Mem. S.A.It. Vol. 00, 159 c SAIt 2008 Memorie della NGC 4245: one or two bars, and where does the gas inflow stop? O. K. Sil’chenko1, I. V. Chilingarian1,2, and V. L. Afanasiev3 1 Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia 2 Laboratoire d’Etude du Rayonnement et de la Mati´ere (LERMA), Observatoire de Paris, Paris, France 3 Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhnij Arkhyz, Russia Abstract. We have studied stellar and gaseous kinematics as well as stellar population properties in the center of the early-type barred galaxy NGC 4245 by means of integral- field spectroscopy. We have found a chemically distinct compact core, more metal-rich by a factor of 2.5 than the bulge, and a ring of young stars with the radius of 300 pc. Current star formation proceeds in this ring; its location corresponds to the inner Lindblad resonance of the large-scale bar. The mean age of stars in the chemically distinct core is significantly younger than the estimate by Sarzi et al. (2005) for the very center, within R = 0′′. 25, made with the HST spectroscopy data. We conclude that the ‘chemically distinct core’ is in fact an ancient ultra-compact star forming ring with radius less than 100 pc which marks perhaps the past position of the inner Lindblad resonance. In general, the pattern of star formation history in the center of this early-type gas-poor galaxy confirms the predictions of dynamical models for the secular evolution of a stellar-gaseous disk under the influence of a bar. Key words. galaxies: elliptical and lenticular, cD – galaxies: evolution – galaxies: individ- ual: NGC 4245 1. Introduction the most promising objects where secular evo- lution has certainly occured we must look at Secular evolution of disk galaxies is a slow galaxy groups. The groups are good for the but persistent process that changes the appear- secular evolution realisation because the mu- ance and structure of a galaxy drastically on tual movements of galaxies are not so fast as timescales of a few Gyrs. The main drivers of in clusters, and the space density of galaxies secular evolution are bars, and the final point is high, so tidal interaction provoking bar for- where gas accumulates and star formation pro- mation, and matter redistribution in a disk, is arXiv:1002.1386v1 [astro-ph.GA] 6 Feb 2010 ceeds is the center of a galaxy. So to study con- provided. sequences of secular evolution in disk galaxies, we must look at their centers; and to choose NGC 4245 is an early-type disk galaxy (SB(r)0/a, according to NED), of a moder- Send offprint requests to: Olga K. Sil’chenko; ate luminosity (MB = −18.74 according to e-mail: [email protected] the HYPERLEDA), with a large-scale strong 160 Sil’chenko, Chilingarian, and Afanasiev: Bar effects in NGC 4245 Fig. 1. Results of the fitting of the SAURON spectra for NGC 4245, from the left to the right – SSP- equivalent stellar ages, SSP-equivalent stellar metallicity, and stellar velocity dispersion. bar – a member of a rich, spiral-dominated Astronomy Data Center. The former spectro- group Coma I Cloud (Gregory & Thompson graph (Afanasiev et al. 2001) gives a field of 1977). NGC 4245 is located in the dense view of 16′′ × 16′′ and a spectral range of part of the group, some 100kpc from the 1500 Å with the spectral resolution of 3 Å; group center and 59kpc from the giant spiral the latter (Baconet al. 2001) – has a field of galaxy NGC 4274. As do all other disk galax- view of 41′′ × 33′′ with a spectral range of ies of the group Coma I Cloud, NGC 4245 550 Å under the spectral resolution of 4 Å. The demonstrates a strong deficiency of neutral hy- spectra have been fitted in the pixel space by drogen (Garcia-Barreto et al. 1994). The ra- SSP models (Chilingarian et al. 2007), and the tio of M(H2)/M(HI) ∼ 4 in this galaxy kinematic characteristics as well as stellar pop- (Gerin & Casoli 1994), and all its gas is con- ulation parameters have been obtained. centrated in the circumnuclear region where a spectacular starforming ring is observed. Interestingly, the group Coma I Cloud lacks X- 3. Results ray intergalactic medium, so the common ex- planation of the HI deficiency by the interac- The maps of parameters of the stellar popula- tion with the hot intergalactic medium is not tion in the central part of NGC 4245 are pre- valid in this case. It seems probable that grav- sented in Fig. 1. We can divide the central part itational interactions play the main role in the of NGC 4245 into three substructures differ- group. NGC 4245 as a recently formed lenticu- ing by kinematic and stellar population prop- lar galaxy may represent a late product of sec- erties: the central unresolved core which ap- ular evolution provoked by the strong bar and pears to be dynamically cold and chemically ′′ ′′ by the effects of a dense environment. distinct, the ring with the radius of 4 − 6 where the emission line Hα is extremely in- tensive and current star formation proceeds, 2. Observations and the bulge without emission lines seen at R = 7′′ − 10′′ where the maximum stellar We analyse here the integral-field spectral velocity dispersion is observed, the stars are data obtained with the Multi-Pupil Fiber old, and the metallicity is subsolar. The com- Spectrograph (MPFS) of the Russian 6- parison of the Lick indices measured by us in m telescope and the SAURON data re- these three substructures’ MPFS spectra with trieved from the ING Archive of the UK the SSP models of Thomas et al. (2003) gives Sil’chenko, Chilingarian, and Afanasiev: Bar effects in NGC 4245 161 Fig. 2. Positions of the inner Lindblad resonances derived from the analysis of the SAURON line-of- sight velocity map for NGC 4245. Fig. 3. g′ − i′ colour map of NGC 4245 built from the SDSS direct images. the following quantitative results: in the core the metallicity is higher than solar by a fac- ′ ′ tor of 3–5 and the mean stellar age is 2–4Gyr, Fig. 3 demonstrates the g − i colour map in the ring the mean stellar age is 1–2 Gyr, of NGC 4245 constructed by using the SDSS and in the bulge 8–12Gyr. The fitting of the data. Here we see also a classical signature SAURON spectra with the PEGASE.HR code of gas response to the bar perturbation: thin straight red (dust) lanes border the bar along gives [m/H]= +0.2 and TSSP = 6.5Gyr in its whole extension betraying the presence of the core, TSSP = 2 − 4Gyr in the ring, and shocks producedby orbit crowding in the triax- [m/H]= −0.2 and TSSP = 8Gyr in the bulge. ial potential (Athanassoula 1992). Dust fronts end at the starforming ring which is blue at 4. Discussion the colour map. The blue starforming ring has three knots which are the bluest and coincide Starforming rings are commonly related to with the Hα condensations – the sites of espe- inner Lindblad resonances (ILR) of bars cially intense star formation; two of them are (Buta & Combes 1996). The observational just at points where the shock fronts meet the statistics of ring sizes by Buta & Crocker ring. Such a picture is typical for star forming (1993) has established this relation empirically. rings within bars – see for examplea sample by Later simulations confirmed that gas inflow- Boker et al. (2008). Theoreticians explain this ing along a bar must accumulate just at ILRs phenomenon as follows: external disk gas in- (Heller & Shlosman 1996). The starforming flows along the bar, meets the dense gas con- ring in NGC 4245 answers all expectations. centration in the ring, producesshocksand pro- Fig. 2 helps to determine the ILR radii in this vokes star formation at the points of contact, galaxy. We have taken the pattern speed of the and then these star forming sites are driven by bar in NGC 4245 from Treuthardt et al. (2007). rotation into a complete ring. With this pattern speed, the galaxy may have According to theory, the gas inflow must two ILRs: the inner one at R = 5′′ and the stop at ILRs, and no gas supply is allowed in- outer one at R = 6′′. The starforming ring is side the ILRs. However our results give evi- observed just between them as theory predicts dences that some time ago gas inflow has over- (Piner et al. 1995; Buta & Combes 1996). come this obstacle. The stellar core is unre- 162 Sil’chenko, Chilingarian, and Afanasiev: Bar effects in NGC 4245 solved with MPFS and SAURON, and so the of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space stellar population within 1′′ − 2′′ from the cen- Administration, the Japanese Monbukagakusho, and ter, is chemically distinct and is also signif- the Max Planck Society, and the Higher Education icantly younger than the bulge. So we con- Funding Council for England. The SDSS Web site clude that there has been secondary star for- is http://www.sdss.org/. mation burst inside R = 1′′ − 2′′, or inside the present ILRs, and this star formation burst References has needed gas supply to occur. But curiously, this star formation burst was also annular, not Afanasiev V. L., Dodonov S. N., & Moiseev nuclear: Sarzi et al. (2005), by analysing the A. V. 2001, in Stellar dynamics: from clas- HST spectral data obtained within the aper- sic to modern, ed. L. P. Osipkov, & I. I. ture of 0′′.