<i>Euclid</i> : Early Release Observations – The star formation history of massive early-type galaxies in the Perseus cluster

The Euclid Early Release Observations (ERO) programme targeted the Perseus galaxy cluster in its central region over 0.7 deg 2 . We combined the exceptional image quality and depth of the ERO-Perseus with FUV and NUV observations from GALEX and AstroSat/UVIT, as well as ugriz H α data from MegaCam at the CFHT, to deliver FUV-to-NIR magnitudes of the 87 brightest galaxies within the Perseus cluster. We reconstructed the star formation history (SFH) of 59 early-type galaxies (ETGs) within the sample, through the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code CIGALE and state-of-the-art stellar population (SP) models to reproduce the galactic UV emission from hot, old, low-mass stars (i.e. the UV upturn). In addition, for the six most massive ETGs in Perseus [stellar masses log 10 ( M * / M ⊙ )≥10.3], we analysed their spatially resolved SP and SFH through a radial SED fitting. In agreement with our previous work on Virgo ETGs, we found that (i) the majority of the analysed galaxies needs the presence of a UV upturn component to explain their FUV emission, with average temperatures ⟨ T UV ⟩≃33 800 K; (ii) the ETGs of Perseus have grown their stellar masses quickly, with star formation timescales of τ ≲ 1500 Myr. We found that all ETGs in the sample have formed more than about 30% of their stellar masses at z ≃ 5, up to extreme fractions of ≃100%. At z ≃ 5, the stellar masses of the most massive nearby ETGs, which have present-day stellar masses of log 10 ( M * / M ⊙ )≳10.8, are then found to be comparable to those of the red quiescent galaxies observed by JWST at similar redshifts ( z &gt; 4.6). This study can be extended to ETGs in the 14 000 deg 2 extragalactic sky that will soon be observed by Euclid , in combination with those from other major upcoming surveys (e.g. Rubin /LSST), and UV observations, to ultimately assess whether the massive ETGs that we observe today represent the progeny of the massive high- z JWST red quiescent galaxies.

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Journal
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Published
2026-02-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202558044
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
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article
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article

Euclid : Early Release Observations – The star formation history of massive early-type galaxies in the Perseus cluster

P. Simon, S. Serrano, E. Medinaceli, B. Gillis et al.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
article

Euclid : Early Release Observations – The star formation history of massive early-type galaxies in the Perseus cluster

P. Simon, S. Serrano, E. Medinaceli, B. Gillis, W. J. Percival, T. Vassallo, H. Degaudenzi, K. Jahnke, S. Camera, L. Valenziano, S.-M. Niemi, J. Martín-Fleitas, K. George, A. M. C. Le Brun, E. Branchini, S. Ferriol, F. Dubath, S. M. P. PIRES, Z. Sakr, F. Courbin, M. Frailis, M. Mondelin, M. Baes, S. Bardelli, N. Martinet, S. Cavuoti, J. Weller, G. Congedo, O. Marggraf, G. Seidel, A. Cimatti, A. Veropalumbo, R. Farinelli, M. Fumana, J. García-Bellido, F. Torradeflot, I. Tutusaus, F. Finelli, C. Giocoli, M. Farina, S. Andreon, A. Renzi, L. Moscardini, J. Valiviita, J. Gracia-Carpio, E. Romelli, B. Altieri, F. Pasian, R. J. Massey, R. Toledo-Moreo, L. Pozzetti, M. Maturi, T. E. Woods, S. V. H. Haugan, R. Saglia, Y. Roehlly, A. Mora, E. Zucca, G. Meylan, Y. Wang, M. Castellano, A. Boselli, B. Kubik, F. Durret, D. Thomas, C. M. Gutierrez, C. J. Conselice, G. Castignani, I. Lloro, J. Rhodes, M. Meneghetti, B. Sartoris, E. Sihvola, X. Dupac, D. Sapone, E. Merlin, J. Steinwagner, D. Maino, C. Baccigalupi, B. Joachimi, V. Scottez, A. Hornstrup, Y. Copin, G. Sirri, S. Escoffier, A. Secroun, K. Pedersen, P. Amram, C. Carbone, T. Saifollahi, F. Marulli, H. Bouy, M. Fabricius, H. M. Courtois, G. Polenta, K. C. Chambers, F. Faustini, S. Galeotta, A. Costille, V. Pettorino, C. Neissner, J. Carretero, L. A. Popa, M. Martinelli, D. Le Mignant, I. Tereno, M. Bolzonella, W. Holmes, S. Toft, M. Brescia, N. Tessore, F. Grupp, S. Ligori, M. Baldi, A. G. Sánchez, M. Boquien, G. De Lucia, P. Gómez-Alvarez, M. Fossati, C. Colodro-Conde, V. Capobianco, M. Kümmel, C. Tortora, C. Sirignano, M. Jhabvala, Y. Mellier, O. Mansutti, P. Franzetti, S. Boissier, M. Roncarelli, A. Biviano, H. Kurki-Suonio, S. Paltani, G. Zamorani, P. B. Lilje, C. Padilla, I. A. Zinchenko, A. Grazian, E. Franceschi, I. M. Hook, A. N. Taylor, S. Martocchia, G. Cañas-Herrera, J.-C. Cuillandre, C. Maraston, R. Bender, P. Battaglia, M. A. Taylor, N. Auricchio, P. Tallada-Crespí, V. Lindholm, P. Schneider, G. Mainetti, L. Conversi, S. Kermiche, G. Riccio, M. Poncet, F. Hormuth, M. Kluge, A. Kiessling
article en

Abstract

The Euclid Early Release Observations (ERO) programme targeted the Perseus galaxy cluster in its central region over 0.7 deg 2 . We combined the exceptional image quality and depth of the ERO-Perseus with FUV and NUV observations from GALEX and AstroSat/UVIT, as well as ugriz H α data from MegaCam at the CFHT, to deliver FUV-to-NIR magnitudes of the 87 brightest galaxies within the Perseus cluster. We reconstructed the star formation history (SFH) of 59 early-type galaxies (ETGs) within the sample, through the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code CIGALE and state-of-the-art stellar population (SP) models to reproduce the galactic UV emission from hot, old, low-mass stars (i.e. the UV upturn). In addition, for the six most massive ETGs in Perseus [stellar masses log 10 ( M * / M ⊙ )≥10.3], we analysed their spatially resolved SP and SFH through a radial SED fitting. In agreement with our previous work on Virgo ETGs, we found that (i) the majority of the analysed galaxies needs the presence of a UV upturn component to explain their FUV emission, with average temperatures ⟨ T UV ⟩≃33 800 K; (ii) the ETGs of Perseus have grown their stellar masses quickly, with star formation timescales of τ ≲ 1500 Myr. We found that all ETGs in the sample have formed more than about 30% of their stellar masses at z ≃ 5, up to extreme fractions of ≃100%. At z ≃ 5, the stellar masses of the most massive nearby ETGs, which have present-day stellar masses of log 10 ( M * / M ⊙ )≳10.8, are then found to be comparable to those of the red quiescent galaxies observed by JWST at similar redshifts ( z &gt; 4.6). This study can be extended to ETGs in the 14 000 deg 2 extragalactic sky that will soon be observed by Euclid , in combination with those from other major upcoming surveys (e.g. Rubin /LSST), and UV observations, to ultimately assess whether the massive ETGs that we observe today represent the progeny of the massive high- z JWST red quiescent galaxies.

Astronomy and AstrophysicsVol. 708
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR), University of Geneva (CH), Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES), Leiden University (NL), University of Copenhagen (DK), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), University of Hawaii System (US), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR), University of Bonn (DE), Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (IT), University of Padua (IT), University of Lisbon (PT), Université de Bordeaux (FR), University of Waterloo (CA), Universidad de La Laguna (ES), University of Calgary (CA), Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR), Lyon College (US), Université Catholique de Lille (FR), Perimeter Institute (CA), University of Oslo (NO), Institut Universitaire de France (FR), Institute for High Energy Physics (ES), University of Milan (IT), University of Saint Joseph (US), Université Paris Cité (FR), Aix-Marseille Université (FR), Heidelberg University (DE), Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), Centre National d'Études Spatiales (FR), Helsinki Institute of Physics (FI), Astronomical Observatory of Rome (IT), Trieste Astronomical Observatory (IT), Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (FR), Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte (IT), European Space Agency (FR), Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg (FR), Brera Astronomical Observatory (IT), United Kingdom Space Agency (GB), Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (ES), Department of Space (IN), Ghent University (BE), Sorbonne Université (FR), Park University (US), Osservatorio astronomico di Bologna (IT), Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation (FR), Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (PT), Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (DE), Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (ES), European Space Astronomy Centre (ES), Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (FR), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Torino (IT), Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology (IT), Institut Català de Ciències del Clima (ES), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova (IT), Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino (IT), Royal Observatory (GB), SKA Observatory (GB), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli (IT), Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (DE), Institute of Space Sciences (ES), DAWN Center for Independent Living (US), Federico II University Hospital (IT), Institute of Theoretical Physics (CN), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Genova (IT), Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (FR), CEA Paris-Saclay (FR), Naples Anesthesia & Physician Associates (US), Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (ES), Felix Scholarship (GB), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano (IT), Institute of Space Science - INFLPR Subsidiary (RO), Niels Brock (DK), Centre de Calcul de l’Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (FR), Fractal Systems (Canada) (CA), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bologna (IT), Port d'Informació Científica (ES), Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari (IT), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste (IT), Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe (IT), Instituto de Física de Cantabria (ES), Astronomical Observatory (RS), St. Joseph Medical Center (US), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma I (IT), Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (IT), European Space Research Institute (IT), Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (ES), Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (FR), Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio, European Space Research and Technology Centre (NL), University College London (GB), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH), University of Turin (IT), University of Portsmouth (GB), University of Milano-Bicocca (IT), Lancaster University (GB), University of Chile (CL), Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (DE), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE), University of Genoa (IT), National Institute for Astrophysics (IT), Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (NL), University of Bologna (IT), Technical University of Denmark (DK), University of Edinburgh (GB)
Openalex Percentile: Top 59%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
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