Stellar Mass Census of S4G Local Bars
Abstract
Bars are stellar structures commonly found in disk galaxies and important agents of secular evolution. Quantifying the stellar mass content of bars provides a physically motivated approach to assess how bar growth depends on galaxy mass and internal structure. We perform a GALFITM multi-band mid-infrared two-dimensional decomposition of 344 barred galaxies from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G) in the 3.6 and 4.5 μm bands. We estimate the stellar mass associated with each structural component (i.e., disk, bulge, bar, and nuclear point source) and investigate how bar properties correlate with global galaxy characteristics. Our final models consist of 2-4 components per galaxy, with the simplest configuration (disk + bar) typically associated with low-mass systems. We find that more massive galaxies with prominent bulges host more massive bars and higher median bar-to-total stellar mass ratios. These bulges generally present Sérsic indices below 2, consistent with a photometric signature of nuclear stellar disks. Additionally, when we consider the relative bar lengths at a fixed galaxy mass, we find a bimodal distribution where galaxies with bulges host relatively longer bars compared to their bulgeless counterparts. These findings could be the result of different evolutionary paths, possibly linked to different disk formation epochs, allowing bars more time to grow in size and mass. Our study indicates that bar evolution may follow distinct pathways across different galaxy mass regimes, and is likely influenced by secular processes and environmental effects.
Related
- A Census of Stellar-mass Black Holes in the Milky Way with POPKIN. I. Isolated Black Holes
- Stellar bars reshape the spatial distribution of UV-bright clumps in nearby galaxies
- Bar likelihood in local galaxies: the joint role of stellar mass, morphology and environment
- Bar likelihood in local galaxies: the joint role of stellar mass, morphology and environment
- Stellar Bars Reshape the Spatial Distribution of UV-bright Clumps in Nearby Galaxies
BibTeX
@misc{cavalcantecoelho2026stellar,
title = {{Stellar Mass Census of $S^4G$ Local Bars}},
author = {Yasmin Cavalcante-Coelho and Karín Menéndez-Delmestre and Taehyun Kim and Arianna Cortesi and Natan de Isídio and Thiago S. Gonçalves and Kartik Sheth and Osbaldo Sánchez-García and Marco Grossi and Thiago Bueno-Dalpiaz},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.22188},
eprint = {2610.22188},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.22188},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Stellar Mass Census of S^4G Local Bars
AU - Yasmin Cavalcante-Coelho
AU - Karín Menéndez-Delmestre
AU - Taehyun Kim
AU - Arianna Cortesi
AU - Natan de Isídio
AU - Thiago S. Gonçalves
AU - Kartik Sheth
AU - Osbaldo Sánchez-García
AU - Marco Grossi
AU - Thiago Bueno-Dalpiaz
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.22188
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.22188
AB - Bars are stellar structures commonly found in disk galaxies and important agents of secular evolution. Quantifying the stellar mass content of bars provides a physically motivated approach to assess how bar growth depends on galaxy mass and internal structure. We perform a GALFITM multi-band mid-infrared two-dimensional decomposition of 344 barred galaxies from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S^4G) in the 3.6 and 4.5 μm bands. We estimate the stellar mass associated with each structural component (i.e., disk, bulge, bar, and nuclear point source) and investigate how bar properties correlate with global galaxy characteristics. Our final models consist of 2-4 components per galaxy, with the simplest configuration (disk + bar) typically associated with low-mass systems. We find that more massive galaxies with prominent bulges host more massive bars and higher median bar-to-total stellar mass ratios. These bulges generally present Sérsic indices below 2, consistent with a photometric signature of nuclear stellar disks. Additionally, when we consider the relative bar lengths at a fixed galaxy mass, we find a bimodal distribution where galaxies with bulges host relatively longer bars compared to their bulgeless counterparts. These findings could be the result of different evolutionary paths, possibly linked to different disk formation epochs, allowing bars more time to grow in size and mass. Our study indicates that bar evolution may follow distinct pathways across different galaxy mass regimes, and is likely influenced by secular processes and environmental effects.
ER -