Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2007-03-15
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
2 pages, 2 figures, proceedings of IAU Symp. 241, Stellar Populations as Building Blocks of Galaxies
Scientific paper
10.1017/S1743921307007788
The discovery of an excess of light in the far-ultraviolet (UV) in 1969 in elliptical galaxies was a major surprise. While it is now clear that this UV excess (UV-upturn) is probably caused by an old population of helium-burning stars. Han et al (2002, 2003) proposed a binary model for the formation of hot subdwarfs (helium burning stars) and the model can reproduce the observations in our Galaxy. By applying the binary model to the study of evolutionary population synthesis, we have obtained an {\it a priori} model for the UV-upturn of elliptical galaxies. The model shows that the UV-upturn is most likely resulted from binary interactions and it is universal (not very much metallicity-dependant) in ellipticals. This has major implications for understanding the evolution of the UV-upturn and elliptical galaxies in general; contrary to previous postulates, it implies that the UV-upturn is not a sign of age, but could be a potentially powerful indicator for a recent minor burst of star-forming activity.
Han Zhangang
Lynas-Gray Anthony E.
Podsiadlowski Ph
Schawinski Kevin
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