scholarly journals NGC 474 as viewed with KCWI: diagnosing a shell galaxy

2020 ◽  
Vol 497 (1) ◽  
pp. 626-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adebusola B Alabi ◽  
Anna Ferré-Mateu ◽  
Duncan A Forbes ◽  
Aaron J Romanowsky ◽  
Jean P Brodie

ABSTRACT We present new spectra obtained using Keck/KCWI and perform kinematics and stellar population analyses of the shell galaxy NGC 474, from both the galaxy centre and a region from the outer shell. We show that both regions have similarly extended star formation histories although with different stellar population properties. The central region of NGC 474 is dominated by intermediate-aged stars (8.3 ± 0.3 Gyr) with subsolar metallicity ([Z/H] = −0.24 ± 0.07 dex) while the observed shell region, which hosts a substantial population of younger stars, has a mean luminosity-weighted age of 4.0 ± 0.5 Gyr with solar metallicities ([Z/H] = −0.03 ± 0.09 dex). Our results are consistent with a scenario in which NGC 474 experienced a major to intermediate merger with a log$(M_*/\rm M_\odot) \sim 10$ mass satellite galaxy at least ${\sim}2$ Gyr ago which produced its shell system. This work shows that the direct spectroscopic study of low-surface brightness stellar features, such as shells, is now feasible and opens up a new window to understanding galaxy formation and evolution.

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (S323) ◽  
pp. 288-292
Author(s):  
Alessia Longobardi ◽  
Magda Arnaboldi ◽  
Ortwin Gerhard

AbstractCosmological simulations allow us to study in detail the evolution of galaxy halos in cluster environments, but the extremely low surface brightness of such components makes it difficult to gather observational constraints. Planetary nebulas (PNs) offer a unique tool to investigate these environments owing to their strong [OIII] emission line. We study the light and kinematics of the Virgo cluster and its central galaxy, M87, prime targets to address the topic of galaxy formation and evolution in dense environments. We make use of a deep and extended PN sample (~300 objects) that extends out to 150 kpc in radius from M87’s centre. We show that at all distance the galaxy halo overlaps with the Virgo intracluster light (ICL). Halo and ICL are dynamically distinct components with different parent stellar populations, consistent with the halo of M87 being redder and more metal rich than the ICL. The synergy between PN kinematic information and deep V/B-band photometry made it possible to unravel an ongoing accretion process in the outskirt of M87. This accretion event represents a non-negligible perturbation of the halo light, showing that this galaxy is still growing by accretion of smaller systems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S353) ◽  
pp. 279-280
Author(s):  
Marius Peper ◽  
Boudewijn F. Roukema ◽  
Krzysztof Bolejko

AbstractCosmological simulations are a powerful tool to test various cosmological and galaxy formation scenarios. The discovery of low surface brightness objects has been a challenge for both of these fields. Our work aims to create a fully reproducible pipeline to generate a realistic dark matter halo catalog with corresponding information on galaxy formation and evolution.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S265) ◽  
pp. 304-312
Author(s):  
Carlos Allende Prieto

AbstractWe discuss recent observations of stars located close to the symmetry plane of the Milky Way, and examine them in the context of theories of Galaxy formation and evolution. The kinematics, ages, and compositions of thin disk stars in the solar neighborhood display complex patterns, and interesting correlations. The Galactic disk does not seem to pose any unsurmountable obstacles to hierarchical galaxy formation theories, but a model of the Milky Way able to reproduce the complexity found in the data will likely require a meticulous study of a significant fraction of the stars in the Galaxy. Making such an observational effort seems necessary in order to make a physics laboratory out of our own galaxy, and ultimately ensure that the most relevant processes are properly understood.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S262) ◽  
pp. 323-324
Author(s):  
Adriana de Lorenzo-Cáceres ◽  
Alexandre Vazdekis ◽  
Jesús Falcón-Barroso ◽  
Inma Martínez-Valpuesta

Double bars might be the key mechanisms to transport gas to the very central regions of galaxies, so double-barred galaxies are key objects to better understand the galaxy formation and evolution scenarios. In order to disentangle the role of double bars in the galaxy build up, we are performing a whole kinematical and stellar population analysis of these objects from high S/N spectroscopic data.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S235) ◽  
pp. 300-300
Author(s):  
R.O. Amorín ◽  
J.A.L. Aguerri ◽  
L.M. Cairós ◽  
N. Caon ◽  
C. Muñoz-Tuñón

AbstractBlue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies are gas-rich, low-luminosity (Mb≳-18 mag) and compact systems, currently undergoing violent star-formation burst (Sargent & Searle 1970). While it was initially hypothesized that they were very young galaxies (e.g. Sargent & Searle 1970, et al. 1988), the subsecuent detection of an extended, redder stellar host galaxy showed that the vast majority of them are old systems (e.g. Gil de Paz et al. 2003,2005). BCDs play an important role for understanding the process of galaxy formation and evolution.The structural properties of the low surface brightness stellar host in BCDs are often studied by fitting r1/n models to the outer regions of their radial profiles. The limitations imposed by the presence of a large starburst emission overlapping the underlying component makes this kind of analysis a difficult task.We propose a two-dimensional fitting methodology in order to improve the extraction of the structural parameters of the LSB host Amorín et al. 2006, submitted). A set of ideal simulations are presented in order to test the reliability of the method and to determine its robustness and flexibility. We present the different steps of the method discussing its advantages and weaknesses. We compare the results for a sample of eight objects with those already obtained using a one-dimensional technique (Caon et al. 2005).We fit a PSF convolved Sérsic model to the BVR images with the GALFIT publicly software (Peng et al. 2002). We restrict the fit to the stellar host by masking out the starburst region and take special care to minimize the sky-subtraction uncertainties. Consistency checks are performed to assess the reliability and accuracy of the derived structural parameters.We obtain robust fits for all the sample galaxies, all of which, except one, show low Sérsic indices n—very close to 1—with good agreement in the three bands. These findings suggest that the stellar hosts in BCDs have near-exponential profiles. Since the Sérsic index n of host galaxies is important in the context of the possible structural and evolutionary connections among the different types of dwarf galaxies, we are currently extending the study to a larger sample of objects. This kind of studies will help us to understand the mechanisms that form and shape BCD galaxies, and how they relate to the other dwarf galaxy classes.


Author(s):  
Mauro D’Onofrio ◽  
Paola Marziani ◽  
Cesare Chiosi

We review the properties of the established Scaling Relations (SRs) of galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN), focusing on their origin and expected evolution back in time, providing a short history of the most important progresses obtained up to now and discussing the possible future studies. We also try to connect the observed SRs with the physical mechanisms behind them, examining to what extent current models reproduce the observational data. The emerging picture clarifies the complexity intrinsic to the galaxy formation and evolution process as well as the basic uncertainties still affecting our knowledge of the AGN phenomenon. At the same time, however, it suggests that the detailed analysis of the SRs can profitably contribute to our understanding of galaxies and AGN.


2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 1771-1777
Author(s):  
HOUJUN MO

Given that dark matter is gravitationally dominant in the universe, and that galaxy formation is closely related to dark matter halos, a key first step in understanding galaxy formation and evolution in the CDM paradigm is to quantify the galaxy-halo connection for galaxies of different properties. Here I will present results about the halo/galaxy connection obtained from two different methods. One is based on the conditional luminosity function, which describes the occupation of galaxies in halos of different masses, and the other is based on galaxy systems properly selected to represent dark halos.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (S311) ◽  
pp. 100-103
Author(s):  
Kevin Bundy

AbstractI describe a new integral field spectroscopic survey called MaNGA (Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory). One of three core programs in the 6-year SDSS-IV project† that began on July 1st, 2014, MaNGA will deploy 17 fiber-bundle IFUs across the Sloan 2.5m Telescope's 3 degree field-of-view, targeting a mass-selected sample with a median redshift of 0.03, typical spatial resolution of 1-2 kpc, and a per-fiber signal-to-noise ratio of 4-8 in the outskirts of target galaxies. For each galaxy in the sample, MaNGA will provide maps and measured gradients of the composition and dynamics of both stars and gas. I discuss early results that highlight MaNGA's potential to shed light on the ionization and chemical enrichment of gas in galaxies, spatial patterns in their star formation histories, and the internal makeup of stellar populations. MaNGA's unprecedented data set will not only provide powerful new insight on galaxy formation and evolution but will serve as a valuable benchmark for future high-z observations from large telescopes and space-based facilities.


1996 ◽  
Vol 171 ◽  
pp. 11-18
Author(s):  
R.C. Kennicutt

Nearby spiral galaxies offer vital clues to some of the most fundamental questions about galaxy formation and evolution: What is the star formation history of the universe, past and future? When did disks form, during the final stages of a single primeval collapse, or as a continuous or episodic process? What is the evolutionary nature of the Hubble sequence, and what are the physical mechanisms that dictate the present-day Hubble type of a galaxy? Was Hubble type imprinted at birth, or can it be deterined or at least modified by infall, mergers, or secular dynamical evolution within the galaxy? These issues are not specific to spirals, of course, and much of this conference will address just these questions in a broader context. However present-day spirals offer unique advantages for studying these problems; they exhibit a broad range of dynamical and evolutionary properties, and the dynamical fragility of disks makes them excellent seismometers of galaxy interaction and merger rates at recent epochs.


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