Gas Mass Fractions and the Evolution of LSB Dwarf Galaxies
Preprint
- 25 January 2001
Abstract
The optical and HI properties for a sample of low surface brightness (LSB) dwarf galaxies, cataloged from the Second Palomar Sky Survey, is presented. Gas mass fractions for LSB dwarfs reach the highest levels of any know galaxy type (f_g=95%) confirming that their low stellar densities are due to inefficient conversion of gas mass into stellar mass. Comparison with star formation models indicates that the blue optical colors of LSB dwarfs is not due to low metallicity or recent star formation and can only be explained by a dominant stellar population that is less than 5 Gyrs in mean age. If star formation occurs in OB complexes, similar to normal galaxies, then LSB dwarfs must undergo weak bursts traveling over the extent of the galaxy to maintain their LSB nature, which contributes to their irregular morphological appearance.Keywords
All Related Versions
- Version 1, 2001-01-25, ArXiv
- Published version: The Astronomical Journal, 121 (5), 2420.
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