Contents
Images
Upload your image
DSS Images Other Images
Related articles
The AGB phase-transition outside the local group: K-band observations of young star clusters in NGC 7252
We have extended the study of the young star clusters observed in themerger remnant galaxy NGC 7252 by obtaining K band photometry for theseclusters. Our K band data significantly complement the opticalphotometry and spectroscopy in the literature: K band data arefundamental to study the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) population ofthese clusters, since the AGB phase transition (occuring between the ageof ~ 200 Myr and ~ 1 Gyr) causes abrupt changes in the near-infraredluminosity of the clusters while producing only small changes in theoptical. Therefore, the e.g. V-K colour is ideal to study thisevolutionary phase of stellar populations. For the present analysis wepresent models for Simple Stellar Populations which include thecontribution of the AGB stellar phase, calibrated with the young andintermediate age star clusters of the Magellanic Clouds. The comparisonwith the colour distribution of the NGC 7252 star clusters shows thatthey are indeed intermediate age clusters undergoing the AGB phasetransition. The AGB phase transition is observed for the first timeoutside the Local Group. Most of the studied clusters span the verynarrow age range 300-500 Myr, and likely have metallicities 0.5-1Zsun. A very important exception is the cluster W32, whichhas already completed its AGB epoch, its colours being consistent withan age of ~ 1-2 Gyr. This impacts on the duration of the merger-inducedstarburst. The strengths of the magnesium and iron lines in the spectrumof the best observed cluster W3, and in the spectrum of the diffusecentral light of NGC 7252, do not show an overabundance in alpha-elements, in contrast to the bulk stellar population of ellipticalgalaxies.
| Nearby Optical Galaxies: Selection of the Sample and Identification of Groups
In this paper we describe the Nearby Optical Galaxy (NOG) sample, whichis a complete, distance-limited (cz<=6000 km s-1) andmagnitude-limited (B<=14) sample of ~7000 optical galaxies. Thesample covers 2/3 (8.27 sr) of the sky (|b|>20deg) andappears to have a good completeness in redshift (97%). We select thesample on the basis of homogenized corrected total blue magnitudes inorder to minimize systematic effects in galaxy sampling. We identify thegroups in this sample by means of both the hierarchical and thepercolation ``friends-of-friends'' methods. The resulting catalogs ofloose groups appear to be similar and are among the largest catalogs ofgroups currently available. Most of the NOG galaxies (~60%) are found tobe members of galaxy pairs (~580 pairs for a total of ~15% of objects)or groups with at least three members (~500 groups for a total of ~45%of objects). About 40% of galaxies are left ungrouped (field galaxies).We illustrate the main features of the NOG galaxy distribution. Comparedto previous optical and IRAS galaxy samples, the NOG provides a densersampling of the galaxy distribution in the nearby universe. Given itslarge sky coverage, the identification of groups, and its high-densitysampling, the NOG is suited to the analysis of the galaxy density fieldof the nearby universe, especially on small scales.
| Seeing Galaxies through Thick and Thin. I. Optical Opacity Measures in Overlapping Galaxies
We describe the use of partially overlapping galaxies to provide directmeasurements of the effective absorption in galaxy disks, independent ofassumptions about internal disk structure. The nonoverlapping parts ofthe galaxies and symmetry considerations are used to reconstruct, viadifferential photometry, how much background galaxy light is lost inpassing through the foreground disks. Extensive catalog searches andfollow-up imaging yield ~15-25 nearby galaxy pairs suitable for varyingdegrees of our analysis; 11 of the best such examples are presentedhere. From these pairs, we find that interarm extinction is modest,declining from AB~1 mag at 0.3RB25 toessentially zero by RB25; the interarm dust has ascale length consistent with that of the disk starlight. In contrast,dust in spiral arms and resonance rings may be optically thick(AB>2) at virtually any radius. Some disks have flatterextinction curves than the Galaxy, with AB/AI~1.6this is probably the signature of clumpy dust distributions. Even thoughtypical spirals are not optically thick throughout their disks, wherethey are optically thick is correlated with where they are mostluminous: in spiral arms and inner disks. This correlation betweenabsorption and emission regions may account for their apparent surfacebrightness being only mildly dependent on inclination, erroneouslyindicating that spirals are generally optically thick. Taken as anensemble, the opacities of spiral galaxies may be just great enough tosignificantly affect QSO counts, though not enough to cause theirhigh-redshift cutoff. Based in part on archival observations with theNASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) obtained at the Space TelescopeScience Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universitiesfor Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.
| The Southern Sky Redshift Survey
We report redshifts, magnitudes, and morphological classifications for5369 galaxies with m_B <= 15.5 and for 57 galaxies fainter than thislimit, in two regions covering a total of 1.70 sr in the southerncelestial hemisphere. The galaxy catalog is drawn primarily from thelist of nonstellar objects identified in the Hubble Space TelescopeGuide Star Catalog (GSC). The galaxies have positions accurate to ~1"and magnitudes with an rms scatter of ~0.3 mag. We compute magnitudes(m_SSRS2) from the relation between instrumental GSC magnitudes and thephotometry by Lauberts & Valentijn. From a comparison with CCDphotometry, we find that our system is homogeneous across the sky andcorresponds to magnitudes measured at the isophotal level ~26 magarcsec^-2. The precision of the radial velocities is ~40 km s^-1, andthe redshift survey is more than 99% complete to the m_SSRS2 = 15.5 maglimit. This sample is in the direction opposite that of the CfA2; incombination the two surveys provide an important database for studies ofthe properties of galaxies and their large-scale distribution in thenearby universe. Based on observations obtained at Cerro TololoInter-American Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories,operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy,Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation;Complejo Astronomico El Leoncito, operated under agreement between theConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas de laRepública Argentina and the National Universities of La Plata,Córdoba, and San Juan; the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile, partially under the bilateral ESO-ObservatórioNacional agreement; Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory;Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica, Brazil; and the SouthAfrican Astronomical Observatory.
| Kinematics of the local universe. VII. New 21-cm line measurements of 2112 galaxies
This paper presents 2112 new 21-cm neutral hydrogen line measurementscarried out with the meridian transit Nan\c cay radiotelescope. Amongthese data we give also 213 new radial velocities which complement thoselisted in three previous papers of this series. These new measurements,together with the HI data collected in LEDA, put to 6 700 the number ofgalaxies with 21-cm line width, radial velocity, and apparent diameterin the so-called KLUN sample. Figure 5 and Appendices A and B forcorresponding comments are available in electronic form at thehttp://www.edpsciences.com
| Star formation history of early-type galaxies in low density environments. II. Kinematics
The present paper is a companion of two others dedicated one to themeasurement of the line-strength indices \cite[(Longhetti et al.1997a)]{Lo7a} and the second to trace back the star formation history ofa sample of early-type galaxies by comparing observed indices to thepredictions of new spectro-photometric models \cite[(Longhetti et al.1997b).]{Lo7b} The sample of 51 early-type galaxies in low densityenvironments is composed of two sub-sets of galaxies: 21 shell galaxiesfrom the \cite[Malin & Carter (1983)]{Ma3} catalogue (one of whichshows double nucleous and has been considered as two separate objects)and 30 members of isolated interacting pairs from the \cite[Reduzzi& Rampazzo (1995)]{Re5} catalogue. Most of the objects show finestructures. The paper collects nuclear kinematic data together with thevelocity and velocity dispersion curves of the stellar and gaseouscomponents as a function of the distance from the galaxies centres. Thegalaxies heliocentric systemic velocity compares within -1+/- 32 kms(-1) with RC3 data, while their central velocity dispersion compareswithin 9+/- 9 km s(-1) , 10+/- 27 km s(-1) and 2+/- 33 km s(-1) with\cite[Gonzalez (1993),]{Go3} \cite[Davies et al. (1987)]{Da7} and\cite[Carter et al. (1988)]{Ca8} respectively. The detailed comparisonbetween our velocity and velocity dispersion curves and those fromseveral authors is discussed. 9 out of 22 shell galaxies nuclei showemission lines, 4 of which, using data in the literature, have lineratios characteristic of LINERs. 10 members of pairs out of 30 showemission lines. RR 331a has a Seyfert like nucleus, while for theremaining galaxies the ([O III] lambda 5007)/Hβ ratio ischaracteristic of low ionization regions. In a small fraction of theobjects the emission component is detectable outside the central value.None of the objects in the sample shows counter-rotation of the gaseousversus the stellar component. The two components appear associated,although, in two cases there is evidence that gas and stars lie ondifferent planes. This latter phenomenon could be associated toaccretion events. Emission lines in the central part of the RR 331a showa secondary component in the emission lines profile. E 2400100 has twonuclei embedded in the main body of the galaxy. The U-shape profile ofthe stellar velocity profile shows the ongoing interaction of the twonuclei. V/sigma profile of shell galaxies is, finally, discussed inrelation to the hypothesis of the accretion/merging origin of thesegalaxies. Based on observations obtained at ESO, La Silla, Chile. Dataand and kinematical profiles are available at CDS.
| Candidates for a southern extension of the Karachentsev catalogue of isolated pairs of galaxies.
Not Available
| A Spectrophotometric Survey of Merging Galaxies
We present long-slit spectrophotometry of 40 merging or stronglyinteracting galaxy systems in the wavelength range 3650-7100 A. Alongwith optically selected objects, the sample includes 10 ultraluminousIRAS galaxies with evidence of ongoing merger activity. The data show awide variety of phenomena, with spectra resembling those of isolatedelliptical galaxies, early and late-type spiral galaxies, activegalactic nuclei starbursts, and poststarburst systems.
| Spectrophotometric Properties of Merging Galaxies
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1995ApJ...450..547L&db_key=AST
| General study of group membership. II - Determination of nearby groups
We present a whole sky catalog of nearby groups of galaxies taken fromthe Lyon-Meudon Extragalactic Database. From the 78,000 objects in thedatabase, we extracted a sample of 6392 galaxies, complete up to thelimiting apparent magnitude B0 = 14.0. Moreover, in order to considersolely the galaxies of the local universe, all the selected galaxieshave a known recession velocity smaller than 5500 km/s. Two methods wereused in group construction: a Huchra-Geller (1982) derived percolationmethod and a Tully (1980) derived hierarchical method. Each method gaveus one catalog. These were then compared and synthesized to obtain asingle catalog containing the most reliable groups. There are 485 groupsof a least three members in the final catalog.
| Effects of Interactions on the Nuclear Near Infrared Properties of Spiral Galaxies
Using JHKL photometric measures available in the literature, we havecompared the near-infrared colour indices and central luminosities ofsamples of relatively isolated spiral galaxies with LINER and H IIregion-like nuclei (hereafter called L and H) with corresponding samplesof interacting galaxies, in order to explore the effects of interactionson their near-infrared properties. We have found that the L galaxies andthe isolated H galaxies have, in general, normal near-infrared colourswhich are fully explainable in terms of emission from late-type evolvedstars. On the other hand, the sample of interacting H galaxies displays,on average, somewhat peculiar near-infrared colours (specifically,normal J - H colours, but redward H - K and, especially, K - Lexcesses), which very probably indicate the presence of thermal emissionfrom hot dust, presumably related to intense star formation activityinduced by the interactions. Furthermore, for the same galaxy samplethere is some evidence that the emission at λ ~ 2.2 microns issomewhat more centrally concentrated than that at shorter wavelengths.Interestingly, the L galaxies appear to have greater centralnear-infrared luminosities than the H galaxies, for the samemorphological-type interval.
| A near-infrared imaging survey of interacting galaxies - The small angular-size ARP systems
Near-IR images of a large sample of interacting galaxies selected fromthe Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies by Arp (1966) have been obtained.Approximately 180 systems have been imaged in at least two, and usuallythree of the standard JHK bands. The survey and the observing and datareduction procedures, are described, and contour plots and aperturephotometry are presented. Future papers will analyze the imaging data bygroupings based on interaction type, stage, and progenitors. The goalsof the analysis are to explore the relationships between galaxyinteractions, activity, and morphology by studying the structure of thenear-IR luminosity distribution, where extinction effects are muchreduced relative to the optical and the major stellar mass component ofgalaxies dominates the observed light.
| Quantitative morphology of isolated E/S pairs of galaxies
We present a study of the morphology and geometry for 22 southern E+Spair candidates using high resolution CCD frames obtained at the ESO 2.2m telescope. We find a considerable number of true mixed pairs withabout 13/11 elliptical + spiral pairs in the present sample. Theremaining objects include about 3 'disky' pairs (composed of S0 and Smembers) and 3 'early-type' pairs comprising E and S0 members. Weestimate that between 10 and 25 percent of the pairs in any complete(non-hierarchical) sample will be of the E+S type. This suggests thatmorphological concordance is not the rule among paired galaxies. Wesuggest that interaction phenomena and the alterations they produce ingalaxy forms may explain many of the mixed pairs. Eight early-typecomponents show possible shell structure while 78 percent show anisophotal twisting of greater than 10 deg. Three of these objects andtwo additional pairs may be mergers in progress based upon their chaoticmorphologies. We suggest that the early-type components in many pairscould be merger products. These E+S pairs might then be a transientstage in the coalescence of compact groups.
| Southern Sky Redshift Survey - The catalog
The catalog of radial velocities for galaxies which comprise thediameter-limited sample of the Southern Sky Redshift Survey ispresented. It consolidates the data of observations carried out at theLas Campanas Observatory, Observatorio Nacional, and South AfricanAstronomical Observatory. The criteria used for the sample selection aredescribed, as well as the observational procedures and the techniqueutilized to obtain the final radial velocities. The intercomparisonbetween radial velocity measurements from different telescopes indicatesthat the final data base is fairly homogeneous with a typical error ofabout 40 km/s. The sample is at present 90 percent complete, and themissing galaxies are predominantly objects with very low surfacebrightness for which it is very difficult to obtain optical redshifts.
| A southern redshift survey. I - Accurate redshifts for 500 galaxies observed at SAAO
Radial velocities are presented for about 500 galaxies observed with anintensified Reticon photon-counting detector attached to the 1.9 mtelescope at the Sutherland field station of SAAO. The velocities weredetermined by cross correlation with standard velocity templates, fromthe measured wavelengths of emission lines, or from both techniques,with spectra covering the wavelength range from 3700 to 5400 A. Thefinal velocities appear to have the same zero point as H I radiovelocities, and have standard deviations of the order of 35 km/s, thoughcross-correlation velocities on their own may have significantly largererrors.
| Southern Galaxy Catalogue.
Not Available
| The nuclear activity of interacting galaxies
A search for active galactic nuclei among interacting galaxies isreported. A sample of 167 systems of interacting and asymmetric galaxieswas observed spectrophotometrically in the spectral range 4700-7100 A.The results are compared with a sample of isolated galaxies. It is foundthat (1) there are no Seyfert nuclei in elliptical or dwarf irregulargalaxies of the sample; (2) there is an excess of Seyfert nuclei amonginteracting spirals, but it is only at the 90 percent confidence level;(3) this excess becomes statistically significant (98 percent) when onlystrongly interacting spirals are included (four new Seyfert nuclei arepresented); (4) in the subgroup of galaxies with extreme tidaldistortions, no Seyfert nuclei were found.
| The effects of interactions on spiral galaxies. I - Nuclear activity and star formation
When the present results of spectrophotometry for the nuclei of 161(mostly spiral) galaxies with bright companions and emission lineimaging of 63 galaxies were compared to a similarly observed sample ofisolated-spiral nuclei, both samples of interacting galaxies exhibitedsignificant excesses of nuclear emission. The rate of nuclear starformation is significantly above average even in systems withoutnoticeable tidal distortion in the outer disks, suggesting that thenear-nuclear gas is only marginally stable in isolated galaxies. Theresults obtained suggest that nuclear phenomena are triggered by atidally induced influx of gas from the disk into the nuclear regions,rather than gas transfer between the galaxies.
| Recent star formation in interacting galaxies. I - Evidence from JHKL photometry
A survey has been carried out using JHKL photometry to investigaterecent star formation in interacting galaxies. The objective was to lookfor a K-L excess produced by 'warm' dust heated by a putative burst ofstar formation. K-L excesses are found suggesting that interactionsinduce starbursts with an efficiency approaching 100 percent. Theappearance of these inferred starbursts in interacting systems ofdifferent morphological types is qualitatively consistent with dynamicalstudies of galaxy interactions. However, the common occurrence of suchstarbursts shows that interactions have implications for theastrophysics of galaxies well beyond purely morphological effects.
| Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1966ApJS...14....1A&db_key=AST
|
Submit a new article
Related links
Submit a new link
Member of following groups:
|
Observation and Astrometry data
Catalogs and designations:
|
