The absorption-line strengths of elliptical and S0 galaxies

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (76) References (34) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS The absorption-line strengths of elliptical and S0 galaxies. Burstein, D. Abstract A subset of Faber's (1973) ten-color system is used to measure absorption line strengths (LS) and colors of five S0 galaxies, two ellipticals, and three globular clusters. These observations are combined with Faber's in order to analyze LS and color variations among old stellar populations. The LS index (Mg)0 is found to be useful for the study of old stellar populations. This index is calibrated in terms of Fe/H (solar) from -2.2 to -0.5 on the basis of globular clusters and is extended to approximately 0.3 by using Mould's (1978) theoretical calculations. It is shown that most S0's, ellipticals, and globular clusters define a tight relationship in a plot of (Mg)0 vs. (45 - 67)0 and that the principal physical parameter varying along this relationship is most plausibly the average metallicity of the stellar population. The S0's and ellipticals with known or suspected young stellar components are found to deviate from this relationship, along lines termed bluing vectors. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: August 1979 DOI: 10.1086/157266 Bibcode: 1979ApJ...232...74B Keywords: Absorption Spectra; Astronomical Spectroscopy; Elliptical Galaxies; Galactic Structure; Spiral Galaxies; Astronomical Catalogs; Colorimetry; Early Stars; Globular Clusters; Spectral Line Width; Astrophysics; Absorption Lines:Galaxies; Absorption Lines:Globular Clusters; Colors:Galaxies; Galaxies:Metal Abundances; Galaxies:Photometry; Globular Clusters:Photometry full text sources ADS | data products NED (53) SIMBAD (45)