Cold Gas and Star Formation in Local Blue-Sequence E/S0s

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

Recent work has identified a population of local E/S0 galaxies that lie on the blue sequence in color vs. stellar mass parameter space, where spiral galaxies typically reside. While some blue-sequence E/S0s must be young major merger remnants, many low-mass blue-sequence E/S0s appear much less disturbed, residing in low-density field environments where gas infall/accretion is possible. These galaxies may provide an evolutionary link between traditional early-type galaxies and spirals through disk regrowth. We present a multi-wavelength study of low-mass blue-sequence E/S0s, focusing on the cold gas content and star formation in these galaxies. Based on GBT HI spectra, the atomic gas to stellar mass ratios for most blue-sequence E/S0s range from 0.1 to 1.0, comparable to those of spiral and irregular galaxies. We examine the relationship between molecular gas and star formation surface densities for selected E/S0s based on CARMA and IRAM 30m CO(1-0) observations and GALEX FUV/Spitzer MIPS 24 micron imaging. We find many of our blue-sequence E/S0s fall on the same Schmidt-Kennicutt relation as local spirals, although offset towards apparently higher molecular gas star formation efficiency. We present evidence that star formation in these galaxies is bursty and likely involves externally triggered gas inflows.

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