Abstract
A large number of very faint, compact objects have been found at a redshift of 2.39 in optical images of the distant Universe. The objects appear to be star-forming spheroids smaller than the bulge of a spiral galaxy; they are much smaller and fainter than typical galaxies seen today. These objects may be part of a reservoir from which many of today's luminous galaxies were formed through repeated mergers.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blumenthal, G. R., Faber, S. M., Primack, J. R. & Rees, M. J. Nature 311, 517–525 (1984).
Cowie, L. L. in The Post Recombination Universe (eds Kiser, N. & Lazenby, A. N.) 1–32 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1988).
Larson, R. B. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacif. 102, 709–722 (1990).
White, S. D. M. in The Epoch of Galaxy Formation (eds Frenk, C. S. et al.) 15–29 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1989).
Larson, R. B. in Formation of the Galactic Halo... Inside and Out (eds Morrison, H. & Sarajedini, A.) 241–265 (BookCrafters, Provo, UT, 1996).
Navarro, J. F. & White, S. D. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 267, 401–412 (1994).
Pascarelle, S. M., Windhorst, R. A., Driver, S. P., Ostrander, E. J. & Keel, W. C. Astrophys. J. 456, L21–L24 (1996).
Steidel, C. S., Giavalisco, M., Pettini, M., Dickinson, M. & Adelberger, K. L. Astrophys. J. 462, L17–L21 (1996).
Driver, S. P. et al. Astrophys. J. 449, L23–L27 (1995).
Mutz, S. B. et al. Astrophys. J. 434, L55–L58 (1994).
Burkey, J. M., Keel, W. C., Windhorst, R. A. & Franklin, B. E. Astrophys. J. 429, L13–L17 (1994).
Carlberg, R. G. et al. Astrophys. J. 435, 540–547 (1994).
Yee, H. K. C. & Ellingson, E. Astrophys. J. 445, 37–45 (1995).
Metcalfe, N., Shanks, T., Fong, R. & Roche, N. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 273, 257–276 (1995).
Ellis, R. et al. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 280, 235–251 (1996).
Glazebrook, K. et al. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 273, 157–168 (1995).
Lilly, S. J., Tresse, L., Hammer, F., Crampton, D. & Le Fèvre, O. Astrophys. J. 455, 108–124 (1995).
Cowie, L. L., Hu, E. M. & Songaila, A. Astron. J. 110, 1576–1583 (1995).
Neuschaefer, L. W. & Windhorst, R. A. Astrophys. J. 439, 14–28 (1995).
Odewahn, S. C., Windhorst, R. A., Driver, S. P. & Keel, W. C. Astrophys. J. (submitted).
Broadhurst, T. J., Ellis, R. S. & Glazebrook, K. Nature 355, 55–58 (1992).
Dressler, A., Oemler, A., Gunn, J. E. & Butcher, H. Astrophys. J. 404, L45–L49 (1993).
Francis, P. J. et al. Astrophys. J. 457, 490–499 (1996).
Giavalisco, M., Steidel, C. C. & Szalay, A. S. Astrophys. J. 425, L5–L8 (1994).
Hutchings, J. B. Astron. J. 110, 994–997 (1995).
Pritchet, C. J. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacif. 106, 1052–1067 (1994).
Charlot, S. & Fall, S. M. Astrophys. J. 415, 580–588 (1993).
Lowenthal, J. D. et al. Astrophys. J. 451, 484–497 (1995).
Thompson, D., Djorgovski, S. G. & Trauger, J. Astron. J. 110, 963–981 (1995).
Calzetti, D. & Kinney, A. L. Astrophys. J. 399, L39–L42 (1992).
Windhorst, R. A. et al. Astrophys. J. 380, 362–383 (1991).
Windhorst, R. A., Mathis, D. F. & Keel, W. C. Astrophys. J. 400, L1–L4 (1992).
Simien, F. & de Vaucouleurs, G. Astrophys. J. 302, 564–578 (1987).
Courteau, S., deJong, R. S. & Broeils, A. H. Astrophys. J. 457, L73–L76 (1996).
Bruzual, A. G. & Charlot, S. Astrophys. J. 405, 538–553 (1993).
Guhathakurta, P., Tyson, J. A. & Majewski, S. R. Astrophys. J. 357, L9–L12 (1990).
White, S. D. M. & Frenk, C. S. Astrophys. J. 379, 52–79 (1991).
Carlbeg, R. G., Cowie, L. L., Songaila, A. & Hu, E. M. Astrophys. J. (submitted).
Le Fèvre, O. et al. Astrophys. J. 461, 534–545 (1996).
Broadhurst, T. J., Ellis, R. S., Koo, D. C. & Szalay, A. S. Nature 343, 726–728 (1990).
Landy, D. L. et al. Astrophys. J. 456, L1–L4 (1996).
Le Fèvre, O., Crampton, D., Hammer, F., Lilly, S. J. & Tresse, L. Astrophys. J. 423, L89–L92 (1994).
Colless, M., Schade, D., Broadhurst, T. J. & Ellis, R. S. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 267, 1108–1120 (1994).
Crampton, D., Le Fèvre, O., Lilly, S. J. & Hammer, F. Astrophys. J. 455, 96–107 (1995).
Cowie, L. L., Hu, E. M. & Songaila, A. Nature 377, 603–605 (1995).
Koo, D. C. in New Light on Galaxy Evolution (eds Bender, R. & Davies, R. L.) 217–220 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1996).
Mihos, J. C. Astrophys. J. 438, L75–L78 (1995).
Steidel, C. C., Giavalisco, M., Dickinson, M. & Adelberger, K. L. Astrophys. J. (submitted).
Mobasher, B., Rowan-Robinson, M., Georgakakis, A. & Eaton, N. Mon. Not. R. Astron. (submitted).
Casertano, S. et al. Astrophys. J. 453, 599–610 (1995).
Driver, S. P., Windhorst, R. A. & Griffiths, R. E. Astrophys. J. 453, 48–64 (1995).
Windhorst, R. A., Fomalont, E. B., Partridge, R. B. & Lowenthal, J. D. Astrophys. J. 405, 498–517 (1993).
Holtzman, J. A. et al. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacif. 107, 1065–1093 (1995).
Seaton, M. J. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 187, 73P–76P (1979).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pascarelle, S., Windhorst, R., Keel, W. et al. Sub-galactic clumps at a redshift of 2.39 and implications for galaxy formation. Nature 383, 45–50 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/383045a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/383045a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
The realm of the galaxy protoclusters
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review (2016)
-
Distant radio galaxies and their environments
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review (2008)