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1.
Stellar populations in spiral bulges are investigated using the Lick system of spectral indices. Long-slit spectroscopic observations of line strengths and kinematics made along the minor axes of four spiral bulges are reported. Comparisons are made between central line strengths in spiral bulges and those in other morphological types [elliptical, spheroidal (Sph) and S0]. The bulges investigated are found to have central line strengths comparable to those of single stellar populations of approximately solar abundance or above. Negative radial gradients are observed in line strengths, similar to those exhibited by elliptical galaxies. The bulge data are also consistent with correlations between Mg2, Mg2 gradient and central velocity dispersion observed in elliptical galaxies. In contrast to elliptical galaxies, central line strengths lie within the loci defining the range of 〈Fe〉 and Mg2 achieved by Worthey's solar abundance ratio, single stellar populations (SSPs). The implication of solar abundance ratios indicates significant differences in the star formation histories of spiral bulges and elliptical galaxies. A 'single zone with infall' model of galactic chemical evolution, using Worthey's SSPs, is used to constrain the possible star formation histories of our sample. We show that the 〈Fe〉, Mg2 and H β line strengths observed in these bulges cannot be reproduced using primordial collapse models of formation but can be reproduced by models with extended infall of gas and star formation (2–17 Gyr) in the region modelled. One galaxy (NGC 5689) shows a central population with a luminosity-weighted average age of ∼5 Gyr, supporting the idea of extended star formation. Kinematic substructure, possibly associated with a central spike in metallicity, is observed at the centre of the Sa galaxy NGC 3623.  相似文献   

2.
We present line-strengths and kinematics from the central regions of 32 galaxies with Hubble types ranging from E to Sbc. Spectral indices, based on the Lick system, are measured in the optical and near-infrared (NIR). The 24 indices measured, in conjunction with models of the effects of varying abundance ratios, permit the breaking of age/metallicity degeneracy, and allow estimation of enhancements in specific light elements (particularly C and Mg). The large range of Hubble types observed allows direct comparison of line-strengths in the centres of early-type galaxies (E and S0) with those in spiral bulges, free from systematic differences that have plagued comparisons of results from different studies. Our sample includes field and Virgo cluster galaxies. For early-type galaxies our data are consistent with previously reported trends of Mg2 and Mgb with velocity dispersion. In spiral bulges we find trends in all indices with velocity dispersion. We estimate luminosity-weighted ages, metallicities and heavy-element abundance ratios (enhancements) from optical indices. These show that bulges are less enhanced in light ( α -capture) elements and have lower average age than early-type galaxies. Trends involving age and metallicity also differ sharply between early and late types. An anticorrelation exists between age and metallicity in early types, while, in bulges, metallicity is correlated with velocity dispersion. We consider the implications of these findings for models of the formation of these galaxies. We find that primordial collapse models of galaxy formation are ruled out by our observations, while several predictions of hierarchical clustering (merger) models are confirmed.  相似文献   

3.
The formation and evolution of elliptical galaxies (EGs) are still an open question. In particular, recent observations suggest that EGs are not only simple spheroidal systems of old stars. In this paper, we analyse a sample of EGs selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in order to study the star-forming activity in local EGs. Among these 487 ellipticals, we find that 13 EGs show unambiguous evidence of recent star formation activity betrayed by conspicuous nebular emission lines. Using the evolutionary stellar population synthesis models and Lick absorption line indices, we derive stellar ages, metallicities and α-element abundances, and thus reconstruct the star formation and chemical evolution history of the star-forming elliptical galaxies (SFEGs) in our sample.
We find that SFEGs have relative younger stellar population age, higher metallicity and lower stellar mass, and that their star formation history can be well described by a recent minor and short starburst superimposed on old stellar component. We also detect 11 E+A galaxies whose stellar population properties are closer to those of quiescent (normal) ellipticals than to star-forming ones. However, from the analysis of their absorption line indices, we note that our E+A galaxies show a significant fraction of intermediate-age stellar populations, remarkably different from the quiescent galaxies. This might suggest an evolutionary link between E+As and star-forming ellipticals. Finally, we confirm the relations between age, metallicity, α-element abundance and stellar mass for local EGs.  相似文献   

4.
We have assembled a catalogue of relative ages, metallicities and abundance ratios for about 150 local galaxies in field, group and cluster environments. The galaxies span morphological types from cD and ellipticals, to late-type spirals. Ages and metallicities were estimated from high-quality published spectral line indices using Worthey & Ottaviani (1997) single stellar population evolutionary models.
The identification of galaxy age as a fourth parameter in the fundamental plane ( Forbes, Ponman & Brown 1998 ) is confirmed by our larger sample of ages. We investigate trends between age and metallicity, and with other physical parameters of the galaxies, such as ellipticity, luminosity and kinematic anisotropy. We demonstrate the existence of a galaxy age–metallicity relation similar to that seen for local galactic disc stars, whereby young galaxies have high metallicity, while old galaxies span a large range in metallicities.
We also investigate the influence of environment and morphology on the galaxy age and metallicity, especially the predictions made by semi-analytic hierarchical clustering models (HCM). We confirm that non-cluster ellipticals are indeed younger on average than cluster ellipticals as predicted by the HCM models. However we also find a trend for the more luminous galaxies to have a higher [Mg/Fe] ratio than the lower luminosity galaxies, which is opposite to the expectation from HCM models.  相似文献   

5.
We have measured central line strengths for a complete sample of early-type galaxies in the Fornax cluster, comprising 11 elliptical and 11 lenticular galaxies, more luminous than M B  = −17. In contrast to the elliptical galaxies in the sample studied by González (and recently revisited by Trager) we find that the Fornax ellipticals follow the locus of galaxies of fixed age in Worthey's models and have metallicities varying from roughly solar to three times solar. The lenticular galaxies, however, exhibit a substantial spread to younger luminosity-weighted ages, indicating a more extended star formation history. We present measurements of the more sensitive indices: C4668 and HγA; these confirm and reinforce the conclusions that the elliptical galaxies are coeval and that only the lenticular galaxies show symptoms of late star formation. The inferred difference in the age distribution between lenticular and elliptical galaxies is a robust conclusion as the models generate consistent relative ages using different age and metallicity indicators even though the absolute ages remain uncertain. The young luminosity-weighted ages of the S0s in the Fornax cluster are consistent with the recent discovery that the fraction of S0 galaxies in intermediate-redshift clusters is a factor of 2–3 lower than found locally, and suggest that a fraction of the cluster spiral galaxy population has evolved to quiescence in the 5-Gyr interval from z  = 0.5 to the present. Two of the faintest lenticular galaxies in our sample have blue continua and strong Balmer-line absorption, suggesting starbursts ≲2 Gyr ago. These may be the low-redshift analogues of the starburst or post-starburst galaxies seen in clusters at z  = 0.3, similar to the Hδ-strong galaxies in the Coma cluster.  相似文献   

6.
Key information to understand the formation and evolution of disk galaxies are imprinted in the stellar populations of their bulges. This paper has the purpose to make available new measurements of the stellar population properties of the bulges of four spiral galaxies. Both the central values and radial profiles of the line strength of some of the most common Lick indices are measured along the major‐ and minor‐ axis of the bulge‐dominated region of the sample galaxies. The corresponding age, metallicity, and α /Fe ratio are derived by using the simple stellar population synthesis model predictions. The central values and the gradients of the stellar population properties of ESO‐LV 1890070, ESO‐LV 4460170, and ESO‐LV 5140100 are consistent with previous findings for bulges of spiral galaxies. On the contrary, the bulge of ESO‐LV 4500200 shows peculiar chemical properties possibly due to the presence of a central kinematically‐decoupled component. The negative metallicity gradient found in our bulges sample indicates a relevant role for the dissipative collapse in bulge formation. However, the shallow gradients found for the age and α /Fe ratio suggests that merging can not be completely ruled out for the sample bulges. This is confirmed by the properties of ESO‐LV 4500200 which can hardly be explained without invoking the capture of external material. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)  相似文献   

7.
We have measured central line strengths for a complete sample of early-type galaxies in the Fornax Cluster comprising 11 elliptical and 11 lenticular galaxies, more luminous than M B=–17. We find that the centres of Fornax ellipticals follow the locus of galaxies of fixed age in Worthey's models and have metallicities varying roughly from half to 2.5 times solar. The centres of (relatively low luminosity) lenticular galaxies, however, exhibit a substantial spread to younger luminosity-weighted ages indicating amore extended star formation history. Our conclusions are based on two age/metallicity diagnostic diagrams in the Lick/IDS system comprising established indices such as [MgFe]and Hβ as well as new and more sensitive indices, such as Fe3and H . The inferred difference in the age distribution between lenticular and elliptical galaxies is a robust conclusion as the models generate consistent relative ages using different age and metallicity indicators even though the absolute ages remain uncertain. The absolute age uncertainty is caused mainly by the effects of non-solar abundance ratios, which are not accounted for in the stellar population models. We find that Es are generally overabundant in magnesium and the most luminous galaxies show stronger overabundances. The luminosity-weighted stellar populations of young S0s are consistent with solar abundance ratios or a weak Mg under abundance. Two of the faintest lenticular galaxies in our sample have blue continua and extremely strong Balmer-line absorptions suggesting starbursts <2 Gyr ago. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.  相似文献   

8.
We present optical and near-infrared colour maps of the central regions of bulges of S0 and spiral galaxies obtained with WFPC2 and NICMOS on the Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ). By combined use of HST and ground-based data, the colour information spans a region from a few tens of pc to a few kpc. In almost all galaxies, the colour profiles in the central 100–200 pc become more rapidly redder. We attribute the high central colour indices to a central concentration of dust. We infer an average extinction at the centre of A V =0.6–1.0 mag. Several objects show central dust rings or discs at subkpc scales similar to those found by others in giant ellipticals. For galactic bulges of types S0 to Sb, the tightness of the B − I versus I − H relation suggests that the age spread among bulges of early-type galaxies is small, at most 2 Gyr. Colours at 1 R eff, where we expect extinction to be negligible, are similar to those of elliptical galaxies in the Coma cluster, suggesting that these bulges formed at the same time as the bright galaxies in Coma. Furthermore, the galaxy ages are found to be independent of their environment. As it is likely that Coma was formed at redshift z >3, our bulges, which are in groups and in the field, must also have been formed at this epoch. Bulges of early-type spirals cannot be formed by secular evolution of bars at recent epochs, because such bulges would be much younger. There are three galaxies of type Sbc and later; their bulges are younger and could perhaps arise from secular evolution of transient bars. Our results are in good agreement with semi-analytic predictions, which also predict that bulges, in clusters and in the field, are as old as giant ellipticals in clusters.  相似文献   

9.
This paper is part of a series devoted to the study of the stellar populations in brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), aimed at setting constraints on the formation and evolution of these objects. We have obtained high signal-to-noise ratio, long-slit spectra of 49 BCGs in the nearby Universe. Here, we derive single stellar population (SSP)-equivalent ages, metallicities and α-abundance ratios in the centres of the galaxies using the Lick system of absorption line indices. We systematically compare the indices and derived parameters for the BCGs with those of large samples of ordinary elliptical galaxies in the same mass range. We find no significant differences between the index-velocity dispersion relations of the BCG data and those of normal ellipticals, but we do find subtle differences between the derived SSP parameters. The BCGs show, on average, higher metallicity ([ Z /H]) and α-abundance ([E/Fe]) values. We analyse possible correlations between the derived parameters and the internal properties of the galaxies (velocity dispersion, rotation, luminosity) and those of the host clusters (density, mass, distance from BCG to X-ray peak, presence of cooling flows), with the aim of dissentangling if the BCG properties are more influenced by their internal or host cluster properties. The SSP parameters show very little dependence on the mass or luminosity of the galaxies, or the mass or density of the host clusters. Of this sample, 26 per cent show luminosity-weighted ages younger than 6 Gyr, probably a consequence of recent – if small – episodes of star formation. In agreement with previous studies, the BCGs with intermediate ages tend to be found in cooling-flow clusters with large X-ray excess.  相似文献   

10.
We present an examination of the kinematics and stellar populations of a sample of three brightest group galaxies (BGGs) and three brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in X-ray groups and clusters. We have obtained high signal-to-noise ratio Gemini/Gemini South Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) long-slit spectra of these galaxies and use Lick indices to determine ages, metallicities and α-element abundance ratios out to at least their effective radii. We find that the BGGs and BCGs have very uniform masses, central ages and central metallicities. Examining the radial dependence of their stellar populations, we find no significant velocity dispersion, age, or α-enhancement gradients. However, we find a wide range of metallicity gradients, suggesting a variety of formation mechanisms. The range of metallicity gradients observed is surprising, given the homogeneous environment these galaxies probe and their uniform central stellar populations. However, our results are inconsistent with any single model of galaxy formation and emphasize the need for more theoretical understanding of both the origins of metallicity gradients and galaxy formation itself. We postulate two possible physical causes for the different formation mechanisms.  相似文献   

11.
Using high signal-to-noise ratio VLT/FORS2 long-slit spectroscopy, we have studied the properties of the central stellar populations and dynamics of a sample of S0 galaxies in the Fornax cluster. The central absorption-line indices in these galaxies correlate well with the central velocity dispersions (σ0) in accordance with what previous studies found for elliptical galaxies. However, contrary to what it is usually assumed for cluster ellipticals, the observed correlations seem to be driven by systematic age and α-element abundance variations, and not changes in overall metallicity. We also found that the observed scatter in the index–σ0 relations can be partially explained by the rotationally supported nature of these systems. Indeed, even tighter correlations exist between the line indices and the maximum circular velocity of the galaxies. This study suggests that the dynamical mass is the physical property driving these correlations, and for S0 galaxies such masses have to be estimated assuming a large degree of rotational support. The observed trends imply that the most massive S0s have the shortest star formation time-scales and the oldest stellar populations.  相似文献   

12.
Kinematic and population studies show that bulges are generally rotationally flattened systems similar to lowluminosity ellipticals. However, observations with state‐of‐the‐art integral field spectrographs, such as SAURON, indicate that the situation is much more complex, and allow us to investigate phenomena such as triaxiality, kinematic decoupling and population substructure, and to study their connection to current formation and evolution scenarios for bulges of early‐type galaxies. We present the examples of two S0 bulges from galaxies in our sample of nearby galaxies: one that shows all the properties expected from classical bulges (NGC5866), and another case that presents kinematic features appropriate for barred disk galaxies (NGC7332). (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)  相似文献   

13.
Using results from structural analysis of a sample of nearly 1000 local galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we estimate how the mass in central black holes is distributed amongst elliptical galaxies, classical bulges and pseudo-bulges, and investigate the relation between their stellar masses and central stellar velocity dispersion σ. Assuming a single relation between elliptical galaxy/bulge mass, M Bulge, and central black hole mass, M BH, we find that  55+8−4  per cent of the mass in black holes in the local universe is in the centres of elliptical galaxies,  41+4−2  per cent in classical bulges and  4+0.9−0.4  per cent in pseudo-bulges. We find that ellipticals, classical bulges and pseudo-bulges follow different relations between their stellar masses and σ, and the most significant offset occurs for pseudo-bulges in barred galaxies. This structural dissimilarity leads to discrepant black hole masses if single   M BH– M Bulge  and   M BH–σ  relations are used. Adopting relations from the literature, we find that the   M BH–σ  relation yields an estimate of the total mass density in black holes that is roughly 55 per cent larger than if the   M BH– M Bulge  relation is used.  相似文献   

14.
We determine the underlying shapes of spiral and elliptical galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 6 (SDSS DR6) from the observed distribution of projected galaxy shapes, taking into account the effects of dust extinction and reddening. We assume that the underlying shapes of spirals and ellipticals are well approximated by triaxial ellipsoids. The elliptical galaxy data are consistent with oblate spheroids, with a correlation between luminosity and ellipticity: the mean values of minor to middle axis ratios are 0.41 ± 0.03 for   M r ≈−18  ellipticals and 0.76 ± 0.04 for   M r ≈−22.5  ellipticals. Ellipticals show almost no dependence of axial ratio on galaxy colour, implying a negligible dust optical depth.
There is a strong variation of spiral galaxy shapes with colour indicating the presence of dust. The intrinsic shapes of spiral galaxies in the SDSS DR6 are consistent with flat discs with a mean and dispersion of thickness to diameter ratio of (21 ± 2) per cent, and a face-on ellipticity, e , of  ln( e ) =−2.33 ± 0.79  . Not including the effects of dust in the model leads to discs that are systematically rounder by up to 60 per cent. More luminous spiral galaxies tend to have thicker and rounder discs than lower luminosity spirals. Both elliptical and spiral galaxies tend to be rounder for larger galaxies.
The marginalized value of the edge-on r -band dust extinction E 0 in spiral galaxies is   E 0≃ 0.45  mag for galaxies of median colours, increasing to   E 0= 1  mag for   g − r > 0.9  and   E 0= 1.9  for the luminous and most compact galaxies, with half-light radii  <2  h −1 kpc  .  相似文献   

15.
We present a possible star formation and chemical evolutionary history for two early-type galaxies NGC 1407 and NGC 1400. They are the two brightest galaxies of the NGC 1407 (or Eridanus-A) group, one of the 60 groups studied as part of the Group Evolution Multi-wavelength Study.
Our analysis is based on new high signal-to-noise ratio spatially resolved integrated spectra obtained at the ESO 3.6-m telescope, out to ∼0.6 (NGC 1407) and ∼1.3 (NGC 1400) effective radii. Using Lick/IDS indices, we estimate luminosity-weighted ages, metallicities and α-element abundance ratios. Colour radial distributions from HST /ACS and Subaru Suprime-Cam multiband wide-field imaging are compared to colours predicted from spectroscopically determined ages and metallicities using single stellar population (SSP) models. The galaxies formed over half of their mass in a single short-lived burst of star formation  (≥100 M⊙ yr−1)  at redshift z ≥ 5. This likely involved an outside–in mechanism with supernova-driven galactic winds, as suggested by the flatness of the α-element radial profiles and the strong negative metallicity gradients. Our results support the predictions of the revised version of the monolithic collapse model for galaxy formation and evolution. We speculate that, since formation, the galaxies have evolved quiescently and that we are witnessing the first infall of NGC 1400 in the group.  相似文献   

16.
From high signal-to-noise ratio GMOS-N and AAOmega spectra, we have measured line-strength indices in the Lick/IDS system for several luminous and spatially dispersed compact stellar systems (CSSs) located in the Virgo and Fornax galaxy clusters. We estimate their [α/Fe] ratios, ages and metallicities using a simple (single-burst) stellar population model. We confirm that the Virgo core region luminous CSSs (     ) contain ancient stellar populations with subsolar total metallicities, suggesting that they comprise the bright tail of M87's GC distribution. The two Virgo intracluster globular clusters have ages and metallicities consistent with the cluster core CSSs. Two Fornax luminous CSSs also have ancient stellar populations but are at the upper end of the Virgo CSS metallicity range, while the third (UCD3) appears to be relatively young, metal-rich and with a core + halo radial profile. Our results suggest that Fornax may contain an extra population of luminous CSSs formed more recently than the ancient GC-like systems found in both clusters.  相似文献   

17.
New calibrations of spectrophotometric indices of elliptical galaxies as functions of spectrophotometric indices are presented, permitting estimates of mean stellar population ages and metallicities. These calibrations are based on evolutionary models including a two-phase interstellar medium, infall and a galactic wind. Free parameters were fixed by requiring that models reproduce the mean trend of data in the colour–magnitude diagram as well as in the plane of indices  Hβ–Mg2  and  Mg2–〈Fe〉  . To improve the location of faint ellipticals  ( M B > −20)  in the  Hβ–Mg2  diagram, downsizing was introduced. An application of our calibrations to a sample of ellipticals and a comparison with results derived from single stellar population models are given. Our models indicate that mean population ages span an interval of 7–12 Gyr and are correlated with metallicities, which range from approximately half up to three times solar.  相似文献   

18.
By means of population synthesis models with variable α/Fe ratios we derive average ages, metallicities, and [α/Fe] element enhancements for a sample of 126 field and cluster early-type galaxies. We find a clear positive relation between [α/Fe] and velocity dispersion. Zero-point, slope, and scatter of this correlation are the same for cluster and field galaxies. In particular, the [α/Fe] ratios and mean ages of cluster ellipticals are positively correlated. This strongly reinforces the view that the [α/Fe] element enhancement in ellipticals is produced by star formation timescales rather than by variations of the initial mass function. These results indicate that the more massive the galaxy, the shorter is its star formation timescale, and the higher is the redshift of the bulk of star formation. This finding is not compatible with the predictions from models of hierarchical galaxy formation. The lenticular and field galaxies of the investigated sample do not follow the correlation between age and [α/Fe], but contain a non-negligible fraction of galaxies with young average ages and high [α/Fe] ratios. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.  相似文献   

19.
We have performed 2D bulge/bar/disc decompositions using g , r and i -band images of a representative sample of nearly 1000 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We show that the Petrosian concentration index is a better proxy for the bulge-to-total ratio than the global Sérsic index. We show that pseudo-bulges can be distinguished from classical bulges as outliers in the Kormendy relation. We provide the structural parameters and distributions of stellar masses of ellipticals, classical bulges, pseudo-bulges, discs and bars, and find that 32 per cent of the total stellar mass in massive galaxies in the local universe is contained in ellipticals, 36 per cent in discs, 25 per cent in classical bulges, 3 per cent in pseudo-bulges and 4 per cent in bars. Pseudo-bulges are currently undergoing intense star formation activity and populate the blue cloud of the colour–magnitude diagram. Most (though not all) classical bulges are quiescent and populate the red sequence of the diagram. Classical bulges follow a correlation between the bulge Sérsic index and bulge-to-total ratio, while pseudo-bulges do not. In addition, for a fixed bulge-to-total ratio, pseudo-bulges are less concentrated than classical bulges. Pseudo-bulges follow a mass–size relation similar to that followed by bars, and different from that followed by classical bulges. In the fundamental plane, pseudo-bulges occupy the same locus as discs. While these results point out different formation processes for classical and pseudo-bulges, we also find a significant overlap in their properties, indicating that the different processes might happen concomitantly. Finally, classical bulges and ellipticals follow offset mass–size relations, suggesting that high-mass bulges might not be simply high-mass ellipticals surrounded by discs.  相似文献   

20.
We present kinematics and stellar population properties of 17 dwarf early-type galaxies in the luminosity range -14 ≥ M B ≥ -19. Our sample fills the gap between the intensively studied giant elliptical and Local Group dwarf spheroidal galaxies. The dwarf ellipticals of the present sample have constant velocity dispersion profiles within their effective radii and do not show significant rotation, hence are clearly anisotropic. The dwarf lenticulars, instead, rotate faster and are, at least partially, supported by rotation. From optical Lick absorption indices, we derive metallicities and element abundances. Combining our sample with literature data of the Local Group dwarf spheroidals and giant ellipticals, we find a surprisingly tight linear correlation between metallicity and luminosity over a wide range: -8 ≥ M B ≥ -22. The α/Fe ratios of our dwarf ellipticals are significantly lower than the ones of giant elliptical galaxies, which is in agreement with spectroscopy of individual stars in Local Group dwarf spheroidals. Our results suggest the existence of a clear kinematic and stellar population dichotomy between dwarf and giant elliptical galaxies. This result is important for theories of galaxy formation, because it implies that present-day dwarf ellipticals are not the fossiled building blocks of giant ellipticals. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.  相似文献   

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