Abstract
We introduce the MUSCEL Program (MUltiwavelength observations of the
Structure, Chemistry and Evolution of LSB galaxies), a project aimed at
determining the star-formation histories of low surface brightness galaxies.
MUSCEL utilizes ground-based optical spectra and space-based UV and IR
photometry to fully constrain the star-formation histories of our targets with
the aim of shedding light on the processes that led low surface brightness
galaxies down a different evolutionary path from that followed by high surface
brightness galaxies, such as our Milky Way. Here we present the
spatially-resolved optical spectra of UGC 628, observed with the VIRUS-P IFU at
the 2.7-m Harlen J. Smith Telescope at the McDonald Observatory, and utilize
emission-line diagnostics to determine the rate and distribution of star
formation as well as the gas-phase metallicity and metallicity gradient. We
find highly clustered star formation throughout UGC 628, excluding the core
regions, and a log(O/H) metallicity around -4.2, with more metal rich regions
near the edges of the galactic disk. Based on the emission-line diagnostics
alone, the current mode of star formation, slow and concentrated in the outer
disk, appears to have dominated for quite some time, although there are clear
signs of a much older stellar population formed in a more standard inside-out
fashion.
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