scholarly journals Ages and metallicities of early-type galaxies

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S262) ◽  
pp. 400-401
Author(s):  
Ricardo Ogando ◽  
Marcio Maia ◽  
Paulo Pellegrini ◽  
Luiz da Costa
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Hierarchical Clustering ◽  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Velocity Dispersion ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
High Density ◽  
Early Type ◽  
Massive Galaxies ◽  
Low Mass

AbstractThe study of stellar populations in early-type galaxies give us clues on how they form and evolve. We calculate age, [Z/H], and [α/Fe] ratio for 162 early-type galaxies using the SSP models from Thomas, Maraston, & Bender (2003) applied to Lick indices measurements, such as Hβ, Mgb, Fe5270 and Fe5335. Those were obtained from longslit spectra observed in the ESO 1.52m telescope as described in Ogando et al. (2008). We study the relations between the SSP parameters and velocity dispersion, as well as the influence of environment on these relations. We find that age, [Z/H], and [α/Fe] correlate well with velocity dispersion, so that more massive galaxies, have on average, higher metallicities, ages and abundance ratios than that of the low-mass ones. Galaxies in high density regions are older and more metal-rich than those in regions with low number of neighbors. These results are not consistent with standard predictions of hierarchical clustering. In the last decade, this “anti-hierarchical” behavior has also been generally tagged as downsizing and has challenged the current theoretical framework of galaxy formation, calling for new ways of star formation regulation in early-type galaxies.

scholarly journals The stellar populations of massive galaxies in the local Universe

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S295) ◽  
pp. 290-299
Author(s):  
Richard M. McDermid
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Stellar Population ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Early Type ◽  
Massive Galaxies ◽  
Spatially Resolved ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Galaxy Environment ◽  
Star Formation Histories

AbstractI present a brief review of the stellar population properties of massive galaxies, focusing on early-type galaxies in particular, with emphasis on recent results from the ATLAS3D Survey. I discuss the occurence of young stellar ages, cold gas, and ongoing star formation in early-type galaxies, the presence of which gives important clues to the evolutionary path of these galaxies. Consideration of empirical star formation histories gives a meaningful picture of galaxy stellar population properties, and allows accurate comparison of mass estimates from populations and dynamics. This has recently provided strong evidence of a non-universal IMF, as supported by other recent evidences. Spatially-resolved studies of stellar populations are also crucial to connect distinct components within galaxies to spatial structures seen in other wavelengths or parameters. Stellar populations in the faint outer envelopes of early-type galaxies are a formidable frontier for observers, but promise to put constraints on the ratio of accreted stellar mass versus that formed ‘in situ’ - a key feature of recent galaxy formation models. Galaxy environment appears to play a key role in controlling the stellar population properties of low mass galaxies. Simulations remind us, however, that current day galaxies are the product of a complex assembly and environment history, which gives rise to the trends we see. This has strong implications for our interpretation of environmental trends.

scholarly journals The evolution of massive galaxies in semi-analytical models of galaxy formation

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S295) ◽  
pp. 191-199
Author(s):  
Carlton M. Baugh
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Formation Process ◽  
Hierarchical Models ◽  
Gravitational Instability ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Analytical Models ◽  
Massive Galaxies ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Galaxy

AbstractMassive galaxies with old stellar populations have been put forwards as a challenge to models in which cosmic structures grow hierarchically through gravitational instability. I will explain how the growth of massive galaxies is helped by features of hierarchical models. I give a brief outline of how the galaxy formation process is modelled in hierarchical cosmologies using semi-analytical models, and illustrate how these models can be refined as our understanding of processes such as star formation improves. I then present a brief survey of the current state of play in the modelling of massive galaxies and list some outstanding challenges.

scholarly journals Stellar population gradients in GASS

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S295) ◽  
pp. 304-307
Author(s):  
Jonas Johansson ◽  
Guinevere Kauffmann ◽  
Sean Moran
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Stellar Population ◽  
Neutral Hydrogen ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Element Abundance ◽  
Molecular Gas ◽  
Massive Galaxies ◽  
Additional Formation ◽  
Inside Out

AbstractWe study relationships between the stellar populations and interstellar medium in massive galaxies using the Galex Arecibo SDSS Survey (GASS). The sample consists of HI-observations (~1000 galaxies) and complementary H2-observations (330 galaxies) and long-slit spectroscopy (230 galaxies). Luminosity-weighted stellar population ages, metallicitites and element abundance ratios, are derived by fitting stellar population models of absorption line indices. We find that the ages correlate more strongly with molecular gas fraction (MH2/M*) than with neutral Hydrogen fraction (MHI/M*). This result strengthens the theory that H2 is a better tracer of star-formation than HI. The sample is dominated by negative metallicity-gradients and flat Mg/Fe-gradients. Galaxies with high MH2/M*-ratios show in general flat or weakly negative age-gradients. For low MH2/M*-ratios the age-gradients are overall negative. These results are in agreement with the inside-out galaxy formation scenario. For galaxies with high r90/r50-ratios, a sub-population show positive age-gradients indicating additional formation channels. Furthermore, for galaxies with high MH2/M*-ratios more massive systems have older stellar populations in their centers, suggesting downsizing within the inside-out formation scenario.

scholarly journals Early-type galaxy formation history from GALEX-SAURON

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (S245) ◽  
pp. 193-194
Author(s):  
Hyunjin Jeong ◽  
Sukyoung K. Yi ◽  
Martin Bureau ◽  
Davor Kranović ◽  
Roger L. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Cold Dark Matter ◽  
Classical Model ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Elliptical Galaxies ◽  
Early Type ◽  
Secondary Star ◽  
Rich Diversity ◽  
Formation History

One of long-standing debates in modern astrophysics is the formation mechanism of early-type galaxies. The classical model, proposed by Eggel et al. (1962), explains that early-type stellar populations form in an initial highly efficient burst and evolve without further star formation until present day. The high Mg and alpha abundances found in bright elliptical galaxies support such scenarios. Early-type galaxies, therefore, are traditionally believed that they are dynamically simple stellar systems with homogeneous stellar populations (e.g. Gott 1977). The popular Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) paradigm (e.g. Toomre and Toomre 1972), however, strongly suggested a hierarchical merger picture for massive elliptical galaxies. In this model, early-type galaxies form as a result of major mergers and are thought to have continued star formation. Evidence is growing that a substantial fraction of early-type galaxies has secondary star formation. Furthermore, SAURON survey has revealed a rich diversity in the kinematics, discovering numerous central disks and kinematically decoupled cores (e.g. Emsellem et al. 2004; Sarzi et al. 2006). Early-type galaxies are thus likely to have had complex and varied formation histories.

scholarly journals Emerge: Empirical predictions of galaxy merger rates since z ∼ 6

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph A O’Leary ◽  
Benjamin P Moster ◽  
Thorsten Naab ◽  
Rachel S Somerville
Keyword(s):  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Stellar Mass ◽  
Direct Result ◽  
Mass Relation ◽  
Massive Galaxies ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Major Merger ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Merger Rate

Abstract We explore the galaxy-galaxy merger rate with the empirical model for galaxy formation, emerge. On average, we find that between 2 per cent and 20 per cent of massive galaxies (log10(m*/M⊙) ≥ 10.3) will experience a major merger per Gyr. Our model predicts galaxy merger rates that do not scale as a power-law with redshift when selected by descendant stellar mass, and exhibit a clear stellar mass and mass-ratio dependence. Specifically, major mergers are more frequent at high masses and at low redshift. We show mergers are significant for the stellar mass growth of galaxies log10(m*/M⊙) ≳ 11.0. For the most massive galaxies major mergers dominate the accreted mass fraction, contributing as much as 90 per cent of the total accreted stellar mass. We reinforce that these phenomena are a direct result of the stellar-to-halo mass relation, which results in massive galaxies having a higher likelihood of experiencing major mergers than low mass galaxies. Our model produces a galaxy pair fraction consistent with recent observations, exhibiting a form best described by a power-law exponential function. Translating these pair fractions into merger rates results in an inaccurate prediction compared to the model intrinsic values when using published observation timescales. We find the pair fraction can be well mapped to the intrinsic merger rate by adopting an observation timescale that decreases linearly with redshift as Tobs = −0.36(1 + z) + 2.39 [Gyr], assuming all observed pairs merge by z = 0.

scholarly journals Assembly Histories and Observational Properties of Simulated Early-type Galaxies

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S295) ◽  
pp. 354-357
Author(s):  
Peter H. Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Initial Growth ◽  
Early Type ◽  
Massive Galaxies ◽  
Main Galaxy ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Late Growth ◽  
Kinematic Properties

AbstractWe demonstrate that massive simulated galaxies assemble in two phases, with the initial growth dominated by compact in situ star formation, whereas the late growth is dominated by accretion of old stars formed in subunits outside the main galaxy. We also show that 1) gravitational feedback strongly suppresses late star formation in massive galaxies contributing to the observed galaxy colour bimodality that 2) the observed galaxy downsizing can be explained naturally in the two-phased model and finally that 3) the details of the assembly histories of massive galaxies are directly connected to their observed kinematic properties.

The IMF-SFH connection in massive early-type galaxies

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S315) ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Ferreras ◽  
C. Weidner ◽  
A. Vazdekis ◽  
F. La Barbera
Keyword(s):  
Age Distribution ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
Population Synthesis ◽  
Early Type ◽  
Massive Galaxies ◽  
Stellar Initial Mass Function ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Imf

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is one of the fundamental pillars in studies of stellar populations. It is the mass distribution of stars at birth, and it is traditionally assumed to be universal, adopting generic functions constrained by resolved (i.e. nearby) stellar populations (e.g., Salpeter 1955; Kroupa 2001; Chabrier 2003). However, for the vast majority of cases, stars are not resolved in galaxies. Therefore, the interpretation of the photo-spectroscopic observables is complicated by the many degeneracies present between the properties of the unresolved stellar populations, including IMF, age distribution, and chemical composition. The overall good match of the photometric and spectroscopic observations of galaxies with population synthesis models, adopting standard IMF choices, made this issue a relatively unimportant one for a number of years. However, improved models and observations have opened the door to constraints on the IMF in unresolved stellar populations via gravity-sensitive spectral features. At present, there is significant evidence of a non-universal IMF in early-type galaxies (ETGs), with a trend towards a dwarf-enriched distribution in the most massive systems (see, e.g., van Dokkum & Conroy 2010; Ferreras et al. 2013; La Barbera et al. 2013). Dynamical and strong-lensing constraints of the stellar M/L in similar systems give similar results, with heavier M/L in the most massive ETGs (see, e.g., Cappellari et al. 2012; Posacki et al. 2015). Although the interpretation of the results is still open to discussion (e.g., Smith 2014; La Barbera 2015), one should consider the consequences of such a bottom-heavy IMF in massive galaxies.

scholarly journals Star formation histories of resolved galaxies

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S258) ◽  
pp. 61-72
Author(s):  
Monica Tosi
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Observational Data ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Morphological Type ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Type ◽  
Significant Rate ◽  
Star Formation Histories

AbstractThe colour-magnitude diagrams of resolved stellar populations are the best tool to study the star formation histories of the host galactic regions. In this review the method to derive star formation histories by means of synthetic colour-magnitude diagrams is briefly outlined, and the results of its application to resolved galaxies of various morphological types are summarized. It is shown that all the galaxies studied so far were already forming stars at the lookback time reached by the observational data, independently of morphological type and metallicity. Early-type galaxies have formed stars predominantly, but in several cases not exclusively, at the earliest epochs. All the other galaxies appear to have experienced rather continuous star formation activities throughout their lifetimes, although with significant rate variations and, sometimes, short quiescent phases.

scholarly journals Stellar Populations of the Most Massive Galaxies

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S267) ◽  
pp. 459-459
Author(s):  
Alexander Fritz ◽  
Michael D. Hoenig ◽  
Ricardo P. Schiavon
Keyword(s):  
High Velocity ◽  
Surface Brightness ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Spectroscopic Properties ◽  
Low Density ◽  
Early Type ◽  
Small Surface ◽  
Fundamental Plane ◽  
Massive Galaxies ◽  
Bona Fide

Within the hierarchical CDM framework, gas-poor mergers contribute substantially to the building of the most massive galaxies (Faber et al. 2007). We want to test this scenario by studying the fundamental plane (FP) and the stellar populations of the most massive galaxies. We investigate a well-defined sample of massive early-type galaxies at 0.1<z<0.4, identified from the SDSS database. Out of 42,000 possible targets in the SDSS database, we extracted 23 luminous early-type galaxies with bona fide high velocity dispersions of σ>350 km s−1. These systems are located either in high or low-density environments and show a variety of small surface-brightness structure. Using archival HST/ACS images and Gemini/GMOS spectroscopy, we will explore the photometric and spectroscopic properties of these galaxies.

AGN and the necessity of feedback

2005 ◽  
Vol 363 (1828) ◽  
pp. 695-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Benson
Keyword(s):  
Black Holes ◽  
Star Formation ◽  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Supermassive Black Holes ◽  
Observational Evidence ◽  
Theoretical Studies ◽  
Feedback Process ◽  
Low Mass

There is now good observational evidence that some type of feedback process must operate within galaxies. Such a process has long been thought to exist on the basis of theoretical studies of galaxy formation. This feedback is responsible for regulating the rate of star formation and thereby preventing the formation of an overabundance of low–mass galaxies. There is gathering evidence that this feedback process must somehow involve the supermassive black holes thought to dwell in the centres of galaxies.

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