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Nearby early-type galaxies with ionized gas. II. Line-strength indices for 18 additional galaxies
We previously presented a data-set of line-strength indices for 50early-type galaxies in the nearby Universe. The galaxy sample is biasedtoward galaxies showing emission lines, located in environmentscorresponding to a broad range of local galaxy densities, althoughpredominantly in low density environments. The present addendum enlargesthe above data-set of line-strength indices by analyzing 18 additionalearly-type galaxies (three galaxies, NGC 3607, NGC 5077 and NGC 5898were presented in the previous set). We measured 25 line-strengthindices, defined by the Lick IDS "standard" system (Trager et al. 1998,ApJS, 116, 1; Worthey & Ottaviani 1997, ApJS, 111, 377), for 7luminosity weighted apertures and 4 gradients of each galaxy. Thisaddendum presents the line-strength data-set and compares it with theavailable data in the literature.
| The fundamental plane of isolated early-type galaxies
Here we present new measurements of effective radii, surfacebrightnesses and internal velocity dispersions for 23 isolatedearly-type galaxies. The photometric properties are derived from newmulticolour imaging of ten galaxies, whereas the central kinematics forseven galaxies are taken from forthcoming work by Hau & Forbes.These are supplemented with data from the literature. We reproduce thecolour-magnitude and Kormendy relations and strengthen the result of therecent work of Reda et al. that isolated galaxies follow the samephotometric relations as galaxies in high-density environments. We alsofind that some isolated galaxies reveal fine structure indicative of arecent merger, while others appear undisturbed. We examine theFundamental Plane both in the traditional Re,μe, σ space and also in κ space. Most isolatedgalaxies follow the same Fundamental Plane tilt and scatter for galaxiesin high-density environments. However, a few galaxies notably deviatefrom the Plane in the sense of having smaller M/L ratios. This can beunderstood in terms of their younger stellar populations, which arepresumably induced by a gaseous merger. Overall, isolated galaxies havesimilar properties to those in groups and clusters with a slightenhancement in the frequency of recent mergers/interactions.
| The Ages of Elliptical Galaxies from Mid-Infrared Emission
The mid-infrared (10-20 μm) luminosity of elliptical galaxies isdominated by the integrated emission from circumstellar dust in redgiant stars. As a single stellar population evolves, the rate of dustymass loss from red giant stars decreases with time, so the mid-infraredluminosity should also decline with stellar age. To seek such acorrelation, we have used archival Infrared Space Observatory (ISO)observations to determine surface brightness profiles and central fluxesat 15 μm in 17 early-type galaxies for which stellar ages have beendetermined from optical spectral indices. The radial surface brightnessdistributions at 15 μm generally follow the stellar de Vaucouleursprofile, as expected. We find that the surface brightness ratioμ15μm/μIband is systematically higher inelliptical galaxies with ages <~5 Gyr and in galaxies that exhibitevidence of recent mergers. Within the accuracy of our observations,μ15μm/μIband shows no age dependence forages >~5 Gyr. The corresponding flux ratiosF15μm/FIband within apertures scaled to theeffective radius (Re/8) are proportional to theμ15μm/μIband ratios at larger galacticradii, indicating that no 15 μm emission is detected from centraldust clouds visible in optical images in some of our sample galaxies.Emission at 15 μm is observed in noncentral massive clouds of dustand cold gas in NGC 1316, an elliptical galaxy that is thought to havehad a recent merger. Recent Spitzer Space Telescope data also indicatethe presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission at 8μm. Several ellipticals have extended regions of 15 μm emissionthat have no obvious counterparts at other frequencies.
| The Centers of Early-Type Galaxies with Hubble Space Telescope. V. New WFPC2 Photometry
We present observations of 77 early-type galaxies imaged with the PC1CCD of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFPC2. ``Nuker-law'' parametricfits to the surface brightness profiles are used to classify the centralstructure into ``core'' or ``power-law'' forms. Core galaxies aretypically rounder than power-law galaxies. Nearly all power-law galaxieswith central ellipticities ɛ>=0.3 have stellar disks,implying that disks are present in power-law galaxies withɛ<0.3 but are not visible because of unfavorable geometry. Afew low-luminosity flattened core galaxies also have disks; these may betransition forms from power-law galaxies to more luminous core galaxies,which lack disks. Several core galaxies have strong isophote twistsinterior to their break radii, although power-law galaxies have interiortwists of similar physical significance when the photometricperturbations implied by the twists are evaluated. Central colorgradients are typically consistent with the envelope gradients; coregalaxies have somewhat weaker color gradients than power-law galaxies.Nuclei are found in 29% of the core galaxies and 60% of the power-lawgalaxies. Nuclei are typically bluer than the surrounding galaxy. Whilesome nuclei are associated with active galactic nuclei (AGNs), just asmany are not; conversely, not all galaxies known to have a low-level AGNexhibit detectable nuclei in the broadband filters. NGC 4073 and 4382are found to have central minima in their intrinsic starlightdistributions; NGC 4382 resembles the double nucleus of M31. In general,the peak brightness location is coincident with the photocenter of thecore to a typical physical scale of <1 pc. Five galaxies, however,have centers significantly displaced from their surrounding cores; thesemay be unresolved asymmetric double nuclei. Finally, as noted byprevious authors, central dust is visible in about half of the galaxies.The presence and strength of dust correlates with nuclear emission;thus, dust may outline gas that is falling into the central black hole.The prevalence of dust and its morphology suggest that dust clouds form,settle to the center, and disappear repeatedly on ~108 yrtimescales. We discuss the hypothesis that cores are created by thedecay of a massive black hole binary formed in a merger. Apart fromtheir brightness profiles, there are no strong differences between coregalaxies and power-law galaxies that demand this scenario; however, therounder shapes of core, their lack of disks, and their reduced colorgradients may be consistent with it.Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope,obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated bythe Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc.,under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated withGO and GTO proposals 5236, 5446, 5454, 5512, 5943, 5990, 5999, 6099,6386, 6554, 6587, 6633, 7468, 8683, and 9107.
| The photometric properties of isolated early-type galaxies
Isolated galaxies are important because they probe the lowest densityregimes inhabited by galaxies. We define a sample of 36 nearby isolatedearly-type galaxies for further study. Our isolation criteria requirethem to have no comparable-mass neighbours within 2 B-band magnitudes,0.67 Mpc in the plane of the sky and 700 km s-1 in recessionvelocity. New wide-field optical imaging of 10 isolated galaxies withthe Anglo-Australian Telescope confirms their early-type morphology andrelative isolation. We also present imaging of four galaxy groups as acontrol sample. The isolated galaxies are shown to be moregravitationally isolated than the group galaxies. We find that theisolated early-type galaxies have a mean effective colour of(B-R)e= 1.54 +/- 0.14, similar to their high-densitycounterparts. They reveal a similar colour-magnitude relation slope andsmall intrinsic scatter to cluster ellipticals. They also follow theKormendy relation of surface brightness versus size for luminous clustergalaxies. Such properties suggest that the isolated galaxies formed at asimilar epoch to cluster galaxies, such that the bulk of their stars arevery old. However, our galaxy modelling reveals evidence for dust lanes,plumes, shells, boxy and disc isophotes in four out of nine galaxies.Thus at least some isolated galaxies have experienced a recentmerger/accretion event, which may have induced a small burst of starformation. We derive luminosity functions for the isolated galaxies andfind a faint slope of -1.2, which is similar to the `universal' slopefound in a wide variety of environments. We examine the number densitydistribution of galaxies in the field of the isolated galaxies. Only thevery faintest dwarf galaxies (MR>~-15.5) appear to beassociated with the isolated galaxies, whereas anyintermediate-luminosity galaxies appear to lie in the background.Finally, we discuss possible formation scenarios for isolated early-typegalaxies. Early epoch formation and a merger/accretion of galaxies arepossible explanations. The collapse of a large, virialized group is anunlikely explanation, but that of a poor group remains viable.
| Star formation history in early-type galaxies - I. The line absorption indices diagnostics
To unravel the formation mechanism and the evolutionary history ofelliptical galaxies (EGs) is one of the goals of modern astrophysics. Ina simplified picture of the issue, the question to be answered iswhether they have formed by hierarchical merging of pre-existingsubstructures (maybe disc galaxies) made of stars and gas, with eachmerging event probably accompanied by strong star formation, orconversely, whether they originated from the early aggregation of lumpsof gas turned into stars in the remote past via a burst-like episodeever since followed by quiescence so as to mimic a sort of monolithicprocess. Even if the two alternatives seem to oppose each other,actually they may both contribute to shaping the final properties of EGsas seen today. Are there distinct signatures of the underlying dominantprocess in the observational data? To this aim we have examined the lineabsorption indices on the Lick system of the normal, field EGs of Tragerand the interacting EGs (pair- and shell-objects) of Longhetti et al.The data show that both normal, field and interacting galaxies have thesame scattered but smooth distribution in the Hβ versus [MgFe]plane even if the interacting ones show a more pronounced tail towardhigh Hβ values. This may suggest that a common physical cause is atthe origin of their distribution. There are two straightforwardinterpretations of increasing complexity. (i) EGs span true large rangesof ages and metallicities. A young age is the signature of theaggregation mechanism, each event accompanied by metal enrichment. Thissimple scheme cannot, however, explain other spectro-photometricproperties of EGs and has to be discarded. (ii) The bulk population ofstars is old but subsequent episodes of star formation scatter the EGsin the diagnostic planes. However, this scheme would predict anoutstanding clump at low Hβ values, contrary to what is observed.The model can be cured by supposing that the primary star formationactivity lasted for a significant fraction of the Hubble time (5<=T<= 13 Gyr) accompanied by global metal enrichment. The`younger' galaxies are more metal-rich. The later burst of starformation should be small otherwise too many high-Hβ objects wouldbe observed. Therefore, the distribution of normal, pair- andshell-galaxies in the Hβ versus [MgFe] plane is due to global metalenrichment. Even though the above schemes provide a formal explanation,they seem to be too demanding because of the many ad hoc ingredientsthat have to be introduced. Furthermore, they neglect theobservationally grounded hint that the stellar content of EGs is likelyto be enhanced in α-elements with [α/Fe] ranging from 0.1 to0.4 dex. Here we propose a new scheme, in which the bulk dispersion ofgalaxies in the Hβ versus [MgFe] plane is caused by a differentmean degree of enhancement. In this model, neither the large age rangesnor the universal enrichment law for the old component are required andthe observed distribution along Hβ is naturally recovered.Furthermore, later bursts of stellar activity are a rare event,involving only those galaxies with very high Hβ (roughly >2.5).Finally, simulations of the scatter in broad-band colours of EGs seem toconfirm that the bulk stars have formed in the remote past, and thatmergers and companion star formation in a recent past are not likely,unless the intensity of the secondary activity is very small.
| A catalogue and analysis of local galaxy ages and metallicities
We have assembled a catalogue of relative ages, metallicities andabundance ratios for about 150 local galaxies in field, group andcluster environments. The galaxies span morphological types from cD andellipticals, to late-type spirals. Ages and metallicities were estimatedfrom high-quality published spectral line indices using Worthey &Ottaviani (1997) single stellar population evolutionary models. Theidentification of galaxy age as a fourth parameter in the fundamentalplane (Forbes, Ponman & Brown 1998) is confirmed by our largersample of ages. We investigate trends between age and metallicity, andwith other physical parameters of the galaxies, such as ellipticity,luminosity and kinematic anisotropy. We demonstrate the existence of agalaxy age-metallicity relation similar to that seen for local galacticdisc stars, whereby young galaxies have high metallicity, while oldgalaxies span a large range in metallicities. We also investigate theinfluence of environment and morphology on the galaxy age andmetallicity, especially the predictions made by semi-analytichierarchical clustering models (HCM). We confirm that non-clusterellipticals are indeed younger on average than cluster ellipticals aspredicted by the HCM models. However we also find a trend for the moreluminous galaxies to have a higher [Mg/Fe] ratio than the lowerluminosity galaxies, which is opposite to the expectation from HCMmodels.
| Survey of the ISM in early-type galaxies. IV. The hot dust component
We present mid-IR photometric properties for a sample of 28 early-typegalaxies observed at 6.75, 9.63 and 15 mu m with the ISOCAM instrumenton board the ISO satellite. We find total mid-IR luminosities in therange (3-42) x 108 Lsun. The spectral energydistributions (SED) of the galaxies were derived using the mid-IR datatogether with previously published UV, optical and near-IR data. TheseSEDs clearly show a mid-IR emission coming from dust heated at T =~ 260K. Dust grains properties are inferred from the mid-IR colors. Themasses of the hot dust component are in the range 10-400Msun. The relationship between the masses derived from mid-IRobservations and those derived from visual extinction are discussed. Thepossible common heating source for the gas and dust is investigatedthrough the correlations between Hα and mid-IR luminosities. Basedon observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments funded by ESAmember states (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, theNetherlands and the UK) and with participation of ISAS and NASA.
| A catalogue and analysis of X-ray luminosities of early-type galaxies
We present a catalogue of X-ray luminosities for 401 early-typegalaxies, of which 136 are based on newly analysed ROSAT PSPC pointedobservations. The remaining luminosities are taken from the literatureand converted to a common energy band, spectral model and distancescale. Using this sample we fit the LX:LB relationfor early-type galaxies and find a best-fit slope for the catalogue of~2.2. We demonstrate the influence of group-dominant galaxies on the fitand present evidence that the relation is not well modelled by a singlepower-law fit. We also derive estimates of the contribution to galaxyX-ray luminosities from discrete-sources and conclude that they provideLdscr/LB~=29.5ergs-1LBsolar-1. Wecompare this result with luminosities from our catalogue. Lastly, weexamine the influence of environment on galaxy X-ray luminosity and onthe form of the LX:LB relation. We conclude thatalthough environment undoubtedly affects the X-ray properties ofindividual galaxies, particularly those in the centres of groups andclusters, it does not change the nature of whole populations.
| Cold gas in elliptical galaxies
We explore the evolution of the cold gas (molecular and neutralhydrogen) of elliptical galaxies and merger remnants ordered into a timesequence on the basis of spectroscopic age estimates. We find that thefraction of cold gas in early merger remnants decreases significantlyfor ~1-2Gyr, but subsequent evolution toward evolved elliptical systemssees very little change. This trend can be attributed to an initial gasdepletion by strong star formation, which subsequently declines toquiescent rates. This explanation is consistent with the merger picturefor the formation of elliptical galaxies. We also explore the relationbetween the HI-to-H2 mass ratio and spectroscopic galaxy age,but find no evidence for a statistically significant trend. Thissuggests little net HI-to-H2 conversion for the systems inthe present sample.
| X-ray luminosities of galaxies in groups
We have derived the X-ray luminosities of a sample of galaxies ingroups, making careful allowance for contaminating intragroup emission.The LX:LB and LX:LFIRrelations of spiral galaxies in groups appear to be indistinguishablefrom those in other environments, however the elliptical galaxies fallinto two distinct classes. The first class is central-dominant groupgalaxies, which are very X-ray luminous and may be the focus of groupcooling flows. All other early-type galaxies in groups belong to thesecond class, which populates an almost constant band ofLX/LB over the range9.8
| Optical and near-IR imaging of dusty ellipticals
In this paper we present some of the results of imaging observations ofdusty ellipticals in the optical B & R bands as well as in near IRK?-band taken at the Las Campanas Observatory, Chile. We derive radialprofiles of surface brightness, position angle, ellipticity as well asprofiles of higher order Fourier coefficients by fitting ellipses toisophotes for each band. As the effect of dust obscuration is very muchreduced in the near-IR, a comparison of isophotal profiles in theK?-band with those of optical bands permits us to analyze the effects ofdust extinction in the dusty ellipticals. We examine optical &optical-IR color maps, color profiles, color gradients and discuss theresults.
| Star formation history of early-type galaxies in low density environments. IV. What do we learn from nuclear line-strength indices?
In this paper we analyze the line-strength indices in the Lick-systemmeasured by Longhetti et al. (1998a, b) for a sample of 51 early-typegalaxies located in low density environments (LDE) and showingsignatures of fine structures and/or interactions. The sample contains21 shell-galaxies and 30 members of interacting pairs. Firstly weperform a preliminary comparison between three different sources ofcalibrations of the line strength indices, namely Buzzoni et al. (1992,1994), Worthey (1992), Worthey et al. (1994) and Idiart et al. (1995),derived from stars with different effective temperature, gravity, andmetallicity. Looking at the three indices in common, i.e. Mg2, Fe5270,and Hβ , the calibrations by Buzzoni et al. (1992, 1994), Worthey(1992) and Worthey et al. (1994) lead to mutually consistent results.The calibration of Hβ by Idiart et al. (1995) can be compared withthe previous ones only for a limited range of ages, in which goodagreement is found. Mg2 and Mgb indices predicted by the Idiart's et al.(1995) fitting functions result to be systematically lower than thoseobtained from using Worthey (1992) calibrations. Secondly, we discussthe properties of the galaxies in our sample by comparing them both withtheoretical Single Stellar Populations (SSPs) and the normal galaxies ofthe González (1993: G93) sample. The analysis is performed bymeans of several diagnostic planes. In the sigma , Mg2, Fe5270 andFe5335 space, normal, shell- and pair-galaxies have a differentbehavior. First of all, normal and pair-galaxies follow the universalsigma vs. Mg2 relation, whereas shell-galaxies lie above it; secondlythe Fe versus Mg2 relation of normal, shell- and pair-galaxies isflatter than the theoretical expectation. This fact hints forenhancement of alpha -elements with respect to solar partition ingalaxies with strong Fe indices and/or high velocity dispersion, massand luminosity in turn. In the sigma vs. Hβ plane normal galaxiesseem to follow a nice relation suggesting that objects with shallowgravitational potential have strong Hβ values (youth signature?),whereas shell- and pair-galaxies scatter all over the plane. A group ofgalaxies with deep gravitational potential and strong Hβ is found.Is this a signature of recent star formation? In the Hβ vs. [MgFe]plane, which is perhaps best suited to infer the age of the stellarpopulations, the peculiar galaxies in our sample show nearly the samedistribution of the normal galaxies in the G93 sample. There is howevera number of peculiar galaxies with much stronger Hβ . Does thismean that the scatter in the Hβ vs. [MgFe] plane, of normal, shell-and pair-galaxies has a common origin, perhaps a secondary episode ofstar formation? We suggest that, owing to their apparent youth, shell-and pair-galaxies should have experienced at least one interaction eventafter their formation. The explanation comes natural for shell- andpair-galaxies where the signatures of interactions are evident. It ismore intrigued in normal galaxies (perhaps other causes may concur).Noteworthy, the distribution in the Hβ vs. [MgFe] plane of normal,shell- and pair-galaxies is confined within a narrow strip that runssignificantly steeper than the path followed by aging SSPs. This featureis explained as due to metal enrichment always accompanying starformation. Shell-galaxies encompass the whole range of ages inferredfrom the Hβ vs. [MgFe] plane, indicating that among them recent andold interaction/acquisition events are equally probable. If shells areformed at the same time at which the rejuvenating event took place,shells ought to be long lasting phenomena. [MgFe] = sqrt { xMgb}, = (Fe5270 + Fe5335)/2 }
| Star formation history of early-type galaxies in low density environments. V. Blue line-strength indices for the nuclear region
We analyze the star formation properties of a sample of 21 shellgalaxies and 30 early-type galaxies members of interacting pairs,located in low density environments (Longhetti et al. 1998a, 1998b). Thestudy is based on new models developed to interpret the informationcoming from `blue' Hdelta /FeI, H+K(CaII) and Delta 4000 line-strengthindices proposed by Rose (1984; 1985) and Hamilton (1985). We find thatthe last star forming event that occurred in the nuclear region of shellgalaxies is statistically old (from 0.1 up to several Gyr) with respectto the corresponding one in the sub-sample of pair galaxies (<0.1 Gyror even ongoing star formation). If the stellar activity is somehowrelated to the formation of shells, as predicted by several dynamicalmodels of galaxy interaction, shells have to be considered long lastingstructures. Since pair members show evidence of very recent starformation, we suggest that either large reservoirs of gas have to bepresent to maintain active star formation, if these galaxies are onperiodic orbits, or most of the pair members in the present sample areexperiencing unbound encounters. Table~2 is available in electronic formonly, at CDS: via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) orvia http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Far-Infrared Emission from E and E/S0 Galaxies
Early-type galaxies are filled with hot X-ray-emitting gas, but thestudy of the less plentiful cold gaseous component has been morechallenging. Studies of cold material through IRAS 60 and 100 mu mobservations indicated that half of ordinary E and E/S0 galaxies weredetected above the 3 sigma level, indicating that cold gas is common,although no correlation was found between the optical and far-infraredfluxes. Most detections were near the instrumental threshold, and givenan improved understanding of detection confidence, we reconsider the 60and 100 mu m detection rate. After excluding active galactic nuclei,peculiar systems, and background contamination, only 15 nonpeculiar Eand E/S0 galaxies from the RSA catalog are detected above the 98%confidence level, about 12% of the sample. An unusually high percentageof these 15 galaxies possess cold gas (H I CO) and optical emissionlines (H alpha ), supporting the presence of gas cooler than 104 K. The60-100 mu m flux ratios imply a median dust temperature for the sampleof 30 K, with a range of 23-28 K. These detections define the upperenvelope of the optical to far-infrared relationship,F_{{fir}}~F^{0.24+/-0.08}B , showing that optically brightobjects are also brighter in the infrared, although with considerabledispersion. A luminosity correlation is present wthL_{{fir}}~L^{1.65+/-0.28}B , but the dust temperature isuncorrelated with luminosity. The dust masses inferred from thefar-infrared measurements are 1 order of magnitude greater than thosefrom extinction observations, except for the recent merger candidate NGC4125, where they are equal. We suggest that the ratio of thefar-infrared dust mass to the extinction dust mass may be an indicatorof the time since the last spiral-spiral merger. These results arecompared to the model in which most of the dust comes from stellar massloss and the heating is primarily by stellar photons. Models thatcontain large dust grains composed of amorphous carbon plus silicatescome close to reproducing the typical 60-100 mu m flux ratios, thefar-infrared luminosity, and the Lfir-LB relationship.
| A catalogue of Mg_2 indices of galaxies and globular clusters
We present a catalogue of published absorption-line Mg_2 indices ofgalaxies and globular clusters. The catalogue is maintained up-to-datein the HYPERCAT database. The measurements are listed together with thereferences to the articles where the data were published. A codeddescription of the observations is provided. The catalogue gathers 3541measurements for 1491 objects (galaxies or globular clusters) from 55datasets. Compiled raw data for 1060 galaxies are zero-point correctedand transformed to a homogeneous system. Tables 1, 3, and 4 areavailable in electronic form only at the CDS, Strasbourg, via anonymousftp 130.79.128.5. Table 2 is available both in text and electronic form.
| 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.
| Star formation history of early-type galaxies in low density environments. I. Nuclear line-strength indices
This paper is the first of a series \cite[(Longhetti et al.1997a,b)]{lon97} dedicated to the study of the star formation history inearly-type galaxies which show fine structures and/or signatures ofinteraction. It presents nuclear line-strength indices for a samplecomposed of 21 shell galaxies, from the \cite[Malin & Carter(1983)]{mal83} southern survey, and 30 members of isolated interactingpairs, from the \cite[Reduzzi & Rampazzo (1995)]{red95} catalogue,located in low density environments. The spectral range covers 3700Angstroms < lambda < 5700 Angstroms at 2.1 Angstroms FWHMresolution. We measure 16 red (lambda > 4200 Angstroms) indicesdefined by the Lick Group. Measures have been transformed into theLick-IDS ``standard'' system. The procedure has been tested on a set of5 elliptical galaxies selected from the \cite[Gonzalez (1993)]{gon93}sample. We derive also three blue (lambda < 4200) indices, namelyDelta (4000 Angstroms) defined by \cite[Hamilton (1985)]{ham85},H+K(CaII) and Hdelta /FeI defined by \cite[Rose (1984, 1985)]{ros84}.Blue indices are correlated to the age of the last starburst occurred ina galaxy \cite[(Leonardi & Rose 1996)]{leo96}. The determination ofthese indices, the estimate of the measurement errors and the correctionfor the galaxies velocity dispersions are discussed in detail. In theAppendix A we present the indices for a set of hot stars (T> 10000 K)which may be used for extending W92 fitting functions toward hightemperatures. Based on observations obtained at ESO, La Silla, Chile.Tables 1-8 are also available in electronic form at CDS and Tables 9-15are only available in electronic form at CDS: via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Total magnitude, radius, colour indices, colour gradients and photometric type of galaxies
We present a catalogue of aperture photometry of galaxies, in UBVRI,assembled from three different origins: (i) an update of the catalogueof Buta et al. (1995) (ii) published photometric profiles and (iii)aperture photometry performed on CCD images. We explored different setsof growth curves to fit these data: (i) The Sersic law, (ii) The net ofgrowth curves used for the preparation of the RC3 and (iii) A linearinterpolation between the de Vaucouleurs (r(1/4) ) and exponential laws.Finally we adopted the latter solution. Fitting these growth curves, wederive (1) the total magnitude, (2) the effective radius, (3) the colourindices and (4) gradients and (5) the photometric type of 5169 galaxies.The photometric type is defined to statistically match the revisedmorphologic type and parametrizes the shape of the growth curve. It iscoded from -9, for very concentrated galaxies, to +10, for diffusegalaxies. Based in part on observations collected at the Haute-ProvenceObservatory.
| ASCA observations of `the Antennae'
We analyse X-ray data from the ASCA satellite for the galaxies NGC4038/9 (also known as `the Antennae'), and find emission from bothgalaxies. At least two spectral components are required to describe theoverall emission from these galaxies: thermal emission from a plasma at0.8 keV, and a component at higher energies. The hot gas contributesabout half of the flux in the 0.5-to 6-keV band. If the column densityto the higher energy component is <~2x10^21 cm^-2 then the fittedabundance in the hot gas component is less than 0.2 times solar. Thislow abundance is not expected for the hot interstellar medium in NGC4038/9 in which supernovae and star formation (expected to enrich andheat the gas) are ongoing. We do not detect any spatial variations inthe spectrum. We relate these findings to data obtained by other X-raysatellites (Einstein, ROSAT) for this interacting galaxy pair.
| A survey of the ISM in early-type galaxies. I. The ionized gas.
We present results of a CCD optical imaging survey of the ionized gas in73 luminous elliptical and lenticular galaxies, selected from the RC3catalog to represent a broad variety of X-ray, radio, infrared andkinematical properties. For each galaxy we have used broad-band R imagesand narrow-band images centered at the Hα and [NII] emission linesto derive the luminosity and distribution of the ionized gas. We foundthat a large fraction of E (72%) and S0 (85%) galaxies in our samplecontain ionized gas. The gas morphology appears to be rather smooth formost galaxies; however ~12% of the sample galaxies show a very extendedfilamentary structure. According to the morphology and size of the gasdistribution, the galaxies have been classified into three broad groups,named small disk (SD), regular extended (RE) and filamentary structure(F). The mean diameter of the emitting region ranges between 1 and10kpc; the derived mass of the ionized gas ranges between 10^3^ and10^5^ solar masses. A significant correlation between Hα+[NII] andX-ray luminosities is found for those galaxies (27% of the sample) forwhich we have detected ionized gas and are also listed as X-ray sources.However, there are relatively strong X-ray emitting galaxies for whichwe have not detected Hα+[NII] emission and objects which showemission-lines but are not listed either in the EINSTEIN or in the ROSATdatabases. The distribution of datapoint and upper limits in thisdiagram suggests that galaxies with warm gas are also X-ray emitters,while there are X-ray emitters without measurable Hα+[NII]emission. Similar characteristics are present in the correlation betweenthe infrared luminosity in the 12 μm band and L_Hα+[NII]_;correlations with other infrared wavelengths are weaker. A strongcorrelation was also found between the Hα+[NII] luminosity and theluminosity in the B band inside the region occupied by the line-emittinggas. We use these correlations to discuss the possible mechanismsresponsible for the gas ionization and excitation, analyzing inparticular the role of the post-AGB stars and the thermal conductionfrom the X-ray halo in providing the necessary source of ionization.
| The fundamental plane of early-type galaxies: stellar populations and mass-to-light ratio.
We analyse the residuals to the fundamental plane (FP) of ellipticalgalaxies as a function of stellar-population indicators; these are basedon the line-strength parameter Mg_2_ and on UBVRI broad-band colors, andare partly derived from new observations. The effect of the stellarpopulations accounts for approximately half the observed variation ofthe mass-to-light ratio responsible for the FP tilt. The residual tiltcan be explained by the contribution of two additional effects: thedependence of the rotational support, and possibly that of the spatialstructure, on the luminosity. We conclude to a constancy of thedynamical-to-stellar mass ratio. This probably extends to globularclusters as well, but the dominant factor would be here the luminositydependence of the structure rather than that of the stellar population.This result also implies a constancy of the fraction of dark matter overall the scalelength covered by stellar systems. Our compilation ofinternal stellar kinematics of galaxies is appended.
| Candidates for a southern extension of the Karachentsev catalogue of isolated pairs of galaxies.
Not Available
| A Catalog of Stellar Velocity Dispersions. II. 1994 Update
A catalog of central velocity dispersion measurements is presented,current through 1993 September. The catalog includes 2474 measurementsof 1563 galaxies. A standard set of 86 galaxies is defined, consistingof galaxies with at least three reliable, concordant measurements. It issuggested that future studies observe some of these standard galaxies sothat different studies can be normalized to a consistent system. Allmeasurements are reduced to a normalized system using these standards.
| Neutral hydrogen associated with shells and other fine structure in NGC 2865: A dynamically young elliptical?
We report the discovery of neutral hydrogen in a second ellipticalgalaxy with shells, NGC 2865. Very Large Array (VLA) images reveal anassociation between the neutral hydrogen (H I) and the fine structure(shells, tails, and loops) in the galaxy. Similar to what we previouslyobserved in NGC 5128 (Centaurus A), most of the 6 x108/h2 solar mass of cold gas is found in a brokenring in the outer regions of NGC 2865 (beyond 0.5D25) and isdisplaced to the outside of the shells and loops. The measuredvelocities cover a range of 500 km/s around the systematic velocity. Thevelocity field of the outer H I has the same sense and magnitude (andline of nodes) as that of the stars in the elliptical body. Although NGC2865 appears to be a relaxed elliptical galaxy, deep images, photometry,and spectroscopy suggest that the galaxy might be the recent (less than7 Gyr) product of a major disk-disk merger -- a 'dynamically youngelliptical.' Our H I data support this hypothesis. Nevertheless, theassociation between gas and stellar fine structure, with gas displacedoutward from the stars in projected position, implies gas motions notpredicted by any of the current merger scenarios. Using the H I ring andassuming nearly circular motion, we measure M/LB at largeradii (4 x 0.5D25). We find M/LB = 33 +/- 4 h, afactor of 5 greater than the value of M/LB found for thecentral regions, indicating the presence of a dark halo.
| Integrated photoelectric magnitudes and color indices of bright galaxies in the Johnson UBV system
The photoelectric total magnitudes and color indices published in theThird Reference Catalogue of Bright Galaxies (RC3) are based on ananalysis of approximately equals 26,000 B, 25,000 B-V, and 17,000 U-Bmultiaperture measurements available up to mid 1987 from nearly 350sources. This paper provides the full details of the analysis andestimates of internal and external errors in the parameters. Thederivation of the parameters is based on techniques described by theVaucouleurs & Corwin (1977) whereby photoelectric multiaperture dataare fitted by mean Hubble-type-dependent curves which describe theintegral of the B-band flux and the typical B-V and U-B integrated colorgradients. A sophisticated analysis of the residuals of thesemeasurements from the curves was made to allow for the random andsystematic errors that effect such data. The result is a homogeneous setof total magnitudes BTA total colors(B-V)T and (U-B)T, and effective colors(B-V)e and (U-B)e for more than 3000 brightgalaxies in RC3.
| UBVRI photoelectric photometry of bright southern early-type galaxies
UBVRI multi-aperture photometry of 207 bright southern galaxies and of72 objects of an additional list is presented. These observations weremade for obtaining the magnitude scale zero-point as an accuratedetermination of the sky background for a two-dimensional photometryprogram concerning these galaxies. We have also inferred the asymptoticmagnitudes, color indices and effective apertures of these objects. Ourresults are in good agreement with those of others authors.
| Low-luminosity early-type galaxies. I - Photometry and morphology
New multiaperture photoelectric photometry in U, B, V, R, and I for 50southern low-luminosity early-type galaxies (LLEs) is presented.Asymptotic magnitude and mean surface brightness within the effectiveaperture are derived from fits to r exp 1/4 growth curves, and colorsare reduced at an effective radius for 154 galaxies. Morphological andstructural analysis of the LLE sample, based on the ESO-LV image database, shows that the average flattening of these galaxies is high. Thesample can be divided into four main categories. There is no correlationbetween the morphological type for t of not greater than -3 and any ofthe structural and geometrical properties investigated. Only a fewgalaxies show a boxy isophote shape, while a greater fraction showsdisky isophotes.
| Interstellar matter in early-type galaxies. I - The catalog
A catalog is given of the currently available measurements ofinterstellar matter in the 467 early-type galaxies listed in the secondedition of the Revised Shapley-Ames Catalog of Bright Galaxies. Themorphological type range is E, SO, and Sa. The ISM tracers are emissionin the following bands: IRAS 100 micron, X-ray, radio, neutral hydrogen,and carbon monoxide. Nearly two-thirds of the Es and SOs have beendetected in one or more of these tracers. Additional observed quantitiesthat are tabulated include: magnitude, colors, radial velocity, centralvelocity dispersion, maximum of the rotation curve, angular size, 60micron flux, and supernovae. Qualitative statements as to the presenceof dust or emission lines, when available in the literature, are given.Quantities derivative from the observed values are also listed andinclude masses of H I, CO, X-ray gas, and dust as well as an estimate ofthe total mass and mass-to-luminosity ratio of the individual galaxies.
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