Other
Scientific paper
Oct 1987
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987aj.....94..899d&link_type=abstract
Astronomical Journal (ISSN 0004-6256), vol. 94, Oct. 1987, p. 899-905.
Other
93
Astronomical Spectroscopy, Galactic Clusters, Abundance, Galactic Bulge, Galactic Structure, Star Formation
Scientific paper
The authors have measured the strength of the 4000 Å break from moderate-resolution spectra of 950 galaxies in the fields of 12 rich clusters. They find only a weak dependence of the 4000 Å break amplitude on either the total or bulge luminosity of the galaxy. Since the U-V colors of spheroidal systems appear to correlate with absolute magnitude, a correlation attributed to line blanketing, the authors' result indicates that the 4000 Å break amplitude is insensitive to changes in metal abundance, at least over the range characteristic of galactic bulges. On the other hand, the authors show that the break is a sensitive probe of star formation, by correlating the break amplitude with emission and absorption features indicative of recent star formation. This sensitivity to star formation but insensitivity to metal abundance makes the 4000 Å break a powerful diagnostic for studying evolution with observations of galaxies at large lookback times.
Dressler Alan
Shectman Stephen A.
No associations
LandOfFree
Systematics of the 4000 angstrom break in the spectra of 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 Systematics of the 4000 angstrom break in the spectra of galaxies, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Systematics of the 4000 angstrom break in the spectra of galaxies will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1773162