Azimuthal Variations of Stellar Populations in Barred Galaxies

TL;DR

This study investigates how stellar bars influence the distribution and properties of stellar populations in nearby galaxies, revealing variations in metallicity, age, and density related to bar structure and galaxy mass.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of azimuthal stellar population variations in a large sample of barred galaxies, highlighting new correlations with galaxy mass and bar features.

Findings

Bars are denser and more metal-rich than discs at similar radii.

Metallicity differences increase with galaxy mass and star formation activity.

Offset metallicity peaks suggest complex bar-spiral interactions.

Abstract

Bars are expected to impact the distribution of stellar populations both during bar formation, as they rearrange stars into new orbits, and afterwards, due to the redistribution of star-formation-fuelling gas and transfer of angular momentum. We study the impact of stellar bars on the azimuthal variation of stellar population age, metallicity and mass surface density in $\sim1\,000$ nearby barred galaxies from the SDSS-IV/MaNGA survey. Bars have higher stellar mass density ($0.113^{+0.065}_{-0.067}$ dex) and are more metal-rich ($0.028^{+0.033}_{-0.040}$ dex) than the discs at the same radii. Stellar ages show a variety of bar to inter-bar contrasts with no consistent trend. The difference in metallicity increases with total stellar mass of the galaxy and distance below the star-forming main sequence. We discuss a combination of potentially responsible processes including kinematic separation, more extended star formation histories and more efficient recycling in bars and at bar-spiral arm connections. Additionally, we observe an offset (10{\deg}-40{\deg}) of the peak metallicity to the bar major axis in star-forming bars in low-mass galaxies, and more metal-rich regions outside the ends of the bar in long bars and quenched galaxies. Furthermore, there is a subtle trend of lower metallicities on the leading side of spiral arms compared to the trailing side. Finally, we report a spiral arm surface density feature, which could point towards a dominant bar-spiral connection and pitch angle of $\alpha \sim 25${\deg}. We interpret these features in the context of bar formation and the impact of large-scale gas flows associated with their presence.