Absorption line gradients in the blue and near-ultraviolet spectra of bright elliptical galaxies, and implications for studies of intermediate redshift objects

Details Absorption line gradients in the blue and near-ultraviolet spectra of bright elliptical galaxies, and implications for studies of intermediate redshift objects Absorption line gradients in the blue and near-ultraviolet spectra of bright elliptical galaxies, and implications for studies of intermediate redshift objects

Mar 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994aj....107..946d&link_type=abstract

Astronomical Journal (ISSN 0004-6256), vol. 107, no. 3, p. 946-957

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

23

Atomic Spectra, Elliptical Galaxies, Molecular Absorption, Radial Distribution, Red Shift, Stellar Spectra, Ultraviolet Astronomy, Charge Coupled Devices, Data Reduction, Spectrographs, Spectroscopic Telescopes

Scientific paper

Long-slit spectroscopic observations covering the wavelength interval 3000 to 4000 A are used to investigate the radial behavior of atomic and molecular absorption features in the elliptical galaxies NGC 2693, NGC 3348, NGC 3379, NGC 4278, NGC 4486, and NGC 5044. There is a general tendency for metallic absorption features to weaken and continuum indices to flatten with increasing radius, in qualitative agreement with what is seen at visible wavelengths. All six galaxies contain significant (i.e., at the 3 sigma level) gradients in the 4000 A break. The rate of change of the 4000 A break with radius, Delta 4000/Delta log(r), is correlated with Delta Mg2/Delta log(r), and the galaxy-to-galaxy scatter in Delta 4000/Delta log(r) is larger than expected from experimental uncertainties alone. We compare the spectral indices of the various galaxies at the radius where Mg2 = 0.28, which corresponds roughly to (Fe/H) = 0, and find small galaxy-to-galaxy scatter. NGC 4486 is peculiar in that it has a very steep 4000 A break gradient has been very different from that of most other ellipticals. The data are also used to investigate aperture effects in spectroscopic observations of intermediate redshift galaxies. It is demonstrated that the failure to compensate for aperture effects in galaxies out to z = 0.2 can introduce an apparent redshift dependence in the strength of the 4000 A break which closely follows trends previously attributed to evolution.

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