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| Paper: |
High redshift radio galaxies - Evidence for early galaxy formation |
| Volume: |
10, Evolution of the Universe of Galaxies: Edwin Hubble Centennial Symposium |
| Page: |
344 |
| Authors: |
Lilly, Simon J. |
| Abstract: |
The evidence that the radio galaxies recently identified at high redshift are massive galaxies (10 exp 12 solar masses of stellar material) in which the bulk of the stars are of order 10 exp 9 years or more old is discussed. Emphasis is placed on the M/L ratio of the stellar population rather than its age, since it is the masses of the galaxies which provide the most direct confrontation with galaxy formation theory. A key observation is the small dispersion in the K-z Hubble relation since it is hard to imagine how the very low M/L ratios required to reduce the masses of the galaxies would not produce a much larger dispersion in the absolute magnitudes of the population than is observed. New data on a potential counter-example, the proto-galaxy candidate 3C326.1 at z about 1.8, suggest that this object is not a galaxy seen in the process of formation. Finally, the implications of this idea for theories for the formation of massive galaxies in general are discussed. |
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