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The X-ray emission properties and the dichotomy in the central stellar cusp shapes of early-type galaxies
The Hubble Space Telescope has revealed a dichotomy in the centralsurface brightness profiles of early-type galaxies, which havesubsequently been grouped into two families: core, boxy, anisotropicsystems; and cuspy (`power-law'), discy, rotating ones. Here weinvestigate whether a dichotomy is also present in the X-ray propertiesof the two families. We consider both their total soft emission(LSX,tot), which is a measure of the galactic hot gascontent, and their nuclear hard emission (LHX,nuc), mostlycoming from Chandra observations, which is a measure of the nuclearactivity. At any optical luminosity, the highest LSX,totvalues are reached by core galaxies; this is explained by their beingthe central dominant galaxies of groups, subclusters or clusters, inmany of the logLSX,tot (ergs-1) >~ 41.5 cases.The highest LHX,nuc values, similar to those of classicalactive galactic nuclei (AGNs), in this sample are hosted only by core orintermediate galaxies; at low luminosity AGN levels, LHX,nucis independent of the central stellar profile shape. The presence ofoptical nuclei (also found by HST) is unrelated to the level ofLHX,nuc, even though the highest LHX,nuc are allassociated with optical nuclei. The implications of these findings forgalaxy evolution and accretion modalities at the present epoch arediscussed.
| Group, field and isolated early-type galaxies - II. Global trends from nuclear data
We have derived ages, metallicities and enhanced-element ratios[α/Fe] for a sample of 83 early-type galaxies essentially ingroups, the field or isolated objects. The stellar-population propertiesderived for each galaxy correspond to the nuclear re/8aperture extraction. The median age found for Es is 5.8+/-0.6 Gyr andthe average metallicity is +0.37+/-0.03 dex. For S0s, the median age is3.0+/-0.6 Gyr and [Z/H]= 0.53+/-0.04 dex. We compare the distribution ofour galaxies in the Hβ-[MgFe] diagram with Fornax galaxies. Ourelliptical galaxies are 3-4 Gyr younger than Es in the Fornax cluster.We find that the galaxies lie in a plane defined by [Z/H]= 0.99logσ0- 0.46 log(age) - 1.60, or in linear terms Z~σ0× (age) -0.5. More massive (largerσ0) and older galaxies present, on average, large[α/Fe] values, and therefore must have undergone shorterstar-formation time-scales. Comparing group against field/isolatedgalaxies, it is not clear that environment plays an important role indetermining their stellar-population history. In particular, ourisolated galaxies show ages differing by more than 8 Gyr. Finally weexplore our large spectral coverage to derive log(O/H) metallicity fromthe Hα and NIIλ6584 and compare it with model-dependent[Z/H]. We find that the O/H abundances are similar for all galaxies, andwe can interpret it as if most chemical evolution has already finishedin these galaxies.
| Group, field and isolated early-type galaxies - I. Observations and nuclear data
This is the first paper of a series on the investigation of stellarpopulation properties and galaxy evolution of an observationallyhomogeneous sample of early-type galaxies in groups, field and isolatedgalaxies.Here we present high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) long-slit spectroscopyof 86 nearby elliptical and S0 galaxies. Eight of them are isolated,selected according to a rigorous criterion, which guarantees a genuinelow-density subsample. The present survey has the advantage of coveringa larger wavelength range than normally found in the literature, whichincludes [OIII]λ5007 and Hα, both lines important foremission correction. Among the 86 galaxies with S/N >= 15 (perresolution element, for re/8 central aperture), 57 have theirHβ-index corrected for emission (the average correction is 0.190Åin Hβ) and 42 galaxies reveal [OIII]λ5007 emission,of which 16 also show obvious Hα emission. Most of the galaxies inthe sample do not show obvious signs of disturbances nor tidal featuresin the morphologies, although 11 belong to the Arp catalogue of peculiargalaxies; only three of them (NGC 750, 751 and 3226) seem to be stronglyinteracting. We present the measurement of 25 central line-strengthindices calibrated to the Lick/IDS system. Kinematic information isobtained for the sample. We analyse the line-strength index versusvelocity dispersion relations for our sample of mainly low-densityenvironment galaxies, and compare the slope of the relations withcluster galaxies from the literature. Our main findings are that theindex-σ0 relations presented for low-density regionsare not significantly different from those of cluster E/S0s. The slopeof the index-σ0 relations does not seem to change forearly-type galaxies of different environmental densities, but thescatter of the relations seems larger for group, field and isolatedgalaxies than for cluster galaxies.
| Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in Nearby Galaxies from ROSAT High Resolution Imager Observations I. Data Analysis
X-ray observations have revealed in other galaxies a class ofextranuclear X-ray point sources with X-ray luminosities of1039-1041 ergs s-1, exceeding theEddington luminosity for stellar mass X-ray binaries. Theseultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) may be powered by intermediate-massblack holes of a few thousand Msolar or stellar mass blackholes with special radiation processes. In this paper, we present asurvey of ULXs in 313 nearby galaxies withD25>1' within 40 Mpc with 467 ROSAT HighResolution Imager (HRI) archival observations. The HRI observations arereduced with uniform procedures, refined by simulations that help definethe point source detection algorithm employed in this survey. A sampleof 562 extragalactic X-ray point sources withLX=1038-1043 ergs s-1 isextracted from 173 survey galaxies, including 106 ULX candidates withinthe D25 isophotes of 63 galaxies and 110 ULX candidatesbetween 1D25 and 2D25 of 64 galaxies, from which aclean sample of 109 ULXs is constructed to minimize the contaminationfrom foreground or background objects. The strong connection betweenULXs and star formation is confirmed based on the striking preference ofULXs to occur in late-type galaxies, especially in star-forming regionssuch as spiral arms. ULXs are variable on timescales over days to yearsand exhibit a variety of long term variability patterns. Theidentifications of ULXs in the clean sample show some ULXs identified assupernovae (remnants), H II regions/nebulae, or young massive stars instar-forming regions, and a few other ULXs identified as old globularclusters. In a subsequent paper, the statistic properties of the surveywill be studied to calculate the occurrence frequencies and luminosityfunctions for ULXs in different types of galaxies to shed light on thenature of these enigmatic sources.
| On the Relation between Circular Velocity and Central Velocity Dispersion in High and Low Surface Brightness Galaxies
In order to investigate the correlation between the circular velocityVc and the central velocity dispersion of the spheroidalcomponent σc, we analyzed these quantities for a sampleof 40 high surface brightness (HSB) disk galaxies, eight giant lowsurface brightness (LSB) spiral galaxies, and 24 elliptical galaxiescharacterized by flat rotation curves. Galaxies have been selected tohave a velocity gradient <=2 km s-1 kpc-1 forR>=0.35R25. We used these data to better define theprevious Vc-σc correlation for spiralgalaxies (which turned out to be HSB) and elliptical galaxies,especially at the lower end of the σc values. We findthat the Vc-σc relation is described by alinear law out to velocity dispersions as low as σc~50km s-1, while in previous works a power law was adopted forgalaxies with σc>80 km s-1. Ellipticalgalaxies with Vc based on dynamical models or directlyderived from the H I rotation curves follow the same relation as the HSBgalaxies in the Vc-σc plane. On the otherhand, the LSB galaxies follow a different relation, since most of themshow either higher Vc or lower σc withrespect to the HSB galaxies. This argues against the relevance of baryoncollapse to the radial density profile of the dark matter halos of LSBgalaxies. Moreover, if the Vc-σc relation isequivalent to one between the mass of the dark matter halo and that ofthe supermassive black hole, then these results suggest that the LSBgalaxies host a supermassive black hole (SMBH) with a smaller masscompared to HSB galaxies with an equal dark matter halo. On the otherhand, if the fundamental correlation of SMBH mass is with the halocircular velocity, then LSB galaxies should have larger black holemasses for a given bulge dispersion. Elliptical galaxies withVc derived from H I data and LSB galaxies were not consideredin previous studies.Based on observations made with European Southern Observatory telescopesat the Paranal Observatory under programs 67.B-0283, 69.B-0573, and70.B-0171.
| Star Formation Histories of Nearby Elliptical Galaxies. I. Volume-Limited Sample
This work presents high signal-to-noise ratio spectroscopic observationsof a representative sample of nearby elliptical galaxies. Theseobservations provide a strong test of models for the formation ofelliptical galaxies and their star formation histories. Combining thesedata with the González data set, a volume-limited sample of 45galaxies has been defined. Results are in agreement with previousstudies: the existence of the metallicity hyperplane and the Z-plane ofTrager and coworkers is confirmed, and the distribution is clearly dueto physical variations in stellar population parameters and notmeasurement uncertainty. Trends between stellar population parametersand galaxy structural parameters suggest that angular momentum maydetermine the chemical abundance of a galaxy at a given mass.
| The Westerbork HI survey of spiral and irregular galaxies. III. HI observations of early-type disk galaxies
We present Hi observations of 68 early-type disk galaxies from the WHISPsurvey. They have morphological types between S0 and Sab and absoluteB-band magnitudes between -14 and -22. These galaxies form the massive,high surface-brightness extreme of the disk galaxy population, few ofwhich have been imaged in Hi before. The Hi properties of the galaxiesin our sample span a large range; the average values of MHI/LB and DH I/D25 are comparableto the ones found in later-type spirals, but the dispersions around themean are larger. No significant differences are found between the S0/S0aand the Sa/Sab galaxies. Our early-type disk galaxies follow the same Himass-diameter relation as later-type spiral galaxies, but theireffective Hi surface densities are slightly lower than those found inlater-type systems. In some galaxies, distinct rings of Hi emissioncoincide with regions of enhanced star formation, even though theaverage gas densities are far below the threshold of star formationderived by Kennicutt (1989, ApJ, 344, 685). Apparently, additionalmechanisms, as yet unknown, regulate star formation at low surfacedensities. Many of the galaxies in our sample have lopsided gasmorphologies; in most cases this can be linked to recent or ongoinginteractions or merger events. Asymmetries are rare in quiescentgalaxies. Kinematic lopsidedness is rare, both in interacting andisolated systems. In the appendix, we present an atlas of the Hiobservations: for all galaxies we show Hi surface density maps, globalprofiles, velocity fields and radial surface density profiles.
| Near infra-red and optical colour gradients in E-type galaxies. Inferences on dust content
Colour gradients are considered for a sample of circa 50 E-type galaxiesin the Local Supercluster. The new data includes isophotal colourprofiles in J-H, J-K, V-J and V-K, measured using 2MASS frames mostlyfrom the Large Galaxies Atlas, V frames from previous work and Vprofiles from the literature. This is supplemented by U-B, B-V, B-R, V-Icolour gradients obtained anew from published photometric data. Colourgradients in E galaxies show remarkably large variations from object toobject and do not correlate with other properties. Metallicity gradientsare the primary cause as shown before. Age gradients with oppositeeffects are possibly needed to explain objects with small colourgradients. Some empirical evidence of such age effects has been foundfor a subset of objects with morphological peculiarities and youngerstars mixed. Dust has only modest effects on colour gradients, as shownby the fact that objects with zero IRAS 100 μ flux have the sameaverage values of the gradients, except in V-J and V-K, as those withnon zero flux (cf. Table 7). This last subsample however exhibits poorbut definite correlations between IRAS flux and gradients, which mightbe caused by the presence of a few relatively dusty galaxies in thesample. Given the absence of a correlation between any gradients andgalaxy velocity dispersion (and hence mass), the observations do notagree with the predictions of the monolithic scenario for the formationof E galaxies. Simulated datasets of “dummy” objectsmimicking the hierarchical scenario have been obtained, and used to testa technique for estimating the dust content of E-galaxies from thecomparison of the V-K (or V-J) colour gradients with the U-B (or B-V)ones: the contents of diffuse dust, gauged in terms of published models,are obtained for a dozen objects.
| A sample of X-ray emitting normal galaxies from the BMW-HRI Catalogue
We obtained a sample of 143 normal galaxies with X-ray luminosity in therange 1038{-}1043 erg s-1 from thecross-correlation of the ROSAT HRI Brera Multi-scale Wavelet (BMW-HRI)Catalogue with the Lyon-Meudon Extragalactic Database (LEDA). We findthat the average X-ray properties of this sample are in good agreementwith those of other samples of galaxies in the literature. We selected acomplete flux limited serendipitous sample of 32 galaxies from which wederived the log N-log S distribution of normal galaxies in the fluxrange 1.1{-} 110 × 10-14 erg cm-2s-1. The resulting distribution is consistent with theEuclidean -1.5 slope. Comparisons with other samples, such as theExtended Medium Sensitivity Survey, the ROSAT All Sky Survey, theXMM-Newton/2dF survey, and the Chandra Deep Field Survey indicate thatthe log N -log S distribution of normal galaxies is consistent with aEuclidean slope over a flux range of about 6 decades.
| Measuring shapes of galaxy images - II. Morphology of 2MASS galaxies
We study a sample of 112 galaxies of various Hubble types imaged in theTwo Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) in the near-infrared (NIR; 1-2 μm)J, H and Ks bands. The sample contains (optically classified)32 ellipticals, 16 lenticulars and 64 spirals acquired from the 2MASSExtended Source Catalogue (XSC).We use a set of non-parametric shape measures constructed from theMinkowski functionals (MFs) for galaxy shape analysis. We useellipticity (ɛ) and orientation angle (Φ) as shapediagnostics. With these parameters as functions of area within theisophotal contour, we note that the NIR elliptical galaxies withɛ > 0.2 show a trend of being centrally spherical andincreasingly flattened towards the edge, a trend similar to images inoptical wavelengths. The highly flattened elliptical galaxies showstrong change in ellipticity between the centre and the edge. Thelenticular galaxies show morphological properties resembling eitherellipticals or disc galaxies. Our analysis shows that almost half of thespiral galaxies appear to have bar-like features while the rest arelikely to be non-barred. Our results also indicate that almost one-thirdof spiral galaxies have optically hidden bars.The isophotal twist noted in the orientations of elliptical galaxiesdecreases with the flattening of these galaxies, indicating that twistand flattening are also anticorrelated in the NIR, as found in opticalwavelengths. The orientations of NIR lenticular and spiral galaxies showa wide range of twists.
| Nuclear activity and the dynamics of elliptical galaxies
This Letter looks for any correlation between the internal dynamics ofelliptical galaxies and the relatively mild nuclear activity found inmany such systems. We show that there is such a relation in the sensethat the active ellipticals tend to be significantly less rotationallysupported than their inactive cousins. The correlation can partly berelated to the galaxies' luminosities: the brightest galaxies tend to bemore active and less rotationally supported. However, even at lowerluminosities the active and inactive galaxies seem to havesystematically different dynamics. This variation suggests that thereare significant large-scale structural differences between active andinactive elliptical galaxies, and hence that the existence of both typesof system cannot just be the result of random sporadic nuclear activity.
| Supernova 2002bo: inadequacy of the single parameter description
We present optical/near-infrared photometry and spectra of the type IaSN 2002bo spanning epochs from -13 d before maximum B-band light to +102d after. The pre-maximum optical coverage is particularly complete. Theextinction deduced from the observed colour evolution and frominterstellar Na I D absorption is quite high, namely E(B-V) = 0.43 +/-0.10. On the other hand, model matches to the observed spectra point toa lower reddening [E(B-V) ~ 0.30]. In some respects, SN 2002bo behavesas a typical `Branch normal' type Ia supernova (SN Ia) at optical andinfrared wavelengths. We find a B-band risetime of 17.9 +/- 0.5 d, aΔm15(B) of 1.13 +/- 0.05, and a dereddenedMB=-19.41 +/- 0.42. However, comparison with other type Iasupernovae having similar Δm15(B) values indicates thatin other respects SN 2002bo is unusual. While the optical spectra of SN2002bo are very similar to those of SN 1984A [Δm15(B) =1.19], lower velocities and a generally more structured appearance arefound in SNe 1990N, 1994D and 1998bu. For supernovae havingΔm15(B) > 1.2, we confirm the variation of withΔm15(B). However, for supernovae such as SN 2002bo,with lower values of Δm15(B) the relation breaks down.Moreover, the evolution of for SN 2002bo is strikingly different fromthat shown by other type Ia supernovae. The velocities of SN 2002bo and1984A derived from S II 5640 Å, Si II 6355 Å and Ca II H andK lines are either much higher and/or evolve differently from those seenin other normal SNe Ia events. Thus, while SN 2002bo and SN 1984A appearto be highly similar, they exhibit behaviour which is distinctlydifferent from other SNe Ia having similar Δm15(B)values. We suggest that the unusually low temperature, the presence ofhigh-velocity intermediate-mass elements and the low abundance of carbonat early times indicates that burning to Si penetrated to much higherlayers than in more normal type Ia supernovae. This may be indicative ofa delayed detonation explosion.
| Cold Dust in Early-Type Galaxies. I. Observations
We describe far-infrared observations of early-type galaxies selectedfrom the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) archive. This ratherinhomogeneous sample includes 39 giant elliptical galaxies and 14 S0 (orlater) galaxies. These galaxies were observed with the array photometerPHOT on-board the ISO satellite using a variety of different observingmodes-sparse maps, mini-maps, oversampled maps, and singlepointings-each of which requires different and often rather elaboratephotometric reduction procedures. The ISO background data agree wellwith the COBE-DIRBE results to which we have renormalized ourcalibrations. As a further check, the ISO fluxes from galaxies at 60 and100 μm agree very well with those previously observed with IRAS atthese wavelengths. The spatial resolution of ISO is several timesgreater than that of IRAS, and the ISO observations extend out to 200μm, which views a significantly greater mass of colder dust notassessable to IRAS. Most of the galaxies are essentially point sourcesat ISO resolution, but a few are clearly extended at FIR wavelengthswith image sizes that increase with FIR wavelength. The integratedfar-infrared luminosities do not correlate with optical luminosities,suggesting that the dust may have an external, merger-related origin. Ingeneral, the far-infrared spectral energy distributions can be modeledwith dust at two temperatures, ~43 and ~20 K, which probably representlimits of a continuous range of temperatures. The colder dust componentdominates the total mass of dust, 106-107Msolar, which is typically more than 10 times larger than thedust masses previously estimated for the same galaxies using IRASobservations. For S0 galaxies we find that the optically normalizedfar-infrared luminosity LFIR/LB correlatesstrongly with the mid-infrared luminosityL15μm/LB, but that correlation is weaker forelliptical galaxies.Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments fundedby ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, theNetherlands, and United Kingdom) and with the participation of ISAS andNASA.
| Optical and Infrared Photometry of the Type Ia Supernovae 1991T, 1991bg, 1999ek, 2001bt, 2001cn, 2001cz, and 2002bo
We present optical and/or infrared photometry of the Type Ia supernovaeSN 1991T, SN 1991bg, SN 1999ek, SN 2001bt, SN 2001cn, SN 2001cz, and SN2002bo. All but one of these supernovae have decline rate parameters,Δm15(B), close to the median value of 1.1 for the wholeclass of Type Ia supernovae. The addition of these supernovae to therelationship between the near-infrared absolute magnitudes andΔm15(B) strengthens the previous relationships we havefound in that the maximum light absolute magnitudes are essentiallyindependent of the decline rate parameter. (SN 1991bg, the prototype ofthe subclass of fast-declining Type Ia supernovae, is a special case.)The dispersion in the Hubble diagram in JHK is only ~0.15 mag. Thenear-infrared properties of Type Ia supernovae continue to be excellentmeasures of the luminosity distances to the supernova host galaxiesbecause of the need for only small corrections from the epoch ofobservation to maximum light, low dispersion in absolute magnitudes atmaximum light, and the minimal reddening effects in the near-infrared.
| Peculiarities and populations in elliptical galaxies. I. An old question revisited
Morphological peculiarities, as defined from isophote asymmetries andnumber of detected shells, jets or similar features, have been estimatedin a sample of 117 E classified galaxies, and qualified by an ad hocΣ2 index. The overall frequency of ``peculiar'' objects(Pec subsample) is 32.5%. It decreases with the cosmic density of theenvironment, being minimal for the Virgo cluster, the densestenvironment in the sampled volume. This environmental effect is strongerfor galaxies with relatively large Σ2.The Pec subsample objects are compared with ``normal'' objects (Nopsubsample) as regards their basic properties. Firstly, theysystematically deviate from the Fundamental Plane and the Faber-Jacksonrelation derived for the Nop subsample, being too bright for their mass.Secondly, the dust content of galaxies, as estimated from IRAS fluxes,are similar in both subsamples. Third, the same is true of the frequencyof Kinematically Distinct cores (KDC), suggesting that KDC andmorphological peculiarities do not result from the same events in thehistory of E-galaxies.Using the Nop sample alone, we obtain very tight reference relationsbetween stellar population indicators (U-B, B-V, B-R, V-I,Mg2, Hβ, , Mgb) and the central velocitydispersion σ0. The discussion of the residuals of theserelations allows us to classify the Pec galaxies in two families i.e.the YP or NGC 2865 family, and the NP or NGC 3923 one. Galaxies in thefirst group show consistent evidence for a younger stellar populationmixed with the old one, in agreement with classical results (Schweizeret al. \cite{Schweizer1990}; Schweizer & Seitzer\cite{Schweizer1992}). The second group, however, has ``normal``, orreddish, populations. It is remarkable that a fraction (circa 40%) ofmorphologically perturbed objects do not display any signature of ayoung population, either because the event responsible for thepecularity is too ancient, or because it did not produce significantstar formation (or eventually that the young sub-population has highmetallicity).A preliminary attempt is made to interpret the populations of Pecobjects by combining a young Single Stellar Population with a Nopgalaxy, with only limited success, perhaps largely due to uncertaintiesin the SSP indices used.Based in part on observations collected at the Observatoire deHaute-Provence.Figures \ref{fig1}-\ref{fig3} are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.orgTable 10 is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymousftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/423/833
| Near-infrared imaging of ellipticals: surface brightness profiles and photometry
We present near-infrared K-band imaging of a large sample of candidatemerger remnant galaxies and Hickson Compact Group ellipticals. We derivelight profile indices, effective radii and surface brightnesses, as wellas total K-band magnitudes. We find that the light distributions of themerger remnant candidates are consistent with those of `normal'ellipticals, and scatter around a mean profile index of (1/n) = 0.20.Many of our sample galaxies have surface brightness profiles that arenot well described by a de Vaucouleurs law (1/n= 0.25), and we discussthe implications of this on the derived total magnitudes. Comparing thetotal K magnitudes calculated by extrapolating a de Vaucouleurs profileand those derived using a generalized Sérsic form, we find that asignificant bias is introduced if the de Vaucouleurs law is not a gooddescription of the actual light profile.
| Companions of Bright Barred Shapley-Ames Galaxies
Companion galaxy environment for a subset of 78 bright and nearby barredgalaxies from the Shapley-Ames Catalog is presented. Among the spiralbarred galaxies, there are Seyfert galaxies, galaxies with circumnuclearstructures, galaxies not associated with any large-scale galaxy cloudstructure, galaxies with peculiar disk morphology (crooked arms), andgalaxies with normal disk morphology; the list includes all Hubbletypes. The companion galaxy list includes the number of companiongalaxies within 20 diameters, their Hubble type, and projectedseparation distance. In addition, the companion environment was searchedfor four known active spiral galaxies, three of them are Seyfertgalaxies, namely, NGC 1068, NGC 1097, and NGC 5548, and one is astarburst galaxy, M82. Among the results obtained, it is noted that theonly spiral barred galaxy classified as Seyfert 1 in our list has nocompanions within a projected distance of 20 diameters; six out of 10Seyfert 2 bar galaxies have no companions within 10 diameters, six outof 10 Seyfert 2 galaxies have one or more companions at projectedseparation distances between 10 and 20 diameters; six out of 12 galaxieswith circumnuclear structures have two or more companions within 20diameters.
| Star Formation Histories of Early-Type Galaxies. I. Higher Order Balmer Lines as Age Indicators
We have obtained blue integrated spectra of 175 nearby early-typegalaxies, covering a wide range in galaxy velocity dispersion andemphasizing those with σ<100 km s-1. Galaxies havebeen observed both in the Virgo Cluster and in lower densityenvironments. The main goals are the evaluation of higher order Balmerlines as age indicators and differences in stellar populations as afunction of mass, environment, and morphology. In this first paper, ouremphasis is on presenting the methods used to characterize the behaviorof the Balmer lines through evolutionary population synthesis models.Lower σ galaxies exhibit a substantially greater intrinsicscatter, in a variety of line-strength indicators, than do higherσ galaxies, with the large intrinsic scatter setting in below aσ of 100 km s-1. Moreover, a greater contrast inscatter is present in the Balmer lines than in the lines of metalfeatures. Evolutionary synthesis modeling of the observed spectralindexes indicates that the strong Balmer lines found primarily among thelow-σ galaxies are caused by young age, rather than by lowmetallicity. Thus we find a trend between the population age and thecentral velocity dispersion, such that low-σ galaxies have youngerluminosity-weighted mean ages. We have repeated this analysis usingseveral different Balmer lines and find consistent results from onespectral indicator to another.
| New UBVRI color distributions in E-type galaxies. II. Central and mean metallicities color distributions in E-type galaxies. II.
Central and mean metallicities are calculated for a sample of 40early-type galaxies, whose color gradients were reported in a previouspaper (Idiart et al. \cite{Idiart2002}). The present color-metallicitycalibration was derived from a grid of evolutionary models which fit thecolor-magnitude sequence of ellipticals in Coma and Virgo clusters. Themean metallicity gradient derived from our data is (Delta [Fe/H]/Deltalog r) = -0.26 +/- 0.08 and the mean sample average metallicity is<[Fe/H]> = 0.01 +/- 0.11 (rmsd). Central and mean metallicitiesare correlated with the central velocity dispersion, consistent with theinterpretation by metallicity variations of the color-magnitude sequenceand of color gradients. Age effects are also discussed, in particularconcerning the interpretation of the Hβ line strength in thoseobjects.Based partially on data collected at the Observatory of Haute-Provence.}
| Core Radio and Optical Emission in the Nuclei of nearby FR I Radio Galaxies
In this paper we analyze the relation between radio, optical continuumand Hα+[N II] emission from the cores of a sample of 21 nearbyFanaroff and Riley type I galaxies as observed with the VLBA and HST.The emission arises inside the inner tens of parsecs of the galaxies.Core radio emission is observed in 19/20 galaxies, optical corecontinuum emission is detected in 12/21 galaxies and Hα+[N II]core emission is detected in 20/21 galaxies. We confirm the recentlydetected linear correlation between radio and optical core emission inFR I galaxies and show that both core emissions also correlate withcentral Hα+[N II] emission. The tight correlations between radio,optical, and Hα+[N II] core emission constrain the bulk Lorentzfactor to γ~2-5 and γ<~2 for a continuous jet and a jetconsisting of discrete blobs, respectively, assuming jet-viewing anglesin the range 30°-90°. Radio and optical core emissions arelikely to be synchrotron radiation from the inner jet, possibly with asignificant contribution from emission by an accretion disk and/or flow.Elliptical galaxies with LINER nuclei without large-scale radio jetsseem to follow the core emission correlations found in FR I galaxies.This suggests that the central engines could be very similar for the twoclasses of active galactic nuclei. Based on observations with theNASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope ScienceInstitute, which is operated by the Association of Universities forResearch in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.
| Galaxy cores as relics of black hole mergers
We investigate the hypothesis that the cores of elliptical galaxies andbulges are created from the binding energy liberated by the coalescenceof supermassive binary black holes during galaxy mergers. Assuming thatthe central density profiles of galaxies were initially steep powerlaws, ρ ~r -2 , we define the `mass deficit' as the massin stars that had to be removed from the nucleus in order to produce theobserved core. We use non-parametric deprojection to compute the massdeficit in a sample of 35 early-type galaxies with high-resolutionimaging data. We find that the mass deficit correlates well with themass of the nuclear black hole, consistent with the predictions ofmerger models. We argue that cores in haloes of non-interacting darkmatter particles should be comparable in size to those observed in thestars.
| Bar Galaxies and Their Environments
The prints of the Palomar Sky Survey, luminosity classifications, andradial velocities were used to assign all northern Shapley-Ames galaxiesto either (1) field, (2) group, or (3) cluster environments. Thisinformation for 930 galaxies shows no evidence for a dependence of barfrequency on galaxy environment. This suggests that the formation of abar in a disk galaxy is mainly determined by the properties of theparent galaxy, rather than by the characteristics of its environment.
| The UZC-SSRS2 Group Catalog
We apply a friends-of-friends algorithm to the combined Updated ZwickyCatalog and Southern Sky Redshift Survey to construct a catalog of 1168groups of galaxies; 411 of these groups have five or more members withinthe redshift survey. The group catalog covers 4.69 sr, and all groupsexceed the number density contrast threshold, δρ/ρ=80. Wedemonstrate that the groups catalog is homogeneous across the twounderlying redshift surveys; the catalog of groups and their membersthus provides a basis for other statistical studies of the large-scaledistribution of groups and their physical properties. The medianphysical properties of the groups are similar to those for groupsderived from independent surveys, including the ESO Key Programme andthe Las Campanas Redshift Survey. We include tables of groups and theirmembers.
| Compact groups in the UZC galaxy sample
Applying an automatic neighbour search algorithm to the 3D UZC galaxycatalogue (Falco et al. \cite{Falco}) we have identified 291 compactgroups (CGs) with radial velocity between 1000 and 10 000 kms-1. The sample is analysed to investigate whether Tripletsdisplay kinematical and morphological characteristics similar to higherorder CGs (Multiplets). It is found that Triplets constitute lowvelocity dispersion structures, have a gas-rich galaxy population andare typically retrieved in sparse environments. Conversely Multipletsshow higher velocity dispersion, include few gas-rich members and aregenerally embedded structures. Evidence hence emerges indicating thatTriplets and Multiplets, though sharing a common scale, correspond todifferent galaxy systems. Triplets are typically field structures whilstMultiplets are mainly subclumps (either temporarily projected orcollapsing) within larger structures. Simulations show that selectioneffects can only partially account for differences, but significantcontamination of Triplets by field galaxy interlopers could eventuallyinduce the observed dependences on multiplicity. Tables 1 and 2 are onlyavailable in electronic at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.125.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/391/35
| New UBVRI colour distributions in E-type galaxies . I. The data
New colour distributions have been derived from wide field UBVRI framesfor 36 northern bright elliptical galaxies and a few lenticulars. Theclassical linear representations of colours against log r were derived,with some improvements in the accuracy of the zero point colours and ofthe gradients. The radial range of significant measurements was enlargedboth towards the galaxy center and towards the outskirts of each object.Thus, the ``central colours'', integrated within a radius of 3\arcsec,and the ``outermost colours'' averaged near the muV =24surface brightness could also be obtained. Some typical deviations ofcolour profiles from linearity are described. Colour-colour relations ofinterest are presented. Very tight correlations are found between theU-V colour and the Mg2 line-index, measured either at theGalaxian center or at the effective radius. Based in part onobservations collected at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence. Tables9-11 plus detailed tables for each object are available in electronicform at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5)or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/383/30
| An elliptical galaxy luminosity function and velocity dispersion sample of relevance for gravitational lensing statistics
We have selected 42 elliptical galaxies from the literature andestimated their velocity dispersions at the effective radius(σRe) and at 0.54 effective radii(σ0.54Re). We find by a dynamical analysisthat the normalized velocity dispersion of the dark halo of anelliptical galaxy σDM is roughlyσRe multiplied by a constant, which isalmost independent of the core radius or the anisotropy parameter ofeach galaxy. Our sample analysis suggests that σDM*lies in the range 178-198 km s-1. The power law relation wefind between the luminosity and the dark matter velocity dispersionmeasured in this way is(L/L*)=(σDM/σDM*)γ,where /γ is between 2 and 3. These results are of interest forstrong gravitational lensing statistics studies. In order to determinethe value of σDM*, we calculateMBT* in the same BT band in whichσDM* has been estimated. We select 131 ellipticalgalaxies as a complete sample set with apparent magnitudes BTbetween 9.26 and 12.19. We find that the luminosity function is wellfitted to the Schechter form, with parametersMBT*=-19.66+5.log10h+/-0.30,/α=0.15+/-0.55, and the normalization constantφ*=(1.34+/-0.30)×10-3h3Mpc-3, with the Hubble constant Ho=100 /h kms-1 Mpc-1. This normalization implies thatmorphology type E galaxies make up (10.8 /+/- 1.2) per cent of allgalaxies.
| 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.
| A synthesis of data from fundamental plane and surface brightness fluctuation surveys
We perform a series of comparisons between distance-independentphotometric and spectroscopic properties used in the surface brightnessfluctuation (SBF) and fundamental plane (FP) methods of early-typegalaxy distance estimation. The data are taken from two recent surveys:the SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances and the Streaming Motions of AbellClusters (SMAC) FP survey. We derive a relation between(V-I)0 colour and Mg2 index using nearly 200galaxies and discuss implications for Galactic extinction estimates andearly-type galaxy stellar populations. We find that the reddenings fromSchlegel et al. for galaxies with E(B-V)>~0.2mag appear to beoverestimated by 5-10 per cent, but we do not find significant evidencefor large-scale dipole errors in the extinction map. In comparison withstellar population models having solar elemental abundance ratios, thegalaxies in our sample are generally too blue at a given Mg2;we ascribe this to the well-known enhancement of the α-elements inluminous early-type galaxies. We confirm a tight relation betweenstellar velocity dispersion σ and the SBF `fluctuation count'parameter N, which is a luminosity-weighted measure of the total numberof stars in a galaxy. The correlation between N and σ is eventighter than that between Mg2 and σ. Finally, we deriveFP photometric parameters for 280 galaxies from the SBF survey data set.Comparisons with external sources allow us to estimate the errors onthese parameters and derive the correction necessary to bring them on tothe SMAC system. The data are used in a forthcoming paper, whichcompares the distances derived from the FP and SBF methods.
| 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
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