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arXiv · 2604.14092

Radial Distributions of Star Formation and Gas-phase Metallicity in Spiral-Elliptical Galaxy Pairs

Cailu Shi·Shuai Feng·Shiyin Shen·Linlin Li·Wenyuan Cui·Guozhen Hu
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Abstract

Using integral field spectroscopy from SDSS-IV MaNGA, we investigate the radial distributions of star formation rate (SFR) and gas-phase metallicity in spiral galaxies that reside in spiral-elliptical (S+E) pairs. Spirals in S+E pairs show suppressed central star formation and elevated metallicities, whereas spirals in spiral-spiral pairs exhibit centrally enhanced star formation and reduced metallicities. The degree of SFR suppression and metallicity enhancement in S+E pairs depends on the masses of the pair members. Spirals with more massive elliptical companions experience stronger star-formation suppression and larger increases in metallicity, while lower-mass spirals show more pronounced metallicity enhancement. In addition, within S+E systems, galaxies with asymmetric gas velocity fields display enhanced SFR and higher metallicities, whereas those with symmetric velocity fields exhibit clear central suppression. Based on these results, we infer that in S+E pairs, the spiral galaxy experiences suppressed gas accretion once it enters the hot circumgalactic medium of its early-type companion, which leads to the observed decline in star-formation activity. When a close encounter takes place, tidal perturbations can compress the remaining cold gas and trigger enhanced star formation, producing rapid chemical enrichment and the associated increase in metallicity.

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Cailu Shi, Shuai Feng, Shiyin Shen, Linlin Li, Wenyuan Cui, Guozhen Hu. 2026-04-15. Radial Distributions of Star Formation and Gas-phase Metallicity in Spiral-Elliptical Galaxy Pairs. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae7087

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