Bibcode
Lara-López, M. A.
Bibliographical reference
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #602.12; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 36, p.1122
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1
2010
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
The chemical composition of the gas and star formation rates (SFRs) in
galaxies over cosmic time provide very important tools for understanding
galaxy evolution. Although there are many studies at high redshift, they
are rather scarce at lower redshifts. However, low redshift studies can
provide important clues about the evolution of galaxies, furnishing the
required link between the local and high redshift universe.
With this purpose, we analyzed the metallicity, mass, luminosity, SFR,
and morphology of star-forming galaxies from SDSS-DR5 in the redshifts
range 0.04 < z < 0.4. We used data processed with the STARLIGHT
spectral synthesis code, correcting the fluxes for dust extinction, and
estimating metallicities using the R_23 method. SFRs were estimated by
means of the Ha emission flux following Kennicutt et al. (1998), and
morphology was determined by color, concentration index, and specific
SFR diagrams. We analyze the evolution of the luminosity and
mass-metallicity relations, as well as the evolution of the SFR and
morphology. There is a clear evolution for galaxies at higher redshift
(0.3 < z < 0.4), showing higher SFRs, lower metallicities, and
late-type morphologies. By dividing our redshift samples in intervals of
similar magnitude and comparing them, significant signs of metallicity
evolution are found. Metallicity correlates inversely with redshift:
from redshift 0 to 0.4 a decrement of 0.1 dex in 12+log(O/H) is found.