Do galaxy global relationships emerge from local ones? The SDSS IV MaNGA surface mass density-metallicity relation

Jorge K. Barrera-Ballesteros, Timothy M. Heckman, Guangtun B. Zhu, Nadia L. Zakamska, Sebastian F. Sanchez, David Law, David Wake, Jenny E. Green, Dmitry Bizyaev, Daniel Oravetz, Audrey Simmons, Elena Malanushenko, Kaike Pan, Alexandre Roman Lopes, Richard R. Lane

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

91 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present the stellar surface mass density versus gas metallicity (Σ*-Z) relation for more than 500 000 spatially resolved star-forming resolution elements (spaxels) from a sample of 653 disc galaxies included in the SDSS IV MaNGA survey. We find a tight relation between these local properties, with higher metallicities as the surface density increases. This relation extends over three orders of magnitude in the surface mass density and a factor of 4 in metallicity. We show that this local relationship can simultaneously reproduce two well-known properties of disc galaxies: their global mass-metallicity relationship and their radial metallicity gradients. We also find that the Σ*-Z relation is largely independent of the galaxy's total stellar mass and specific star formation rate (sSFR), except at low stellar mass and high sSFR. These results suggest that in the present-day universe local properties play a key role in determining the gas-phase metallicity in typical disc galaxies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2513-2522
Number of pages10
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume463
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 11 2016

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

Keywords

  • Galaxies: abundances
  • Galaxies: fundamental parameters
  • Galaxies: iSM
  • Techniques: imaging spectroscopy

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