In and out star formation in z~1.5 quiescent galaxies from rest-frame UV spectroscopy and the far-infrared

We present a sample of 34 spectroscopically confirmed BzK-selected ∼ 1011 M⊙ quiescent galaxies (pBzK) in the COSMOS field. The targets were initially observed with VIMOS on the VLT to facilitate the calibration of the photometric redshifts of massive galaxies at z & 1.5. Here we describe the reduction and analysis of the data, and the spectrophotometric properties of these pBzK galaxies. In particular, using a spatially resolved median 2D spectrum, we find that the fraction of stellar populations with ages <1 Gyr is at least 3 times higher in the outer regions of the pBzK galaxies than in their cores. This results in a mild age gradient of ∆age ≤ 0.4 Gyr over ∼6 kpc and suggests either the occurrence of widespread rejuvenation episodes or that inside-out quenching played a role in the passivization of this galaxy population. We also report on low-level star formation rates derived from the [OII]3727Å emission line, with SFROII ∼ 3.7 − 4.5 M⊙ yr−1. This estimate is confirmed by an independent measurement on a separate sample of similarlyselected quiescent galaxies in the COSMOS field, using stacked far-infrared data (SFRFIR ∼ 2− 4 M⊙ yr−1). This second, photometric sample also displays significant excess at 1.4 GHz, suggestive of the presence of radio-mode AGN activity.