Bibcode
Kehrig, C.; Monreal-Ibero, A.; Papaderos, P.; Vílchez, J. M.; Gomes, J. M.; Masegosa, J.; Sánchez, S. F.; Lehnert, M. D.; Cid Fernandes, R.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Bomans, D. J.; Marquez, I.; Mast, D.; Aguerri, J. A. L.; López-Sánchez, Á. R.; Marino, R. A.; Pasquali, A.; Perez, I.; Roth, M. M.; Sánchez-Blázquez, P.; Ziegler, B.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 540, id.A11
Advertised on:
4
2012
Journal
Citations
95
Refereed citations
91
Description
As part of the ongoing CALIFA survey, we have conducted a thorough
bidimensional analysis of the ionized gas in two E/S0 galaxies, NGC 6762
and NGC 5966, aiming to shed light on the nature of their warm ionized
ISM. Specifically, we present optical (3745-7300 Å) integral field
spectroscopy obtained with the PMAS/PPAK integral field
spectrophotometer. Its wide field-of-view (1' × 1') covers the
entire optical extent of each galaxy down to faint continuum surface
brightnesses. To recover the nebular lines, we modeled and subtracted
the underlying stellar continuum from the observed spectra using the
STARLIGHT spectral synthesis code. The pure emission-line spectra were
used to investigate the gas properties and determine the possible
sources of ionization. We show the advantages of IFU data in
interpreting the complex nature of the ionized gas in NGC 6762 and NGC
5966. In NGC 6762, the ionized gas and stellar emission display similar
morphologies, while the emission line morphology is elongated in NGC
5966, spanning ~6 kpc, and is oriented roughly orthogonal to the major
axis of the stellar continuum ellipsoid. Whereas gas and stars are
kinematically aligned in NGC 6762, the gas is kinematically decoupled
from the stars in NGC 5966. A decoupled rotating disk or an "ionization
cone" are two possible interpretations of the elongated ionized gas
structure in NGC 5966. The latter would be the first "ionization cone"
of such a dimension detected within a weak emission-line galaxy. Both
galaxies have weak emission-lines relative to the continuum[EW(Hα)
≲ 3 Å] and have very low excitation,
log([Oiii]λ5007/Hβ) ≲ 0.5. Based on optical diagnostic
ratios ([Oiii]λ5007/Hβ, [Nii]λ6584/Hα,
[Sii]λ6717, 6731/Hα, [Oi]λ6300/Hα), both
objects contain a LINER nucleus and an extended LINER-like gas emission.
The emission line ratios do not vary significantly with radius or
aperture, which indicates that the nebular properties are spatially
homogeneous. The gas emission in NGC 6762 can be best explained by
photoionization by pAGB stars without the need of invoking any other
excitation mechanism. In the case of NGC 5966, the presence of a nuclear
ionizing source seems to be required to shape the elongated gas emission
feature in the "ionization cone" scenario, although ionization by pAGB
stars cannot be ruled out. Further study of this object is needed to
clarify the nature of its elongated gas structure.
Based on observations collected at the Centro Astronómico Hispano
Alemán (CAHA) at Calar Alto, operated jointly by the
Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie and the Instituto de
Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC).
Related projects
Galaxy Evolution in Clusters of Galaxies
Galaxies in the universe can be located in different environments, some of them are isolated or in low density regions and they are usually called field galaxies. The others can be located in galaxy associations, going from loose groups to clusters or even superclusters of galaxies. One of the foremost challenges of the modern Astrophysics is to
Jairo
Méndez Abreu