Warm ionized gas in CALIFA early-type galaxies

Abstract

Context. The morphological, spectroscopic, and kinematical properties of the warm interstellar medium (wim) in early-type galaxies (ETGs) hold key observational constraints to nuclear activity and the buildup history of these massive, quiescent systems. High-quality integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data with a wide spectral and spatial coverage, such as those from the CALIFA survey, offer an unprecedented opportunity for advancing our understanding of the wim in ETGs.