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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

Stefano Zibetti
Affiliation:
Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark email: zibetti@dark-cosmology.dk, gallazzi@dark-cosmology.dk
Anna Gallazzi
Affiliation:
Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark email: zibetti@dark-cosmology.dk, gallazzi@dark-cosmology.dk
Stéphane Charlot
Affiliation:
Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, France
Anna Pasquali
Affiliation:
Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Heidelberg, Germany
Daniele Pierini
Affiliation:
Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark email: zibetti@dark-cosmology.dk, gallazzi@dark-cosmology.dk
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Abstract

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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.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2012

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