 11
- Primary Topic
- Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 12.70
Funders
- Science and Technology Facilities Council