Abstract
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) regulates the baryonic cycle within galaxies, and is a key ingredient for translating observations into physical quantities. Although it was assumed to be universal for decades, there is now growing observational evidence showing that the center of massive early-Type galaxies hosts a larger population of low-mass stars than is expected based on observations from the Milky Way. Moreover, these variations in the IMF have been found to be related to radial metallicity variations in massive galaxies. We present here a two-dimensional stellar population analysis of the massive lenticular galaxy FCC 167 (NGC 1380) as part of the Fornax3D project. Using a newly developed stellar population fitting scheme, we derive a full two-dimensional IMF map of an early-Type galaxy. This two-dimensional analysis allows us go further than a radial analysis, showing how the metallicity changes along a disk-like structure while the IMF follows a distinct, less disky distribution. Thus, our findings indicate that metallicity cannot be the sole driver of the observed radial IMF variations. In addition, a comparison with the orbital decomposition shows suggestive evidence of a coupling between stellar population properties and the internal dynamical structure of FCC 167, where metallicity and IMF maps seem to track the distribution of cold and warm orbits, respectively.
Original language | English |
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Article number | A124 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-12 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Astronomy and Astrophysics |
Volume | 626 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 24 Jun 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Reproduced with permission from Astronomy & Astrophysics, Copyright 2019 ESO. First published in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 626, A124, 2019, published by EDP Sciences. The original publication is available at https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201935360. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.Keywords
- Galaxies: elliptical and lenticular, cD
- Galaxies: evolution
- Galaxies: formation
- Galaxies: stellar content
- Galaxy: abundances
- Galaxy: fundamental parameters