Welcome to the Twilight Zone: The Mid-infrared Properties of Post-starburst Galaxies

Urry, C. Meg; Rich, Jeffrey A.; Nyland, Kristina; Mulchaey, John S.; Kriek, Mariska; Medling, Anne M.; Kewley, Lisa J.; Kelson, Daniel D.; Falcón-Barroso, Jesús; Crossett, Jacob; Cales, Sabrina L.; Beaton, Rachael L.; Appleton, Philip N.; Ciesla, Laure; French, K. Decker; Lacy, Mark; Brown, Michael J. I.; Lanz, Lauranne; Bitsakis, Theodoros; Alatalo, Katherine
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 843, Issue 1, article id. 9, 13 pp. (2017).

Advertised on:
7
2017
Number of authors
20
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
20
Refereed citations
18
Description
We investigate the optical and Wide-field Survey Explorer (WISE) colors of “E+A” identified post-starburst galaxies, including a deep analysis of 190 post-starbursts detected in the 2 μm All Sky Survey Extended Source Catalog. The post-starburst galaxies appear in both the optical green valley and the WISE Infrared Transition Zone. Furthermore, we find that post-starbursts occupy a distinct region of [3.4]–[4.6] versus [4.6]–[12] WISE colors, enabling the identification of this class of transitioning galaxies through the use of broadband photometric criteria alone. We have investigated possible causes for the WISE colors of post-starbursts by constructing a composite spectral energy distribution (SED), finding that the mid-infrared (4–12 μm) properties of post-starbursts are consistent with either 11.3 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission, or thermally pulsating asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) and post-AGB stars. The composite SED of extended post-starburst galaxies with 22 μm emission detected with signal-to-noise ratio ≥slant 3 requires a hot dust component to produce their observed rising mid-infrared SED between 12 and 22 μm. The composite SED of WISE 22 μm non-detections (S/N < 3), created by stacking 22 μm images, is also flat, requiring a hot dust component. The most likely source of the mid-infrared emission of these E+A galaxies is a buried active galactic nucleus (AGN). The inferred upper limits to the Eddington ratios of post-starbursts are 10‑2–10‑4, with an average of 10‑3. This suggests that AGNs are not radiatively dominant in these systems. This could mean that including selections capable of identifying AGNs as part of a search for transitioning and post-starburst galaxies would create a more complete census of the transition pathways taken as a galaxy quenches its star formation.
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Traces of Galaxy Formation: Stellar populations, Dynamics and Morphology
We are a large, diverse, and very active research group aiming to provide a comprehensive picture for the formation of galaxies in the Universe. Rooted in detailed stellar population analysis, we are constantly exploring and developing new tools and ideas to understand how galaxies came to be what we now observe.
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