How Galaxies Disguise Their Ages

Abstract

We calculate the contribution to Balmer line indices from far ultraviolet component sources. We find that this is significant, and may lead to identification of spurious age differences of the order of a total span of $\sim 6$ Gyrs or $\sim 15$ size bursts observed a few Gyrs after star formation stops. We suggest that claims for intermediate age populations in early-type galaxies may need to be reconsidered in the light of this new evidence.

Accepted by MNRAS

References in corpus (2)

• Far-Ultraviolet Radiation from Elliptical Galaxies
• A Robust Age Indicator for Old Stellar Populations

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Star formation histories of early-type galaxies. I: Higher order Balmer lines as age indicators
• Radial Age and Metal Abundance Gradients in the Stellar Content of M32
• UV SEDs of early-type cluster galaxies: A new look at the UV upturn
• Chemical abundance anticorrelations in globular cluster stars: The effect on cluster integrated spectra