Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userStellar mass-to-light ratios from galaxy spectra: how accurate can they be?
130
0
0.0
(
0
)
Authors
Anna Gallazzi
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Stellar masses play a crucial role in the exploration of galaxy properties and the evolution of the galaxy population. In this paper, we explore the minimum possible uncertainties in stellar mass-to-light (M/L) ratios from the assumed star formation history (SFH) and metallicity distribution, with the goals of providing a minimum set of requirements for observational studies. We use a large Monte Carlo library of SFHs to study as a function of galaxy spectral type and signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) the statistical uncertainties of M/L values using either absorption-line data or broad band colors. The accuracy of M/L estimates can be significantly improved by using metal-sensitive indices in combination with age-sensitive indices, in particular for galaxies with intermediate-age or young stellar populations. While M/L accuracy clearly depends on the spectral S/N ratio, there is no significant gain in improving the S/N much above 50/pix and limiting uncertainties of 0.03 dex are reached. Assuming that dust is accurately corrected or absent and that the redshift is known, color-based M/L estimates are only slightly more uncertain than spectroscopic estimates (at comparable spectroscopic and photometric quality), but are more easily affected by systematic biases. This is the case in particular for galaxies with bursty SFHs (high Hdelta at fixed D4000), the M/L of which cannot be constrained any better than 0.15 dex with any indicators explored here. Finally, we explore the effects of the assumed prior distribution in SFHs and metallicity, finding them to be higher for color-based estimates.
rate research
Read More
Strong interaction physics under extreme conditions of high temperature and/or density is of central interest in modern nuclear physics for experimentalists and theorists alike. In order to investigate such systems, model approaches that include hadrons and quarks in a unified approach, will be discussed. Special attention will be given to high-density matter as it occurs in neutron stars. Given the current observational limits for neutron star masses, the properties of hyperonic and hybrid stars will be determined. In this context especially the question of the extent, to which exotic particles like hyperons and quarks affect star masses, will be discussed.
We derive stellar masses from SED fitting to rest-frame optical and UV fluxes for 401 star-forming galaxies at z 4, 5, and 6 from Hubble-WFC3/IR observations of the ERS combined with the deep GOODS-S Spitzer/IRAC data (and include a previously-published z 7 sample). A mass-luminosity relation with strongly luminosity-dependent M/Luv ratios is found for the largest sample (299 galaxies) at z 4. The relation M propto L_{UV,1500}^(1.7+/-0.2) has a well-determined intrinsic sample variance of 0.5 dex. This relation is also consistent with the more limited samples at z 5-7. This z 4 mass-luminosity relation, and the well-established faint UV luminosity functions at z 4-7, are used to derive galaxy mass functions (MF) to masses M~10^8 at z 4-7. A bootstap approach is used to derive the MFs to account for the large scatter in the M--Luv relation and the luminosity function uncertainties, along with an analytical crosscheck. The MFs are also corrected for the effects of incompleteness. The incompleteness-corrected MFs are steeper than previously found, with slopes alpha_M-1.4 to -1.6 at low masses. These slopes are, however, still substantially flatter than the MFs obtained from recent hydrodynamical simulations. We use these MFs to estimate the stellar mass density (SMD) of the universe to a fixed M_{UV,AB}<-18 as a function of redshift and find a SMD growth propto(1+z)^{-3.4 +/-0.8} from z 7 to z 4. We also derive the SMD from the completeness-corrected MFs to a mass limit M~10^{8} Msun. Such completeness-corrected MFs and the derived SMDs will be particularly important for model comparisons as future MFs reach to lower masses.
Defined as X-ray bright galaxy groups with large differences between the luminosities of their brightest and second brightest galaxies, fossil groups are believed to be some of the oldest galaxy systems in the universe. They have therefore been the subject of much recent research. In this work we present a study of 10 fossil group candidates with an average of 33 spectroscopically confirmed members per group, making this the deepest study of its type to-date. We also use this data to perform an analysis of the luminosity function of our sample of fossil groups. We confirm the high masses previously reported for many of fossil systems, finding values more similar to those of clusters than of groups. We also confirm the high dynamical mass-to-light ratios reported in many previous studies. While our results are consistent with previous studies in many ways, our interpretation is not. This is because we show that, while the luminosities of the BCGs in these systems are consistent with their high dynamical masses, their richnesses (total number of galaxies above some canonical value) are extremely low. This leads us to suggest a new interpretation of fossil systems in which the large differences between the luminosities of their brightest and second brightest galaxies are simply the result the high BCG luminosities and low richnesses, while the high masses and low richnesses also explain the high mass-to-light ratios. Our results therefore suggest that fossil systems can be characterised as cluster-like in their masses and BCG luminosities, but possessing the richnesses and optical luminosities of relatively poor groups. These findings are not predicted by any of the current models for the formation of fossil groups. Therefore, if this picture is confirmed, current ideas about the formation and evolution of fossil systems will need to be reformulated.
Magnetic fields and stellar spots can alter the equivalent widths of absorption lines in stellar spectra, varying during the activity cycle. This also influences the information that we derive through spectroscopic analysis. In this study we analyse high-resolution spectra of 211 Sun-like stars observed at different phases of their activity cycles, in order to investigate how stellar activity affects the spectroscopic determination of stellar parameters and chemical abundances. We observe that equivalent widths of lines can increase as a function of the activity index log R$^prime_{rm HK}$ during the stellar cycle, which also produces an artificial growth of the stellar microturbulence and a decrease in effective temperature and metallicity. This effect is visible for stars with activity indexes log R$^prime_{rm HK}$$geq$$-$5.0 (i.e., younger than 4-5 Gyr) and it is more significant at higher activity levels. These results have fundamental implications on several topics in astrophysics that are discussed in the paper, including stellar nucleosynthesis, chemical tagging, the study of Galactic chemical evolution, chemically anomalous stars, the structure of the Milky Way disk, stellar formation rates, photoevaporation of circumstellar disks, and planet hunting.
In an attempt to select stars that can host planets with characteristics similar to our own, we selected seven solar-type stars known to host planets in the habitable zone and for which spectroscopic stellar parameters are available. For these stars we estimated empirical abundances of O, C, Mg and Si, which in turn we used to derive the iron and water mass fraction of the planet building blocks with the use of the model presented in Santos et al. (2015). Our results show that if rocky planets orbit these stars they might have significantly different compositions between themselves and different from that of our Earth. However, for a meaningful comparison between the compositional properties of exoplanets in the habitable zone and our own planet, a far more sophisticated analysis (e.g. Dorn et al., 2017) of a large number of systems with precise mass and radius of planets, and accurate chemical abundances of the host stars. The work presented here is merely the first humble step in this direction.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
