Secular Evolution via Bar-driven Gas Inflow: Results from BIMA SONG

By K. Sheth, S. Vogel, M. Regan, M. Thornley, Peter J. Teuben. 2005

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We present an analysis of the molecular gas distributions in the 29 barred and 15 unbarred spirals in the BIMA CO (J = 1-0) Survey of Nearby Galaxies (SONG). For galaxies that are bright in CO, we confirm the conclusion by Sakamoto et al. that barred spirals have higher molecular gas concentrations in the central kiloparsec. The SONG sample also includes 27 galaxies below the CO brightness limit used by Sakamoto et al. Even in these less CO-bright galaxies we show that high central gas concentrations are more common in barred galaxies, consistent with radial inflow driven by the bar. However, there is a significant population of early-type (Sa-Sbc) barred spirals (6 of 19) that have no molecular gas detected in the nuclear region and have very little out to the bar corotation radius. This suggests that in barred galaxies with gas-deficient nuclear regions, the bar has already driven most of the gas within the bar corotation radius to the nuclear region, where it has been consumed by star formation. The median mass of nuclear molecular gas is over 4 times higher in early-type bars than in late-type (Sc-Sdm) bars. Since previous work has shown that the gas consumption rate is an order of magnitude higher in early-type bars, this implies that the early types have significantly higher bar-driven inflows. The lower accretion rates in late-type bars can probably be attributed to the known differences in bar structure between early and late types. Despite the evidence for bar-driven inflows in both early and late Hubble-type spirals, the data indicate that it is highly unlikely for a late-type galaxy to evolve into an early type via bar-induced gas inflow. Nonetheless, secular evolutionary processes are undoubtedly present, and pseudobulges are inevitable; evidence for pseudobulges is likely to be clearest in early-type galaxies because of their high gas inflow rates and higher star formation activity.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/13552d824299ac0df3172f22a53b2391266c05b5

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Citations in the corpus

Physical properties and environments of nearby galaxies (2009, background): “Barred galaxies are also observed to have larger reservoirs of molecular gas in their centers relative to unbarred galaxies (Sakamoto et al. 1999; Sheth et al. 2005) and flatter chemical abundance gradients (Zaritsky, Kennicutt & Huchra 1994; Martin & Roy 1994).”
THE EMISSION BY DUST AND STARS OF NEARBY GALAXIES IN THE HERSCHEL KINGFISH SURVEY (2011, background): “Galactic bars may also be an important property, being related to gas concentration, star formation, and dust heating in the central regions of galaxies (Sheth et al. 2005; Engelbracht et al. 2010).”
What controls star formation in the central 500 pc of the Galaxy (2013, background): “…in§3.1.2, instabilities can drive the fragmentation of the nuclear ring and eventually induce a starburst.13 Gas in barred spiral galaxies like the Milky Way is funnelled from the disc through the bar to the galaxy centre (Sakamoto et al. 1999; Kormendy & Kennicutt 2004; Sheth et al. 2005).”
Variations in the Galactic star formation rate and density thresholds for star formation (2012, background): “Gas in barred spiral gal xies like the Milky Way is funnelled from the disk through the bar to the GC (Kormendy & Kennicutt 2004; Sheth et al. 2005).”
Galaxy Zoo:bars in disc galaxies (2010, background): “…efficient at driving gas inwards, perhaps sparking central star formation (e.g. Hawarden et al. 1986; Knapen et al. 1995; Jogee, Scoville & Kenney 2005; Sheth et al. 2005), and This publication has been made possible by the participation of more than 200 000 volunteers in the Galaxy Zoo project.”
THE STRUCTURE OF CLASSICAL BULGES AND PSEUDOBULGES: THE LINK BETWEEN PSEUDOBULGES AND SÉRSIC INDEX (2008, background): “Indeed, a correlation between central star formation rate and the presence of bars and ovals has been detected (e.g. Sheth et al. 2005; Jogee et al. 2005; Fisher 2006).”
BULGES OF NEARBY GALAXIES WITH SPITZER: SCALING RELATIONS IN PSEUDOBULGES AND CLASSICAL BULGES (2010, background): “Many bulges in the nearby universe are filled with young stars (Peletier & Balcells 1996; Gadotti & dos Anjos 2001; Carollo et al. 2002; MacArthur et al. 2003), and many bulges are gas rich (Regan et al. 2001; Helfer et al. 2003; Sheth et al. 2005; Jogee et al. 2005).”
The impact of gas inflows on star formation rates and metallicities in barred galaxies (2011, background): “…Jogee, Scoville & Kenney (2005) find that the SFRs of barred galaxies can vary by an order of magnitude for a given central molecular gas mass. Sheth et al. (2005) find that early-type bars have higher molecular gas masses in their centres than late types, yet find a notable population of…”
METALLICITY GRADIENTS AND GAS FLOWS IN GALAXY PAIRS (2010, background): “The presence of bars is correlated with efficient gas flows toward the nucleus in late-type spiral galaxies (e.g., Sakamoto et al. 1999; Sheth et al. 2005) and bars may be created in the early stages of a merger (Barnes & Hernquist 1991).”
Bar formation and evolution in disc galaxies with gas and a triaxial halo: morphology, bar strength and halo properties (2012, background): “…of single objects to large surveys, have provided useful information on the morphological, photometrical and kinematical properties of bars (e.g. Sheth et al. 2005; Gadotti et al. C© 2013 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society Downloaded…”
Molecular and atomic gas along and across the main sequence of star-forming galaxies (2016, background): “…stellar bars are a common feature of galaxies in the “danger zone”, and are indeed an example ofa mechanism that can trigger inward radial gas motions and therefore increased central gas concentrations and star formation rates (e.g. Sakamoto et al. 1999; Sheth et al. 2005; Masters et al. 2012).”
THE IMPACT OF INTERACTIONS, BARS, BULGES, AND ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI ON STAR FORMATION EFFICIENCY IN LOCAL MASSIVE GALAXIES (2012, background): “Several studies indicate that bars can drive gas inward and lead to locally enhanced nuclear star formation efficiency (e.g. Sakamoto et al. 1999; Sheth et al. 2005).”
MOLECULAR GAS AND STAR FORMATION IN NEARBY DISK GALAXIES (2013, background): “Similarly, bars may both suppress inflowing gas and concentrate material into nuclear starbursts (e.g., Sakamoto et al. 1999; Jogee et al. 2005; Sheth et al. 2005).”
Nobeyama CO Atlas of Nearby Spiral Galaxies: Distribution of Molecular Gas in Barred and Nonbarred Spiral Galaxies (2007, methodology): “Sakamoto et al. (1999b) and Sheth et al. (2005) showed that the degree of the central concentration of molecular gas is higher in barred spirals than in nonbarred spirals, using interferometric survey data.”
Bars in Disk-dominated and Bulge-dominated Galaxies at z ~ 0: New Insights from ~3600 SDSS Galaxies (2007, background): “…from the outer disk to the central parts, which can trigger starbursts (Elmegreen1994; Knapen et al.1995; Regan & Teuben 2004; Jogee et al. 2005; Sheth et al. 2005) and might contribute to the formation of disky bulges (or ‘‘pseudobulges’’; Kormendy 1993; Kormendy & Kennicutt 2004; Athanassoula…”