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J-PAS: Unprecedented precision in stellar populations of diffuse tidal features

Springer Link (Chiba Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Galaxies frequently interact with nearby systems, which can significantly alter their morphology and star formation activity. However, spectroscopic studies of their faint and diffuse remnants require very long exposure times and often exceed the limited field of view of integral field units (IFUs). On the other hand, broadband imaging can have a much wider field of view, but it lacks the spectral resolution to identify key spectral features, restricting accurate constraints on stellar population properties. With its 54 narrowband filters in the optical and wide coverage (8000 square degrees, planned), J-PAS fills this gap. In this case study, we examined PGC 3087775, a massive galaxy at z = 0.046179 (∼201 Mpc) in the later stages of a major merger in the J-PAS Early Data Release. Photometry was performed on visually identified polygons (over the tidal features) using Gnuastro and validated with MaNGA IFU data (for the central part). Spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting was then carried out with CIGALE to derive stellar population properties using both J-PAS and SDSS photometry to assess the added value with J-PAS. SDSS indicates a metal-rich population with an extended star formation history (SFH) and elevated star formation rates. J-PAS instead points to a less metal-rich population with moderate extinction and a more rapid SFH, consistent with a quenched stellar population. The average Dn(4000) index of the tidal features is 1.24, suggesting that it was a non-dry merger and a fourfold improvement in the precision of stellar mass and Dn(4000) was found with J-PAS. We also assessed two heuristic methods for estimating the mass-to-light ratio from SDSS filters and found that they overestimate the stellar mass in this galaxy by 0.5 dex and 0.4 dex relative to SED fitting results from J-PAS and SDSS, respectively. Future work will extend this analysis to a larger sample of merging galaxies and evolution of the stellar populations of such structures across the nearby Universe with unprecedented detail. This project and its results are fully reproducible, through Maneage (commit f2cb27a).

Authors 40

  1. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  2. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  3. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  4. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  5. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  6. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  7. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  8. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  9. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  10. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  11. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

    Affiliation as printed

    Laboratoire d'Astrophysique , École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , 1290 Sauverny , Switzerland

  12. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Observatoire de Paris · Galaxies, Etoiles, Physique et Instrumentation · Université Paris Diderot · École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

    Affiliation as printed

    GEPI , Observatoire de Paris , CNRS UMR 8111 , Université Paris Diderot , 92125 Meudon Cedex , France

    Laboratoire d'Astrophysique , École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , 1290 Sauverny , Switzerland

  13. Lund University

    Affiliation as printed

    Departamento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica , Facultad de Ciencias Físicas , Plaza Ciencias , 1 , 28040 Madrid , Spain

    Lund Observatory , Division of Astrophysics , Department of Physics , Lund University , SE-221 00 Lund , Sweden

  14. Leiden University · Leiden Observatory

    Affiliation as printed

    Departamento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica , Facultad de Ciencias Físicas , Plaza Ciencias , 1 , 28040 Madrid , Spain

    Leiden Observatory , Leiden University , J.H. Oort Building , Niels Bohrweg 2 , 2333 CA Leiden , Netherlands

  15. Fundacion Agencia Aragonesa para la Investigacion y el Desarrollo

    Affiliation as printed

    ARAID Foundation , Avda. de Ranillas , 1-D , E-50018 Zaragoza , Spain

  16. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  17. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  18. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  19. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  20. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  21. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  22. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  23. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  24. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  25. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  26. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  27. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  28. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  29. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  30. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  31. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  32. Chinese Academy of Sciences · National Astronomical Observatories

    Affiliation as printed

    National Astronomical Observatory of China , Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing , China

  33. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  34. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  35. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  36. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  37. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  38. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

  39. Universidade de São Paulo

    Affiliation as printed

    Ciências Atmosféricas , Universidade de São Paulo , São Paulo , Brazil 11 Instruments4 , 4121 Pembury Place , La Canada Flintridge , CA 91011 , USA

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