Time-slicing spiral galaxies with SDSS-IV MaNGA

TL;DR

This study utilizes SDSS-IV MaNGA integral-field spectroscopy to decompose a barred spiral galaxy into 'time slices,' revealing stellar age contributions and providing new insights into galaxy structure evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of 'time-slicing' galaxy spectra to analyze stellar population histories across galaxy features, advancing galaxy evolution studies.

Findings

Detected ongoing bar growth and recent star formation on the bar's leading edge.

Identified the underlying density wave responsible for spiral structure.

Demonstrated the potential of IFU data for detailed star formation history mapping.

Abstract

Spectra of galaxies contain a wealth of information about the stellar populations from which they are made. With integral-field unit (IFU) surveys, such data can be used to map out stellar population properties across the face of a galaxy, allowing one to go beyond simple radial profiles and study details of non-axisymmetric structure. To-date, however, such studies have been limited by the quality of available data and the power of spectral analysis tools. We now take the next step and study the barred spiral galaxy MCG+07-28-064 from observations obtained as part of the SDSS-IV MaNGA project. We find that we can decompose this galaxy into "time slices," which reveal the varying contributions that stars of differing ages make to its bar and spiral structure, offering new insight into the evolution of these features. We find evidence for the ongoing growth of the bar, including the most recent star formation on its leading edge, and for the underlying density wave responsible for spiral structure. This pilot study indicates that there is a wealth of untapped information on the spatial distribution of SFHs available in the current generation of IFU galaxy surveys.