E/S0 Galaxies on the Blue Color-Stellar Mass Sequence at z=0: Fading Mergers or Future Spirals?

TL;DR

This study identifies a significant population of blue, morphologically E/S0 galaxies at present day, exploring their properties, environments, and potential evolutionary paths, including fading into red galaxies or transforming into spirals, with a focus on their gas content and mass-related trends.

Contribution

It reveals the increasing prevalence of blue-sequence E/S0 galaxies at lower masses and suggests their potential to evolve into spirals or fade into red sequence galaxies based on their gas content and environment.

Findings

Blue-sequence E/S0s increase in number at lower stellar masses.

Many blue-sequence E/S0s in low-density environments show signs of disk building.

Some high-mass blue E/S0s resemble merger remnants likely to fade onto the red sequence.

Abstract

We identify a population of morphologically defined E/S0 galaxies lying on the blue sequence at the present epoch. Using three samples, we analyze blue-sequence E/S0s with stellar masses >10^8 Msun, arguing that individual objects may be evolving either up toward the red sequence or down into the blue sequence. Blue-sequence E/S0 galaxies become more common with decreasing stellar mass, comprising <2% of E/S0s near the "shutdown mass" M_s ~ 1-2 x 10^11 Msun, increasing to >5% near the "bimodality mass" M_b ~ 3 x 10^10 Msun, and sharply rising to >20-30% below the "threshold mass" M_t ~ 4-6 x 10^9 Msun. The strong emergence of blue-sequence E/S0s below M_t coincides with a previously reported global increase in mean atomic gas fractions below M_t for galaxies of all types on both sequences, suggesting that the availability of cold gas may be basic to blue-sequence E/S0s' existence. Environmental analysis reveals that many sub-M_b blue-sequence E/S0s reside in low to intermediate density environments. In mass-radius and mass-sigma scaling relations, blue-sequence E/S0s are more similar to red-sequence E/S0s than to late-type galaxies, but they represent a transitional class. While some of them, especially in the high-mass range from M_b to M_s, resemble major-merger remnants that will likely fade onto the red sequence, most blue-sequence E/S0s below M_b show signs of disk and/or pseudobulge building, which may be enhanced by companion interactions. We argue that sub-M_b blue-sequence E/S0s occupy a "sweet spot" in stellar mass and concentration, with both abundant gas and optimally efficient star formation, which may enable the formation of large spiral disks. [abridged]