The GECKOS survey: Assembly history of the lenticular galaxy NGC 3957

@misc{ding2026geckos,
  title = {{The GECKOS survey: Assembly history of the lenticular galaxy NGC 3957}},
  author = {Yuchen Ding and Marie Martig and Ling Zhu and Amelia Fraser-McKelvie and Ryan Leaman and Glenn van de Ven and Jesse van de Sande and Francesca Pinna and Eric Emsellem and Francesca Fragkoudi and Yunpeng Jin and Adriano Poci and Camila de Sá Freitas and Matthew Frosst and Runsheng Cai and Scott M Croom and Timothy A Davis and Rory Elliott and Michael R Hayden and Jesús Falcón-Barroso and Dimitri A Gadotti and Antonino Marasco and Lucas M Valenzuela and Zixian Wang and Emily Wisnioski and Meng Yang and Tayyaba Zafar},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.28744},
  eprint = {2608.28744},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.28744},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - The GECKOS survey: Assembly history of the lenticular galaxy NGC 3957
AU  - Yuchen Ding
AU  - Marie Martig
AU  - Ling Zhu
AU  - Amelia Fraser-McKelvie
AU  - Ryan Leaman
AU  - Glenn van de Ven
AU  - Jesse van de Sande
AU  - Francesca Pinna
AU  - Eric Emsellem
AU  - Francesca Fragkoudi
AU  - Yunpeng Jin
AU  - Adriano Poci
AU  - Camila de Sá Freitas
AU  - Matthew Frosst
AU  - Runsheng Cai
AU  - Scott M Croom
AU  - Timothy A Davis
AU  - Rory Elliott
AU  - Michael R Hayden
AU  - Jesús Falcón-Barroso
AU  - Dimitri A Gadotti
AU  - Antonino Marasco
AU  - Lucas M Valenzuela
AU  - Zixian Wang
AU  - Emily Wisnioski
AU  - Meng Yang
AU  - Tayyaba Zafar
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/28
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.28744
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.28744
AB  - We analyse the assembly history of the edge-on lenticular galaxy NGC 3957 using deep integral-field spectroscopic MUSE data from the GECKOS survey. By applying a dust-corrected Multi-Gaussian Expansion and a population-orbit superposition model, we disentangle the galaxy's stellar kinematics, age, and metallicity. We dynamically decompose the galaxy and identify three distinct components: a dynamically-cold main disc, a compact Nuclear Stellar Disc (NSD), and a hot component. The NSD emerges as the youngest and most metal-rich component (t = 6.9 ± 0.4 Gyr; [Z/H] = 0.49 ± 0.06 dex), implying that the stellar bar is a long-lived structure that formed at least ∼ 7 Gyr ago. The main stellar disc is dynamically cold (σ_z ∼ 20−30 km/s), precluding any significant mergers over the last ∼ 8 Gyr, and exhibits a strong positive age gradient (younger inside, older outside) beyond the bar radius. Synthesising these dynamical fossil records, NGC 3957 likely evolved as a `faded spiral' in a small-to-medium group environment. Its outer disc might passively fade due to mild gas starvation, while the bar fuelled prolonged central star formation. Comparison with S0s in the Fornax cluster reveals that this combination of internal secular evolution and mild starvation produces `outside-in' fading signatures that could mimic the environmental stripping typically seen in dense clusters.
ER  -