Dissecting the 3D chemo-dynamical structures of NGC~1381: A galaxy hosting an ancient slow bar with an accretion-related bulge and thick disc
We applied the barred population-orbit superposition method developed in our 2025 papers to construct 3D chemo-dynamical models for the barred S0 galaxy NGC~1381 in the Fornax cluster. Based on the stellar orbits in the models, we decomposed NGC~1381 into six components: (1) a dynamically warm nuclear disc with $f_{\rm nucl}\sim5\%$; (2) a rigidly rotating, BP/X-shaped bar with $f_{\rm bar}\sim30\%$; (3) a dynamically hot, spheroidal bulge with $f_{\rm bulge}\sim17\%$; (4) a dynamically cold thin disc with $f_{\rm thin}\sim28\%$; (5) a vertically extended thick disc with $f_{\rm thick}\sim16\%$; and (6) a dynamically hot, spatially diffuse stellar halo with $f_{\rm halo}\sim5\%$. The nuclear disc, bar, and thin disc are metal-rich ($[Z/\rm H]\gtrsim0$), $α$-poor ($\rm[Mg/Fe]\lesssim0.2$), and old ($\sim13\rm\,Gyr$), corresponding to in situ formation in the early Universe. The bulge, thick disc, and stellar halo are metal-poor ($[Z/\rm H]\lesssim0$), $α$-rich ($\rm[Mg/Fe]\gtrsim0.2$), and younger than or comparable in age to the in situ components, suggesting ex situ formation via minor mergers. Further analysis of stellar population gradients reveals that the thick disc and stellar halo, with their flat metallicity and [Mg/Fe] gradients, are likely dominated by a similar ex situ population. In contrast, the bulge exhibits a negative metallicity gradient ($\nabla[Z/\rm H]_{bulge}<0$), which might originate from either predominantly ex situ stars or a mixture of in situ and ex situ stars; its ex situ fraction cannot be quantified with the current data. Our modelling also reveals a slow bar ($\mathcal{R}=2.40_{-0.27}^{+0.54}$), with a bar pattern speed of $\rmΩ_p=34_{-7}^{+4}\,km\,s^{-1}\,kpc^{-1}$, a bar length of $R_{\rm bar}=2.24_{-0.22}^{+0.43}\rm\,kpc$, and a corotation radius of $R_{\rm CR}=5.38_{-0.28}^{+1.59}\rm\,kpc$, consistent with its ancient formation time.