The Nuclear Near-Infrared Spectral Properties of Nearby Galaxies
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2015-03Metadata
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Mason, R. E.
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The Nuclear Near-Infrared Spectral Properties of Nearby Galaxies
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Abstract
We present spectra of the nuclear regions of 50 nearby (D = 1–92 Mpc, median = 20 Mpc) galaxies of
morphological types E to Sm. The spectra, obtained with the Gemini Near-IR Spectrograph on the Gemini North
telescope, cover a wavelength range of approximately 0.85–2.5 μm at R ∼ 1300–1800. There is evidence that most
of the galaxies host an active galactic nucleus (AGN), but the range of AGN luminosities (log (L2 10 k - eV [erg
s
−1
]) = 37.0–43.2) in the sample means that the spectra display a wide variety of features. Some nuclei, especially
the Seyferts, exhibit a rich emission-line spectrum. Other objects, in particular the type 2 Low Ionization Nuclear
Emission Region galaxies, show just a few, weak emission lines, allowing a detailed view of the underlying stellar
population. These spectra display numerous absorption features sensitive to the stellar initial mass function, as well
as molecular bands arising in cool stars, and many other atomic absorption lines. We compare the spectra of
subsets of galaxies known to be characterized by intermediate-age and old stellar populations, and find clear
differences in their absorption lines and continuum shapes. We also examine the effect of atmospheric water vapor
on the signal-to-noise ratio achieved in regions between the conventional NIR atmospheric windows, which are of
potential interest to those planning observations of redshifted emission lines or other features affected by telluric
H2O. Further exploitation of this data set is in progress, and the reduced spectra and data reduction tools are made
available to the community.
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Artículo de publicación ISI
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URI: https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/130640
DOI: doi:10.1088/0067-0049/217/1/13
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The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 217:13 (27pp), 2015 March
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