The Complex Star Formation History of the Halo of NGC 5128 (Cen A)

NGC 5128 (Cen A) is the nearest giant elliptical galaxy and one of the brightest extragalactic radio sources in the sky, boasting a prominent dust lane and jets emanating from its nuclear supermassive black hole. In this paper, we construct the star formation history (SFH) of two small fields in the halo of NGC 5128: a northeastern field (Field 1) at a projected distance of $\sim 18.8$ kpc from the center, and a southern field (Field 2) $\sim 9.9$ kpc from the center. Our method is based on identifying long period variable (LPV) stars that trace their sibling stellar population and hence historical star formation due to their high luminosity and strong variability; we identified 395 LPVs in Field 1 and 671 LPVs in Field 2. Even though the two fields are $\sim 28$ kpc apart on opposite sides from the center, they show similar SFHs. In Field 1, star formation rates (SFRs) increased significantly around $t\sim 800$ Myr and $t\sim 3.8$ Gyr; and in Field 2, SFRs increased considerably around $t\sim 800$ Myr, $t\sim 3.8$ Gyr, and $t\sim 6.3$ Gyr, where $t$ is look--back time. The increase in SFR $\sim 800$ Myr ago agrees with previous suggestions that the galaxy experienced a merger around that time. The SFH reconstructed from LPVs supports a scenario in which multiple episodes of nuclear activity lead to episodic jet-induced star formation. While there is no catalog of LPVs for the central part of NGC 5128, applying our method to the outer regions (for the first time in a galaxy outside the Local Group) has enabled us to put constraints on the complex evolution of this cornerstone galaxy.
Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ