Stellar Populations of Kinematically Decoupled Cores in E/S0 Galaxies

McDermid, Richard M.; Emsellem, Eric; Shapiro, Kristen L.; Bacon, Roland; Bureau, Martin; Cappellari, Michele; Davies, Roger L.; de Zeeuw, Tim; Falcón-Barroso, Jesús; Krajnović, Davor; Kuntschner, Harald; Peletier, Reynier F.; Sarzi, Marc
Bibliographical reference

Galaxy Evolution Across the Hubble Time, Edited by F. Combes and J. Palous, Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 2, IAU Symposium #235, held 14-17 August, 2006 in Prague, Czech Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007., pp.122-122

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2007
Number of authors
13
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0
Citations
0
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0
Description
By mapping both the stellar kinematics and absorption-line strengths in a two-dimensional area, integral-field spectroscopy allows us to directly associate dynamical structures, such as disks or counter-rotating components, to changes in the stellar population. Using data from both the SAURON survey and OASIS follow-up survey, we explore the connection between stellar populations and dynamics in E/S0 galaxies, and in particular, find a number of galaxies which show young stars associated to compact counter-rotating components. Of the galaxies in our sample with global ages younger than 5 Gyr, more than half show such a counter-rotating core, suggesting that these components (which probably indicate a recent interaction) are important in driving the spread in age of early-type galaxies. Moreover, the formation of these counter-rotating structures may give rise to more vigorous star formation than their co-rotating counterparts.