The abundance of compact, massive, early-type galaxies (ETGs) provides important constraints to galaxy formation scenarios. Thanks to the area covered, depth, excellent spatial resolution and seeing, the ESO Public optical Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS),
carried out with the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), offers a unique opportunity to conduct a complete census of the most compact galaxies in the Universe. This paper presents a first census of such systems from the first 156 square degrees of KiDS. Our analysis relies on g-, r-, and i-band effective radii ($R_{rm e}$), derived by fitting galaxy images with PSF-convolved Sersic models, high-quality photometric redshifts, $z_{rm phot}$, estimated from machine learning techniques, and stellar masses, $M_{rm star}$, calculated from KiDS aperture photometry. After massiveness ($M_{rm star} > 8 times 10^{10}, rm M_{odot}$) and compactness ($R_{rm e} < 1.5 , rm kpc$ in g-, r- and i-bands) criteria are applied, a visual inspection of the candidates plus near-infrared photometry from VIKING-DR1 are used to refine our sample. The final catalog, to be spectroscopically confirmed, consists of 92 systems in the redshift range $z sim 0.2-0.7$. This sample, which we expect to increase by a factor of ten over the total survey area, represents the first attempt to select massive super-compact ETGs (MSCGs) in KiDS. We investigate the impact of redshift systematics in the selection, finding that this seems to be a major source of contamination in our sample. A preliminary analysis shows that MSCGs exhibit negative internal colour gradients, consistent with a passive evolution of these systems. We find that the number density of MSCGs is only mildly consistent with predictions from simulations at $z>0.2$, while no such system is found at $z < 0.2$.
The Initial Mass Function (IMF) of early-type galaxies (ETGs) has been found to feature systematic variations by both dynamical and spectroscopic studies. In particular, spectral line strengths, based on gravity-sensitive features, suggest an excess
of low-mass stars in massive ETGs, i.e. a bottom-heavy IMF. The physical drivers of IMF variations are currently unknown. The abundance ratio of alpha elements, such as [Mg/Fe], has been suggested as a possible driver of the IMF changes, although dynamical constraints do not support this claim. In this letter, we take advantage of the large SDSS database. Our sample comprises 24,781 high-quality spectra, covering a large range in velocity dispersion (100<sigma0<320 km/s) and abundance ratio (-0.1<[Mg/Fe]<+0.4). The large volume of data allows us to stack the spectra at fixed values of sigma0 and [Mg/Fe]. Our analysis -- based on gravity-sensitive line strengths -- gives a strong correlation with central velocity dispersion and a negligible variation with [Mg/Fe] at fixed sigma0. This result is robust against individual elemental abundance variations, and seems not to raise any apparent inconsistency with the alternative method based on galaxy dynamics.
We study the total density distribution in the central regions (~ 1 effective radius, $R_e$) of early-type galaxies (ETGs), using data from SPIDER and $rm ATLAS^{3D}$. Our analysis extends the range of galaxy stellar mass ($M_{star}$) probed by gravi
tational lensing, down to ~ $10^{10}, rm M_{odot}$. We model each galaxy with two components (dark matter halo + stars), exploring different assumptions for the dark matter (DM) halo profile (i.e. NFW, NFW-contracted, and Burkert profiles), and leaving stellar mass-to-light ($M_{star}/L$) ratios as free fitting parameters to the data. For all plausible halo models, the best-fitting $M_{star}/L$, normalized to that for a Chabrier IMF, increases systematically with galaxy size and mass. For an NFW profile, the slope of the total mass profile is non-universal, independently of several ingredients in the modeling (e.g., halo contraction, anisotropy, and rotation velocity in ETGs). For the most massive ($M_{star}$ ~ $10^{11.5} , M_{odot}$) or largest ($R_{rm e}$ ~ $15 , rm kpc$) ETGs, the profile is isothermal in the central regions (~$R_{rm e}/2$), while for the low-mass ($M_{star}$ ~ $10^{10.2} , M_odot$) or smallest ($R_{rm e}$ ~ $0.5 , rm kpc$) systems, the profile is steeper than isothermal, with slopes similar to those for a constant-$M/L$ profile. For a steeper concentration-mass relation than that expected from simulations, the correlation of density slope with galaxy mass tends to flatten, while correlations with $R_{rm e}$ and velocity dispersions are more robust. Our results clearly point to a non-homology in the total mass distribution of ETGs, which simulations of galaxy formation suggest may be related to a varying role of dissipation with galaxy mass.
A detailed analysis of how environment affects the star formation history of early-type galaxies (ETGs) is undertaken via high signal to noise ratio stacked spectra obtained from a sample of 20,977 ETGs (morphologically selected) from the SDSS-based
SPIDER survey. Two major parameters are considered for the study: the central velocity dispersion (sigma), which relates to local drivers of star formation, and the mass of the host halo, which relates to environment-related effects. In addition, we separate the sample between centrals (the most massive galaxy in a halo) and satellites. We derive trends of age, metallicity, and [alpha/Fe] enhancement, with sigma. We confirm that the major driver of stellar population properties in ETGs is velocity dispersion, with a second-order effect associated to the central/satellite nature of the galaxy. No environmental dependence is detected for satellite ETGs, except at low sigma - where satellites in groups or in the outskirts of clusters tend to be younger than those in the central regions of clusters. In contrast, the trends for centrals show a significant dependence on halo mass. Central ETGs in groups (i.e. with a halo mass >10^12.5 M_Sun) have younger ages, lower [alpha/Fe], and higher internal reddening, than isolated systems (i.e. centrals residing in low-mass, <10^12.5 M_Sun, halos). Our findings imply that central ETGs in groups formed their stellar component over longer time scales than isolated centrals, mainly because of gas-rich interactions with their companion galaxies.
We perform a spectroscopic study to constrain the stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) by using a large sample of 24,781 early-type galaxies from the SDSS-based SPIDER survey. Clear evidence is found of a trend between IMF and central velocity dispers
ion, sigma0, evolving from a standard Kroupa/Chabrier IMF at 100km/s towards a more bottom-heavy IMF with increasing sigma0, becoming steeper than the Salpeter function at sigma0>220km/s. We analyze a variety of spectral indices, corrected to solar scale by means of semi-empirical correlations, and fitted simultaneously with extended MILES (MIUSCAT) stellar population models. Our analysis suggests that sigma0, rather than [alpha/Fe], drives the IMF variation. Although our analysis cannot discriminate between a single power-law (unimodal) and a low-mass (<0.5MSun) tapered (bimodal) IMF, we can robustly constrain the fraction in low-mass stars at birth, that is found to increase from 20% at sigma0~100km/s, up to 80% at sigma0~300km/s. Additional constraints can be provided with stellar mass-to-light (M/L) ratios: unimodal models predict M/L significantly larger than dynamical M/L, across the whole sigma0 range, whereas a bimodal IMF is compatible. Our results are robust against individual abundance variations. No significant variation is found in Na and Ca in addition to the expected change from the correlation between [alpha/Fe] and sigma0. [Abridged]
We present an X-ray follow-up, based on XMM plus Chandra, of six Fossil Group (FG) candidates identified in our previous work using SDSS and RASS data. Four candidates (out of six) exhibit extended X-ray emission, confirming them as true FGs. For the
other two groups, the RASS emission has its origin as either an optically dull/X-ray bright AGN, or the blending of distinct X-ray sources. Using SDSS-DR7 data, we confirm, for all groups, the presence of an r-band magnitude gap between the seed elliptical and the second-rank galaxy. However, the gap value depends, up to 0.5mag, on how one estimates the seed galaxy total flux, which is greatly underestimated when using SDSS (relative to Sersic) magnitudes. This implies that many FGs may be actually missed when using SDSS data, a fact that should be carefully taken into account when comparing the observed number densities of FGs to the expectations from cosmological simulations. The similarity in the properties of seed--FG and non-fossil ellipticals, found in our previous study, extends to the sample of X-ray confirmed FGs, indicating that bright ellipticals in FGs do not represent a distinct population of galaxies. For one system, we also find that the velocity distribution of faint galaxies is bimodal, possibly showing that the system formed through the merging of two groups. This undermines the idea that all selected FGs form a population of true fossils.
Using optical-optical and optical-NIR colors, we analyze the radial dependence of age and metallicity inside massive (M* > 10^10.5 MSun), low-redshift (z<0.1), early-type galaxies (ETGs), residing in both high-density group regions and the field. On
average, internal color gradients of ETGs are mainly driven by metallicity, consistent with previous studies. However, we find that group galaxies feature positive age gradients, Nabla_t, i.e. a younger stellar population in the galaxy center, and steeper metallicity gradients, compared to the field sample, whose Nabla_t ranges from negative in lower mass galaxies, to positive gradients at higher mass. These dependencies yield new constraints to models of galaxy formation and evolution. We speculate that age and metallicity gradients of group ETGs result from (either gas-rich or minor-dry) mergers and/or cold-gas accretion, while field ETGs exhibit the characteristic flatter gradients expected from younger, more metal-rich, stars formed inside--out by later gas-cooling.
We present robust statistical estimates of the accuracy of early-type galaxy stellar masses derived from spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting as functions of various empirical and theoretical assumptions. Using large samples consisting of 40,00
0 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, of which 5,000 are also in the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey, with spectroscopic redshifts in the range 0.05 leq z leq 0.095, we test the reliability of some commonly used stellar population models and extinction laws for computing stellar masses. Spectroscopic ages (t), metallicities (Z), and extinctions (A) are also computed from fits to SDSS spectra using various population models. These constraints are used in additional tests to estimate the systematic errors in the stellar masses derived from SED fitting, where t, Z, and A are typically left as free parameters. We find reasonable agreement in mass estimates among stellar population models, with variation of the IMF and extinction law yielding systematic biases on the mass of nearly a factor of 2, in agreement with other studies. Removing the near-infrared bands changes the statistical bias in mass by only 0.06 dex, adding uncertainties of 0.1 dex at the 95% CL. In contrast, we find that removing an ultraviolet band is more critical, introducing 2{sigma} uncertainties of 0.15 dex. Finally, we find that stellar masses are less affected by absence of metallicity and/or dust extinction knowledge. However, there is a definite systematic offset in the mass estimate when the stellar population age is unknown, up to a factor of 2.5 for very old (12 Gyr) stellar populations. We present the stellar masses for our sample, corrected for the measured systematic biases due to photometrically determined ages, finding that age errors produce lower stellar masses by 0.15 dex, with errors of 0.02 dex at the 95% CL for the median stellar age subsample.
We analyse the Fundamental Plane (FP) relation of $39,993$ early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the optical (griz) and $5,080$ ETGs in the Near-Infrared (YJHK) wavebands, forming an optical$+$NIR sample of $4,589$ galaxies. We focus on the analysis of the F
P as a function of the environment where galaxies reside. We characterise the environment using the largest group catalogue, based on 3D data, generated from SDSS at low redshift ($z < 0.1$). We find that the intercept $``c$ of the FP decreases smoothly from high to low density regions, implying that galaxies at low density have on average lower mass-to-light ratios than their high-density counterparts. The $``c$ also decreases as a function of the mean characteristic mass of the parent galaxy group. However, this trend is weak and completely accounted for by the variation of $``c$ with local density. The variation of the FP offset is the same in all wavebands, implying that ETGs at low density have younger luminosity-weighted ages than cluster galaxies, consistent with the expectations of semi-analytical models of galaxy formation. We measure an age variation of $sim 0.048$~dex ($sim 11%$) per decade of local galaxy density. This implies an age difference of about $32 %$ ($sim 3 , Gyr$) between galaxies in the regions of highest density and the field. We find the metallicity decreasing, at $sim 2$~$sigma$, from low to high density. We also find $2.5 , sigma$ evidence that the variation in age per decade of local density augments, up to a factor of two, for galaxies residing in massive relative to poor groups. (abridged)
We present a complete analysis of the Fundamental Plane of early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the nearby universe. The sample, as defined in paper I, comprises 39,993 ETGs located in environments covering the entire domain in local density (from field to
cluster). We derive the FP of ETGs in the grizYJHK wavebands with a detailed discussion on fitting procedure, bias due to selection effects and bias due to correlated errors on r_e and mue as key factors in obtaining meaningful FP coefficients. Studying the Kormendy relation we find that its slope varies from g (3.44+-0.04) to K (3.80+-0.02) implying that smaller size ETGs have a larger ratio of optical/NIR radii than galaxies with larger re. We also examine the Faber-Jackson relation and find that its slope is similar for all wavebands, within the uncertainties, with a mean value of 0.198+-0.007. The variation of the FP coefficients for the magnitude selected sample from g through K amounts to 11%, negligible, and 10%, respectively. We find that the tilt of the FP becomes larger for higher Sersic index and larger axis ratios, independent of the waveband we measured the FP variables. This suggests that these variations are likely related to structural and dynamical differences of galaxian properties. We also show that the current semi-analytical models of galaxy formation reproduce very well the variation of age and metallicity of the stellar populations present in massive ETGs as a function of the stellar mass in these systems. In particular, we find that massive ETGs have coeval stellar pops with age varying only by a few % per decade in mass, while metallicity increases with stellar mass by 23% per mass decade.
