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The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: Mean Ages and Metallicities of Red Field Galaxies at z ~ 0.9 from Stacked Keck/DEIMOS Spectra

As part of the DEEP2 galaxy redshift survey, we analyze absorption line strengths in stacked Keck/DEIMOS spectra of red field galaxies with weak to no emission lines, at redshifts 0.7 <= z <= 1. Comparison with models of stellar population synthesis shows that red galaxies at z ~ 0.9 have mean luminosity-weighted ages of the order of only 1 Gyr and at least solar metallicities. This result cannot be reconciled with a scenario where all stars evolved passively after forming at very high z. Rather, a significant fraction of stars can be no more than 1 Gyr old, which means that star formation continued to at least z ~ 1.2. Furthermore, a comparison of these distant galaxies with a local SDSS sample, using stellar populations synthesis models, shows that the drop in the equivalent width of Hdelta from z ~ 0.9 to 0.1 is less than predicted by passively evolving models. This admits of two interpretations: either each individual galaxy experiences continuing low-level star formation, or the red-sequence galaxy population from z ~ 0.9 to 0.1 is continually being added to by new galaxies with younger stars.