The fate of the interstellar medium in early-type galaxies

Michałowski, M. J.; Hjorth, J.; Gall, C.; Frayer, David; Tsai, An-Li; Hirashita, Hiroyuki; Rowlands, Kate; Takeuchi, Tsutomu T.; Leśniewska, Aleksandra; Behrendt, D.; Bourne, N.; Hughes, D. H.; Spring, E.; Zavala, Jorge A.; Bartczak, P.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201936055

Cited by 21 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 123 publications

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“…At the current level of precision of the data, the model is therefore not reliant on a specific depletion mechanism and our results do not change if gas, rather than being consumed, is expelled from galaxies on the same timescale for example. Indeed, the t dep we find for the constant case is comparable to the timescale of dust removal found in low-redshift ETGs (Michałowski et al 2019), a process that does not necessarily involve star formation.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 66%

The evolution of the gas fraction of quiescent galaxies modeled as a consequence of their creation rate

Gobat

Magdis

D’Eugenio

et al. 2020

A&A

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We discuss the evolution of the interstellar medium of quiescent galaxies, currently emerging from recent analyses, with the help of a simple model based on well-established empirical relations such as the stellar mass functions and the main sequence of star formation. This model is meant to describe observed quantities without making specific assumptions on the nature of quenching processes, but relying on their observable consequences. We find that the high gas fractions seen or suggested at high redshift in quiescent galaxies, and their apparent mild evolution at early times, can be mostly attributed to a progenitor effect where recently quenched galaxies with ∼10% gas fractions dominate the quiescent galaxy population until z ∼ 1. In the same context, the much lower gas and dust fractions measured in local early-type galaxies are interpreted as the product of the steady depletion of their interstellar medium on a ∼ 2 Gyr timescale, coupled with a higher fraction of more gas-exhaustive events.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 66%

The evolution of the gas fraction of quiescent galaxies modeled as a consequence of their creation rate

Gobat

Magdis

D’Eugenio

et al. 2020

A&A

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“…Indeed the time interval between z = 0.9 and z = 0.5 corresponds to ≈2.3 Gyr. According to the formula of Michałowski et al (2019), and assuming an average stellar age of 2−3 Gyr for the QGs at z = 0.9, we should expect a drop in log(M dust /M * ) by ∼ 0.4−0.6 dex, in very good agreement with our observations. At the same time, as described above, the flat behaviour of the M dust /M * (and f gas ) at z > 1.0 could then be explained by the younger, and roughly constant stellar age of the QGs in the higher redshift bins (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…In Figure 4 we bring together the M dust estimates for our stacked ensembles as well as a range of literature M dust estimates for local QGs of comparable M * (Smith et al 2012;Boselli et al 2014;Lianou et al 2016;Michałowski et al 2019) and explore the evolution of dust mass fraction, M dust /M * , as a function of redshift. Our data indicate that the M dust /M * remains roughly constant from z = 2.0 to z = 1.0, followed by sharp decline towards the present day, with a functional form of M dust /M * ∝ (1 + z) 5.00 +1.94 −1.55 (for z < 1.0).…”

Section: Evolution Of Dust and Gas Mass Fractionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Interstellar Medium of Quiescent Galaxies and its Evolution With Time

Magdis,

Gobat,

Valentino

et al. 2021

Preprint

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We characterise the basic far-IR properties and the gas mass fraction of massive ( log(M * /M ) ≈ 11.0) quiescent galaxies (QGs) and explore how these evolve from z = 2.0 to the present day. We use robust, multi-wavelength (mid-to far-IR and sub-millimetre to radio) stacking ensembles of homogeneously selected and mass complete samples of log(M * /M ) 10.8 QGs. We find that the dust to stellar mass ratio (M dust /M * ) rises steeply as a function of redshift up to z ∼ 1.0 and then remains flat at least out to z = 2.0. Using M dust as a proxy of gas mass (M gas ), we find a similar trend for the evolution of the gas mass fraction ( f gas ), with z > 1.0 QGs having f gas ≈ 7.0% (for solar metallicity). This f gas is three to ten times lower than that of normal star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at their corresponding redshift but 3 and 10 times larger compared to that of z = 0.5 and local QGs. Furthermore, the inferred gas depletion time scales are comparable to those of local SFGs and systematically longer than those of main sequence galaxies at their corresponding redshifts. Our analysis also reveals that the average dust temperature (T d ) of massive QGs remains roughly constant ( T d = 21.0 ± 2.0 K) at least out to z ≈ 2.0 and is substantially colder (∆T d ≈ 10 K) compared to that of SFGs. This motivated us to construct and release a redshift-invariant template IR SED, that we used to make predictions for ALMA observations and to explore systematic effects in the M gas estimates of massive, high−z QGs. Finally, we discuss how a simple model that considers progenitor bias can effectively reproduce the observed evolution of M dust /M * and f gas . Our results indicate universal initial interstellar medium conditions for quenched galaxies and a large degree of uniformity in their internal processes across cosmic time.

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“…HST-SPOGs are CO-selected and therefore have more molecular gas than the parent SPOGs sample. Depletion timescales for molecular gas and dust are correlated (Michałowski et al 2019;Li et al 2019), so CO-rich poststarbursts are expected to also have more dust. Galaxies in Group C have clear dust lanes typical of edge-on spiral galaxies.…”

Section: Visual Properties and Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are all post-starbursts mergers? HST reveals hidden disturbances in the majority of PSBs

Sazonova,

Alatalo,

Rowlands

et al. 2021

Preprint

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How do galaxies transform from blue, star-forming spirals to red, quiescent early-type galaxies? To answer this question, we analyzed a set of 26 gas-rich, shocked post-starburst galaxies with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging in B, I, and H bands, and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) i-band imaging of similar depth but lower resolution. We found that post-starbursts in our sample have intermediate morphologies between diskand bulge-dominated (Sérsic n = 1.7 +0.3 −0.0 ) and have red bulges, likely due to dust obscuration in the cores. Majority of galaxies in our sample are more morphologically disturbed than regular galaxies (88%, corresponding to >3σ significance) when observed with HST, with asymmetry and Sérsic residual flux fraction being the most successful measures of disturbance. Most disturbances are undetected at the lower resolution of SDSS imaging. Although ∼27% galaxies are clear merger remnants, we found that disturbances in another ∼30% of the sample are internal, caused by small-scale perturbations or dust substructures rather than tidal features, and require high-resolution imaging to detect. We found a 2.8σ evidence that asymmetry features fade on timescales ∼ 200 Myr, and may vanish entirely after ∼750 Myr, so we do not rule out a possible merger origin of all post-starbursts given that asymmetric features may have already faded. This work highlights the importance of small-scale disturbances, detected only in high-resolution imaging, in understanding structural evolution of transitioning galaxies.

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The fate of the interstellar medium in early-type galaxies

Cited by 21 publications

References 123 publications

The evolution of the gas fraction of quiescent galaxies modeled as a consequence of their creation rate

The evolution of the gas fraction of quiescent galaxies modeled as a consequence of their creation rate

The Interstellar Medium of Quiescent Galaxies and its Evolution With Time

Are all post-starbursts mergers? HST reveals hidden disturbances in the majority of PSBs

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