_version_ 1866911538367954944
author Eskandarlou, Sepideh
Akhlaghi, Mohammad
Arizo-Borillo, Francisco
Knapen, Johan H.
Sánchez, Helena Domínguez
Fernández-Ontiveros, Juan Antonio
López-Sanjuan, Carlos
Delgado, Rosa María González
Teja, Yolanda Jiménez
Dupke, Renato
Revaz, Yves
Jablonka, Pascale
Roca-Fábrega, Santi
Miró-Carretero, Juan
Martínez-Delgado, David
Lumbreras-Calle, Alejandro
Hernán-Caballero, Antonio
Ramió, Héctor Vázquez
Infante-Sainz, Raúl
Chies-Santos, Ana L.
Ederoclite, Alessandro
Martín, Julio Esteban Rodríguez
Abramo, Raul
Alcaniz, Jailson
Benitez, Narciso
Bonoli, Silvia
Zaragoza, Javier
Carneiro, Saulo
Cenarro, Javier
Cristóbal-Hornillos, David
Daflon, Simone
Hernández-Monteagudo, Carlos
Liu, Jifeng
Franch, Antonio Marín
de Oliveira, Claudia Mendes
Moles, Mariano
Roig, Fernando
Sodré Jr., Laerte
Taylor, Keith
Varela, Jesús
Vilchez, José Manuel
author_facet Eskandarlou, Sepideh
Akhlaghi, Mohammad
Arizo-Borillo, Francisco
Knapen, Johan H.
Sánchez, Helena Domínguez
Fernández-Ontiveros, Juan Antonio
López-Sanjuan, Carlos
Delgado, Rosa María González
Teja, Yolanda Jiménez
Dupke, Renato
Revaz, Yves
Jablonka, Pascale
Roca-Fábrega, Santi
Miró-Carretero, Juan
Martínez-Delgado, David
Lumbreras-Calle, Alejandro
Hernán-Caballero, Antonio
Ramió, Héctor Vázquez
Infante-Sainz, Raúl
Chies-Santos, Ana L.
Ederoclite, Alessandro
Martín, Julio Esteban Rodríguez
Abramo, Raul
Alcaniz, Jailson
Benitez, Narciso
Bonoli, Silvia
Zaragoza, Javier
Carneiro, Saulo
Cenarro, Javier
Cristóbal-Hornillos, David
Daflon, Simone
Hernández-Monteagudo, Carlos
Liu, Jifeng
Franch, Antonio Marín
de Oliveira, Claudia Mendes
Moles, Mariano
Roig, Fernando
Sodré Jr., Laerte
Taylor, Keith
Varela, Jesús
Vilchez, José Manuel
contents Galaxies frequently interact with nearby systems, a process that can significantly alter their morphology and star formation activity. However, spectroscopic studies of their faint and diffuse remnants require very long exposure times and often exceed the limited field of view of integral field units (IFUs). On the other hand, broad-band imaging can have a much wider field of view, but lacks the spectral resolution to identify key spectral features, restricting accurate constraints on stellar population properties. With its 54 narrow-band filters in the optical and wide coverage (planned 8000 square degrees), J-PAS fills this gap. In this case study, we examine PGC 3087775, a massive galaxy at z = 0.046179 (~ 201 Mpc) in the later stages of a major merger in the J-PAS early data release. Photometry was validated with MaNGA IFU data (for the central part). Stellar population properties was derived using both J-PAS and SDSS photometry. SDSS indicates a metal-rich population with an extended star formation history (SFH) and elevated star formation rates. J-PAS instead points to a less metal-rich population with moderate extinction and a more rapid SFH, consistent with a quenched stellar population. The average Dn(4000) index of the tidal features is 1.24, suggesting that it was a non-dry merger and a fourfold improvement in the precision of stellar mass and Dn (4000) was found with J-PAS. We also assessed two heuristic methods for estimating the mass-to-light ratio from SDSS filters and found that they overestimate the stellar mass in this galaxy by 0.5 dex and 0.4 dex relative to SED fitting results from J-PAS and SDSS, respectively. Future work will extend this analysis to a larger sample of merging galaxies and evolution of the stellar populations of such structures across the nearby Universe to unprecedented detail. This project is fully reproducible, through Maneage (commit 0f0d7e2).
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_22166
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle J-PAS: unprecedented precision in stellar populations of diffuse tidal features
Eskandarlou, Sepideh
Akhlaghi, Mohammad
Arizo-Borillo, Francisco
Knapen, Johan H.
Sánchez, Helena Domínguez
Fernández-Ontiveros, Juan Antonio
López-Sanjuan, Carlos
Delgado, Rosa María González
Teja, Yolanda Jiménez
Dupke, Renato
Revaz, Yves
Jablonka, Pascale
Roca-Fábrega, Santi
Miró-Carretero, Juan
Martínez-Delgado, David
Lumbreras-Calle, Alejandro
Hernán-Caballero, Antonio
Ramió, Héctor Vázquez
Infante-Sainz, Raúl
Chies-Santos, Ana L.
Ederoclite, Alessandro
Martín, Julio Esteban Rodríguez
Abramo, Raul
Alcaniz, Jailson
Benitez, Narciso
Bonoli, Silvia
Zaragoza, Javier
Carneiro, Saulo
Cenarro, Javier
Cristóbal-Hornillos, David
Daflon, Simone
Hernández-Monteagudo, Carlos
Liu, Jifeng
Franch, Antonio Marín
de Oliveira, Claudia Mendes
Moles, Mariano
Roig, Fernando
Sodré Jr., Laerte
Taylor, Keith
Varela, Jesús
Vilchez, José Manuel
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Galaxies frequently interact with nearby systems, a process that can significantly alter their morphology and star formation activity. However, spectroscopic studies of their faint and diffuse remnants require very long exposure times and often exceed the limited field of view of integral field units (IFUs). On the other hand, broad-band imaging can have a much wider field of view, but lacks the spectral resolution to identify key spectral features, restricting accurate constraints on stellar population properties. With its 54 narrow-band filters in the optical and wide coverage (planned 8000 square degrees), J-PAS fills this gap. In this case study, we examine PGC 3087775, a massive galaxy at z = 0.046179 (~ 201 Mpc) in the later stages of a major merger in the J-PAS early data release. Photometry was validated with MaNGA IFU data (for the central part). Stellar population properties was derived using both J-PAS and SDSS photometry. SDSS indicates a metal-rich population with an extended star formation history (SFH) and elevated star formation rates. J-PAS instead points to a less metal-rich population with moderate extinction and a more rapid SFH, consistent with a quenched stellar population. The average Dn(4000) index of the tidal features is 1.24, suggesting that it was a non-dry merger and a fourfold improvement in the precision of stellar mass and Dn (4000) was found with J-PAS. We also assessed two heuristic methods for estimating the mass-to-light ratio from SDSS filters and found that they overestimate the stellar mass in this galaxy by 0.5 dex and 0.4 dex relative to SED fitting results from J-PAS and SDSS, respectively. Future work will extend this analysis to a larger sample of merging galaxies and evolution of the stellar populations of such structures across the nearby Universe to unprecedented detail. This project is fully reproducible, through Maneage (commit 0f0d7e2).
title J-PAS: unprecedented precision in stellar populations of diffuse tidal features
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.22166