SDSS-IV MaNGA: star formation cessation in low-redshift galaxies I: dependence on stellar mass and structural properties

We investigate radial gradients in the recent star formation history (SFH) of 1917 MaNGA galaxies with 0.01 < z < 0.14. For each galaxy, we obtain two-dimensional maps and radial profiles for three spectroscopically-measured parameters that are sensitive to the recent SFH: Dn(4000) (the 4000̊A...

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Main Authors: Wang, Enci, Li, Cheng, Xiao, Ting, Lin, Lin, Bershady, Matthew, Law, David R., Merrifield, Michael, Sanchez, Sebastian F., Riffel, Rogemar A., Riffel, Rogério, Yan, Renbin
Format: Article
Language:English
English
Published: American Astronomical Society 2018
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Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50327/
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author Wang, Enci
Li, Cheng
Xiao, Ting
Lin, Lin
Bershady, Matthew
Law, David R.
Merrifield, Michael
Sanchez, Sebastian F.
Riffel, Rogemar A.
Riffel, Rogério
Yan, Renbin
author_facet Wang, Enci
Li, Cheng
Xiao, Ting
Lin, Lin
Bershady, Matthew
Law, David R.
Merrifield, Michael
Sanchez, Sebastian F.
Riffel, Rogemar A.
Riffel, Rogério
Yan, Renbin
author_sort Wang, Enci
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description We investigate radial gradients in the recent star formation history (SFH) of 1917 MaNGA galaxies with 0.01 < z < 0.14. For each galaxy, we obtain two-dimensional maps and radial profiles for three spectroscopically-measured parameters that are sensitive to the recent SFH: Dn(4000) (the 4000̊A break), EW(HδA) and EW(Hα) (equivalent width of the Hδ absorption and Hα emission line). The majority of the spaxels are consistent with models of continuously declining star formation rate, indicating that starbursts occur rarely in local galaxies with regular morphologies. We classify the galaxies into three classes: fully star-forming (SF), partly quenched (PQ) and totally quenched (TQ). The galaxies less massive than 10 10 M present at most weak radial gradients in the diagnostic parameters. In contrast, massive galaxies with stellar mass above 10 10 M present significant gradients in the three diagnostic parameters if classified as SF or PQ, but show weak gradients in D n (4000) and EW(H δ A ) and no gradients in EW(H α ) if in the TQ class. This implies the existence of a critical stellar mass (∼ 10 10 M) above which the star formation in a galaxy gets shutdown from the inside out. Galaxies tend to evolve synchronously from inner to outer regions before their mass reaches the critical value. We have further divided the sample at fixed mass by both bulge-to-total luminosity ratio and morphological type, finding that our conclusions hold regardless of these factors: it appears that the presence of a central dense object is not a driving parameter, but rather a byproduct of the star formation cessation process.
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spelling nottingham-503272018-06-10T02:31:31Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50327/ SDSS-IV MaNGA: star formation cessation in low-redshift galaxies I: dependence on stellar mass and structural properties Wang, Enci Li, Cheng Xiao, Ting Lin, Lin Bershady, Matthew Law, David R. Merrifield, Michael Sanchez, Sebastian F. Riffel, Rogemar A. Riffel, Rogério Yan, Renbin We investigate radial gradients in the recent star formation history (SFH) of 1917 MaNGA galaxies with 0.01 < z < 0.14. For each galaxy, we obtain two-dimensional maps and radial profiles for three spectroscopically-measured parameters that are sensitive to the recent SFH: Dn(4000) (the 4000̊A break), EW(HδA) and EW(Hα) (equivalent width of the Hδ absorption and Hα emission line). The majority of the spaxels are consistent with models of continuously declining star formation rate, indicating that starbursts occur rarely in local galaxies with regular morphologies. We classify the galaxies into three classes: fully star-forming (SF), partly quenched (PQ) and totally quenched (TQ). The galaxies less massive than 10 10 M present at most weak radial gradients in the diagnostic parameters. In contrast, massive galaxies with stellar mass above 10 10 M present significant gradients in the three diagnostic parameters if classified as SF or PQ, but show weak gradients in D n (4000) and EW(H δ A ) and no gradients in EW(H α ) if in the TQ class. This implies the existence of a critical stellar mass (∼ 10 10 M) above which the star formation in a galaxy gets shutdown from the inside out. Galaxies tend to evolve synchronously from inner to outer regions before their mass reaches the critical value. We have further divided the sample at fixed mass by both bulge-to-total luminosity ratio and morphological type, finding that our conclusions hold regardless of these factors: it appears that the presence of a central dense object is not a driving parameter, but rather a byproduct of the star formation cessation process. American Astronomical Society 2018-04-02 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50327/1/Wang_EC_SFH_gradients_in_MaNGA_galaxies.pdf application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50327/8/pdf.pdf Wang, Enci, Li, Cheng, Xiao, Ting, Lin, Lin, Bershady, Matthew, Law, David R., Merrifield, Michael, Sanchez, Sebastian F., Riffel, Rogemar A., Riffel, Rogério and Yan, Renbin (2018) SDSS-IV MaNGA: star formation cessation in low-redshift galaxies I: dependence on stellar mass and structural properties. Astrophysical Journal, 856 (2). pp. 1-22. ISSN 1538-4357 galaxies: evolution – galaxies: formation – galaxies: general – galaxies: stellar content – methods: observational – surveys http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aab263 doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aab263 doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aab263
spellingShingle galaxies: evolution – galaxies: formation – galaxies: general – galaxies: stellar content – methods: observational – surveys
Wang, Enci
Li, Cheng
Xiao, Ting
Lin, Lin
Bershady, Matthew
Law, David R.
Merrifield, Michael
Sanchez, Sebastian F.
Riffel, Rogemar A.
Riffel, Rogério
Yan, Renbin
SDSS-IV MaNGA: star formation cessation in low-redshift galaxies I: dependence on stellar mass and structural properties
title SDSS-IV MaNGA: star formation cessation in low-redshift galaxies I: dependence on stellar mass and structural properties
title_full SDSS-IV MaNGA: star formation cessation in low-redshift galaxies I: dependence on stellar mass and structural properties
title_fullStr SDSS-IV MaNGA: star formation cessation in low-redshift galaxies I: dependence on stellar mass and structural properties
title_full_unstemmed SDSS-IV MaNGA: star formation cessation in low-redshift galaxies I: dependence on stellar mass and structural properties
title_short SDSS-IV MaNGA: star formation cessation in low-redshift galaxies I: dependence on stellar mass and structural properties
title_sort sdss-iv manga: star formation cessation in low-redshift galaxies i: dependence on stellar mass and structural properties
topic galaxies: evolution – galaxies: formation – galaxies: general – galaxies: stellar content – methods: observational – surveys
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50327/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50327/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50327/