Environment, morphology and stellar populations of bulgeless low surface brightness galaxies

TL;DR

This study analyzes bulgeless low surface brightness galaxies using SDSS data, revealing that their surface brightness is environment-independent and their evolution is likely driven by internal dynamics rather than external surroundings.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the environmental independence of surface brightness and the role of internal dynamics in LSB galaxy evolution.

Findings

Surface brightness does not depend on environment.

Stellar populations are similar across different environments.

Irregular LSB galaxies are younger and more metal-poor.

Abstract

Based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR 7, we investigate the environment, morphology and stellar population of bulgeless low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies in a volume-limited sample with redshift ranging from 0.024 to 0.04 and $M_r$ $\leq$ $-18.8$. The local density parameter $\Sigma_5$ is used to trace their environments. We find that, for bulgeless galaxies, the surface brightness does not depend on the environment. The stellar populations are compared for bulgeless LSB galaxies in different environments and for bulgeless LSB galaxies with different morphologies. The stellar populations of LSB galaxies in low density regions are similar to those of LSB galaxies in high density regions. Irregular LSB galaxies have more young stars and are more metal-poor than regular LSB galaxies. These results suggest that the evolution of LSB galaxies may be driven by their dynamics including mergers rather than by their large scale environment.