A relation between the characteristic stellar ages of galaxies and their intrinsic shapes

Jesse Van De Sande; Nicholas Scott; Joss Bland-Hawthorn; Sarah Brough; Julia J. Bryant; Matthew Colless; Luca Cortese; Scott M. Croom; Francesco Deugenio; Caroline Foster; Michael Goodwin; Iraklis S. Konstantopoulos; Jon S. Lawrence; Richard M. McDermid; Anne M. Medling; Matt S. Owers; Samuel N. Richards; Rob Sharp

doi:10.1038/s41550-018-0436-x

A relation between the characteristic stellar ages of galaxies and their intrinsic shapes

Jesse Van De Sande^*
, Nicholas Scott
, Joss Bland-Hawthorn
, Sarah Brough
, Julia J. Bryant
, Matthew Colless
, Luca Cortese
, Scott M. Croom
, Francesco Deugenio
, Caroline Foster
, Michael Goodwin
, Iraklis S. Konstantopoulos
, Jon S. Lawrence
, Richard M. McDermid
, Anne M. Medling
, Matt S. Owers
, Samuel N. Richards
, Rob Sharp

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

67 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Stellar population and stellar kinematic studies provide unique but complementary insights into how galaxies build-up their stellar mass and angular momentum ^1-3 . A galaxy's mean stellar age reveals when stars were formed, but provides little constraint on how the galaxy's mass was assembled. Resolved stellar dynamics ⁴ trace the change in angular momentum due to mergers, but major mergers tend to obscure the effect of earlier interactions ⁵ . With the rise of large multi-object integral field spectroscopic surveys, such as SAMI ⁶ and MaNGA ⁷, and single-object integral field spectroscopic surveys (for example, ATLAS^3D (ref. ⁸ ), CALIFA ⁹, MASSIVE ¹⁰ ), it is now feasible to connect a galaxy′s star formation and merger history on the same resolved physical scales, over a large range in galaxy mass, morphology and environment ^4,11,12 . Using the SAMI Galaxy Survey, here we present a combined study of spatially resolved stellar kinematics and global stellar populations. We find a strong correlation of stellar population age with location in the (V/σ, $${\boldsymbol{\epsilon}}-{{\boldsymbol{e}}}$$ Iμ e) diagram that links the ratio of ordered rotation to random motions in a galaxy to its observed ellipticity. For the large majority of galaxies that are oblate rotating spheroids, we find that characteristic stellar age follows the intrinsic ellipticity of galaxies remarkably well.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	483-488
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature Astronomy
Volume	2
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0436-x
Publication status	Published - 1 Jun 2018

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Van De Sande, J., Scott, N., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Brough, S., Bryant, J. J., Colless, M., Cortese, L., Croom, S. M., Deugenio, F., Foster, C., Goodwin, M., Konstantopoulos, I. S., Lawrence, J. S., McDermid, R. M., Medling, A. M., Owers, M. S., Richards, S. N., & Sharp, R. (2018). A relation between the characteristic stellar ages of galaxies and their intrinsic shapes. Nature Astronomy, 2(6), 483-488. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0436-x

@article{d896d7c23c304da0b97c75026ff1da3b,

title = "A relation between the characteristic stellar ages of galaxies and their intrinsic shapes",

abstract = "Stellar population and stellar kinematic studies provide unique but complementary insights into how galaxies build-up their stellar mass and angular momentum 1-3 . A galaxy's mean stellar age reveals when stars were formed, but provides little constraint on how the galaxy's mass was assembled. Resolved stellar dynamics 4 trace the change in angular momentum due to mergers, but major mergers tend to obscure the effect of earlier interactions 5 . With the rise of large multi-object integral field spectroscopic surveys, such as SAMI 6 and MaNGA 7, and single-object integral field spectroscopic surveys (for example, ATLAS3D (ref. 8 ), CALIFA 9, MASSIVE 10 ), it is now feasible to connect a galaxy′s star formation and merger history on the same resolved physical scales, over a large range in galaxy mass, morphology and environment 4,11,12 . Using the SAMI Galaxy Survey, here we present a combined study of spatially resolved stellar kinematics and global stellar populations. We find a strong correlation of stellar population age with location in the (V/σ, \$\$\{\textbackslash{}boldsymbol\{\textbackslash{}epsilon\}\}-\{\{\textbackslash{}boldsymbol\{e\}\}\}\$\$ Iμ e) diagram that links the ratio of ordered rotation to random motions in a galaxy to its observed ellipticity. For the large majority of galaxies that are oblate rotating spheroids, we find that characteristic stellar age follows the intrinsic ellipticity of galaxies remarkably well.",

author = "\{Van De Sande\}, Jesse and Nicholas Scott and Joss Bland-Hawthorn and Sarah Brough and Bryant, \{Julia J.\} and Matthew Colless and Luca Cortese and Croom, \{Scott M.\} and Francesco Deugenio and Caroline Foster and Michael Goodwin and Konstantopoulos, \{Iraklis S.\} and Lawrence, \{Jon S.\} and McDermid, \{Richard M.\} and Medling, \{Anne M.\} and Owers, \{Matt S.\} and Richards, \{Samuel N.\} and Rob Sharp",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 The Author(s).",

year = "2018",

month = jun,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/s41550-018-0436-x",

language = "English",

volume = "2",

pages = "483--488",

journal = "Nature Astronomy",

issn = "2397-3366",

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Van De Sande, J, Scott, N, Bland-Hawthorn, J, Brough, S, Bryant, JJ, Colless, M, Cortese, L, Croom, SM, Deugenio, F, Foster, C, Goodwin, M, Konstantopoulos, IS, Lawrence, JS, McDermid, RM, Medling, AM, Owers, MS, Richards, SN & Sharp, R 2018, 'A relation between the characteristic stellar ages of galaxies and their intrinsic shapes', Nature Astronomy, vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 483-488. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0436-x

TY - JOUR

T1 - A relation between the characteristic stellar ages of galaxies and their intrinsic shapes

AU - Van De Sande, Jesse

AU - Scott, Nicholas

AU - Bland-Hawthorn, Joss

AU - Brough, Sarah

AU - Bryant, Julia J.

AU - Colless, Matthew

AU - Cortese, Luca

AU - Croom, Scott M.

AU - Deugenio, Francesco

AU - Foster, Caroline

AU - Goodwin, Michael

AU - Konstantopoulos, Iraklis S.

AU - Lawrence, Jon S.

AU - McDermid, Richard M.

AU - Medling, Anne M.

AU - Owers, Matt S.

AU - Richards, Samuel N.

AU - Sharp, Rob

PY - 2018/6/1

Y1 - 2018/6/1

N2 - Stellar population and stellar kinematic studies provide unique but complementary insights into how galaxies build-up their stellar mass and angular momentum 1-3 . A galaxy's mean stellar age reveals when stars were formed, but provides little constraint on how the galaxy's mass was assembled. Resolved stellar dynamics 4 trace the change in angular momentum due to mergers, but major mergers tend to obscure the effect of earlier interactions 5 . With the rise of large multi-object integral field spectroscopic surveys, such as SAMI 6 and MaNGA 7, and single-object integral field spectroscopic surveys (for example, ATLAS3D (ref. 8 ), CALIFA 9, MASSIVE 10 ), it is now feasible to connect a galaxy′s star formation and merger history on the same resolved physical scales, over a large range in galaxy mass, morphology and environment 4,11,12 . Using the SAMI Galaxy Survey, here we present a combined study of spatially resolved stellar kinematics and global stellar populations. We find a strong correlation of stellar population age with location in the (V/σ, $${\boldsymbol{\epsilon}}-{{\boldsymbol{e}}}$$ Iμ e) diagram that links the ratio of ordered rotation to random motions in a galaxy to its observed ellipticity. For the large majority of galaxies that are oblate rotating spheroids, we find that characteristic stellar age follows the intrinsic ellipticity of galaxies remarkably well.

AB - Stellar population and stellar kinematic studies provide unique but complementary insights into how galaxies build-up their stellar mass and angular momentum 1-3 . A galaxy's mean stellar age reveals when stars were formed, but provides little constraint on how the galaxy's mass was assembled. Resolved stellar dynamics 4 trace the change in angular momentum due to mergers, but major mergers tend to obscure the effect of earlier interactions 5 . With the rise of large multi-object integral field spectroscopic surveys, such as SAMI 6 and MaNGA 7, and single-object integral field spectroscopic surveys (for example, ATLAS3D (ref. 8 ), CALIFA 9, MASSIVE 10 ), it is now feasible to connect a galaxy′s star formation and merger history on the same resolved physical scales, over a large range in galaxy mass, morphology and environment 4,11,12 . Using the SAMI Galaxy Survey, here we present a combined study of spatially resolved stellar kinematics and global stellar populations. We find a strong correlation of stellar population age with location in the (V/σ, $${\boldsymbol{\epsilon}}-{{\boldsymbol{e}}}$$ Iμ e) diagram that links the ratio of ordered rotation to random motions in a galaxy to its observed ellipticity. For the large majority of galaxies that are oblate rotating spheroids, we find that characteristic stellar age follows the intrinsic ellipticity of galaxies remarkably well.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85048114651

U2 - 10.1038/s41550-018-0436-x

DO - 10.1038/s41550-018-0436-x

M3 - Article

SN - 2397-3366

VL - 2

SP - 483

EP - 488

JO - Nature Astronomy

JF - Nature Astronomy

IS - 6

ER -

A relation between the characteristic stellar ages of galaxies and their intrinsic shapes

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