Cold Gas in Blue-Sequence E/S0s: Galaxies in Transition

Details Cold Gas in Blue-Sequence E/S0s: Galaxies in Transition Cold Gas in Blue-Sequence E/S0s: Galaxies in Transition

2009-08-20

arxiv.org/abs/0908.2868v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics

4 pages, 3 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of the `Galaxy Wars: Stellar Populations and Star Formation in Interact

Scientific paper

We examine the HI+H_2 content of blue-sequence E/S0s -- a recently identified population of galaxies that are morphologically early type, but reside alongside spiral galaxies in color vs. stellar mass space. We test the idea that the majority of low-to-intermediate mass blue-sequence E/S0s may be settled products of past mergers evolving toward later-type morphology via disk regrowth. We find that blue-sequence E/S0s with stellar masses <= 4 x 10^10 M_{\odot} have atomic gas-to-stellar mass ratios of 0.1 to > 1.0, comparable to those of spiral galaxies. Preliminary CO(1-0) maps reveal disk-like rotation of molecular gas in the inner regions of several of our blue-sequence E/S0s, which suggests that they may have gas disks suitable for stellar disk regrowth. At the current rate of star formation, many of our blue-sequence E/S0s will exhaust their atomic gas reservoirs in <~ 3 Gyr. Over the same time period, most of these galaxies are capable of substantial growth in the stellar component. Star formation in blue-sequence E/S0s appears to be bursty, and likely involves inflow triggered by minor mergers and/or interactions.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Cold Gas in Blue-Sequence E/S0s: Galaxies in Transition 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 Cold Gas in Blue-Sequence E/S0s: Galaxies in Transition, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cold Gas in Blue-Sequence E/S0s: Galaxies in Transition will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-525986