Star formation is boosted (and quenched) from the inside-out: radial star formation profiles from MaNGA
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2018•academic.oup.com
The tight correlation between total galaxy stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR) has
become known as the star-forming main sequence. Using∼ 487 000 spaxels from galaxies
observed as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point
Observatory (MaNGA) survey, we confirm previous results that a correlation also exists
between the surface densities of star formation (ΣSFR) and stellar mass (Σ⋆) on kpc scales,
representing a 'resolved'main sequence. Using a new metric (ΔΣSFR), which measures the�…
become known as the star-forming main sequence. Using∼ 487 000 spaxels from galaxies
observed as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point
Observatory (MaNGA) survey, we confirm previous results that a correlation also exists
between the surface densities of star formation (ΣSFR) and stellar mass (Σ⋆) on kpc scales,
representing a 'resolved'main sequence. Using a new metric (ΔΣSFR), which measures the�…
Abstract
The tight correlation between total galaxy stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR) has become known as the star-forming main sequence. Using ∼487 000 spaxels from galaxies observed as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey, we confirm previous results that a correlation also exists between the surface densities of star formation (ΣSFR) and stellar mass (Σ⋆) on kpc scales, representing a ‘resolved’ main sequence. Using a new metric (ΔΣSFR), which measures the relative enhancement or deficit of star formation on a spaxel-by-spaxel basis relative to the resolved main sequence, we investigate the SFR profiles of 864 galaxies as a function of their position relative to the global star-forming main sequence (ΔSFR). For galaxies above the global main sequence (positive ΔSFR) ΔΣSFR is elevated throughout the galaxy, but the greatest enhancement in star formation occurs at small radii (<3 kpc, or 0.5Re). Moreover, galaxies that are at least a factor of 3 above the main sequence show diluted gas phase metallicities out to 2Re, indicative of metal-poor gas inflows accompanying the starbursts. For quiescent/passive galaxies that lie at least a factor of 10 below the star-forming main sequence, there is an analogous deficit of star formation throughout the galaxy with the lowest values of ΔΣSFR in the central 3 kpc. Our results are in qualitative agreement with the ‘compaction’ scenario in which a central starburst leads to mass growth in the bulge and may ultimately precede galactic quenching from the inside-out.
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