IMAGES IV: strong evolution of the oxygen abundance in gaseous phases of intermediate mass galaxies from<i><b>z</b></i> ~ 0.8

Abstract

Context. Intermediate mass galaxies (> 1010 ) at z ~ 0.6 are the likeliest progenitors of the present-day, numerous population of spirals. There is growing evidence that they have evolved rapidly in the last 6 to 8 Gyr, and likely already have formed a significant fraction of their stellar mass, often showing perturbed morphologies and kinematics.