Delayed Stellar Mass Assembly in the Low Surface Brightness Dwarf Galaxy KDG215

TL;DR

KDG215 is a low surface brightness dwarf galaxy with a delayed star formation history, showing most stellar mass formed within the last 1.25 billion years despite its gas richness and ancient stellar population.

Contribution

This study provides detailed HI and optical analysis of KDG215, revealing its unique delayed stellar mass assembly and recent star formation history, which is rare among known galaxies.

Findings

Most stellar mass formed in the last 1.25 Gyr

Galaxy shows a peak star formation rate ~1 Gyr ago

KDG215 has a predominantly old stellar population

Abstract

We present HI spectral line and optical broadband images of the nearby low surface brightness dwarf galaxy KDG215. The HI images, acquired with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), reveal a dispersion dominated ISM with only weak signatures of coherent rotation. The HI gas reaches a peak mass surface density of 6 M$_{\odot}$ pc$^{-2}$ at the location of the peak surface brightness in the optical and the UV. Although KDG215 is gas-rich, the H$\alpha$ non-detection implies a very low current massive star formation rate. In order to investigate the recent evolution of this system, we have derived the recent and lifetime star formation histories from archival Hubble Space Telescope images. The recent star formation history shows a peak star formation rate $\sim$1 Gyr ago, followed by a decreasing star formation rate to the present day quiescent state. The cumulative star formation history indicates that a significant fraction of the stellar mass assembly in KDG215 has occurred within the last 1.25 Gyr. KDG215 is one of only a few known galaxies which demonstrates such a delayed star formation history. While the ancient stellar population (predominantly red giants) is prominent, the look-back time by which 50% of the mass of all stars ever formed had been created is among the youngest of any known galaxy.