Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 April 2015
We present stellar population gradients of early-type galaxies from the ATLAS3D survey: a complete, volume-limited multi-wavelength survey of 260 early-type galaxies in the local 42 Mpc volume. Using emission-corrected spectra integrated within elliptical annuli we measure line-strength indices and apply single stellar population (SSP) models to derive SSP-equivalent values of stellar age, metallicity, and alpha enhancement as function of radius. For all galaxies we derive basic linear stellar population gradients versus radius logR/Re). These gradients are examined on their own and versus three mass-sensitive parameters: K-band luminosity MK, velocity dispersion within one effective radius log σe, and our dynamical mass MJAM. We find a correlation between positive age gradients (younger centre) and steeper negative metallicity gradients with a Spearman rank correlation coefficient of -0.46 and a significance of 7.65 × 10−15. Furthermore, we find a robustly estimated mean metallicity gradient of Δ[Z/H] = -0.37 ± 0.01 for the sample with a significant trend for more massive galaxies to have shallower profiles. While there is no clear distinction between fast and slow rotators or signs of environmental influence, we do detect a significantly larger range of [Z/H]-gradients towards low mass galaxies.