scholarly journals Formation of S0s in extreme environments II: The star-formation histories of bulges, discs, and lenses

2020 ◽  
Vol 500 (3) ◽  
pp. 4193-4212
Author(s):  
Evelyn J Johnston ◽  
Alfonso Aragón-Salamanca ◽  
Amelia Fraser-McKelvie ◽  
Michael Merrifield ◽  
Boris Häußler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Redshift ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Cluster Galaxies ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Minor Mergers ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Star Formation Histories ◽  
S0 Galaxies ◽  
Random Times

ABSTRACT Different processes have been proposed to explain the formation of S0s, including mergers, disc instabilities, and quenched spirals. These processes are expected to dominate in different environments, and thus leave characteristic footprints in the kinematics and stellar populations of the individual components within the galaxies. New techniques enable us to cleanly disentangle the kinematics and stellar populations of these components in IFU observations. In this paper, we use buddi to spectroscopically extract the light from the bulge, disc, and lens components within a sample of eight S0 galaxies in extreme environments observed with MUSE. While the spectra of bulges and discs in S0 galaxies have been separated before, this work is the first to isolate the spectra of lenses. Stellar populations analysis revealed that the bulges and lenses have generally similar or higher metallicities than the discs, and the α-enhancement of the bulges and discs are correlated, while those of the lenses are completely unconnected to either component. We conclude that the majority of the mass in these galaxies was built up early in the lifetime of the galaxy, with the bulges and discs forming from the same material through dissipational processes at high redshift. The lenses, on the other hand, formed over independent time-scales at more random times within the lifetime of the galaxy, possibly from evolved bars. The younger stellar populations and asymmetric features seen in the field S0s may indicate that these galaxies have been affected more by minor mergers than the cluster galaxies.

scholarly journals Formation of S0s in extreme environments I: clues from kinematics and stellar populations

2019 ◽  
Vol 492 (2) ◽  
pp. 2955-2972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lodovico Coccato ◽  
Yara L Jaffé ◽  
Arianna Cortesi ◽  
Michael Merrifield ◽  
Evelyn Johnston ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Lenticular Galaxies ◽  
Spatially Resolved ◽  
Minor Mergers ◽  
The One ◽  
S0 Galaxies ◽  
Larger Sample

ABSTRACT Despite numerous efforts, it is still unclear whether lenticular galaxies (S0s) evolve from spirals whose star formation was suppressed, or formed trough mergers or disc instabilities. In this paper we present a pilot study of 21 S0 galaxies in extreme environments (field and cluster), and compare their spatially resolved kinematics and global stellar populations. Our aim is to identify whether there are different mechanisms that form S0s in different environments. Our results show that the kinematics of S0 galaxies in field and cluster are, indeed, different. Lenticulars in the cluster are more rotationally supported, suggesting that they are formed through processes that involve the rapid consumption or removal of gas (e.g. starvation, ram pressure stripping). In contrast, S0s in the field are more pressure supported, suggesting that minor mergers served mostly to shape their kinematic properties. These results are independent of total mass, luminosity, or disc-to-bulge ratio. On the other hand, the mass-weighted age, metallicity, and star formation time-scale of the galaxies correlate more with mass than with environment, in agreement with known relations from previous work, such as the one between mass and metallicity. Overall, our results re-enforce the idea that there are multiple mechanisms that produce S0s, and that both mass and environment play key roles. A larger sample is highly desirable to confirm or refute the results and the interpretation of this pilot study.

Extreme variations in star formation activity in the first galaxies

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S341) ◽  
pp. 226-230
Author(s):  
Christian Binggeli ◽  
Erik Zackrisson ◽  
Xiangcheng Ma ◽  
Akio K. Inoue ◽  
Anton Vikaeus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Rest Frame ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
High Redshift Galaxies ◽  
James Webb Space Telescope ◽  
Star Formation Activity ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
First Galaxies ◽  
Star Formation Histories

AbstractRecently, spectroscopic detections of O[III] 88 μm and Ly-α emission lines from the z ≍ 9.1 galaxy MACS1149-JD1 have been presented, and with these, some interesting properties of this galaxy were uncovered. One such property is that MACS1149-JD1 exhibits a significant Balmer break at around rest-frame 4000 Å, which may indicate that the galaxy has experienced large variations in star formation rate prior to z ∼ 9, with a rather long period of low star formation activity. While some simulations predict large variations in star formation activity in high-redshift galaxies, it is unclear whether the simulations can reproduce the kind of variations seen in MACS1149-JD1. Here, we utilize synthetic spectra of simulated galaxies from two simulation suites in order to study to what extent these can accurately reproduce the spectral features (specifically the Balmer break) observed in MACS1149-JD1. We show that while the simulations used in this study produce galaxies with varying star formation histories, galaxies such as MACS1149-JD1 would be very rare in the simulations. In principle, future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope may tell us if MACS1149-JD1 represents something rare, or if such galaxies are more common than predicted by current simulations.

scholarly journals Modelling a bright z = 6 galaxy at the faint end of the AGN luminosity function

2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (3) ◽  
pp. 3453-3463
Author(s):  
Maxime Trebitsch ◽  
Marta Volonteri ◽  
Yohan Dubois
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Star Forming ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Lyman Break Galaxies ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Galaxy Population ◽  
High Redshift Universe

ABSTRACT Recent deep surveys have unravelled a population of faint active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the high-redshift Universe, leading to various discussions on their nature and their role during the Epoch of Reionization. We use cosmological radiation hydrodynamics simulations of a bright galaxy at z ∼ 6 (${M_\star } \gtrsim 10^{10}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$) hosting an actively growing supermassive black hole to study the properties of these objects. In particular, we study how the black hole and the galaxy coevolve and what is the relative contribution of the AGNs and of the stellar populations to the luminosity budget of the system. We find that the feedback from the AGN has no strong effect on the properties of the galaxy, and does not increase the total ionizing luminosity of the host. The average escape fraction of our galaxy is around $f_{\rm esc} \sim 5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. While our galaxy would be selected as an AGN in deep X-ray surveys, most of the ultraviolet (UV) luminosity is originating from stellar populations. This confirms that there is a transition in the galaxy population from star-forming galaxies to quasar hosts, with bright Lyman-break galaxies with MUV around −22 falling in the overlap region. Our results also suggest that faint AGNs do not contribute significantly to reionizing the Universe.

scholarly journals Understanding the growth of massive galaxies via stellar populations

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S295) ◽  
pp. 125-128
Author(s):  
Ignacio Ferreras
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Formation Process ◽  
Past History ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Open Problems ◽  
Massive Galaxies ◽  
Spectroscopic Observations ◽  
Formation And Evolution ◽  
Minor Mergers ◽  
Star Formation Histories

AbstractThe formation and evolution of massive galaxies represent one of the most intriguing open problems in astrophysics. Their underlying stellar populations encode valuable information about their past history. Detailed spectroscopic observations allow us to constrain the star formation histories, revealing a complicated mixture of a strong, early formation process, followed by passive evolution in the cores, along with an extended assembly of the outer regions via minor mergers. In this contributed talk, some recent results are presented from the analysis of samples of massive galaxies both at z ~ 0 and moderate redshift.

scholarly journals THE STAR FORMATION HISTORIES OF EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES: INSIGHTS FROM THE REST-FRAME ULTRAVIOLET

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (03) ◽  
pp. 153-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUGATA KAVIRAJ
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Rest Frame ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Stellar Mass ◽  
Early Type ◽  
Redshift Range ◽  
Colour Distribution ◽  
Type Population ◽  
Minor Mergers ◽  
Star Formation Histories

Our current understanding of the star formation histories of early-type galaxies is reviewed, in the context of recent observational studies of their ultraviolet (UV) properties. Combination of UV and optical spectro-photometric data indicates that the bulk of the stellar mass in the early-type population forms at high redshift (z>2), possibly over short timescales (<1 Gyr). Nevertheless, early-types of all luminosities form stars over the lifetime of the Universe, with most luminous (-23<M(V)<-21) systems forming 10–15% of their stellar mass after z = 1 (with a scatter to higher value), while their less luminous (M(V)>-21) counterparts form 30–60% of their mass in the same redshift range. The large scatter in the (rest-frame) UV colours in the redshift range 0<z<0.7 indicates widespread low-level star formation in the early-type population over the last 8 billion years. The mass fraction of young (<1 Gyr old) stars in luminous early-type galaxies varies between 1% and 6% at z ~ 0 and is in the range 5–13% at z ~ 0.7. The intensity of recent star formation and the bulk of the UV colour distribution is consistent with what might be expected from minor mergers (mass ratios ≲ 1:6) in a ΛCDM cosmology.

scholarly journals Understanding the transformation of spirals to lenticulars

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (S309) ◽  
pp. 225-226
Author(s):  
Evelyn J. Johnston ◽  
Alfonso Aragón-Salamanca ◽  
Michael R. Merrifield
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Virgo Cluster ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
Star Formation Activity ◽  
Central Regions ◽  
Individual Star ◽  
Components Analysis ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Star Formation Histories ◽  
S0 Galaxies

AbstractBy studying the individual star-formation histories of the bulges and discs of lenticular (S0) galaxies, it is possible to build up a sequence of events that leads to the cessation of star formation and the consequent transformation from the progenitor spiral. In order to separate the bulge and disc stellar populations, we spectroscopically decomposed long-slit spectra of Virgo Cluster S0s into bulge and disc components. Analysis of the decomposed spectra shows that the most recent star formation activity in these galaxies occurred within the bulge regions, having been fuelled by residual gas from the disc. These results point towards a scenario where the star formation in the discs of spiral galaxies are quenched, followed by a final episode of star formation in the central regions from the gas that has been funnelled inwards through the disc.

scholarly journals The star formation histories of the Magellanic Clouds

1991 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 138-138
Author(s):  
H. R. Butcher
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Galaxy Evolution ◽  
Local Group ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Magellanic Clouds ◽  
Empirical Methods ◽  
Star Forming ◽  
Two Systems ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Star Formation Histories

Existing observations of the Magellanic Clouds suggest substantially different star-forming histories for the two systems. The reliability of this conclusion is discussed in the context of the uncertainties and age resolutions of various empirical methods of studying galaxy evolution. An attempt is also made to relate likely evolutionary scenarios for the Clouds to the histories of other Local Group systems, to the evolution seen in galaxies at high redshift, and to possible histories determined by interaction with the Galaxy.

scholarly journals HST/WFC3 grism observations of z ∼ 1 clusters: evidence for evolution in the mass–size relation of quiescent galaxies from post-starburst galaxies

2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (4) ◽  
pp. 6011-6032 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Matharu ◽  
A Muzzin ◽  
G B Brammer ◽  
R F J van der Burg ◽  
M W Auger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Change ◽  
Driving Mechanism ◽  
Cluster Galaxies ◽  
Star Forming ◽  
Large Size ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Size Growth ◽  
Mass Size ◽  
Minor Mergers ◽  
Size Relation

ABSTRACT Minor mergers have been proposed as the driving mechanism for the size growth of quiescent galaxies with decreasing redshift. The process whereby large star-forming galaxies quench and join the quiescent population at the large size end has also been suggested as an explanation for this size growth. Given the clear association of quenching with clusters, we explore this mechanism by studying the structural properties of 23 spectroscopically identified recently quenched (or ‘post-starburst’ (PSB)) cluster galaxies at z ∼ 1. Despite clear PSB spectral signatures implying rapid and violent quenching, 87 per cent of these galaxies have symmetric, undisturbed morphologies in the stellar continuum. Remarkably, they follow a mass–size relation lying midway between the star-forming and quiescent field relations, with sizes 0.1 dex smaller than z ∼ 1 star-forming galaxies at log(M*/M⊙) = 10.5. This implies a rapid change in the light profile without directly effecting the stellar distribution, suggesting changes in the mass-to-light ratio gradients across the galaxy are responsible. We develop fading toy models to explore how star-forming galaxies move across the mass–size plane as their stellar populations fade to match those of the PSBs. ‘Outside-in’ fading has the potential to reproduce the contraction in size and increase in bulge-dominance observed between star-forming and PSB cluster galaxies. Since cluster PSBs lie on the large size end of the quiescent mass–size relation, and our previous work shows cluster galaxies are smaller than field galaxies, the sizes of quiescent galaxies must grow both from the quenching of star-forming galaxies and dry minor mergers.

scholarly journals Age dependence of metallicity gradients in the Galactic disc from astrometry and asteroseismology

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (S330) ◽  
pp. 206-207
Author(s):  
Luca Casagrande
Keyword(s):  
Milky Way ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Stellar Populations ◽  
Age Dependence ◽  
Galactic Disc ◽  
The Galaxy

AbstractAsteroseismology allows us to determine stellar parameters (distances, masses and ages) independently from Gaia astrometry, and it provides us with a new and complementary tool for studying stellar populations in the Galaxy. The prospects and synergies that asteroseismic and astrometric space-borne missions reserve to the field of Galactic archaeology are marvellous, and results have already started to emerge. For example, the study of metallicity gradients as function of age will provide powerful constraints to understand the evolution of the Milky Way disc at high-redshift.

The light side of proto-cluster galaxies at z ∼ 4

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (S359) ◽  
pp. 126-130
Author(s):  
Kei Ito
Keyword(s):  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Cluster Galaxies ◽  
Active Structure ◽  
Brightest Cluster Galaxies ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Strategic Program ◽  
Light Side ◽  
Star Formation Histories ◽  
Early Galaxy

AbstractOverdense regions at high redshift, which are often called “protoclusters”, are thought to be a place where the early active structure formations are in progress. Thanks to the wide and deep-sky survey of Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program, we have selected 179 protocluster candidates at z ˜ 4, enabling us to statistically discuss high-z overdense regions. I report results of the HSC-SSP protocluster project, focusing on a couple of results on the bright-end of protocluster galaxies. We identify the UV-brightest galaxies, which are likely progenitors of Brightest Cluster Galaxies. We find that these are dustier and larger than field galaxies. This suggests that galaxies in protoclusters have experienced different star formation histories at z ˜ 4. Also, the UV luminosity function of galaxies in protoclusters (PC UVLF) has a significant excess on the bright-end from field UVLF. The PC UVLF suggests that protoclusters contribute ˜ 5 – 16% of the total cosmic SFRD at z ˜ 4. The result implies that early galaxy formation occurs in protoclusters.

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