Compact galaxies in the local universe

Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS; Data Release 7), we have conducted a search for local red sequence galaxies with sizes and masses comparable to those found at z~2.3. The SDSS spectroscopic target selection algorithm excludes high surface brightness objects; we show that this makes incompleteness a concern for such massive, compact galaxies, particularly for low redshifts (z<~0.05).

We have identified 63 M_*_>10^10.7^M_{sun}_ (~5x10^10^M_{sun}_) red sequence galaxies at 0.066<z_spec_<0.12 which are smaller than the median size-mass relation by a factor of 2 or more. Consistent with expectations from the virial theorem, the median offset from the mass-velocity dispersion relation for these galaxies is 0.12 dex. We do not, however, find any galaxies with sizes and masses comparable to those observed at z~2.3, implying a decrease in the comoving number density of these galaxies, at fixed size and mass, by a factor of >~5000.