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We investigated the stellar population properties of a sample of 1858 massive compact galaxies (MCGs) extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Motivated by previous results showing that older compact galaxies tend to have larger velocity dispersion at fixed stellar mass, we used the distance to the σe versus R e and M ⋆ versus σe relations as selection criteria. We found that MCGs are old (≳10 Gyr), α-enhanced ([α/Fe] ∼ 0.2), and have solar to supersolar stellar metallicities. Metallicity increases with σe, while age and [α/Fe] do not vary significantly. Moreover, at fixed σe, metallicity and stellar mass are correlated. Compared with a control sample of typical quiescent galaxies, MCGs have, on average, lower metallicities than control sample galaxies (CSGs) of similar σe. For σe ≲ 225 km s−1, MCGs are older and more α-enhanced than CSGs, while for higher σe ages and α-enhancement are similar. The differences in age and α-enhancement can be explained by lower σe CSGs being an amalgam of quiescent galaxies with a variety of ages. The origin of the differences in metallicity, however, is not clear. Lastly, we compared the stellar mass within the region probed by the SDSS fibre finding that, at fixed fibre velocity dispersion, MCGs have lower stellar masses on average. Since the velocity dispersion is a tracer of the dynamical mass, this raises the possibility that MCGs have, on average, a bottom-heavier initial mass function or a larger dark matter fraction within the inner ∼1−2 kpc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We characterized the kinematics, morphology, and stellar population (SP) properties of a sample of massive compact quiescent galaxies (MCGs, |$10\, \lesssim \, \log M_\star$| /M |$_\odot \, \lesssim \, 11$| and r e ∼ 1–3 kpc) in the MaNGA Survey, with the goal of constraining their formation, assembly history, and assessing their relation with non-compact quiescent galaxies. We compared their properties with those of a control sample of median-sized quiescent galaxies (r e ∼ 4–8 kpc) with similar effective velocity dispersions. MCGs have elevated rotational support, as evidenced by a strong anticorrelation between the Gauss–Hermite moment h 3 and V / σ. In contrast, 30 |${{\ \rm per\ cent}}$| of control sample galaxies (CSGs) are slow rotators, and fast-rotating CSGs generally show a weak h 3– V / σ anticorrelation. MCGs and CSGs have similar ages, but MCGs are more metal-rich and α -enhanced. Both MCGs and CSGs have shallow negative metallicity gradients and flat [ α /Fe] gradients. On average, MCGs and CSGs have flat age gradients, but CSGs have a significantly larger dispersion of gradient values. The kinematics and SP properties of MCGs suggest that they experienced highly dissipative gas-rich events, such as mergers, followed by an intense, short, and centrally concentrated burst of star formation, between 4 and 10 Gyr ago (z ∼ 0.4–2), and had a quiet accretion history since then. This sequence of events might be analogous to, although less extreme than, the compaction events that formed compact quiescent galaxies at z  ∼ 2. The small sizes of MCGs, and the high efficiency and short duration of their last star formation episode suggest that they are descendants of compact post-starburst galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse optical data cubes of the inner kiloparsec of 30 local (z ≤ 0.02) active galactic nucleus (AGN) hosts that our research group, AGNIFS, has collected over the past decade via observations with the integral field units of the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrographs. Spatial resolutions range between 50 and 300 pc and spectral coverage is from 4800 or 5600 to 7000 Å, at velocity resolutions of ≈50  |$\rm ~km~s^{-1}$|⁠. We derive maps of the gas excitation and kinematics, and determine the AGN ionization axis – which has random orientation relative to the galaxy – and the kinematic major axes of the emitting gas. We find that rotation dominates the gas kinematics in most cases, but is disturbed by the presence of inflows and outflows. Outflows have been found in 21 nuclei, usually along the ionization axis. The gas velocity dispersion is traced by W 80 (velocity width encompassing 80 per cent of the line flux), adopted as a tracer of outflows. In seven sources, W 80 is enhanced perpendicularly to the ionization axis, indicating lateral expansion of the outflow. We have estimated mass-outflow rates |$\dot{M}$| and powers |$\dot{E}$|⁠ , finding median values of |$\log \, [\dot{M}/({\rm \, M_\odot \, yr^{-1}})]=-2.1_{-1.0}^{+1.6}$| and |$\log \, [\dot{E}/({\rm \, erg\, s^{-1}})]=38.5_{-0.9}^{+1.8}$|⁠ , respectively. Both quantities show a mild correlation with the AGN luminosity (L AGN). |$\dot{E}$| is of the order of 0.01 L AGN for four sources, but much lower for the majority (nine) of the sources, with a median value of |$\log \, [\dot{E}/L_{\rm AGN} ]=-5.34_{-0.9}^{+3.2}$|⁠ , indicating that typical outflows in the local Universe are unlikely to significantly impact their host galaxy evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]