2013/10/11 by Dennis Zaritsky, A. Gil de Paz, Armando Gil de Paz +1
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Connection (principal bundle) #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Geometry #Initial mass function #Mathematics #Metallicity #Optics #Physics #Star formation #Stars #Stellar mass #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Ultraviolet #Velocity dispersion #astro-ph.CO
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/780/1/l1
Submitted for publication in ApJ Letters
arxiv created 2013/10/11 · openalex publication_date 2013/12/10 · arxiv updated 2015/06/17 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Using new UV magnitudes for a sample of early-type galaxies (ETGs) with published stellar mass-to-light ratios, ϒ * , we find a correlation between UV color and ϒ * that is tighter than those previously identified between ϒ * and either the central stellar velocity dispersion, metallicity, or alpha enhancement. The sense of the correlation is that galaxies with larger ϒ * are bluer in the UV. We conjecture that differences in the lower mass end of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) are related to the nature of the extreme horizontal branch populations that are generally responsible for the UV flux in ETGs. If so, then UV color can be used to identify ETGs with particular IMF properties and to estimate ϒ * .