Several studies have reported the presence of sodium excess objects having neutral atomic absorption lines at 5895{AA} (Na.D) and 8190{AA} that are deeper than expected based on stellar population models that match the stellar continuum. The origin of these lines is therefore hotly debated. van Dokkum & Conroy (2010Natur.468..940V) proposed that low-mass stars (<~0.3M_{sun}_) are more prevalent in massive early-type galaxies, which may lead to a strong Na I 8190 line strength. It is necessary to test this prediction, however, against other prominent optical line indices such as Na.D, Mg b, and Fe 5270, which can be measured with a significantly higher signal-to-noise ratio than Na I 8190. We identified a new sample of roughly 1000 Na.D excess objects (NEOs; ~8% of galaxies in the sample) based on Na.D line strength in the redshift range 0.00<=z250km/s) show Na.D excesses.

Cone search capability for table J/ApJS/208/7/table5 (A sample of the catalog of Na.D excess objects)