Local and Global Gas Metallicity versus Stellar Age Relation in MaNGA Galaxies

Sánchez-Menguiano, Laura; Sánchez Almeida, Jorge; Muñoz-Tuñón, Casiana; Sánchez, Sebastián F.
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal

Advertised on:
11
2020
Number of authors
4
IAC number of authors
3
Citations
10
Refereed citations
10
Description
The search for new global scaling relations linking the physical properties of galaxies has a fundamental interest. Furthermore, their recovery from spatially resolved relations has been in the spotlight of integral field spectroscopy (IFS). In this study, we investigate the existence of global and local relations between stellar age (Age⋆) and gas-phase metallicity (Zg). To this aim, we analyze IFS data for a sample of 736 star-forming disk galaxies from the MaNGA survey. We report a positive correlation between the global Zg and D(4000) (an indicator of stellar age), with a slope that decreases with increasing galaxy mass. Locally, a similar trend is found when analyzing the Zg and D(4000) of the star-forming regions, as well as the residuals resulting from removing the radial gradients of both parameters. The local laws have systematically smaller slopes than the global one. We ascribe this difference to random errors that cause the true slope of the Age⋆-Zg relation to be systematically underestimated when performing a least-squares fitting. The explored relation is intimately linked with the already known relation between gas metallicity and star formation rate at fixed mass, both presenting a common physical origin.
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Starbursts in Galaxies GEFE
Starsbursts play a key role in the cosmic evolution of galaxies, and thus in the star formation (SF) history of the universe, the production of metals, and the feedback coupling galaxies with the cosmic web. Extreme SF conditions prevail early on during the formation of the first stars and galaxies, therefore, the starburst phenomenon constitutes a
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