Abstract
González & Graham (1996a, b) discovered an azimuthal age gradient in the stellar population across one of the arms of M99, in what amounts to the first observational confirmation of a fundamental prediction of spiral density wave theory. A more exhaustive comparison of the color gradient with stellar population synthesis models seems to rule out a wave as old as 1010 yr, in favor of a duration of a few times 108 yr. By using new models that include the effects of mixed-in dust, we confirm that dust plays a minor role in the determination of the azimuthal color changes in this region of M99. We advance some possible new explanations for the overwhelming non-detection of convincing stellar population gradients across spiral arms.
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© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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González, R.A., Bruzual, A.G., Magris, C.G., Graham, J.R. (1996). Color Gradients in M99: Stellar Populations or Dust?. In: Block, D.L., Greenberg, J.M. (eds) New Extragalactic Perspectives in the New South Africa. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 209. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0335-7_29
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0335-7_29
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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