arXiv subjects

E. A. D. Lacerda

Publications and source records attributed to E. A. D. Lacerda.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Long-Term Optical Follow Up of S231206cc: Multi-Model Constraints on BBH Merger Emission in AGN Disks

The majority of gravitational wave events detected by the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA Collaboration originate from binary black hole (BBH) mergers, for which no confirmed electromagnetic counterparts have been identified to date. However, if such mergers occur within the disk of an active galactic nucleus (AGN), they may generate observable optical flares induced by relativistic jet activity and shock-heated gas. We present results from a long-term optical follow-up of the gravitational wave event S231206cc, conducted with the T80-South telescope as part of the S-PLUS Transient Extension Program (STEP). Our search prioritized AGN-hosted environments by crossmatching the gravitational wave localization with known AGN catalogs. No candidate met the criteria for a viable optical counterpart. We explored three BBH merger scenarios predicting optical emission in AGN disks: (i) ram pressure stripping, (ii) long-term emission from an emerging jet cocoon, and (iii) jet breakout followed by shock cooling. Using our observational cadence and depth, we constrained the BBH parameter space, including the remnant's location within the AGN disk, kick velocity, and supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass. Detectable flares are most likely when mergers occur at 0.01-0.1 parsecs from SMBHs with masses between 10^7 and 10^8 solar masses, where short delay times and long durations best align with our follow-up strategy. These results provide a framework for identifying AGN-hosted BBH counterparts and guiding future multimessenger efforts.

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arXiv2025

The S-PLUS Fornax Project (S+FP): Mapping H$α$+[NII] emission in 77 Fornax galaxy members reaching $\sim$4 Rvir

The Fornax cluster, the second-largest galaxy cluster within 20 Mpc, presents an ideal environment for studying environmental effects on galaxy evolution. Utilizing data from the Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS), this study explores the H$α$+[NII] emission maps across an area of approximately 208 square degrees around NGC 1399. For such, a dedicated semi-automated pipeline, Pixel-to-Pixel Emission Line Estimate (PELE), was developed to generate emission line maps by processing S-PLUS images using the Three Filter Method. A morphological analysis was conducted using the ASTROMORPHLIB package to determine whether H$α$+[NII] emitters exhibit perturbed features. The study successfully detected 77 H$α$+[NII] emitters with $r<18$ mag, extending to four times the virial radius of the Fornax cluster. PELE demonstrated its ability to recover flux down to 2e-17 erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ when compared to H$α$ maps from MUSE/VLT. Among the emitters, 25% are early-type galaxies (ETG) and 75% late-type galaxies (LTG). Signs of morphological perturbation or merger activity are observed in 44% of the LTG and in three ETG located beyond the cluster's virial radius. A significant fraction (91%) of the emitters are identified as recent infallers, primarily located in the northwestern region of the cluster, while others are associated with the infalling group Fornax A in the southwest. Disturbed, low-mass galaxies at larger cluster-centric distances provide evidence of galaxies begin transforming before entering the main cluster. This study demonstrates S-PLUS's effectiveness in detecting emitters, whose distribution reflects the Fornax cluster's assembly history, with LTG linked to recent infall from the field, possibly along a Fornax-Eridanus filament, and ETG may have evolved prior to entry.

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arXiv2023

The S-PLUS Transient Extension Program: Imaging Pipeline, Transient Identification, and Survey Optimization for Multi-Messenger Astronomy

We present the S-PLUS Transient Extension Program (STEP): a supernova and fast transient survey conducted in the southern hemisphere using data from the Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS) Main Survey and the T80-South telescope. Transient astrophysical phenomena have a range of interest that goes through different fields of astrophysics and cosmology. With the detection of an electromagnetic counterpart to the gravitational wave (GW) event GW170817 from a binary neutron stars merger, new techniques and resources to study fast astrophysical transients in the multi-messenger context have increased. In this paper, we present the STEP overview, the SN follow-up data obtained, data reduction, analysis of new transients and deep learning algorithms to optimize transient candidate selection. Additionally, we present prospects and optimized strategy for the search of Gravitational Wave counterparts in the current LIGO/Virgo/Kagra observational run (O4) in the context of T80-South telescope.

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arXiv2022

Investigating the link between inner gravitational potential and star-formation quenching in CALIFA galaxies

It has been suggested that the gravitational potential can have a significant role in suppressing the star formation in the nearby galaxies. To establish observational constrains on this scenario, we investigate the connection between the dynamics, through the circular velocity curves (CVCs) as a proxy of the inner gravitational potential, and star formation quenching in 215 non-active galaxies across Hubble sequence from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey. Our results show that galaxies with similar CVCs tend to have a certain star-formation quenching pattern. To explore these findings in more details, we construct kpc-resolved relations of the equivalent width of the H$α$ ($W_{{\rm H}α}$) versus the amplitude ($V_c$) and shape ($β= d\ln V_c/ d\ln R$) of the circular velocity at given radius. We find that the $W_{{\rm H}α}-V_c$ is a declining relationship, where the retired regions of the galaxies (the ones with $W_{{\rm H}α}$ values below 3 Å) tend to have higher $V_c$. Differently, $W_{{\rm H}α}-β$ is a bi-modal relationship, characterised by two peaks: concentration of the star forming regions at a positive $β$ (rising CVC) and another one of the retired regions with a negative $β$ (declining CVC). Our results show that both the amplitude of the CVC, driven by the mass of the galaxies, and the shape of the CVC, reflecting the internal structure of the galaxies, play an important role in galaxy's quenching history.

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arXiv2022

HII regions in CALIFA survey: II. The relation between their physical properties and galaxy evolution

We present in here the exploration of the physical properties of the sample of HII regions and aggregations of the last HII regions catalog of the CALIFA survey. This sample comprises the optical spectroscopic properties of more than ~26,000 ionized regions corresponding to 924 galaxies from the Integral Field Spectroscopy data, including the flux intensity and equivalent widths and the properties of their underlying stellar population. In the current study we derive a set of physical quantities for all these regions based on those properties, including (i) the fraction of young stars; (ii) the ionization strength (using six different estimations); (iii) the oxygen abundance (using 25 different calibrators); (iv) the nitrogen and nitrogen-to-oxygen abundance; (v) the dust extinction and (vi) the electron density. Using this dataset we explore how the loci in the classical diagnostic diagrams are connected with those quantities, the radial distributions of these parameters, and the inter-relations between themselves and with the properties of the underlying stellar populations. We conclude that many properties of the HII regions are tightly related to the galactic stellar evolution at the location where those regions are observed. Those properties are modulated only as a second-order effect by the properties of the ionizing stars and the ionized nebulae that do not depend on the astrophysical context in which they are formed. Our results highlight the importance of HII regions to explore the chemical evolution in galaxies, clarifying which of their properties can be used as proxies of that evolution.

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arXiv2021

Signatures of AGN induced metal loss in the stellar population

One way the AGN are expected to influence the evolution of their host galaxies is by removing metal content via outflows. In this article we present results that show that AGN can have an effect on the chemical enrichment of their host galaxies using the fossil record technique on CALIFA galaxies. We classified the chemical enrichment histories of all galaxies in our sample regarding whether they show a drop in the value of their metallicity. We find that galaxies currently hosting an AGN are more likely to show this drop in their metal content compared to the quiescent sample. Once we separate the sample by their star-forming status we find that star-forming galaxies are less likely to have a drop in metallicity but have deeper decreases when these appear. This behavior could be evidence for the influence of either pristine gas inflows or galactic outflows triggered by starbursts, both of which can produce a drop in metallicity.

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arXiv2021

Evolution of the chemical enrichment and the Mass-Metallicity relation in CALIFA galaxies

We use fossil record techniques on the CALIFA sample to study how galaxies in the local universe have evolved in terms of their chemical content. We show how the metallicity and the mass-metallicity relation (MZR) evolve through time for the galaxies in our sample and how this evolution varies when we divide them based on their mass, morphology and star-forming status. We also check the impact of measuring the metallicity at the centre or the outskirts. We find the expected results that the most massive galaxies got enriched faster, with the MZR getting steeper at higher redshifts. However, once we separate the galaxies into morphology bins this behaviour is not as clear, which suggests that morphology is a primary factor to determine how fast a galaxy gets enriched, with mass determining the amount of enrichment. We also find that star-forming galaxies appear to be converging in their chemical evolution, that is, the metallicity of star-forming galaxies of different mass is very similar at recent times compared to several Gyr ago.

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arXiv2021

Star formation quenching stages of active and non-active galaxies

The mechanisms that bring galaxies to strongly reduce their star formation activity (star-formation quenching) is still poorly understood. To better study galaxy evolution, we propose a classification based on the maps of the ionised hydrogen distribution, traced by kpc-resolved, equivalent width of H$α$ maps, and the nuclear activity of the galaxies using information from the BPT diagnostic diagrams. Using these tools, we group a sample of 238 galaxies from the CALIFA survey in six quenching stages (QS): objects dominated by recent star formation; systems that present a quiescent-nuclear-ring structure in their centre; galaxies that are centrally-quiescent; galaxies with no clear pattern in their ionisation gas distribution - mixed; systems that posses only a few star-forming regions - nearly-retired, or galaxies that are completely quiescent - fully-retired. Regarding their nuclear activity, we further divide the galaxies into two groups - active systems that host a weak or strong AGN in their centre, and non-active objects. Galaxies grouped into quenching stage classes occupy specific locations on the star-formation-rate versus stellar mass diagram. The "Blue cloud" is populated by the star-forming and the quiescent-nuclear-ring galaxies, the "Green valley" is populated by centrally-quiescent and mixed systems, "Red sequence" by the nearly- and fully-retired objects. Generally, galaxies that host a weak or strong AGN show properties, comparable to the non-active counterparts at the same quenching stages, except for the AGN-hosting star-forming systems. The degree of the star-formation quenching increases along the present emission-line pattern sequence from star-forming to fully-retired. The proposed emission-line classes reinforce the "inside-out" quenching scenario, which foresees that the suppression of the star-formation begins from the central regions of the galaxies.

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arXiv2020

The stellar metallicity distribution function of galaxies in the CALIFA survey

We present a novel method to retrieve the chemical structure of galaxies using integral field spectroscopy data through the stellar Metallicity Distribution Function (MDF). This is the probability distribution of observing stellar populations having a metallicity $Z$. We apply this method to a set of $550$ galaxies from the CALIFA survey. We present the behaviour of the MDF as a function of the morphology, the stellar mass and the radial distance. We use the stellar metallicity radial profiles retrieved as the first moment of the MDF, as an internal test for our method. The gradients in these radial profiles are consistent with the known trends: they are negative in massive early-type galaxies and tend to positive values in less massive late-type ones. We find that these radial profiles may not convey the complex chemical structure of some galaxy types. Overall, low mass galaxies ($\log{M_\star/\mathrm{M}_{\odot}}\leq10$) have broad MDFs ($σ_Z\sim1.0\,$dex), with unclear dependence on their morphology. However this result is likely affected by under-represented bins in our sample. On the other hand, massive galaxies ($\log{M_\star/\mathrm{M}_{\odot}}\geq11$) have systematically narrower MDFs ($σ_Z\leq0.2\,$dex). We find a clear trend whereby the MDFs at $r_k/R_e>1.5$ have large variance. This result is consistent with sparse SFHs in medium/low stellar density regions. We further find there are multi-modal MDFs in the outskirts ($\sim18\,$per cent) and the central regions ($\sim40\,$per cent) of galaxies. This behaviour is linked to a fast chemical enrichment during early stages of the SFH, along with the posterior formation of a metal-poor stellar population.

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arXiv2020

HII regions in the CALIFA survey: I. Catalog presentation

We present a new catalog of HII regions based on the integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data of the extended CALIFA and PISCO samples. The selection of HII regions was based on two assumptions: a clumpy structure with high contrast of H$α$ emission and an underlying stellar population comprising young stars. The catalog provides the spectroscopic information of 26,408 individual regions corresponding to 924 galaxies, including the flux intensities and equivalent widths of 51 emission lines covering the wavelength range between 3745-7200A. To our knowledge, this is the largest catalog of spectroscopic properties of HII regions. We explore a new approach to decontaminate the emission lines from diffuse ionized gas contribution. This diffuse gas correction was estimated to correct every emission line within the considered spectral range. With the catalog of HII regions corrected, new demarcation lines are proposed for the classical diagnostic diagrams. Finally, we study the properties of the underlying stellar populations of the HII regions. It was found that there is a direct relationship between the ionization conditions on the nebulae and the properties of stellar populations besides the physicals condition on the ionized regions.

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arXiv2017

Diffuse ionized gas in galaxies across the Hubble sequence at the CALIFA resolution

We use spatially resolved spectroscopy from the Calar Alto Legacy Field Area (CALIFA) survey to study the nature of the line emitting gas in galaxies of different Hubble types, focusing on the separation of star-forming (SF) regions from those better characterized as diffuse ionized gas (DIG). The diagnosis is carried out in terms of the equivalent width of ${\rm H}α$ ($W_{{\rm H}α}$). Three nebular regimes are identified. Regions where $W_{{\rm H}α} < 3\ Å$ define what we call the hDIG, the component of the DIG where photoionization is dominated by hot, low-mass, evolved stars. Regions where $W_{{\rm H}α} > 14\ Å$ trace SF complexes. $W_{{\rm H}α}$ values in the intermediate 3--14 $Å$ range reflect a mixed regime (mDIG) where more than one process contributes. This three-tier scheme is inspired both by theoretical and empirical considerations. Its application to CALIFA galaxies of different types and inclinations leads to the following results: $\textit{(i)}$ the hDIG component is prevalent throughout ellipticals and S0's as well as in bulges, and explains the strongly bimodal distribution of $W_{{\rm H}α}$ both among and within galaxies. $\textit{(ii)}$ Early-type spirals have some hDIG in their discs, but this component becomes progressively less relevant for later Hubble types. $\textit{(iii)}$ hDIG emission is also present above and below galactic discs, as seen in several edge-on spirals in our sample. $\textit{(iv)}$ The SF/mDIG proportion grows steadily from early- to late-type spirals, and from inner to outer radii. $\textit{(v)}$ Besides circumventing basic inconsistencies in conventional DIG/SF separation criteria based on the ${\rm H}α$ surface brightness, our $W_{{\rm H}α}$-based method produces results in agreement with a classical excitation diagram analysis.

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arXiv2017

The spatially resolved star formation history of CALIFA galaxies: Cosmic time scales

This paper presents the mass assembly time scales of nearby galaxies observed by CALIFA at the 3.5m telescope in Calar Alto. We apply the fossil record method of the stellar populations to the complete sample of the 3rd CALIFA data release, with a total of 661 galaxies, covering stellar masses from 10$^{8.4}$ to 10$^{12}$ M$_{\odot}$ and a wide range of Hubble types. We apply spectral synthesis techniques to the datacubes and process the results to produce the mass growth time scales and mass weighted ages, from which we obtain temporal and spatially resolved information in seven bins of galaxy morphology and six bins of stellar mass (M$_{\star}$) and stellar mass surface density ($Σ_{\star}$). We use three different tracers of the spatially resolved star formation history (mass assembly curves, ratio of half mass to half light radii, and mass-weighted age gradients) to test if galaxies grow inside-out, and its dependence with galaxy stellar mass, $Σ_{\star}$, and morphology. Our main results are as follows: (a) The innermost regions of galaxies assemble their mass at an earlier time than regions located in the outer parts; this happens at any given M$_{\star}$, $Σ_{\star}$, or Hubble type, including the lowest mass systems. (b) Galaxies present a significant diversity in their characteristic formation epochs for lower-mass systems. This diversity shows a strong dependence of the mass assembly time scales on $Σ_{\star}$ and Hubble type in the lower-mass range (10$^{8.4}$ to 10$^{10.4}$), but a very mild dependence in higher-mass bins. (c) All galaxies show negative $\langle$log age$\rangle_{M}$ gradients in the inner 1 HLR. The profile flattens with increasing values of $Σ_{\star}$. There is no significant dependence on M$_{\star}$ within a particular $Σ_{\star}$ bin, except for the lowest bin, where the gradients becomes steeper.

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arXiv2017

The spatially resolved star formation history of mergers: A comparative study of the LIRGs IC1623, NGC6090, NGC2623, and Mice

This paper presents the spatially resolved star formation history (2D-SFH) of a small sample of four local mergers: the early-stage mergers IC1623, NGC6090, and the Mice, and the more advanced merger NGC2623, by analyzing IFS data from the CALIFA survey and PMAS in LArr mode. Full spectral fitting techniques are applied to the datacubes to obtain the spatially resolved mass growth histories, the time evolution of the star formation rate intensity ($Σ_{SFR}$), and the local specific star formation rate, over three different timescales (30 Myr, 300 Myr, and 1 Gyr). The results are compared with non-interacting Sbc--Sc galaxies, to quantify if there is an enhancement of the star formation and to trace its time scale and spatial extent. Our results for the three LIRGs (IC1623W, NGC6090, and NGC2623) show that a major phase of star formation is occurring in time scales of 10$^{7}$ yr to few 10$^{8}$ yr, with global SFR enhancements of $\sim$2--6 with respect to main-sequence star forming (MSSF) galaxies. In the two early-stage mergers IC1623W and NGC6090, which are between first pericenter passage and coalescence, the most remarkable increase of the SFR with respect to non-interacting spirals occurred in the last 30 Myr, and it is spatially extended, with enhancements of factors 2--7 both in the centres ($r <$ 0.5 half light radius, HLR), and in the disks ($r >$ 1 HLR). In the more advanced merger NGC 2623 an extended phase of star formation occurred on a longer time-scale of $\sim$1 Gyr, with a SFR enhancement of a factor $\sim$2--3 larger than the one in Sbc--Sc MSSF galaxies over the same period, probably relic of the first pericenter passage epoch. A SFR enhancement in the last 30 Myr is also present, but only in NGC2623 centre, by a factor 3. In general, the spatially resolved SFHs of the LIRG-mergers are consistent with the predictions from high spatial resolution simulations.

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arXiv2017

The PyCASSO database: Spatially resolved stellar population properties for CALIFA galaxies

The Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey, a pioneer in integral field spectroscopy legacy projects, has fostered many studies exploring the information encoded on the spatially resolved data on gaseous and stellar features in the optical range of galaxies. We describe a value-added catalogue of stellar population properties for CALIFA galaxies analysed with the spectral synthesis code STARLIGHT and processed with the PyCASSO platform. Our public data base (http://pycasso.ufsc.br/, mirror at http://pycasso.iaa.es/) comprises 445 galaxies from the CALIFA Data Release 3 with COMBO data. The catalogue provides maps for the stellar mass surface density, mean stellar ages and metallicities, stellar dust attenuation, star formation rates, and kinematics. Example applications both for individual galaxies and for statistical studies are presented to illustrate the power of this data set. We revisit and update a few of our own results on mass density radial profiles and on the local mass-metallicity relation. We also show how to employ the catalogue for new investigations, and show a pseudo Schmidt-Kennicutt relation entirely made with information extracted from the stellar continuum. Combinations to other databases are also illustrated. Among other results, we find a very good agreement between star formation rate surface densities derived from the stellar continuum and the $\mathrm{H}α$ emission. This public catalogue joins the scientific community's effort towards transparency and reproducibility, and will be useful for researchers focusing on (or complementing their studies with) stellar properties of CALIFA galaxies.

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arXiv2017

The spatially-resolved star formation histories of CALIFA galaxies: Implications for galaxy formation

This paper presents the spatially resolved star formation history (SFH) of nearby galaxies with the aim of furthering our understanding of the different processes involved in the formation and evolution of galaxies. To this end, we apply the fossil record method of stellar population synthesis to a rich and diverse data set of 436 galaxies observed with integral field spectroscopy in the CALIFA survey. The sample covers a wide range of Hubble types, with stellar masses ranging from $M_\star \sim 10^9$ to $7 \times 10^{11} M_\odot$. Spectral synthesis techniques are applied to the datacubes to retrieve the spatially resolved time evolution of the star formation rate (SFR), its intensity ($Σ_{\rm SFR}$), and other descriptors of the 2D-SFH in seven bins of galaxy morphology (E, S0, Sa, Sb, Sbc, Sc, and Sd), and five bins of stellar mass. Our main results are: a) Galaxies form very fast independently of their current stellar mass, with the peak of star formation at high redshift ($z > 2$). Subsequent star formation is driven by $M_\star$ and morphology, with less massive and later type spirals showing more prolonged periods of star formation. b) At any epoch in the past the SFR is proportional to $M_\star$, with most massive galaxies having the highest absolute (but lowest specific) SFRs. c) While nowadays $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ is similar for all spirals, and significantly lower in early type galaxies (ETG), in the past $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ scales well with morphology. The central regions of today's ETGs are where $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ reached the highest values ($> 10^3 \,M_\odot\,$Gyr$^{-1}\,$pc$^{-2}$), similar to those measured in high redshift star forming galaxies. d) The evolution of $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ in Sbc systems matches that of models for Milky-Way-like galaxies, suggesting that the formation of a thick disk may be a common phase in spirals at early epochs.

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arXiv2017

The spatially resolved stellar population and ionized gas properties in the merger LIRG NGC 2623

We report on a detailed study of the stellar populations and ionized gas properties in the merger LIRG NGC 2623, analysing optical Integral Field Spectroscopy from the CALIFA survey and PMAS LArr, multiwavelength HST imaging, and OSIRIS narrow band H$α$ and [NII]$λ$6584 imaging. The spectra were processed with the STARLIGHT full spectral fitting code, and the results compared with those for two early-stage merger LIRGs (IC 1623 W and NGC 6090), together with CALIFA Sbc/Sc galaxies. We find that NGC 2623 went through two periods of increased star formation (SF), a first and widespread episode, traced by intermediate-age stellar populations ISP (140 Myr-1.4 Gyr), and a second one, traced by young stellar populations YSP ($<$140 Myr), which is concentrated in the central regions ($<$1.4 kpc). Our results are in agreement with the epochs of the first peri-center passage ($\sim$200 Myr ago) and coalescence ($<$100 Myr ago) predicted by dynamical models, and with high resolution merger simulations in the literature, consistent with NGC 2623 representing an evolved version of the early-stage mergers. Most ionized gas is concentrated within $<$2.8 kpc, where LINER-like ionization and high velocity dispersion ($\sim$220 km/s) are found, consistent with the previously reported outflow. As revealed by the highest resolution OSIRIS and HST data, a collection of HII regions is also present in the plane of the galaxy, which explains the mixture of ionization mechanisms in this system. It is unlikely that the outflow in NGC 2623 will escape from the galaxy, given the low SFR intensity ($\sim$0.5 M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$kpc$^{-2}$), the fact that the outflow rate is 3 times lower than the current SFR, and the escape velocity in the central areas higher than the outflow velocity.

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arXiv2017

Star formation histories in mergers: The spatially resolved properties of the early-stage merger LIRGs IC 1623 and NGC 6090

The role of major mergers in galaxy evolution is investigated through a detailed characterization of the stellar populations, ionized gas properties, and star formation rates (SFR) in the early-stage merger LIRGs IC 1623 W and NGC 6090, by analysing optical Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS) and high resolution HST imaging. The spectra were processed with the Starlight full spectral fitting code, and the emission lines measured in the residual spectra. The results are compared with control non-interacting spiral galaxies from the CALIFA survey. Merger-induced star formation is extended and recent, as revealed by the young ages (50-80 Myr) and high contributions to light of young stellar populations (50-90$\%$), in agreement with merger simulations in the literature. These early-stage mergers have positive central gradients of the stellar metallicity, with an average $\sim$0.6 Z$_{\odot}$. Compared to non-interacting spirals, they have lower central nebular metallicity, and flatter profiles, in agreement with the gas inflow scenario. We find that they are dominated by star formation, although shock excitation cannot be discarded in some regions, where high velocity dispersion is found (170-200 km s$^{-1}$). The average SFR in these early-stage mergers ($\sim$23-32 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$) is enhanced with respect to main-sequence Sbc galaxies by factors of 6-9, slightly above the predictions from classical merger simulations, but still possible in about 15$\%$ of major galaxy mergers, where U/LIRGs belong.

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arXiv2016

CALIFA, the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey: IV. Third Public data release

This paper describes the Third Public Data Release (DR3) of the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey. Science-grade quality data for 667 galaxies are made public, including the 200 galaxies of the Second Public Data Release (DR2). Data were obtained with the integral-field spectrograph PMAS/PPak mounted on the 3.5m telescope at the Calar Alto Observatory. Three different spectral setups are available, i) a low-resolution V500 setup covering the wavelength range 3749-7500 AA (4240-7140 AA unvignetted) with a spectral resolution of 6.0 AA (FWHM), for 646 galaxies, ii) a medium-resolution V1200 setup covering the wavelength range 3650-4840 AA (3650-4620 AA unvignetted) with a spectral resolution of 2.3 AA (FWHM), for 484 galaxies, and iii) the combination of the cubes from both setups (called COMBO), with a spectral resolution of 6.0 AA and a wavelength range between 3700-7500 AA (3700-7140 AA unvignetted), for 446 galaxies. The Main Sample, selected and observed according to the CALIFA survey strategy covers a redshift range between 0.005 and 0.03, spans the color-magnitude diagram and probes a wide range of stellar mass, ionization conditions, and morphological types. The Extension Sample covers several types of galaxies that are rare in the overall galaxy population and therefore not numerous or absent in the CALIFA Main Sample. All the cubes in the data release were processed using the latest pipeline, which includes improved versions of the calibration frames and an even further improved im- age reconstruction quality. In total, the third data release contains 1576 datacubes, including ~1.5 million independent spectra. It is available at http://califa.caha.es/DR3.

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