Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2007-02-16
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
6 pages, to appear in the Proceedings of the Conf. "From Stars to Galaxies: Building the Pieces to Build Up the Universe", Val
Scientific paper
We have acquired intermediate resolution spectra in the 3700-7000 A wavelength range for a sample of 65 early-type galaxies predominantly located in low density environments, a large fraction of which show emission lines. The spectral coverage and the high quality of the spectra allowed us to derive Lick line-strength indices and to study their behavior at different galacto-centric distances. Ages, metallicities and element abundance ratios have been derived for the galaxy sample by comparison of the line-strength index data set with our new developed Simple Stellar Population (SSP) models. We have analyzed the behavior of the derived stellar population parameters with the central galaxy velocity dispersion and the local galaxy density in order to understand the role played by mass and environment on the evolution of early-type galaxies. We find that the chemical path is mainly driven by the halo mass, more massive galaxies exhibiting the more efficient chemical enrichment and shorter star formation timescales. Galaxies in denser environments are on average older than galaxies in less dense environments. The last ones show a large age spread which is likely to be due to rejuvenation episodes.
Annibali Francesca
Bressan Alberto
Danese Lugi
Rampazzo Roberto
Zeilinger Werner W.
No associations
LandOfFree
Stellar Populations in Field Early-Type Galaxies does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Stellar Populations in Field Early-Type Galaxies, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Stellar Populations in Field Early-Type Galaxies will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-348191