Radial variations of the SFHs of dwarf irregular galaxies

Abstract

Abstract. The LITTLE THINGS project † has compiled multi-wavelength data (including VLA H i-line emission maps, GALEX FUV/NUV imagery, U BV , narrow-band Hα, and Spitzer images) for a representative sample of nearby dwarf irregular (dIrr) galaxies. The broadband data are used to constrain the radial variations of the star formation (SF) rate (SFR) averaged over the past 0.1 Gyr, 1 Gyr and a Hubble time, with a complete library of model SF histories (SFHs). The recent SF of more than ∼ 80% of the dIrrs in our sample has been concentrated in the inner disk, and the SF in the outer disk has been markedly suppressed. This outside-in shrinking of the star-forming disk leaves a down-bending (double exponential) stellar mass surface density (Σ ) distribution. Our findings in dIrrs are in contrast to the inside-out disk growth scenario suggested for luminous spiral galaxies.