43 research outputs found
Star formation in cooling flow galaxies
Spectroscopic observations of central dominant galaxies are reviewed. Through the analysis of absorption spectral features (mainly the strength of the Mg triplet at 5175 A and the break in 4000 A), both in the galaxy centers and along the radii, we will be able to impose limits on the ongoing star formation as the ultimate fate for the large amounts of accreted gas. With the same aim we will carry out a dynamical study based on velocity dispersion measurements
The Fundamental Properties of Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies in Clusters
We present preliminary results of an extensive study of the fundamental
properties of dwarf elliptical galaxies (dEs) in the Coma cluster. Our study
will combine HST surface photometry with ground-based UBRIJK photometry and
optical spectroscopy. The combined data set will be used to investigate the
intrinsic correlations among global parameters in cluster dEs, including the
Fundamental Plane, the color-magnitude relation, the Faber-Jackson and Kormendy
relation, and velocity dispersion versus line strength indices. These empirical
correlations have provided important constraints to theoretical models of
galaxy formation and evolution for "normal" elliptical galaxies. Although dEs
are the most abundant galaxy population in clusters their properties remain,
however, largely unknown. Our study aims to provide an essential reference for
testing current theories on the formation and evolution of dEs in clusters, and
understanding their relation to more massive elliptical galaxies.Comment: 10 pages. To appear in "Star Formation through Time", 2003, ASP Conf.
Ser. ed. Perez, Gonzalez Delgado, Tenorio-Tagl
Line-Strength Indices in Bright Spheroidals: Evidence for a Stellar Population Dichotomy between Spheroidal and Elliptical Galaxies
We present new measurements of central line-strength indices (namely Mg2,
, and Hbeta and gradients for a sample of 6 bright spheroidal galaxies
(Sph's) in the Virgo cluster. Comparison with similar measurements for
elliptical galaxies (E's), galactic globular clusters (GGC's), and stellar
population models yield the following results: (1) In contrast with bright E's,
bright Sph's are consistent with solar abundance [Mg/Fe] ratios; (2) Bright
Sph's exhibit metallicities ranging from values typical for metal-rich GGC's to
those for E's; (3) Although absolute mean ages are quite model dependent, we
find evidence that the stellar populations of some (if not all) Sph's look
significantly younger than GGC's; and (4) Mg2 gradients of bright Sph's are
significantly shallower than those of E galaxies. We conclude that the
dichotomy found in the structural properties of Sph and E galaxies is also
observed in their stellar populations. A tentative interpretation in terms of
differences in star formation histories is suggested.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX file + 2 PostScript figures, aasms4.sty require
Empirical calibration of the \lambda 4000 \AA break
Empirical fitting functions, describing the behaviour of the \lambda 4000 \AA
break, D_4000, in terms of effective temperature, metallicity and surface
gravity, are presented. For this purpose, the break has been measured in 392
stars from the Lick/IDS Library. We have followed a very detailed error
treatment in the reduction and fitting procedures, allowing for a reliable
estimation of the break uncertainties. This calibration can be easily
incorporated into stellar population models to provide accurate predictions of
the break amplitude for, relatively old, composite systems.Comment: 21 pages including 7 postscript figures. Accepted for publication in
Astronomy in Astrophysics Supplement Series. Table 1 will be also available
at CD
An interpretation of the line-strength indexes in old stellar populations using an evolutionary synthesis approach
Evolutionary population synthesis models with difÂferent metallicities have been computed in order to interpret the observed Mg_2 and Hβ, line-strength indices in old stellar popuÂlations. Both indices are found to be quite insensitive to changes in the slope of the IMF and the upper mass limit. These models have been applied to three different cases, with the following results:
a) Galactic globular clusters do not exhibit a significant disÂpersion in age, and the metallicities of the computed models resemble those estimated for the clusters. The indices for the metal-poor globulars ([Fe/H] < -1) cannot be attained with these models due to the lack of low metallicity evolutionary tracks and stellar spectra libraries.
b) The line-strength gradients observed in the elliptical galÂaxy NGC 5813 are due, essentially, to intrinsic variations in metallicity, and they cannot be explained just from changes in the remaining parameters of the stellar population.
c) In order to synthesize the M 32 indices we must introduce a star formation elapsed for a long time-scale , the star forrnation being still significant ≈ 5 Gyr ago
Spectral gradients in central cluster galaxies: further evidence of star formation in cooling flows
We have obtained radial gradients in the spectral features of the lambda 4000-Angstrom break (D(4000)) and Mg(2) for a sample of 11 central cluster galaxies (CCGs): eight in clusters with cooling flows and three in clusters without. After careful removal of the emission lines found within the D(4000) and Mg(2) bandpasses for some objects, the new data strongly confirm the correlations between line-strength indices and the cooling flow phenomenon found in our earlier study. We find that such correlations depend on the presence and characteristics of emission lines in the inner regions of the CCGs. The nuclear indices are correlated with the mass deposition rate ((M) over dot) only when emission lines are found in the central regions of the galaxies. The central D(4000) and Mg(2) indices in cooling flow galaxies without emission lines are completely consistent with the indices measured in CCGs in clusters without cooling flows. CCGs in cooling flow clusters exhibit a clear sequence in the D(4000)-Mg(2) plane, with a neat segregation depending on emission-line type and blue morphology. This sequence can be modelled, using stellar population models with a normal initial mass function (IMF), by a recent (similar to 0.1 Gyr old) burst of star formation, although model uncertainties do not allow us to completely discard continuous star formation or a series of bursts over the last few Gyr. In CCGs with emission lines, the gradients in the spectral indices are flat or positive inside the emission-line regions, suggesting the presence of young stars. Outside the emission-line regions, and in cooling flow galaxies without emission lines, gradients are negative and consistent with those measured in CCGs in clusters without cooling hows and giant elliptical galaxies. Index gradients measured exclusively in the emission-line region correlate with hi. Using the same population models we have estimated the radial profiles of the mass transformed into new stars. The derived profiles are remarkably parallel to the expected radial behaviour of the mass deposition rate derived from X-ray observations. Moreover, a large fraction (probably most) of the cooling flow gas accreted into the emission-line region is converted into stars. In the Light of these new data, we discuss the evolutionary sequence suggested by McNamara, in which radio-triggered star formation bursts take place several times during the lifetime of the cooling flow. We conclude that this scenario is consistent with the available observations
The (black hole mass)-(color) relations for early- and late-type galaxies: red and blue sequences
[Abridged] Tight correlations between supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass
() and the properties of the host galaxy have useful implications
for our understanding of the growth of SMBHs and evolution of galaxies. Here,
we present newly observed correlations between and the host galaxy
total UV [3.6] color (, Pearson's r = )
for a sample of 67 galaxies (20 early-type galaxies and 47 late-type galaxies)
with directly measured in the GALEX/SG survey. The colors
are carefully measured in a homogeneous manner using the galaxies' FUV, NUV and
3.6 \micron magnitudes and their multi-component structural decompositions in
the literature. We find that more massive SMBHs are hosted by (early- and
late-type) galaxies with redder colors, but the relations for the two morphological types have slopes that differ at
level. Early-type galaxies define a red sequence in the diagrams, while late-type galaxies trace a blue
sequence. Within the assumption that the specific star formation rate of a
galaxy (sSFR) is well traced by , it follows that the
SMBH masses for late-type galaxies exhibit a steeper dependence on sSFR than
those for early-type galaxies. The and
relations for the sample galaxies reveal a
comparable level of vertical scatter in the log direction, roughly
more than the vertical scatter of the relation.
Our relations suggest different channels
of SMBH growth for early- and late-type galaxies, consistent with their
distinct formation and evolution scenarios.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in Ap
Line-strengths in early-type galaxies
We have analysed Mg, Hβ and Fe line-strengths in a sample of elliptical, SO and brightest cluster galaxies. For 15 galaxies, our spectra extend to approximately the half-light radius(r_e), and we are able to measure radial line-strength gradients. The metallic line-strength gradients vary markedly from object to object, and do not correlate strongly with parameters such as total luminosity and rotation, though we find sorne evidence that gradients in the Mg_2 index correlate with central velocity dispersion and central line-strength. The highly variable line-strength gradients in early-type galaxies shows that they have experienced different star formation histories. We suggest that this may be explained if they formed by the mergers of subunits in which star formation had proceeded to varying degrees of completion. We find that the line-strengths at r~r_e in elliptical galaxies are slightly larger than those of metal rich galactic globulars, suggesting that typical elliptical galaxies have roughly solar abundance at r~r_e and therefore that most ellipticals have relatively weak abundance gradients. The relative line-strengths in the outer parts of ellipticals differ from those in the nuclei of low-luminosity ellipticals, indicating that these stellar populations do not represent a simple one-parameter family governed by mean metal abundance. We find no significant differences in the central Mg and Fe line-strengths of the brightest cluster galaxies and normal ellipticals with the same central velocity dispersion. How ever, we find that two cD galaxies show Hβ in emission and are also at the centres of the prodigious cooling flows with mass-deposition rates of ≥ 100 M_⨀ yr^-1. Galaxies with cooling flows have identical Mg and Fe line-strengths to galaxies without cooling flows. We show that this implies that only a small fraction of the total luminosity of cooling flow galaxies could come from ongoing star formation with a normal stellar initial mass function