SDSS IV MaNGA – sSFR profiles and the slow quenching of discs in green valley galaxies

Abstract We study radial profiles in H α equivalent width and specific star formation rate (sSFR) derived from spatially resolved SDSS-IV MaNGA spectroscopy to gain insight on the physical mechanisms that suppress star formation and determine a galaxy’s location in the SFR-M⋆ diagram. Even within the star-forming ‘main sequence’, the measured sSFR decreases with stellar mass, in both an integrated and spatially resolved sense. Flat sSFR radial profiles are observed for log(M⋆/M⊙) 10.0 are classified spectroscopically as central low-ionization emission-line regions (cLIERs). Despite displaying a higher central stellar mass concentration, the sSFR suppression observed in cLIER galaxies is not simply due to the larger mass of the bulge. Drawing a comparison sample of star-forming galaxies with the same M⋆ and $\rm \Sigma _{1\, kpc}$ (the mass surface density within 1 kpc), we show that a high $\rm \Sigma _{1\, kpc}$ is not a sufficient condition for determining central quiescence.