arXiv subjects

J. K. Barrera-Ballesteros

Publications and source records attributed to J. K. Barrera-Ballesteros.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

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

[$α$/Fe] traced by H ii regions from the CALIFA survey: The connection between morphology and chemical abundance patterns

Differential enrichment between $α$- and Fe-peak elements is known to be strongly connected with the shape of the star formation history (SFH), the star formation efficiency (SFE), the inflow and outflow of material, and even the shape of the Initial Mass Function (IMF). However, beyond the Local Group detailed explorations are mostly limited to early-type galaxies due to the lack of a good proxy for [$α$/Fe] in late-type ones, limiting our understanding of the chemical enrichment process. We intent to extend the explorations of [$α$/Fe] to late-type galaxies, in order to understand the details of the differential enrichment process. We compare the gas phase oxygen abundance with the luminosity weighted stellar metallicity in an extensive catalog of $\sim$25,000 H ii regions extracted from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey, an exploration using integral field spectroscopy of $\sim$900 galaxies, covering a wide range of masses and morphologies. This way we define [O/Fe] as the ratio between both parameters, proposing it as an indirect proxy of the [$α$/Fe] ratio. Results. We illustrate how the [O/Fe] parameter describes the chemical enrichment process in spiral galaxies, finding that: (i) it follows the decreasing pattern with [Fe/H] reported for the [$α$/Fe] ratio and (ii) its absolute scale depends of the stellar mass and the morphology. We reproduce both patterns using two different chemical evolution models (ChEM), considering that galaxies with different stellar mass and morphology present (i) different SFHs, SFEs and different inflow/outflow rates, or (ii) a different maximum stellar mass cut for the IMF. We will explore the differential chemical enrichment using this new proxy galaxy by galaxy and region by region in further studies.

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arXiv2021

An Empirical Calibration of the Helium Abundance in HII Regions based in Literature and CALIFA Survey data

Helium is the second most common chemical species in the Universe. The study of helium abundance has the potential to unravel the chemical evolution of and within galaxies. In this study, we provide an empirical calibration for the singly ionized helium abundance: $12+\log_{10}({\rm He}^+/{\rm H}^+)$, based on the emission line flux ratio He$_{\lambda5876}$/H$α$ from Galactic and extragalactic HII regions compiled from the literature. Based on this calibrator, we explore for the first time the helium abundance in a large sample of HII regions located in galaxies representative of the nearby Universe from the CALIFA survey. Furthermore, this calibrator allows us to explore the variations of the helium abundance with respect to the oxygen abundance. The observed trends are in agreement with a change in the chemical enrichment with mass/oxygen abundance similar to the one observed due to the inside-out model in a MW-galaxy (highlighting the connection between resolved and global trends in galaxies). Our calibrator provides an empirical proxy to estimate the helium abundance at kpc scales as well as to constrain chemical evolutionary models.

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arXiv2021

The EDGE-CALIFA survey: The local and global relations between $Σ_\ast$ , $Σ_{SFR}$ and $Σ_{mol}$ that regulate star-formation

We present a new characterization of the relations between star-formation rate, stellar mass and molecular gas mass surface densities at different spatial scales across galaxies (from galaxy wide to kpc-scales). To do so we make use of the largest sample combining spatially-resolved spectroscopic information with CO observations, provided by the EDGE-CALIFA survey, together with new single dish CO observations obtained by APEX. We show that those relations are the same at the different explored scales, sharing the same distributions for the explored data, with similar slope, intercept and scatter (when characterized by a simple power-law). From this analysis, we propose that these relations are the projection of a single relation between the three properties that follows a distribution well described by a line in the three-dimension parameter space. Finally, we show that observed secondary relations between the residuals and the considered parameters are fully explained by the correlation between the uncertainties, and therefore have no physical origin. We discuss these results in the context of the hypothesis of self-regulation of the star-formation process.

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arXiv2021

EDGE-CALIFA survey: Self-regulation of Star formation at kpc scales

We present the relation between the star formation rate surface density, $Σ_{\rm SFR}$, and the hydrostatic mid-plane pressure, P$_{\rm h}$, for 4260 star-forming regions of kpc size located in 96 galaxies included in the EDGE-CALIFA survey covering a wide range of stellar masses and morphologies. We find that these two parameters are tightly correlated, exhibiting smaller scatter and strong correlation in comparison to other star-forming scaling relations. A power-law, with a slightly sub-linear index, is a good representation of this relation. Locally, the residuals of this correlation show a significant anti-correlation with both the stellar age and metallicity whereas the total stellar mass may also play a secondary role in shaping the $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ - P$_{\rm h}$ relation. For our sample of active star-forming regions (i.e., regions with large values of H$α$ equivalent width), we find that the effective feedback momentum per unit stellar mass ($p_\ast/m_\ast$),measured from the P$_{\rm h}$ / $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ ratio increases with P$_{\rm h}$. The median value of this ratio for all the sampled regions is larger than the expected momentum just from supernovae explosions. Morphology of the galaxies, including bars, does not seem to have a significant impact in the $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ - P$_{\rm h}$ relation. Our analysis suggests that self regulation of the $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ at kpc scales comes mainly from momentum injection to the interstellar medium from supernovae explosions. However, other mechanism in disk galaxies may also play a significant role in shaping the $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ at local scales. Our results also suggest that P$_{\rm h}$ can be considered as the main parameter that modulates star formation at kpc scales, rather than individual components of the baryonic mass.

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arXiv2021

SDSS-IV MANGA: A Star Formation -- Baryonic Mass Relation at Kpc Scales

Star formation rate density, $Σ_{\rm SFR}$, has shown a remarkable correlation with both components of the baryonic mass at kpc scales (i.e., the stellar mass density, and the molecular gas mass density; $Σ_{\ast}$, and $Σ_{\rm mol}$, respectively) for galaxies in the nearby Universe. In this study we propose an empirical relation between $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ and the baryonic mass surface density ($Σ_{\rm b}$ =$Σ_{\rm mol,Av}$ + $Σ_{\ast}$; where $Σ_{\rm mol,Av}$ is the molecular gas density derived from the optical extinction, Av) at kpc scales using the spatially-resolved properties of the MaNGA survey - the largest sample of galaxies observed via Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS, $\sim$ 8400 objects). We find that $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ tightly correlates with $Σ_{\rm b}$. Furthermore, we derive an empirical relation between the $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ and a second degree polynomial of $Σ_{\rm b}$ yielding a one-to-one relation between these two observables. Both, $Σ_{\rm b}$ and its polynomial form show a stronger correlation and smaller scatter with respect to $Σ_{\rm SFR}$ than the relations derived using the individual components of $Σ_{\rm b}$. Our results suggest that indeed these three parameters are physically correlated, suggesting a scenario in which the two components of the baryonic mass regulate the star-formation activity at kpc scales.

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arXiv2020

From global to spatially resolved in low-redshift galaxies

Our understanding of the structure, composition and evolution of galaxies has strongly improved in the last decades, mostly due to new results based on large spectroscopic and imaging surveys. In particular, the nature of ionized gas, its ionization mechanisms, its relation with the stellar properties and chemical composition, the existence of scaling relations that describe the cycle between stars and gas, and the corresponding evolution patterns have been widely explored and described. More recently, the introduction of additional techniques, in particular Integral Field Spectroscopy, and their use in large galaxy surveys, have forced us to re-interpret most of those recent results from a spatially resolved perspective. This review is aimed to complement recent efforts to compile and summarize this change of paradigm in the interpretation of galaxy evolution. In particular we cover three particular aspects not fully covered in detail in recent reviews: (i) the spatially resolved nature of the ionization properties in galaxies and the confusion introduced by considering just integrated quantities; (ii) the nature of the global scaling relations and their relations with the spatially resolved ones; and (iii) the dependence of the radial gradients and characteristic properties of the stellar populations and ionized gas on stellar mass and galaxy morphology. To this end we replicate published results, and present novel ones, based on the largest compilation of IFS data of galaxies in the nearby universe to date.

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arXiv2020

A Universal fundamental plane and the $M_{dyn}-M_{\star}$ relation for galaxies with CALIFA and MaNGA

We use the stellar kinematics for $2458$ galaxies from the MaNGA survey to explore dynamical scaling relations between the stellar mass $M_{\star}$ and the total velocity parameter at the effective radius, $R_e$, defined as $S_{K}^{2}=KV_{R_e}^{2}+σ_{\star_e}^{2}$, which combines rotation velocity $V_{R_e}$, and velocity dispersion $σ_{\star_e}$. We confirm that spheroidal and spiral galaxies follow the same $M_{\star}-S_{0.5}$ scaling relation with lower scatter than the $M_{\star}-V_{R_e}$ and $M_{\star}-σ_{\star_e}$ ones. We also explore a more general Universal Fundamental Plane described by the equation $log(Υ_{e}) = log (S_{0.5}^{2}) - log (I_{e}) - log (R_{e}) + C$, which in addition to kinematics, $S_{0.5}$, and effective radius, $R_e$, it includes surface brightness, $I_e$, and dynamical mass-to-light ratio, $Υ_e$. We use sophisticated Schwarzschild dynamical models for a sub-sample of 300 galaxies from the CALIFA survey to calibrate the so called Universal Fundamental Plane. That calibration allows us to propose both: (i) a parametrization to estimate the difficult-to-measure dynamical mass-to-light ratio at the effective radius; and (ii) a new dynamical mass proxy consistent with dynamical models within $0.09\ dex$. We reproduce the relation between the dynamical mass and the stellar mass in the inner regions of galaxies. We use the estimated dynamical mass-to-light ratio from our analysis, $Υ_{e}^{fit}$, to explore the Universal Fundamental Plane with the MaNGA data set. We find that all classes of galaxies, from spheroids to disks, follow this Universal Fundamental Plane with a scatter significantly smaller $(0.05\ dex)$ than the one reported for the $M_{\star}-S_{0.5}$ relation $(0.1\ dex)$, the Fundamental Plane $(\sim 0.09\ dex)$ and comparable with Tully-Fisher studies $(\sim 0.05\ dex)$, but for a wider range of galaxy types.

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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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arXiv2019

The CALIFA view on stellar angular momentum across the Hubble sequence

[Abridged] We present the apparent stellar angular momentum of 300 galaxies across the Hubble sequence, using integral-field spectroscopic data from the CALIFA survey. Adopting the same $λ_\mathrm{R}$ parameter previously used to distinguish between slow and fast rotating early-type (elliptical and lenticular) galaxies, we show that spiral galaxies as expected are almost all fast rotators. Given the extent of our data, we provide relations for $λ_\mathrm{R}$ measured in different apertures, including conversions to long-slit 1D apertures. Our sample displays a wide range of $λ_\mathrm{Re}$ values, consistent with previous IFS studies. The fastest rotators are dominated by relatively massive and highly star-forming Sb galaxies, which preferentially reside in the main star-forming sequence. These galaxies reach $λ_\mathrm{Re}$ values of $\sim$0.85, are the largest galaxies at a given mass, and display some of the strongest stellar population gradients. Compared to the population of S0 galaxies, our findings suggest that fading may not be the dominant mechanism transforming spirals into lenticulars. Interestingly, we find that $λ_\mathrm{Re}$ decreases for late-type Sc and Sd spiral galaxies, with values than in occasions puts them in the slow-rotator regime. While for some of them this can be explained by their irregular morphologies and/or face-on configurations, others are edge-on systems with no signs of significant dust obscuration. The latter are typically at the low-mass end, but this does not explain their location in the classical ($V/σ$,$\varepsilon$) and ($λ_\mathrm{Re}$,$\varepsilon$) diagrams. Our initial investigations, based on dynamical models, suggest that these are dynamically hot disks, probably influenced by the observed important fraction of dark matter within R$_\mathrm{e}$.

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arXiv2018

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Exploring the gas-phase Mass-Metallicity Relation

We present a detailed exploration of the stellar mass vs. gas-phase metallicity relation (MZR) using integral field spectroscopy data obtained from ~1000 galaxies observed by the SAMI Galaxy survey. These spatially resolved spectroscopic data allow us to determine the metallicity within the same physical scale (Reff) for different calibrators. The shape of the MZ relations is very similar between the different calibrators, while there are large offsets in the absolute values of the abundances. We confirm our previous results derived using the spatially resolved data provided by the CALIFA and MaNGA surveys: (1) we do not find any significant secondary relation of the MZR with either the star formation rate (SFR) nor the specific SFR (SFR/Mass) for any of the calibrators used in this study, based on the analysis of the {individual} residuals, (2) if there is a dependence with the SFR, it is weaker than the reported one ($r_c\sim -$0.3), it is confined to the low mass regime (M*<10$^9$Msun) or high SFR regimes, and it does not produce any significant improvement in the {description of the average population of galaxies. The aparent disagreement with published results based on single fiber spectroscopic data could be due to (i) the interpretation of the secondary relation itself, (ii) the lower number of objects sampled at the low mass regime by the current study, or (iii) the presence of extreme star-forming galaxies that drive the secondary relation in previous results

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arXiv2018

SSDSS IV MaNGA - Properties of AGN host galaxies

We present here the characterization of the main properties of a sample of 98 AGN host galaxies, both type-II and type-I, in comparison with those of about 2700 non-active galaxies observed by the MaNGA survey. We found that AGN hosts are morphologically early-type or early-spirals. For a given morphology AGN hosts are, in average, more massive, more compact, more central peaked and rather pressurethan rotational-supported systems. We confirm previous results indicating that AGN hosts are located in the intermediate/transition region between star-forming and non-star-forming galaxies (i.e., the so-called green valley), both in the ColorMagnitude and the star formation main sequence diagrams. Taking into account their relative distribution in terms of the stellar metallicity and oxygen gas abundance and a rough estimation of their molecular gas content, we consider that these galaxies are in the process of halting/quenching the star formation, in an actual transition between both groups. The analysis of the radial distributions of the starformation rate, specific star-formation rate, and molecular gas density shows that the quenching happens from inside-out involving both a decrease of the efficiency of the star formation and a deficit of molecular gas. All the intermediate data-products used to derive the results of our analysis are distributed in a database including the spatial distribution and average properties of the stellar populations and ionized gas, published as a Sloan Digital Sky Survey Value Added Catalog being part of the 14th Data Release: http://www.sdss.org/dr14/manga/manga-data/manga-pipe3d-value-added-catalog/

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arXiv2017

SDSS-IV MaNGA: What Shapes The Distribution Of Metals In Galaxies? Exploring The Roles Of The Local Gas Fraction And Escape Velocity

We determine the local metallicity of the ionized gas for more than $9.2\times 10^5$ star forming regions (spaxels) located in 1023 nearby galaxies included in the SDSS-IV MaNGA IFU survey. We use the dust extinction derived from the Balmer decrement and stellar template fitting in each spaxel to estimate the local gas and stellar mass densities, respectively. We also use the measured rotation curves to determine the local escape velocity ($\mathrm{V_{esc}}$). We have then analyze the relationships between the local metallicity and both the local gas fraction ($μ$) and $\mathrm{V_{esc}}$. We find that metallicity decreases with both increasing $μ$ and decreasing $\mathrm{V_{esc}}$. By examining the residuals in these relations we show that the gas fraction plays a more primary role in the local chemical enrichment than $\mathrm{V_{esc}}$. We show that the gas-regulator model of chemical evolution provides a reasonable explanation of the metallicity on local scales. The best-fit parameters for this model are consistent with metal loss caused by momentum-driven galactic outflows. We also argue that both the gas fraction and local escape velocity are connected to the local stellar surface density, which in turn is a tracer of the epoch at which the dominant local stellar population formed

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arXiv2017

SDSS-IV MANGA: Spatially Resolved Star Formation Main Sequence and LI(N)ER Sequence

We present our study on the spatially resolved H_alpha and M_star relation for 536 star-forming and 424 quiescent galaxies taken from the MaNGA survey. We show that the star formation rate surface density (Sigma_SFR), derived based on the H_alpha emissions, is strongly correlated with the M_star surface density (Sigma_star) on kpc scales for star- forming galaxies and can be directly connected to the global star-forming sequence. This suggests that the global main sequence may be a consequence of a more fundamental relation on small scales. On the other hand, our result suggests that about 20% of quiescent galaxies in our sample still have star formation activities in the outer region with lower SSFR than typical star-forming galaxies. Meanwhile, we also find a tight correlation between Sigma_H_alpha and Sigma_star for LI(N)ER regions, named the resolved "LI(N)ER" sequence, in quiescent galaxies, which is consistent with the scenario that LI(N)ER emissions are primarily powered by the hot, evolved stars as suggested in the literature.

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arXiv2017

Serendipitous discovery of an optical emission line jet in NGC\,232

We report the detection of a highly collimated linear emission-line structure in the spiral galaxy NGC\,232 through the use of integral field spectroscopy data from the All-weather MUse Supernova Integral field Nearby Galaxies (AMUSING) survey. This jet--like feature extends radially from the nucleus and is primarily detected in [oiii]$λ$5007 without clear evidence of an optical continuum counterpart. The length of the radial structure projected on sky reaches $\sim 3$ kpc, which makes NGC\,232 the second longest emission-line jet reported. The ionized gas presents extreme [Oiii]/H$β$ and [Nii]/H$α$ line ratios, increasing along the jet-like structure. We discuss three possible scenarios to explain the observed structure: (i) direct ionization of in-falling material from the intergalactic medium by the AGN; (ii) photo-ionization by an un-detected optical counter-part of the radio jet and (iii) fast shocks ionization due to the lateral expansion of the radio jet across the ISM. Our analysis favors in-situ ionization.

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arXiv2017

Separate ways: The Mass-Metallicity Relation does not strongly correlate with Star Formation Rate in SDSS-IV MaNGA galaxies

We present the integrated stellar mass-metallicity relation (MZR) for more than 1700 galaxies included in the integral field area SDSS-IV MaNGA survey. The spatially resolved data allow us to determine the metallicity at the same physical scale (effective radius in arcsecs, $\mathrm{R_{eff}}$ ) using a heterogeneous set of ten abundance calibrators. Besides scale factors, the shape of the MZR is similar for all calibrators, consistent with those reported previously using single-fiber and integral field spectroscopy. We compare the residuals of this relation against the star formation rate (SFR) and specific SFR (sSFR). We do not find a strong secondary relation of the MZR with either SFR or the sSFR for any of the calibrators, in contrast with previous single-fiber spectroscopic studies. Our results agree with an scenario in which metal enrichment happens at local scales, with global outflows playing a secondary role in shaping the chemistry of galaxies and cold-gas inflows regulating the stellar formation.

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arXiv2017

The Mass-Metallicity Relation revisited with CALIFA

We present an updated version of the mass--metallicity relation (MZR) using integral field spectroscopy data obtained from 734 galaxies observed by the CALIFA survey. These unparalleled spatially resolved spectroscopic data allow us to determine the metallicity at the same physical scale ($\mathrm{R_{e}}$) for different calibrators. We obtain MZ relations with similar shapes for all calibrators, once the scale factors among them are taken into account. We do not find any significant secondary relation of the MZR with either the star formation rate (SFR) or the specific SFR for any of the calibrators used in this study, based on the analysis of the residuals of the best fitted relation. However we do see a hint for a (s)SFR-dependent deviation of the MZ-relation at low masses (M$<$10$^{9.5}$M$_\odot$), where our sample is not complete. We are thus unable to confirm the results by Mannucci et al. (2010), although we cannot exclude that this result is due to the differences in the analysed datasets. In contrast, our results are inconsistent with the results by Lara-Lopez et al. (2010), and we can exclude the presence of a SFR-Mass-Oxygen abundance Fundamental Plane. These results agree with previous findings suggesting that either (1) the secondary relation with the SFR could be induced by an aperture effect in single fiber/aperture spectroscopic surveys, (2) it could be related to a local effect confined to the central regions of galaxies, or (3) it is just restricted to the low-mass regime, or a combination of the three effects.

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arXiv2016

Stellar kinematics across the Hubble sequence in the CALIFA survey: General properties and aperture corrections

We present the stellar kinematic maps of a large sample of galaxies from the integral-field spectroscopic survey CALIFA. The sample comprises 300 galaxies displaying a wide range of morphologies across the Hubble sequence, from ellipticals to late-type spirals. This dataset allows us to homogeneously extract stellar kinematics up to several effective radii. In this paper, we describe the level of completeness of this subset of galaxies with respect to the full CALIFA sample, as well as the virtues and limitations of the kinematic extraction compared to other well-known integral-field surveys. In addition, we provide averaged integrated velocity dispersion radial profiles for different galaxy types, which are particularly useful to apply aperture corrections for single aperture measurements or poorly resolved stellar kinematics of high-redshift sources. The work presented in this paper sets the basis for the study of more general properties of galaxies that will be explored in subsequent papers of the survey.

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