104 research outputs found
A photometric analysis of Abell 1689: two-dimensional multi-structure decomposition, morphological classification, and the Fundamental Plane
We present a photometric analysis of 65 galaxies in the rich cluster Abell
1689 at , using the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys
archive images in the rest-frame -band. We perform two-dimensional
multi-component photometric decomposition of each galaxy adopting different
models of the surface-brightness distribution. We present an accurate
morphological classification for each of the sample galaxies. For 50 early-type
galaxies, we fit both a de Vaucouleurs and S\'ersic law; S0s are modelled by
also including a disc component described by an exponential law. Bars of SB0s
are described by the profile of a Ferrers ellipsoid. For the 15 spirals, we
model a S\'ersic bulge, exponential disc, and, when required, a Ferrers bar
component. We derive the Fundamental Plane by fitting 40 early-type galaxies in
the sample, using different surface-brightness distributions. We find that the
tightest plane is that derived by S\'ersic bulges. We find that bulges of
spirals lie on the same relation. The Fundamental Plane is better defined by
the bulges alone rather than the entire galaxies. Comparison with local samples
shows both an offset and rotation in the Fundamental Plane of Abell 1689.Comment: 53 pages, 71 figures, MNRAS in pres
Fast and Slow Rotators in the Densest Environments: a SWIFT IFS study of the Coma Cluster
We present integral-field spectroscopy of 27 galaxies in the Coma cluster
observed with the Oxford SWIFT spectrograph, exploring the kinematic
morphology-density relationship in a cluster environment richer and denser than
any in the ATLAS3D survey. Our new data enables comparison of the kinematic
morphology relation in three very different clusters (Virgo, Coma and Abell
1689) as well as to the field/group environment. The Coma sample was selected
to match the parent luminosity and ellipticity distributions of the early-type
population within a radius 15' (0.43 Mpc) of the cluster centre, and is limited
to r' = 16 mag (equivalent to M_K = -21.5 mag), sampling one third of that
population. From analysis of the lambda-ellipticity diagram, we find 15+-6% of
early-type galaxies are slow rotators; this is identical to the fraction found
in the field and the average fraction in the Virgo cluster, based on the
ATLAS3D data. It is also identical to the average fraction found recently in
Abell 1689 by D'Eugenio et al.. Thus it appears that the average slow rotator
fraction of early type galaxies remains remarkably constant across many
different environments, spanning five orders of magnitude in galaxy number
density. However, within each cluster the slow rotators are generally found in
regions of higher projected density, possibly as a result of mass segregation
by dynamical friction. These results provide firm constraints on the mechanisms
that produce early-type galaxies: they must maintain a fixed ratio between the
number of fast rotators and slow rotators while also allowing the total
early-type fraction to increase in clusters relative to the field. A complete
survey of Coma, sampling hundreds rather than tens of galaxies, could probe a
more representative volume of Coma and provide significantly stronger
constraints, particularly on how the slow rotator fraction varies at larger
radii.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Stellar population radial gradients in early-type galaxies
We study the internal radial gradients of the stellar populations in a sample
comprising 522 early-type galaxies (ETGs) from the SAMI (Sydney- AAO
Multi-object Integral field spectrograph) Galaxy Survey. We stack the spectra
of individual spaxels in radial bins, and derive basic stellar population
properties: total metallicity ([Z/H]), [Mg/Fe], [C/Fe] and age. The radial
gradient () and central value of the fits (evaluated at R/4) are
compared against a set of six possible drivers of the trends. We find that
velocity dispersion () - or, equivalently gravitational potential - is
the dominant driver of the chemical composition gradients. Surface mass density
is also correlated with the trends, especially with stellar age. The decrease
of [Mg/Fe] with increasing is contrasted by a rather shallow
dependence of [Z/H] with (although this radial gradient is
overall rather steep). This result, along with a shallow age slope at the
massive end, imposes stringent constraints on the progenitors of the
populations that contribute to the formation of the outer envelopes of ETGs.
The SAMI sample is split between a 'field' sample and a cluster sample. Only
weak environment-related differences are found, most notably a stronger
dependence of central total metallicity ([Z/H]) with , along
with a marginal trend of [Z/H] to steepen in cluster galaxies, a result
that is not followed by [Mg/Fe]. The results presented here serve as
constraints on numerical models of the formation and evolution of ETGs.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables. Submitted to MNRA
The black hole mass metallicity relation and insights into galaxy quenching
One of the most important questions in astrophysics is what causes galaxies
to stop forming stars. Previous studies have shown a tight link between
quiescence and black hole mass. Other studies have revealed that quiescence is
also associated with 'starvation', the halting of gas inflows, which results in
the remaining gas being used up rapidly by star formation and in rapid chemical
enrichment. In this work we find the final missing link between these two
findings. Using a large sample of galaxies, we uncover the intrinsic
dependencies of the stellar metallicity on galaxy properties. In the case of
the star-forming galaxies, the stellar metallicity is driven by stellar mass.
However, for passive galaxies the stellar metallicity is primarily driven by
the black hole mass, as traced by velocity dispersion. This result finally
reveals the connection between previous studies, where the integrated effect of
black hole feedback prevents gas inflows, starving the galaxy, which is seen by
the rapid increase in the stellar metallicity, leading to the galaxy becoming
passive.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Nature Astronom
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: gravitational potential and surface density drive stellar populations -- I. early-type galaxies
The well-established correlations between the mass of a galaxy and the
properties of its stars are considered evidence for mass driving the evolution
of the stellar population. However, for early-type galaxies (ETGs), we find
that color and stellar metallicity [Z/H] correlate more strongly with
gravitational potential than with mass , whereas stellar population
age correlates best with surface density . Specifically, for our sample
of 625 ETGs with integral-field spectroscopy from the SAMI Galaxy Survey,
compared to correlations with mass, the color--, [Z/H]--, and
age-- relations show both smaller scatter and less residual trend with
galaxy size. For the star formation duration proxy [/Fe], we find
comparable results for trends with and , with both being
significantly stronger than the [/Fe]- relation. In determining the
strength of a trend, we analyze both the overall scatter, and the observational
uncertainty on the parameters, in order to compare the intrinsic scatter in
each correlation. These results lead us to the following inferences and
interpretations: (1) the color-- diagram is a more precise tool for
determining the developmental stage of the stellar population than the
conventional color--mass diagram; and (2) gravitational potential is the
primary regulator of global stellar metallicity, via its relation to the gas
escape velocity. Furthermore, we propose the following two mechanisms for the
age and [/Fe] relations with : (a) the age-- and
[/Fe]-- correlations arise as results of compactness driven
quenching mechanisms; and/or (b) as fossil records of the
relation in their disk-dominated progenitors.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table Accepted to Ap
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: the intrinsic shape of kinematically selected galaxies
Using the stellar kinematic maps and ancillary imaging data from the Sydney
AAO Multi Integral field (SAMI) Galaxy Survey, the intrinsic shape of
kinematically-selected samples of galaxies is inferred. We implement an
efficient and optimised algorithm to fit the intrinsic shape of galaxies using
an established method to simultaneously invert the distributions of apparent
ellipticities and kinematic misalignments. The algorithm output compares
favourably with previous studies of the intrinsic shape of galaxies based on
imaging alone and our re-analysis of the ATLAS3D data. Our results indicate
that most galaxies are oblate axisymmetric. We show empirically that the
intrinsic shape of galaxies varies as a function of their rotational support as
measured by the "spin" parameter proxy Lambda_Re. In particular, low spin
systems have a higher occurrence of triaxiality, while high spin systems are
more intrinsically flattened and axisymmetric. The intrinsic shape of galaxies
is linked to their formation and merger histories. Galaxies with high spin
values have intrinsic shapes consistent with dissipational minor mergers, while
the intrinsic shape of low-spin systems is consistent with dissipationless
multi-merger assembly histories. This range in assembly histories inferred from
intrinsic shapes is broadly consistent with expectations from cosmological
simulations.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, MNRAS in prin
Less is less: photometry alone cannot predict the observed spectral indices of galaxies from the LEGA-C spectroscopic survey
We test whether we can predict optical spectra from deep-field photometry of
distant galaxies. Our goal is to perform a comparison in data space,
highlighting the differences between predicted and observed spectra. The Large
Early Galaxy Astrophysics Census (LEGA-C) provides high-quality optical spectra
of thousands of galaxies at redshift . Broad-band photometry of the
same galaxies, drawn from the recent COSMOS2020 catalog, is used to predict the
optical spectra with the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code
Prospector and the MILES stellar library. The observed and predicted spectra
are compared in terms of two age and metallicity-sensitive absorption features
(H and Fe4383). The global bimodality of star-forming and
quiescent galaxies in photometric space is recovered with the model spectra.
But the presence of a systematic offset in the Fe4383 line strength and the
weak correlation between the observed and modeled line strength imply that
accurate age or metallicity determinations cannot be inferred from photometry
alone. For now we caution that photometry-based estimates of stellar population
properties are determined mostly by the modeling approach and not the physical
properties of galaxies, even when using the highest-quality photometric
datasets and state-of-the-art fitting techniques. When exploring a new physical
parameter space (i.e. redshift or galaxy mass) high-quality spectroscopy is
always needed to inform the analysis of photometry.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, accepted 26 October 202
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: gas content and interaction as the drivers of kinematic asymmetry
In order to determine the causes of kinematic asymmetry in the H gas
in the SAMI Galaxy Survey sample, we investigate the comparative influences of
environment and intrinsic properties of galaxies on perturbation. We use
spatially resolved H velocity fields from the SAMI Galaxy Survey to
quantify kinematic asymmetry () in nearby galaxies and
environmental and stellar mass data from the GAMA survey.
{We find that local environment, measured as distance to nearest neighbour,
is inversely correlated with kinematic asymmetry for galaxies with
, but there is no significant correlation for
galaxies with . Moreover, low mass galaxies
() have greater kinematic asymmetry at all
separations, suggesting a different physical source of asymmetry is important
in low mass galaxies.}
We propose that secular effects derived from gas fraction and gas mass may be
the primary causes of asymmetry in low mass galaxies. High gas fraction is
linked to high (where is H velocity
dispersion and the rotation velocity), which is strongly correlated with
, and galaxies with have offset
from the rest of the sample. Further,
asymmetry as a fraction of dispersion decreases for galaxies with
. Gas mass and asymmetry are also inversely correlated
in our sample. We propose that low gas masses in dwarf galaxies may lead to
asymmetric distribution of gas clouds, leading to increased relative
turbulence.Comment: 15 pages, 20 figure
Inverse stellar population age gradients of post-starburst galaxies at z=0.8 with LEGA-C
We use deep, spatially resolved spectroscopy from the Large Early Galaxy Astrophysics Census Survey to study radial variations in the stellar population of 17 spectroscopically selected post-starburst (PSB) galaxies. We use spectral fitting to measure two Lick indices, H δA and Fe 4383 , and find that, on average, PSB galaxies have radially decreasing H δA and increasing Fe 4383 profiles. In contrast, a control sample of quiescent, non-PSB galaxies in the same mass range shows outwardly increasing H δA and decreasing Fe 4383 . The observed gradients are weak (≈−0.2 Å/Re), mainly due to seeing convolution. A two-SSP (simple stellar population) model suggests that intrinsic gradients are as strong as observed in local PSB galaxies (≈−0.8 Å/Re). We interpret these results in terms of inside-out growth (for the bulk of the quiescent population) versus star formation occurring last in the centre (for PSB galaxies). At z ≈ 0.8, central starbursts are often the result of gas-rich mergers, as evidenced by the high fraction of PSB galaxies with disturbed morphologies and tidal features (40 per cent). Our results provide additional evidence for multiple paths to quiescence: a standard path, associated with inside-out disc formation and with gradually decreasing star formation activity, without fundamental structural transformation, and a fast path, associated with centrally concentrated starbursts, leaving an inverse age gradient and smaller half-light radius
- …