UV-BRIGHT NEARBY EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES OBSERVED IN THE MID-INFRARED: EVIDENCE FOR A MULTI-STAGE FORMATION HISTORY BY WAY OF WISE AND GALEX IMAGING

Journal Article · Tue Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 2013 · Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/146/4/77· OSTI ID:22136532

Petty, S. M.; Farrah, D. G. ^[1]; Neill, J. D.; Bridge, C. R. ^[2]; Jarrett, T. H.; Tsai, C. -W. ^[3]; Blain, A. W. ^[4]; Rich, R. M.; Lake, S. E.; Wright, E. L. ^[5]; Benford, D. J. ^[6]; Masci, F. J. ^[7]

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1. Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061 (United States)
2. Division of Physics, Math, and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
3. Astronomy Department, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701 (South Africa)
4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH (United Kingdom)
5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States)
6. NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
7. IPAC, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

In the local universe, 10% of massive elliptical galaxies are observed to exhibit a peculiar property: a substantial excess of ultraviolet emission than what is expected from their old, red stellar populations. Several origins for this ultraviolet excess (UVX) have been proposed including a population of hot young stars and a population of old, blue horizontal branch or extended horizontal branch (BHB or EHB) stars that have undergone substantial mass loss from their outer atmospheres. We explore the radial distribution of UVX in a selection of 49 nearby E/S0-type galaxies by measuring their extended photometry in the UV through mid-infrared (mid-IR) with the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). We compare UV/optical and UV/mid-IR colors with the Flexible Stellar Population Synthesis models, which allow for the inclusion of EHB stars. We find that combined WISE mid-IR and GALEX UV colors are more effective in distinguishing models than optical colors, and that the UV/mid-IR combination is sensitive to the EHB fraction. There are strong color gradients, with the outer radii bluer than the inner half-light radii by {approx}1 mag. This color difference is easily accounted for with an increase in the BHB fraction of 0.25 with radius. We estimated that the average ages for the inner and outer radii are 7.0 {+-} 0.3 Gyr, and 6.2 {+-} 0.2 Gyr, respectively, with the implication that the outer regions are likely to have formed {approx}1 Gyr after the inner regions. Additionally, we find that metallicity gradients are likely not a significant factor in the color difference. The separation of color between the inner and outer regions, which agrees with a specific stellar population difference (e.g., higher EHB populations), and the {approx}0.5-2 Gyr age difference suggests multi-stage formation. Our results are best explained by inside-out formation: rapid star formation within the core at early epochs (>4 Gyr ago) and at least one later stage starburst event coinciding with z {approx} 1.

• OSTI ID: 22136532
• Journal Information: Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Journal Name: Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online) Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 146; ISSN 1538-3881
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
COLOR
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
INFRARED SURVEYS
MASS TRANSFER
PHOTOMETRY
SKY
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
STARS
STELLAR WINDS
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
UNIVERSE
VISIBLE RADIATION