Bibcode
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
Citations
15
Refereed citations
15
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.