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Direct constraints on the impact of TP-AGB stars on the SED of galaxies from near-infrared spectroscopy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 August 2012
Abstract
We present new spectro-photometric NIR observations of 16 post-starburst galaxies especially designed to test for the presence of strong carbon features of thermally pulsing AGB (TP-AGB) stars, as predicted by recent models of stellar population synthesis. Selection based on clear spectroscopic optical features indicating the strong predominance of stellar populations with ages between 0.5 and 1.5 Gyr and redshift around 0.2 allows us to probe the spectral region that is most affected by the carbon features of TP-AGB stars (unaccessible from the ground for z ~ 0 galaxies) in the evolutionary phase when their impact on the IR luminosity is maximum. Nevertheless, none of the observed galaxies display such features. Moreover the NIR fluxes relative to optical are consistent with those predicted by the original Bruzual & Charlot (2003) models, where the impact of TP-AGB stars is much lower than has been recently advocated.
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- Type
- Contributed Papers
- Information
- Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 7 , Symposium S284: The Spectral Energy Distribution of Galaxies , September 2011 , pp. 63 - 65
- Copyright
- Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2012
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