Abundance ratios in dwarf elliptical galaxies

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Date
2018Author
Sen, S.
Mentz, J.J.
Peletier, R.F.
Boselli, A.
Den Brok, M.
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We determine abundance ratios of 37 dwarf ellipticals (dEs) in the nearby Virgo cluster. This
sample is representative of the early-type population of galaxies in the absolute magnitude
range −19.0 < Mr < −16.0. We analyse their absorption line-strength indices by means of
index–index diagrams and scaling relations and use the stellar population models to interpret
them. We present ages, metallicities, and abundance ratios obtained from these dEs within an
aperture size of Re/8.We calculate [Na/Fe] from NaD, [Ca/Fe] from Ca4227, and [Mg/Fe] from
Mgb. We find that [Na/Fe] is underabundant with respect to solar, whereas [Mg/Fe] is around
solar. This is exactly opposite to what is found for giant ellipticals, but follows the trend with
metallicity found previously for the Fornax dwarf NGC 1396. We discuss possible formation
scenarios that can result in such elemental abundance patterns, and we speculate that dEs have
disc-like star formation history (SFH) favouring them to originate from late-type dwarfs or
small spirals. Na-yields appear to be very metal-dependent, in agreement with studies of giant
ellipticals, probably due to the large dependence on the neutron-excess in stars. We conclude
that dEs have undergone a considerable amount of chemical evolution, they are therefore not
uniformly old, but have extended SFH, similar to many of the Local Group galaxies
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/26712https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx3254
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/475/3/3453/4768272
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