SQuIGG E Survey: Massive z 0.6 Post-starburst Galaxies Exhibit Flat Age Gradients uri icon

abstract

  • Abstract We present Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) integral field unit (IFU) observations of six massive (M 1011 M ) A-star dominated post-starburst galaxies at z0.6. These galaxies are a subsample of the m{E}}$?> Survey, which selects intermediate-redshift post-starbursts from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopic sample (DR14) with spectral shapes that indicate they have recently shut off their primary epoch of star formation. Using H A absorption as a proxy for stellar age, we constrain five of the galaxies to have young (600 Myr) light-weighted ages at all radii and find that the sample on average has flat age gradients. We examine the spatial distribution of mass-weighted properties by fitting our profiles with a toy model including a young, centrally concentrated burst superimposed on an older, extended population. We find that galaxies with flat H A profiles are inconsistent with formation via a central secondary starburst. This implies that the mechanism responsible for shutting off this dominant episode of star formation must have done so uniformly throughout the galaxy.

published proceedings

  • The Astrophysical Journal

author list (cited authors)

  • Setton, D. J., Bezanson, R., Suess, K. A., Hunt, Q., Greene, J. E., Kriek, M., ... Narayanan, D.

complete list of authors

  • Setton, David J||Bezanson, Rachel||Suess, Katherine A||Hunt, Qiana||Greene, Jenny E||Kriek, Mariska||Spilker, Justin S||Feldmann, Robert||Narayanan, Desika

publication date

  • December 2020