arXiv subjects

Brigitte Rocca-Volmerange

Publications and source records attributed to Brigitte Rocca-Volmerange.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2019

Pégase.3: A code for modeling the UV-to-IR/submm spectral and chemical evolution of galaxies with dust

A code computing consistently the evolution of stars, gas and dust, as well as the energy they radiate, is required to derive reliably the history of galaxies by fitting synthetic SEDs to multiwavelength observations. The new code Pégase.3 described in this paper extends to the far-IR/submm the UV-to-near-IR modeling provided by previous versions of Pégase. It first computes the properties of single stellar populations at various metallicities. It then follows the evolution of the stellar light of a galaxy and the abundances of the main metals in the ISM, assuming some scenario of mass assembly and star formation. It simultaneously calculates the masses of the various grain families, the optical depth of the galaxy and the attenuation of the SED through the diffuse ISM in spiral and spheroidal galaxies, using grids of radiative transfer precomputed with Monte Carlo simulations taking scattering into account. The code determines the mean radiation field and the temperature probability distribution of stochastically heated individual grains. It then sums up their spectra to yield the overall emission by dust in the diffuse ISM. The nebular emission of the galaxy is also computed, and a simple modeling of the effects of dust on the SED of star-forming regions is implemented. The main outputs are UV-to-submm SEDs of galaxies from their birth up to 20 Gyr, colors, masses of galactic components, ISM abundances of metallic elements and dust species, supernova rates. The temperatures and spectra of individual grains are also available. The paper discusses several of these outputs for a scenario representative of Milky Way-like spirals. Pégase.3 is fully documented and its Fortran 95 source files are public. The code should be especially useful for cosmological simulations and to interpret future mid- and far-IR data, whether obtained by JWST, LSST, Euclid or e-ELT.

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arXiv2019

The Pégase.3 code of spectrochemical evolution of galaxies: documentation and complements

Pégase.3 is a Fortran 95 code modeling the spectral evolution of galaxies from the far-ultraviolet to submillimeter wavelengths. It also follows the chemical evolution of their stars, gas and dust. For a given scenario (a set of parameters defining the history of mass assembly, the star formation law, the initial mass function...), Pégase.3 consistently computes the following: * the star formation, infall, outflow and supernova rates from 0 to 20 Gyr; * the stellar metallicity, the abundances of main elements in the gas and the composition of dust; * the unattenuated stellar spectral energy distribution (SED); * the nebular SED, using nebular continua and emission lines precomputed with code Cloudy (Ferland et al. 2017); * the attenuation in star-forming clouds and the diffuse interstellar medium, by absorption and scattering on dust grains, of the stellar and nebular SEDs. For this, the code uses grids of the transmittance for spiral and spheroidal galaxies. We precomputed these grids through Monte Carlo simulations of radiative transfer based on the method of virtual interactions; * the re-emission by grains of the light they absorbed, taking into account stochastic heating. The main innovation compared to Pégase.2 is the modeling of dust emission and its evolution. The computation of nebular emission has also been entirely upgraded to take into account metallicity effects and infrared lines. Other major differences are that complex scenarios of evolution (derived for instance from cosmological simulations), with several episodes of star formation, infall or outflow, may now be implemented, and that the detailed evolution of the most important elements -- not only the overall metallicity -- is followed.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2018

Lyman and Balmer breaks reveal mature z=8 galaxies with the code Pegase.3

The z=8 galaxy sample (EGSY-2008532660, EGS-zs8-1, EGS-zs8-2), observed with HST and Spitzer/IRAC, was selected for its atypical [3.6]-[4.5]mum IR excess. The best-fitting of observations is processed with multiple libraries of continuous UV-to-farIR spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with the help of the code Pegase.3 with dust (Fioc and Rocca-Volmerange, 2018, submitted to AA). The main results are: i) the IR excess is due to the Balmer break of red giant stars with galaxy ages of 450-500 Myrs ii) masses are high: 7 10^10 Msun for stellar mass, 10^11 Msun for galaxy mass, 3 10^8 Msun for dust mass iii) they are probing mature (no starbursting) galaxies only with the simulations of spheroidal (and no spiral) geometries and the star formation history (SFH ) of massive ellipticals. Less constrained by observations not covering the Balmer zone, the galaxy GN-z11 is consistent. These results constrain the rapid and efficient formation of massive elliptical galaxies, significantly distinct of early-type disk-spiral galaxies, and the reionization of the Universe

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arXiv2016

Disentangling star formation and AGN activity in powerful infrared luminous radio galaxies at 1<z<4

High-redshift radio galaxies present signs of both star formation and AGN activity, making them ideal candidates to investigate the connection and coevolution of AGN and star formation in the progenitors of present-day massive galaxies. We make use of a sample of 11 powerful radio galaxies spanning 1<z<4 which have complete coverage of their spectral energy distribution (SED) from UV to FIR wavelengths. Using Herschel data, we disentangle the relative contribution of the AGN and star formation by combining the galaxyevolutioncodePEGASE.3 with an AGN torus model. We find that three components are necessary to reproduce the observed SEDs: an evolved and massive stellar component, a submm bright young starburst, and an AGN torus. We find that powerful radio galaxies form at very high-redshift, but experience episodic and important growth at 1<z<4 as the mass of the associated starburst varies from 5 to 50% of the total mass of the system. The properties of star formation differ from source to source, indicating no general trend of the star formation properties in the most infrared luminous high-redshift radio galaxies and no correlation with the AGN bolometric luminosity. Moreover, we find that AGN scattered light have a very limited impact on broad-band SED fitting on our sample. Finally, our analysis also suggests a wide range in origins for the observed star formation,which we partially constrain for some sources.

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arXiv2015

Supernova remnant mass cumulated along the star formation history of the z=3.8 radiogalaxies 4C41.17 and TN J2007-1316

In this paper, we show that the supernova remnant (SNR) masses cumulated from core-collapse supernovae along the star formation history of two powerful z=3.8 radio galaxies 4C41.17 and TN J2007-1316 reach up to > 10^9 Msun, comparable with supermassive black hole (SMBH) masses measured from the SDSS sample at similar redshifts. The SNR mass is measured from the already exploded supernova mass after subtraction of ejecta at the galaxy age where the mass of still luminous stars fits at best the observed spectral energy distribution (SED), continuously extended to the optical-Spitzer-Herschel-submm domains, with the help of the galaxy evolution model Pégase.3. For the recent and old stellar populations, SNR masses vary on 10^(9 to 10) Msun and the SNR-to-star mass ratio between 1 and 0.1 percent is comparable to the observed low-z SMBH-to-star mass ratio. For the template radio galaxy 4C41.17, SNR and stellar population masses estimated from large aperture (>4arcsec=30kpc) observations are compatible, within one mass order, with the total mass of multiple optical HST (~700pc) structures, associated with VLA radio emissions, both at 0.1 arcsec. Probing the SNR accretion by central black holes is a simple explanation for SMBH growth, requiring physics on star formation, stellar and galaxy dynamics with consequences on various processes (quenching, mergers, negative feedback) and a key to the relation bulge-SMBH.

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arXiv2013

Starburst and old stellar populations in two z=3.8 radio galaxies 4C 41.17 and TN J2007-1316

The new evolutionary code Pegase.3 is used for the spectral synthesis of continuous optical-Spitzer-Herschel-submm spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of two z=3.8 radio galaxies 4C 41.17 and TN J2007-1316. Both galaxies are selected from the Herschel Radio Galaxy Evolution Project for their faint AGN contribution and because they show evidence of a large stellar contribution to their bolometric luminosity. Pegase.3 coherently models the reprocessing of the stellar luminosity to dust emission, allowing to build UV to IR-submm libraries by types. These templates allow to predict SEDs at redshifts z in the observer's frame by using z=0 templates corrected for cosmology and evolution. Our best fits are a sum of two distinct evolving stellar populations: i) a very massive starburst observed ~30 Myrs after formation from optical and far-IR peaks ii) a significantly older (~1Gyr old) massive early-type population revealed from mid-IR Spitzer data. The AGN emission fits a roughly thermal model. These results confirm that many of the stellar populations in high-z radio galaxies were already formed by massive (a few thousands of billion solar masses) starbursts at z=4, confirming the previous K-z diagram interpretation. Gas-rich mergers and/or jet-cloud interactions are favored for triggering the intense star formation, possibly in relation with massive super black holes of these radio galaxies. These multiple stellar populations may be a generic feature of the luminous infrared radio galaxy population as a whole and strongly constrain mass accumulation and galaxy formation models.

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arXiv2010

The Spitzer High Redshift Radio Galaxy Survey

We present results from a comprehensive imaging survey of 70 radio galaxies at redshifts 1 3, there is tentative evidence for a factor of two decrease in stellar mass. This suggests that radio galaxies have assembled the bulk of their stellar mass by z~3, but confirmation by more detailed decomposition of stellar and AGN emission is needed. The restframe 500 MHz radio luminosities are only marginally correlated with stellar mass but are strongly correlated with the restframe 5um hot dust luminosity. This suggests that the radio galaxies have a large range of Eddington ratios. We also present new Very Large Array 4.86 and 8.46 GHz imaging of 14 radio galaxies and find that radio core dominance --- an indicator of jet orientation --- is strongly correlated with hot dust luminosity. While all of our targets were selected as narrow-lined, type 2 AGNs, this result can be understood in the context of orientation-dependent models if there is a continuous distribution of orientations from obscured type 2 to unobscured type 1 AGNs rather than a clear dichotomy. Finally, four radio galaxies have nearby (<6") companions whose mid-IR colors are suggestive of their being AGNs. This may indicate an association between radio galaxy activity and major mergers.

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arXiv2007

A 12um ISOCAM Survey of the ESO-Sculptor Field: Data Reduction and Analysis

We present a detailed reduction of a mid-infrared 12um (LW10 filter) ISOCAM open time observation performed on the ESO-Sculptor Survey field (Arnouts et al. 1997). A complete catalogue of 142 sources (120 galaxies and 22 stars), detected with high significance (equivalent to 5sigma), is presented above an integrated flux density of 0.24mJy. Star/galaxy separation is performed by a detailed study of colour-colour diagrams. The catalogue is complete to 1mJy and below this flux density the incompleteness is corrected using two independent methods. The first method uses stars and the second uses optical counterparts of the ISOCAM galaxies; these methods yield consistent results. We also apply an empirical flux density calibration using stars in the field. For each star, the 12um flux density is derived by fitting optical colours from a multi-band chi^2 to stellar templates (BaSel-2.0) and using empirical optical-IR colour-colour relations. This article is a companion analysis to Rocca-Volmerange 2007 et al. where the 12um faint galaxy counts are presented and analysed by galaxy type with the evolutionary code PEGASE.3.

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arXiv2007

The Massive Hosts of Radio Galaxies Across Cosmic Time

We present the results of a comprehensive Spitzer survey of 69 radio galaxies across 1 60% for ~75% the high redshift radio galaxies. As expected from unified models of AGN, the stellar fraction of the rest-frame H-band luminosity has no correlation with redshift, radio luminosity, or rest-frame mid-IR (5um) luminosity. Additionally, while the stellar H-band luminosity does not vary with stellar fraction, the total H-band luminosity anti-correlates with the stellar fraction as would be expected if the underlying hosts of these radio galaxies comprise a homogeneous population. The resultant stellar luminosities imply stellar masses of 10^{11-11.5}Msun even at the highest redshifts. Powerful radio galaxies tend to lie in a similar region of mid-IR color-color space as unobscured AGN, despite the stellar contribution to their mid-IR SEDs at shorter-wavelengths. The mid-IR luminosities alone classify most HzRGs as LIRGs or ULIRGs with even higher total-IR luminosities. As expected, these exceptionally high mid-IR luminosities are consistent with an obscured, highly-accreting AGN. We find a weak correlation of stellar mass with radio luminosity.

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arXiv2005

A search for distant radio galaxies from SUMSS and NVSS: II. Optical Spectroscopy

This is the second in a series of papers presenting observations and results for a sample of 76 ultra-steep-spectrum (USS) radio sources in the southern hemisphere designed to find galaxies at high redshift. Here we focus on the optical spectroscopy program for 53 galaxies in the sample. We report 35 spectroscopic redshifts, based on observations with the Very Large Telescope (VLT), the New Technology Telescope (NTT) and the Australian National University's 2.3m telescope; they include five radio galaxies with z>3. Spectroscopic redshifts for the remaining 18 galaxies could not be confirmed: three are occulted by Galactic stars, eight show continuum emission but no discernible spectral lines, whilst the remaining seven galaxies are undetected in medium-deep VLT integrations. The latter are either at very high redshift (z >~7) or heavily obscured by dust. A discussion of the efficiency of the USS technique is presented. Based on the similar space density of z>3 radio galaxies in our sample compared with other USS-selected samples, we argue that USS selection at 843-1400 MHz is an efficient and reliable technique for finding distant radio galaxies.

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arXiv2005

Modelling and interpreting optical spectra of galaxies at R=10000

One way to extract more information from the integrated light of galaxies is to improve the spectral resolution at which observations and analysis are carried out. The population synthesis code currently providing the highest spectral resolution is Pegase-HR, which was made available by D. Le Borgne et al. in 2004. Based on an empirical stellar library, it provides synthetic spectra between 4000 and 6800 A at lambda/d(lambda)=10000 for any star formation history, with or without chemical evolution. Such a resolution is particularly useful for the study of low mass galaxies, massive star clusters, or other galaxy regions with low internal velocity dispersions. After a summary of the main features of Pegase-HR and comparisons with other population synthesis codes, this paper focuses on the inversion of optical galaxy spectra. We explore the limits of what information can or can not be recovered, based on theoretical principles and extensive simulations. First applications to extragalactic objects are shown.

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arXiv2004

Evolutionary synthesis of galaxies at high spectral resolution with the code PEGASE-HR

We present PEGASE-HR, a new stellar population synthesis program generating high resolution spectra (R=10 000) over the optical range lambda=400--680 nm. It links the spectro-photometric model of galaxy evolution PEGASE.2 (Fioc & Rocca-Volmerange 1997) to an updated version of the ELODIE library of stellar spectra observed with the 193 cm telescope at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence (Prugniel & Soubiran 2001a). The ELODIE star set gives a fairly complete coverage of the Hertzprung-Russell (HR) diagram and makes it possible to synthesize populations in the range [Fe/H]=-2 to +0.4. This code is an exceptional tool for exploring signatures of metallicity, age, and kinematics. We focus on a detailed study of the sensitivity to age and metallicity of the high-resolution stellar absorption lines and of the classical metallic indices proposed until now to solve the age-metallicity degeneracy. Validity tests on several stellar lines are performed by comparing our predictions for Lick indices to the models of other groups. The comparison with the lower resolution library BaSeL (Lejeune et al. 1997) confirms the quality of the ELODIE library when used for simple stellar populations (SSPs) from 10 Myr to 20 Gyr. Predictions for the evolved populations of globular clusters and elliptical galaxies are given and compared to observational data. Two new high-resolution indices are proposed around the Hgamma line. They should prove useful in the analysis of spectra from the new generation of telescopes and spectrographs.

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arXiv2003

A search for distant radio galaxies from SUMSS and NVSS: I. Sample definition, radio and K-band imaging

We present the first results from a pilot study to search for distant radio galaxies in the southern hemisphere (delta < -32). Within a 360 deg^2 region of sky, we define a sample of 76 ultra-steep spectrum (USS) radio sources from the 843 MHz Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey (SUMSS) and 1.4 GHz NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) radio surveys with alpha_843^1400 < -1.3 and S_1400 > 15 mJy. We observed 71 sources without bright optical or near-infrared counterparts at 1.385 GHz with the ATCA, providing ~5" resolution images and sub-arcsec positional accuracy. To identify their host galaxies, we obtained near-IR K-band images with IRIS2 at the AAT and SofI at the NTT. We identify 92% of the USS sources down to K~20.5. The SUMSS-NVSS USS sources have a surface density more than 4 times higher than USS sources selected at lower frequencies. This is due to the higher effective selection frequency, and the well-matched resolutions of both surveys constructed using the same source fitting algorithm. The scattering of alpha >-1.3 sources into the USS sample due to spectral index uncertainties can account for only 35% of the observed USS sources. Since our sample appears to contain a similar fraction of very distant (z>3) galaxies, selecting USS sources from SUMSS-NVSS should allow us to identify large numbers of massive galaxies at high redshift.

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arXiv2003

CO emission and associated HI absorption from a massive gas reservoir surrounding the z=3 radio galaxy B3 J2330+3927

We present results of a comprehensive multi-frequency study of the radio galaxy B3 J2330+3927. The 1.9" wide radio source, consisting of 3 components, is bracketed by 2 objects in our Keck K-band image. Optical and near-IR Keck spectroscopy of these two objects yield z=3.087+-0.004. The brightest (K=18.8) object has a standard type II AGN spectrum, and is the most likely location of the AGN, which implies a one-sided jet radio morphology. Deep 113 GHz observations with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer reveal CO J=4-3 emission, which peaks at the position of the AGN. The CO line is offset by 500 km/s from the systemic redshift of the AGN, but corresponds very closely to the velocity shift of an associated HI absorber seen in Lya. This strongly suggests that both originate from the same gas reservoir surrounding the AGN host galaxy. Simultaneous 230 GHz interferometer observations find a ~3x lower integrated flux density when compared to single dish 250 GHz observations with MAMBO at the IRAM 30m telescope. This can be interpreted as spatially resolved thermal dust emission at scales of 0.5" to 6". Finally, we present a tau <1.3% limit to the HI 21 cm absorption against the radio source, which represents the seventh non-detection out of 8 z>2 radio galaxies observed to date with the WSRT. We present mass estimates for the atomic, neutral, and ionized hydrogen, and for the dust, ranging from M(HI)=2x10^7 M_Sun derived from the associated HI absorber in Lya up to M(H_2)=7x10^{10} M_Sun derived from the CO emission. This indicates that the host galaxy is surrounded by a massive reservoir of gas and dust. The K-band companion objects may be concentrations within this reservoir, which will eventually merge with the central galaxy hosting the AGN.

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arXiv2002

Photometric redshifts from evolutionary synthesis with PEGASE: the code ZPEG and the z=0 age constraint

Photometric redshifts are estimated on the basis of template scenarios with the help of the code ZPEG, an extension of the galaxy evolution model PEGASE.2 and available on the PEGASE web site. The spectral energy distribution (SED) templates are computed for nine spectral types including starburst, irregular, spiral and elliptical. Dust, extinction and metal effects are coherently taken into account, depending on evolution scenarios. The sensitivity of results to adding near-infrared colors and IGM absorption is analyzed. A comparison with results of other models without evolution measures the evolution factor which systematically increases the estimated photometric redshift values by $Δz$ > 0.2 for z > 1.5. Moreover we systematically check that the evolution scenarios match observational standard templates of nearby galaxies, implying an age constraint of the stellar population at z=0 for each type. The respect of this constraint makes it possible to significantly improve the accuracy of photometric redshifts by decreasing the well-known degeneracy problem. The method is applied to the HDF-N sample. From fits on SED templates by a $χ^2$-minimization procedure, not only is the photometric redshift derived but also the corresponding spectral type and the formation redshift $z_for$ when stars first formed. Early epochs of galaxy formation z > 5 are found from this new method and results are compared to faint galaxy count interpretations. The new tool is available at: http://www.iap.fr/pegase

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arXiv2000

The star formation history as a function of type: constraints from galaxy counts

Deep galaxy counts are among the best constraints on the cosmic star formation history (SFH) of galaxies. The evolution of the star formation activity is followed on a wide range of redshifts (0< z < 4) covering most of the history of the Universe. Two incompatible interpretations of the observations are currently competing. After applying star formation rate (SFR) conversion factors to the CFRS, Halpha or ISO samples, many authors conclude to a strong increase (~ a factor 10) of the SFR from z=0 to z=1. They also find some evidence for a peak at z~1 and for a rapid decrease at higher redshifts. On the other side, the Hawaii deep surveys favor only a mild increase between z=0 and 1 (Cowie et al., 1996, 1999). To understand the reason for these discrepant interpretations, we consider three classes of galaxies: E/S0, Sa-Sb-Sbc, Sc-Sd-Im and bursting dwarfs. We use the new version of our evolutionary synthesis code, PEGASE which takes into account metallicity and dust effects. The main results are: i) Late-type galaxies contribute significantly to the local SFR, especially bursting dwarfs (Fioc and Rocca-Volmerange, 1999). Because of that, the cosmic SFR can not decrease by a factor 10 from z=0 to 1. This is in agreement with Cowie's result. ii) The SFR of intermediate-type galaxies has strongly decreased since z=1. Though the decrease is less than what find Lilly et al., 1996, this suggests that the CFRS and Halpha surveys are dominated by such bright early spirals. iii) The contribution of early-type galaxies increases rapidly from z=1 to their redshift of formation (> 2-3 for cosmological reasons). Their intense star formation rates at high-z give strong constraints on early ionization phases, primeval populations or metal enrichments.(abridged)

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arXiv1999

PEGASE.2, a metallicity-consistent spectral evolution model of galaxies: the documentation and the code

We provide here the documentation of the new version of the spectral evolution model PEGASE. PEGASE computes synthetic spectra of galaxies in the UV to near-IR range from 0 to 20 Gyr, for a given stellar IMF and evolutionary scenario (star formation law, infall, galactic winds). The radiation emitted by stars from the main sequence to the pre-supernova or white dwarf stage is calculated, as well as the extinction by dust. A simple modeling of the nebular emission (continuum and lines) is also proposed. PEGASE may be used to model starbursts as well as old galaxies. The main improvements of PEGASE.2 relative to PEGASE.1 (Fioc & Rocca-Volmerange 1997) are the following: (1)The stellar evolutionary tracks of the Padova group for metallicities between 0.0001 and 0.1 have been included; (2)The evolution of the metallicity of the interstellar medium (ISM) due to SNII, SNIa and AGB stars is followed. Stars are formed with the same metallicity as the ISM (instead of a solar metallicity in PEGASE.1), providing thus a metallicity-consistent model; (3)Lejeune et al.'s library of stellar spectra is used; (4)The extinction by dust is computed for geometries corresponding to disk and spheroidal galaxies using a radiative transfer code taking into account the scattering. The main outputs (as a function of time) are spectra, colors and magnitudes in various photometric systems, luminosities, type II and Ia supernovae rates, line intensities and equivalent widths, amount and metallicity of stars and gas, mass locked in stellar remnants, optical depth and total dust emission. The corresponding article (Fioc & Rocca-Volmerange 2000) will be submitted soon. A detailed modeling of the spectrum of the dust emission and of HII regions (Moy, Rocca-Volmerange & Fioc 2000) will be included in future versions.

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arXiv1999

A statistical study of nearby galaxies - I: NIR growth curves and optical-to-NIR colors as a function of type, luminosity and inclination

Growth curves of the near-infrared (NIR) magnitude as a function of the aperture have been built and used to derive NIR total magnitudes from aperture data taken from the literature. By cross-correlating with optical and redshift data, absolute magnitudes and optical-to-NIR colors have been computed for some 1000 galaxies of different types. Significant color gradients are observed, underlining that small aperture colors may lead to a biased picture of the stellar populations of galaxies. A statistical analysis using various estimators taking into account the intrinsic scatter has been performed to establish relations between the colors, the morphological type, the inclination or the shape, and the intrinsic luminosity. The combination of the optical and the NIR should obviously improve our understanding of the evolution of galaxies. Despite the intrinsic scatter, especially among star-forming galaxies, optical-to-NIR colors show a very well defined sequence with type, blueing by 1.3 mag from ellipticals to irregulars. The colors of spiral galaxies strongly redden with increasing inclination and put new constraints on the modeling of the extinction. No such effect is observed for lenticular galaxies. We also find that rounder ellipticals tend to be redder. A color-absolute magnitude relation is observed inside each type, with a slope significantly steeper for early and intermediate spirals than for ellipticals or late spirals. This stresses the importance of considering both the mass and the type to study the star formation history of galaxies.

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