Journal
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Volume 432, Issue 1, Pages 359-373Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stt484
Keywords
surveys; galaxies: evolution; galaxies: statistics; galaxies: stellar content
Categories
Funding
- European Research Council
- Leverhulme Trust
- STFC
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- National Science Foundation
- US Department of Energy
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Japanese Monbukagakusho
- Max Planck Society
- Higher Education Funding Council for England
- American Museum of Natural History
- Astrophysical Institute Potsdam
- University of Basel
- University of Cambridge
- CaseWestern Reserve University
- University of Chicago
- Drexel University
- Fermilab
- Institute for Advanced Study
- Johns Hopkins University
- Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (LAMOST)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Max-PlanckInstitute for Astronomy (MPIA)
- Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics (MPA)
- New Mexico State University
- Ohio State University
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Portsmouth
- Princeton University
- United States Naval Observatory
- University of Washington
- STFC [ST/H007156/1, ST/K00090X/1, ST/I001212/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Science and Technology Facilities Council [ST/K00090X/1, ST/H007156/1, ST/I001212/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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We study the spectral properties of intermediate mass galaxies (M-* similar to 10(10.7) M-circle dot) as a function of colour and morphology. We use Galaxy Zoo to define three morphological classes of galaxies, namely early types (ellipticals), late-type (disc-dominated) face-on spirals and early-type (bulge-dominated) face-on spirals. We classify these galaxies as blue or red according to their Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) g - r colour and use the spectral fitting code Versatile Spectral Analyses to calculate time-resolved star formation histories, metallicity and total starlight dust extinction from their SDSS fibre spectra. We find that red late-type spirals show less star formation in the last 500 Myr than blue late-type spirals by up to a factor of 3, but share similar star formation histories at earlier times. This decline in recent star formation explains their redder colour: their chemical and dust content are the same. We postulate that red late-type spirals are recent descendants of blue late-type spirals, with their star formation curtailed in the last 500 Myr. The red late-type spirals are however still forming stars similar or equal to 17 times faster than red ellipticals over the same period. Red early-type spirals lie between red late-type spirals and red ellipticals in terms of recent-to-intermediate star formation and dust content. Therefore, it is plausible that these galaxies represent an evolutionary link between these two populations. They are more likely to evolve directly into red ellipticals than red late-type spirals, which show star formation histories and dust content closer to blue late-type spirals. Blue ellipticals show similar star formation histories as blue spirals (regardless of type), except that they have formed less stars in the last 100 Myr. However, blue ellipticals have different dust content, which peaks at lower extinction values than all spiral galaxies. Therefore, many blue ellipticals are unlikely to be descendants of blue spirals, suggesting there may not be single evolutionary path for this group of galaxies.
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