Dynamics of Post-Starburst Galaxies
Summary
Post-starburst galaxies represent a transitional phase in galaxy evolution, characterised by the abrupt cessation of intense star formation following a recent starburst. Their spectra exhibit strong Balmer absorption lines with little or no emission, signalling a dominant A‐type stellar population formed within the past few hundred million years. Dynamically, these systems often reveal disturbed morphologies, tidal features or compact cores indicative of recent mergers or interactions. The removal or heating of cold gas reservoirs can be driven by feedback from active galactic nuclei, by starburst‐driven winds or by environmental processes such as ram pressure stripping in clusters. Observations of molecular gas content, stellar kinematics and spatially resolved star formation histories show that quenching can proceed from the outside in, inside out or in irregular patterns, depending on mass, environment and triggering mechanism. Understanding the interplay between gas dynamics, feedback and structural transformation in post-starburst galaxies provides crucial insight into the rapid build‐up of the quiescent population across cosmic time.
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Dynamics of Post-Starburst Galaxies publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in dynamics of post-starburst galaxies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Post-starburst galaxy: A galaxy that has experienced a recent burst of star formation followed by rapid quenching, identified by strong Balmer absorption and weak emission lines.
Quenching: The process by which a galaxy’s star formation is sharply reduced or halted.
Balmer absorption lines: Spectral features arising from hydrogen transitions in A‐type stars, indicative of a young stellar population.
Ram pressure stripping: Removal of a galaxy’s interstellar medium by the pressure of hot intracluster gas as the galaxy moves through a cluster.
Molecular gas reservoir (H₂): Cold molecular hydrogen that fuels star formation, often traced via CO line emission.
Inverse age gradient: A stellar population profile where younger stars are more centrally concentrated than older stars, opposite to the typical pattern seen in quiescent systems.
References
- Post-starburst Galaxies in the Centers of Intermediate-redshift Clusters. The Astrophysical Journal (2022).
- Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Star Formation Truncation Precedes the Loss of Molecular Gas by ∼100 Myr in Massive Poststarburst Galaxies at z ∼ 0.6. The Astrophysical Journal (2022).
- Inverse stellar population age gradients of post-starburst galaxies at z = 0.8 with LEGA-C. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2020).
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