Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2000-09-14
Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. 321 (2001) 733
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
11 pages, 8 figures, MNRAS in press
Scientific paper
10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04049.x
We study the star formation history of normal spirals by using a large and homogeneous data sample of local galaxies. For our analysis we utilise detailed models of chemical and spectrophotometric galactic evolution, calibrated on the Milky Way disc. We find that star formation efficiency is independent of galactic mass, while massive discs have, on average, lower gas fractions and are redder than their low mass counterparts; put together, these findings convincingly suggest that massive spirals are older than low mass ones. We evaluate the effective ages of the galaxies of our sample and we find that massive spirals must be several Gyr older than low mass ones. We also show that these galaxies (having rotational velocities in the 80-400 km/s range) cannot have suffered extensive mass losses, i.e. they cannot have lost during their lifetime an amount of mass much larger than their current content of gas+stars.
Boissier Samuel
Boselli Alessandro
Gavazzi Giuseppe
Prantzos Nikos
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