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Sattler, N, Pinna, F, Neumayer, N, Falcón-Barroso, J, Martig, M, Gadotti, DA, van de Ven, G and Minchev, I (2023) The vertical structure of the spiral galaxy NGC 3501: first stages of the formation of a thin metal-rich disc. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 520 (2). pp. 3066-3079. ISSN 0035-8711
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Abstract
We trace the evolution of the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3501, making use of its stellar populations extracted from deep integral-field spectroscopy MUSE observations. We present stellar kinematic and population maps, as well as the star formation history, of the south-western half of the galaxy. The derived maps of the stellar line-of-sight velocity and velocity dispersion are quite regular, show disc-like rotation, and no other structural component of the galaxy. However, maps of the stellar populations exhibit structures in the mass-weighted and light-weighted age, total metallicity, and [Mg/Fe] abundance. These maps indicate that NGC 3501 is a young galaxy, consisting mostly of stars with ages between 2 and 8 Gyr. Also, they show a thicker more extended structure that is metal-poor and α-rich, and another inner metal-rich and α-poor one with smaller radial extension. While previous studies revealed that NGC 3501 shows only one morphological disc component in its vertical structure, we divided the galaxy into two regions: an inner metal-rich mid-plane and a metal-poor thicker envelope. Comparing the star formation history of the inner thinner metal-rich disc and the thicker metal-poor disc, we see that the metal-rich component evolved more steadily, while the metal-poor one experienced several bursts of star formation. We propose this spiral galaxy is being observed in an early evolutionary phase, with a thicker disc already in place and an inner thin disc in an early formation stage. So we are probably witnessing the birth of a future massive thin disc, continuously growing embedded in a preexisting thicker disc.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Uncontrolled Keywords: | 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences; Astronomy & Astrophysics |
| Subjects: | Q Science > QB Astronomy Q Science > QC Physics |
| Divisions: | Astrophysics Research Institute |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press (OUP) |
| SWORD Depositor: | A Symplectic |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Oct 2024 11:19 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Oct 2024 11:30 |
| DOI or ID number: | 10.1093/mnras/stad275 |
| URI: | https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/24470 |
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