Complex central structures suggest complex evolutionary paths for barred S0 galaxies

Dullo, B. T.; Martínez-Lombilla, C.; Knapen, J. H.
Bibliographical reference

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 462, Issue 4, p.3800-3811

Advertised on:
11
2016
Number of authors
3
IAC number of authors
3
Citations
15
Refereed citations
14
Description
We investigate three barred lenticular galaxies (NGC 2681, NGC 3945 and NGC 4371), which were previously reported to have complex central structures but without a detailed structural analysis of these galaxies' high-resolution data. We have therefore performed four- to six-component (pseudo-)bulge/disc/bar/ring/point source) decompositions of the composite (Hubble Space Telescope plus ground-based) surface brightness profiles. We find that NGC 2681 hosts three bars, while NGC 3945 and NGC 4371 are double- and single-barred galaxies, respectively, in agreement with past isophotal analysis. We find that the bulges in these galaxies are compact, and have Sérsic indices of n ˜ 2.2-3.6 and stellar masses of M* ˜ 0.28 × 1010-1.1 × 1010 M⊙. NGC 3945 and NGC 4371 have intermediate-scale `pseudo-bulges' that are well described by a Sérsic model with low n ≲ 0.5 instead of an exponential (n = 1) profile as done in the past. We measure emission line fluxes enclosed within nine different elliptical apertures, finding that NGC 2681 has a low-ionization nuclear emission region (LINER)-type emission inside R ˜ 3 arcsec, but the emission line due to star formation is significant when aperture size is increased. In contrast, NGC 3945 and NGC 4371 have composite (active galactic nucleus plus star-forming)- and LINER-type emissions inside and outside R ˜ 2 arcsec, respectively. Our findings suggest that the three galaxies have experienced a complex evolutionary path. The bulges appear to be consequences of an earlier violent merging event while subsequent disc formation via gas accretion and bar-driven perturbations may account for the build-up of pseudo-bulges, bars, rings and point sources.