No Arabic abstract
Over half of disk galaxies are barred, yet the mechanisms for bar formation and the life-time of bar buckling remain poorly understood. In simulations, a thin bar undergoes a rapid (<1 Gyr) event called buckling, during which the inner part of the bar is asymmetrically bent out of the galaxy plane and eventually thickens, developing a peanut/X-shaped profile when viewed side-on. Through analyzing stellar kinematics of N-body model snapshots of a galaxy before, during, and after the buckling phase, we confirm a distinct quadrupolar pattern of out-of-plane stellar velocities in nearly face-on galaxies. This kinematic signature of buckling allows us to identify five candidates of currently buckling bars among 434 barred galaxies in the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) Survey, an integral field unit (IFU) spectroscopic survey that measures the composition and kinematic structure of nearby galaxies. The frequency of buckling events detected is consistent with the 0.5-1 Gyr timescale predicted by simulations. The five candidates we present more than double the total number of candidate buckling bars, and are the only ones found using the kinematic signature.
The majority of massive disk galaxies, including our own, have stellar bars with vertically thick inner regions -- so-called boxy/peanut-shaped (B/P) bulges. The most commonly suggested mechanism for the formation of B/P bulges is a violent vertical buckling instability in the bar, something that has been seen in N-body simulations for over twenty years, but never identified in real galaxies. Here, we present the first direct observational evidence for ongoing buckling in two nearby galaxies (NGC 3227 and NGC 4569), including characteristic asymmetric isophotes and (in NGC 4569) stellar-kinematic asymmetries that match buckling in simulations. This confirms that the buckling instability takes place and produces B/P bulges in real galaxies. A toy model of bar evolution yields a local fraction of buckling bars consistent with observations if the buckling phase lasts ~0.5--1 Gyr, in agreement with simulations.
Bars are common in low-redshift disk galaxies, and hence quantifying their influence on their host is of importance to the field of galaxy evolution. We determine the stellar populations and star formation histories of 245 barred galaxies from the MaNGA galaxy survey, and compare them to a mass- and morphology-matched comparison sample of unbarred galaxies. At fixed stellar mass and morphology, barred galaxies are optically redder than their unbarred counterparts. From stellar population analysis using the full spectral fitting code Starlight, we attribute this difference to both older and more metal-rich stellar populations. Dust attenuation however, is lower in the barred sample. The star formation histories of barred galaxies peak earlier than their non-barred counterparts, and the galaxies build up their mass at earlier times. We can detect no significant differences in the local environment of barred and un-barred galaxies in this sample, but find that the HI gas mass fraction is significantly lower in high-mass ($rm{M}_{star} > 10^{10}~rm{M}_{odot}$) barred galaxies than their non-barred counterparts. We speculate on the mechanisms that have allowed barred galaxies to be older, more metal-rich and more gas-poor today, including the efficient redistribution of galactic fountain byproducts, and a runaway bar formation scenario in gas-poor disks. While it is not possible to fully determine the effect of the bar on galaxy quenching, we conclude that the presence of a bar and the early cessation of star formation within a galaxy are intimately linked.
We study the ages of a large sample (1,802) of nearly face-on disk low surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs) by using the evolutionary population synthesis (EPS) model PEGASE with exponential decreasing star formation rate to fit their multiwavelength spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from far-ultraviolet (FUV) to near-infrared (NIR). The derived ages of LSBGs are 1-5 Gyr for most of the sample no matter the constant or varying dust extinction is adopted, which are similar to most of the previous studies on smaller samples. This means that these LSBGs formed their majority of stars quite recently. However, a small part of the sample (~2-3%) have larger ages as 5-8 Gyr, meaning their major star forming process may occur earlier. At the same time, a large sample (5,886) of high surface brightness galaxies (HSBGs) are selected and studied in the same method for comparisons. The derived ages are 1-5 Gyr for most of the sample (97%) as well. These may mean that probably these LSBGs have no much different star formation history from their HSBGs counterparts. But we should notice that the HSBGs are about 0.2 Gyr younger generally, which could mean that the HSBGs may have more recent star forming activities than the LSBGs.
We analyse two-dimensional maps and radial profiles of EW(H$alpha$), EW(H$delta_A$), and D$_n$(4000) of low-redshift galaxies using integral field spectroscopy from the MaNGA survey. Out of $approx1400$ nearly face-on late-type galaxies with a redshift $z<0.05$, we identify 121 turnover galaxies that each have a central upturn in EW(H$alpha$), EW(H$delta_A$) and/or a central drop in D$_n$(4000), indicative of ongoing/recent star formation. The turnover features are found mostly in galaxies with a stellar mass above $sim$10$^{10}$ M$_{odot}$ and NUV-$r$ colour less than $approx5$. The majority of the turnover galaxies are barred, with a bar fraction of 89$pm$3%. Furthermore, for barred galaxies the radius of the central turnover region is found to tightly correlate with one third of the bar length. Comparing the observed and the inward extrapolated star formation rate surface density, we estimate that the central SFR have been enhanced by an order of magnitude. Conversely, only half of the barred galaxies in our sample have a central turnover feature, implying that the presence of a bar is not sufficient to lead to a central SF enhancement. We further examined the SF enhancement in paired galaxies, as well as the local environment, finding no relation. This implies that environment is not a driving factor for central SF enhancement in our sample. Our results reinforce both previous findings and theoretical expectation that galactic bars play a crucial role in the secular evolution of galaxies by driving gas inflow and enhancing the star formation and bulge growth in the center.
We present high resolution absorption-line spectroscopy of 3 face-on galaxies, NGC 98, NGC 600, and NGC 1703 with the aim of searching for box/peanut (B/P)-shaped bulges. These observations test and confirm the prediction of Debattista et al. (2005) that face-on B/P-shaped bulges can be recognized by a double minimum in the profile of the fourth-order Gauss-Hermite moment h_4. In NGC 1703, which is an unbarred control galaxy, we found no evidence of a B/P bulge. In NGC 98, a clear double minimum in h_4 is present along the major axis of the bar and before the end of the bar, as predicted. In contrast, in NGC 600, which is also a barred galaxy but lacks a substantial bulge, we do not find a significant B/P shape.