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The Epochs of Early-Type Galaxy Formation as a Function of Environment
The aim of this paper is to set constraints on the epochs of early-typegalaxy formation through the ``archaeology'' of the stellar populationsin local galaxies. Using our models of absorption-line indices thataccount for variable abundance ratios, we derive ages, totalmetallicities, and element ratios of 124 early-type galaxies in high-and low-density environments. The data are analyzed by comparison withmock galaxy samples created through Monte Carlo simulations taking thetypical average observational errors into account, in order to eliminateartifacts caused by correlated errors. We find that all threeparameters, age, metallicity, and α/Fe ratio, are correlated withvelocity dispersion. We show that these results are robust againstrecent revisions of the local abundance pattern at high metallicities.To recover the observed scatter we need to assume an intrinsic scatterof about 20% in age, 0.08 dex in [Z/H], and 0.05 dex in [α/Fe].All low-mass objects withM*<~1010Msolar (σ<~130kms-1) show evidence for the presence of intermediate-agestellar populations with low α/Fe ratios. About 20% of theintermediate-mass objects with1010<~M*/Msolar<~1011[110<~σ/(kms-1)<~230 both elliptical andlenticular galaxies] must have either a young subpopulation or a bluehorizontal branch. On the basis of the above relationships, valid forthe bulk of the sample, we show that the Mg-σ relation is mainlydriven by metallicity, with similar contributions from the α/Feratio (23%) and age (17%). We further find evidence for an influence ofthe environment on the stellar population properties. Massive early-typegalaxies in low-density environments seem on average ~2 Gyr younger andslightly (~0.05-0.1 dex) more metal-rich than their counterparts inhigh-density environments. No offsets in the α/Fe ratios areinstead detected. With the aid of a simple chemical evolution model, wetranslate the derived ages and α/Fe ratios into star formationhistories. We show that most star formation activity in early-typegalaxies is expected to have happened between redshifts ~3 and 5 inhigh-density environments and between redshifts 1 and 2 in low-densityenvironments. We conclude that at least 50% of the total stellar massdensity must have already formed at z~1, in good agreement withobservational estimates of the total stellar mass density as a functionof redshift. Our results suggest that significant mass growth in theearly-type galaxy population below z~1 must be restricted to lessmassive objects, and a significant increase of the stellar mass densitybetween redshifts 1 and 2 should be present, caused mainly by the fieldgalaxy population. The results of this paper further imply the presenceof vigorous star formation episodes in massive objects at z~2-5 andevolved elliptical galaxies around z~1, both observationally identifiedas SCUBA galaxies and extremely red objects, respectively.
| A dichotomy in the orientation of dust and radio jets in nearby low-power radio galaxies
We examine the properties of central dust in nearby quiescent and activeearly-type galaxies. The active galaxies are low-power radio galaxieswith Fanaroff & Riley type I or I/II radio jets. We focus on (a) thecomparison of the dust distributions in the active and quiescent galaxysamples; and (b) the relation between the radio jet and dustorientations. Our main observational conclusions are: (i) in line withprevious studies, the dust detection rate is higher in radio-jetgalaxies than in non radio-jet galaxies; (ii) radio galaxies contain ahigher fraction of regular dust “ellipses” compared toquiescent galaxies which contain more often irregular dustdistributions; (iii) the morphology, size and orientation of dustellipses and lanes in quiescent early-types and active early-types withkpc-scale radio jets is very similar; (iv) dust ellipses are alignedwith the major axis of the galaxy, dust lanes do not show a preferredalignment except for large (>kpc) dust lanes which are aligned withthe minor axis of the galaxy; and (v) as projected on the sky, jets donot show a preferred orientation relative to the galaxy major axis (andhence dust ellipses), but jets are preferentially perpendicular to dustlanes. We show that the dust ellipses are consistent with being nearlycircular thin disks viewed at random viewing angles. The lanes arelikely warped dust structures, which may be in the process of settlingdown to become regular disks or are being perturbed by anon-gravitational force. We use the observed dust-jet orientations toconstrain the three-dimensional angle θDJ between jetand dust. For dust-lane galaxies, the jet is approximately perpendicularto the dust structure, while for dust-ellipse galaxies there is a muchwider distribution of θDJ. We discuss two scenariosthat could explain the dust/jet/galaxy orientation dichotomy. If lanesare indeed settling, then the jet orientation apparently is roughlyaligned with the angular momentum of the dust before it settles. Iflanes are perturbed by a jet-related force, it appears that it causesthe dust to move out of its equilibrium plane in the galaxy into a planewhich is perpendicular to the jet.
| The Extinction and Distance of Maffei 1
We have obtained low- and high-resolution spectra of the core of thehighly reddened elliptical galaxy Maffei 1. From these data, we haveobtained the first measurement of the Mg2 index and havemeasured the velocity dispersion and radial velocity with improvedaccuracy. To evaluate the extinction, a correlation between theMg2 index and effective V-I color has been established forelliptical galaxies. Using a new method for correcting for effectivewavelength shifts, the V-I color excess reveals that the optical depthof Galactic dust at 1 μm is 1.69+/-0.07. Thus,AV=4.67+/-0.19 mag, which is lower by 0.4 mag than previouslythought. To establish the distance, the fundamental plane for ellipticalgalaxies has been constructed in I. The velocity dispersion of Maffei 1,measured to be 186.8+/-7.4 km s-1, in combination with modernwide-field photometry in I, leads to a distance of 2.92+/-0.37 Mpc. TheDn-σ relation, which is independently calibrated, gives3.08+/-0.85 and 3.23+/-0.67 Mpc from photometry in B and K',respectively. The weighted mean of the three estimates is 3.01+/-0.30Mpc, which is lower than distances judged with reference to M32 and thebulge of M31 from the brightest stars seen at K'. Since the luminosityof asymptotic giant branch stars at K' is strongly dependent on age, thelower distance suggests that the last epoch of star formation in Maffei1 occurred farther in the past than in these other systems. The distanceand luminosity make Maffei 1 the nearest giant elliptical galaxy. In theabsence of extinction, the galaxy would be among the brightest in thesky and would have an apparent size 2/3 that of the full Moon. Theradial velocity of Maffei 1 is +66.4+/-5.0 km s-1,significantly higher than the accepted value of -10 km s-1.The Hubble distance corresponding to the mean velocity of Maffei 1,Maffei 2, and IC 342 is 3.5 Mpc. Thus, it is unlikely that Maffei 1 hashad any influence on Local Group dynamics.
| Spatially resolved spectroscopy of Coma cluster early-type galaxies. III. The stellar population gradients
Based on Paper I of this series (Mehlert et al. \cite{Mehlert00}), wederive central values and logarithmic gradients for the Hβ, Mg andFe indices of 35 early-type galaxies in the Coma cluster. We find thatpure elliptical galaxies have on average slightly higher velocitydispersions, lower Hβ, and higher metallic line-strengths thangalaxies with disks (S0). The latter form two families, one comparableto the ellipticals and a second one with significantly higher Hβ,and weaker metallic lines. Our measured logarithmic gradients within theeffective radius are ~ -0.037, ~ -0.029, ~ +0.017 and ~ -0.063. The gradients strongly correlate with the gradientsof sigma , but only weakly with the central index values and galaxyvelocity dispersion. Using stellar population models with variableelement abundance ratios from Thomas et al. (\cite{Thomas03a}) we deriveaverage ages, metallicities and [α/Fe] ratios in the center and atthe effective radius. We find that the α/Fe ratio correlates withvelocity dispersion and drives 30% of the Mg-sigma relation, theremaining 70% being caused by metallicity variations. We confirmprevious findings that part of the lenticular galaxies in the Comacluster host very young ( ~ 2 Gyr) stellar populations, hence must haveexperienced relatively recent star formation episodes. Again inaccordance with previous work we derive negative metallicity gradients (~ -0.16 dex per decade) that are significantly flatter than what isexpected from gaseous monolithic collapse models, pointing to theimportance of mergers in the galaxy formation history. Moreover, themetallicity gradients correlate with the velocity dispersion gradients,confirming empirically earlier suggestions that the metallicity gradientin ellipticals is produced by the local potential well. The gradients inage are negligible, implying that no significant residual star formationhas occurred either in the center or in the outer parts of the galaxies,and that the stellar populations at different radii must have formed ata common epoch. For the first time we derive the gradients of theα/Fe ratio and find them very small on average. Hence, α/Feenhancement is not restricted to galaxy centers but it is a globalphenomenon. Our results imply that the Mg-sigma local relation inside agalaxy, unlike the global Mg-sigma relation, must be primarily drivenby metallicity variations alone. Finally we note that none of thestellar population parameters or their gradients depend on the densityprofile of the Coma cluster, even though it spans 3 dex in density.Appendix A (Tables A.1-A.3) is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| A new catalogue of ISM content of normal galaxies
We have compiled a catalogue of the gas content for a sample of 1916galaxies, considered to be a fair representation of ``normality''. Thedefinition of a ``normal'' galaxy adopted in this work implies that wehave purposely excluded from the catalogue galaxies having distortedmorphology (such as interaction bridges, tails or lopsidedness) and/orany signature of peculiar kinematics (such as polar rings,counterrotating disks or other decoupled components). In contrast, wehave included systems hosting active galactic nuclei (AGN) in thecatalogue. This catalogue revises previous compendia on the ISM contentof galaxies published by \citet{bregman} and \citet{casoli}, andcompiles data available in the literature from several small samples ofgalaxies. Masses for warm dust, atomic and molecular gas, as well asX-ray luminosities have been converted to a uniform distance scale takenfrom the Catalogue of Principal Galaxies (PGC). We have used twodifferent normalization factors to explore the variation of the gascontent along the Hubble sequence: the blue luminosity (LB)and the square of linear diameter (D225). Ourcatalogue significantly improves the statistics of previous referencecatalogues and can be used in future studies to define a template ISMcontent for ``normal'' galaxies along the Hubble sequence. The cataloguecan be accessed on-line and is also available at the Centre desDonnées Stellaires (CDS).The catalogue is available in electronic form athttp://dipastro.pd.astro.it/galletta/ismcat and at the CDS via anonymousftp to\ cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via\http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/405/5
| 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.
| Redshift-Distance Survey of Early-Type Galaxies. I. The ENEARc Cluster Sample
This paper presents data on the ENEARc subsample of the larger ENEARsurvey of nearby early-type galaxies. The ENEARc galaxies belong toclusters and were specifically chosen to be used for the construction ofa Dn-σ template. The ENEARc sample includes newmeasurements of spectroscopic and photometric parameters (redshift,velocity dispersion, line index Mg2, and the angular diameterdn), as well as data from the literature. New spectroscopicdata are given for 229 cluster early-type galaxies, and new photometryis presented for 348 objects. Repeat and overlap observations withexternal data sets are used to construct a final merged catalogconsisting of 640 early-type galaxies in 28 clusters. Objectivecriteria, based on catalogs of groups of galaxies derived from completeredshift surveys of the nearby universe, are used to assign galaxies toclusters. In a companion paper, these data are used to construct thetemplate Dn-σ distance relation for early-typegalaxies, which has been used to estimate galaxy distances and derivepeculiar velocities for the ENEAR all-sky sample. Based on observationsat Complejo Astronomico El Leoncito, operated under agreement betweenthe Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas de laRepública Argentina and the National Universities of La Plata,Córdoba, and San Juan; Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory,National Optical Astronomical Observatory, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., undercooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation; the EuropeanSouthern Observatory (ESO), partially under the ESO-ON agreement; theFred Lawrence Whipple Observatory; the Observatório do Pico dosDias, operated by the Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísicaand the MDM Observatory at Kitt Peak.
| Spatially resolved spectroscopy of Coma cluster early-type galaxies. II. The minor axis dataset
We present minor axis, offset major axis and one diagonal long slitspectra for 10 E and S0 galaxies of the Coma cluster drawn from amagnitude-limited sample studied before. We derive rotation curves,velocity dispersion profiles and the H3 and H4coefficients of the Hermite decomposition of the line of sight velocitydistribution. Moreover, we derive the line index profiles of Mg, Fe andHβ line indices and assess their errors. The data will be used toconstruct dynamical models of the galaxies and study their stellarpopulations. Tables 3 and 4 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/395/753
| The far-ultraviolet emission of early-type galaxies
We have assembled a UV-flux selected sample of 82 early-type galaxiesand collected additional information at other wavelengths. These dataconfirm a large spread of the UV-V color in the range 2 to 5. The spreadin UV-V is accompanied by a spread in B-V that is mainly attributed tothe range of morphological types and luminosities. A large fraction ofthe objects have red colors, UV-V = 4 +/- 0.4, corresponding to a weakUV-upturn as observed with IUE. If the current interpretation for the UVemission from early-type galaxies is applicable to our sample, the PAGB(Post-Asymptotic Giant Branch) tracks are the most common evolution pathfor the low-mass stars responsible for the UV emission. A small numberof very blue (UV-V < 1.4) objects have been found that can bereasonably interpreted as harbouring some low level of star formation.In contrast to a previous sample based on IUE observations, nocorrelation is found between the UV-V color and the Mg2spectral line index; possible explanations are reviewed. The potentialof a more extended UV survey like GALEX is briefly presented.
| 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.
| Structural evolution in elliptical galaxies: the age-shape relation
We test the hypothesis that the apparent axial ratio of an ellipticalgalaxy is correlated with the age of its stellar population. We findthat old ellipticals (with estimated ages t>7.5Gyr) are rounder onaverage than younger ellipticals. The statistical significance of thisshape difference is greatest at small radii; a Kolmogorov-Smirnov testcomparing the axial ratios of the two populations at R=Re/16yields a statistical significance greater than 99.96 per cent. Therelation between age and apparent shape is linked to the core/power-lawsurface brightness profile dichotomy. Core ellipticals have olderstellar populations, on average, than power-law ellipticals and arerounder in their inner regions. Our findings are consistent with ascenario in which power-law ellipticals are formed in gas-rich mergers,while core ellipticals form in dissipationless mergers, with coresformed and maintained by the influence of a binary black hole.
| On the dependence of spectroscopic indices of early-type galaxies on age, metallicity and velocity dispersion
We investigate the Mg-σ and -σ relations in asample of 72 early-type galaxies drawn mostly from cluster and groupenvironments using a homogeneous data set which is well calibrated on tothe Lick/IDS system. The small intrinsic scatter in Mg at a givenσ gives upper limits on the spread in age and metallicity of 49and 32 per cent respectively, if the spread is attributed to onequantity only, and if the variations in age and metallicity areuncorrelated. The age/metallicity distribution as inferred from theHβ versus diagnostic diagram reinforces this conclusion,as we find mostly galaxies with large luminosity-weighted ages spanninga range in metallicity. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we show that thegalaxy distribution in the Hβ versus plane cannot bereproduced by a model in which galaxy age is the only parameter drivingthe index-σ relation. In our sample we do not find significantevidence for an anticorrelation of ages and metallicities which wouldkeep the index-σ relations tight while hiding a large spread inage and metallicity. As a result of correlated errors in theage-metallicity plane, a mild age-metallicity anticorrelation cannot becompletely ruled out by the current data. Correcting the line-strengthindices for non-solar abundance ratios, following the recent paper byTrager et al., leads to higher mean metallicity and slightly younger ageestimates while preserving the metallicity sequence. The [Mg/Fe] ratiois mildly correlated with the central velocity dispersion, and rangesfrom [Mg/Fe]=0.05 to 0.3 for galaxies withσ>100kms-1. Under the assumption that there is noage gradient along the index-σ relations, theabundance-ratio-corrected Mg-σ, Fe-σ and Hβ-σrelations give consistent estimates ofΔ[M/H]/Δlogσ~=0.9+/-0.1. The slope of theHβ-σ relation limits a potential age trend as a function ofσ to 2-3Gyr along the sequence.
| V- and R-band Galaxy Luminosity Functions and Low Surface Brightness Galaxies in the Century Survey
We use 64 deg2 of deep V and R CCD images to measure thelocal V- and R-band luminosity functions of galaxies. TheV0<16.7 and R0<16.2 redshift samples contain1255 and 1251 galaxies and are 98.1% and 98.2% complete, respectively.We apply k-corrections before the magnitude selection so that thecompleteness is to the same depth for all spectral types. The V and Rfaint-end slopes are surprisingly identical: α=-1.07+/-0.09.Representative Schechter function parameters for H0=100 are:M*R=-20.88+/-0.09,φ*R=0.016+/-0.003 Mpc-3 andM*V=-20.23+/-0.09,φ*V=0.020+/-0.003 Mpc-3. The V andR local luminosity densities,jR=(1.9+/-0.6)×108 Lsolar andjV=(2.2+/-0.7)×108 Lsolar, are inessential agreement with the recent 2 Degree Field Galaxy RedshiftSurvey and Sloan Digital Sky Survey determinations. All low surfacebrightness (LSB) galaxies fall in the large-scale structure delineatedby high surface brightness galaxies. The properties and surface numberdensity of our LSB galaxies are consistent with the LSB galaxy catalogof O'Neil, Bothun & Cornell, suggesting that our samples arecomplete for LSB galaxies to the magnitude limits. We measure colors,surface brightnesses, and luminosities for our samples, and find strongcorrelations among these galaxy properties. The color-surface brightnessrelation is(V-R)0=(-0.11+/-0.05)μR,0+(2.6+/-0.9).
| 1.65 μm (H-band) surface photometry of galaxies. III. observations of 558 galaxies with the TIRGO 1.5 m telescope
We present near-infrared H-band (1.65 μm ) surface photometry of 558galaxies in the Coma Supercluster and in the Virgo cluster. This dataset, obtained with the Arcetri NICMOS3 camera ARNICA mounted on theGornergrat Infrared Telescope, is aimed at complementing, withobservations of mostly early-type objects, our NIR survey of spiralgalaxies in these regions, presented in previous papers of this series.Magnitudes at the optical radius, total magnitudes, isophotal radii andlight concentration indices are derived. We confirm the existence of apositive correlation between the near-infrared concentration index andthe galaxy H-band luminosity Based on observations taken at TIRGO(Gornergrat, Switzerland). TIRGO is operated by CAISMI-CNR, Arcetri,Firenze, Italy. Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Spatially resolved spectroscopy of Coma cluster early-type galaxies. I. The database
We present long slit spectra for a magnitude limited sample of 35 E andS0 galaxies of the Coma cluster. The high quality of the data allowed usto derive spatially resolved spectra for a substantial sample of Comagalaxies for the first time. From these spectra we obtained rotationcurves, the velocity dispersion profiles and the H_3 and H_4coefficients of the Hermite decomposition of the line of sight velocitydistribution. Moreover, we derive the radial line index profiles of Mg,Fe and Hβ line indices out to R~ 1 r_e - 3 r_e with highsignal-to-noise ratio. We describe the galaxy sample, the observationsand data reduction, and present the spectroscopic database. Ground-basedphotometry for a subsample of 8 galaxies is also presented. The Comacluster is one of the richest known clusters of galaxies, spanning about4 decades in density. Hence it is the ideal place to study the structureof galaxies as a function of environmental density in order to constrainthe theories of galaxy formation and evolution. Based on thespectroscopic database presented, we will discuss these issues in aseries of future papers. Tables 1 and 4 are also 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/Abstract.html Tables 5 to 82 are onlyavailable in electronic form at CDS.
| 1.65 μm (H-band) surface photometry of galaxies. V. Profile decomposition of 1157 galaxies
We present near-infrared H-band (1.65 μm) surface brightness profiledecomposition for 1157 galaxies in five nearby clusters of galaxies:Coma, A1367, Virgo, A262 and Cancer, and in the bridge between Coma andA1367 in the ``Great Wall". The optically selected (mpg≤16.0) sample is representative of all Hubble types, from E to Irr+BCD,except dE and of significantly different environments, spanning fromisolated regions to rich clusters of galaxies. We model the surfacebrightness profiles with a de Vaucouleurs r1/4 law (dV), withan exponential disk law (E), or with a combination of the two (B+D).From the fitted quantities we derive the H band effective surfacebrightness (μe) and radius (re) of each component, theasymptotic magnitude HT and the light concentration indexC31. We find that: i) Less than 50% of the Ellipticalgalaxies have pure dV profiles. The majority of E to Sb galaxies is bestrepresented by a B+D profile. All Scd to BCD galaxies have pureexponential profiles. ii) The type of decomposition is a strong functionof the total H band luminosity (mass), independent of the Hubbleclassification: the fraction of pure exponential decompositionsdecreases with increasing luminosity, that of B+D increases withluminosity. Pure dV profiles are absent in the low luminosity rangeLH<1010 L\odot and become dominantabove 1011 L\odot . Based on observations taken atTIRGO, Gornergrat, Switzerland (operated by CAISMI-CNR, Arcetri,Firenze, Italy) and at the Calar Alto Observatory (operated by theMax-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (Heidelberg) jointly with theSpanish National Commission for Astronomy). Table 2 and Figs. 2, 3, 4are available in their entirety only in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Arcsecond Positions of UGC Galaxies
We present accurate B1950 and J2000 positions for all confirmed galaxiesin the Uppsala General Catalog (UGC). The positions were measuredvisually from Digitized Sky Survey images with rms uncertaintiesσ<=[(1.2")2+(θ/100)2]1/2,where θ is the major-axis diameter. We compared each galaxymeasured with the original UGC description to ensure high reliability.The full position list is available in the electronic version only.
| Groups of galaxies. III. Some empirical characteristics.
Not Available
| The Universality of the Fundamental Plane of E and S0 Galaxies: Spectroscopic Data
We present central velocity dispersion measurements for 325 early-typegalaxies in eight clusters and groups of galaxies, including newobservations for 212 galaxies. The clusters and groups are the A262,A1367, Coma (A1656), A2634, Cancer, and Pegasus Clusters and the NGC 383and NGC 507 Groups. The new measurements were derived frommedium-dispersion spectra that cover 600 Å centered on the Mg I btriplet at lambda ~ 5175 Å. Velocity dispersions were measuredusing the Tonry & Davis cross-correlation method, with a typicalaccuracy of 6%. A detailed comparison with other data sources is made.
| The Universality of the Fundamental Plane of E and S0 Galaxies: Sample Definition and I-Band Photometric Data
As part of a project to compare the fundamental plane and Tully-Fisherdistance scales, we present here I-band CCD photometry for 636early-type galaxies in eight clusters and groups of galaxies. These arethe A262, A1367, Coma (A1656), A2634, Cancer and Pegasus Clusters, andthe NGC 383 and NGC 507 Groups. Sample selection, cluster properties,and cluster membership assignment criteria are discussed. We presentphotometric parameters that are used in the fundamental plane relation,the effective radius r_e, and the effective surface brightness mu_e, asderived from a r^1/4 fit to the observed radial photometric profile ofeach galaxy. A comparison with similar data found in the literature forthe Coma Cluster shows that large systematic uncertainties can beintroduced in the measurement of r_e and mu_e by the particular methodused to derive those parameters. However, the particular combination ofthese two parameters that enters in the fundamental plane relation is aquantity that can be measured with high accuracy.
| 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.
| 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.
| The Relative Distance Between the Clusters of Galaxies A2634 and Coma
The Tully-Fisher (TF) and Fundamental Plane (FP) relations are used toobtain two independent estimates of the relative distance between theclusters A2634 and Coma. Previously published studies of A2634 showed alarge discrepancy between the distance estimates obtained with the TFand the \dns\ relations, questioning the reliability ofredshift-independent distances obtained using these relations. Becauseof the importance of this issue, we have obtained new distance estimatesfor A2634, based on much larger samples than previously used, andselected according to rigorous membership criteria. New I band CCDphotometry for 175 galaxies, new 21 cm observations of 11 galaxies, andnew velocity dispersion measurements for 62 galaxies are used togetherwith previously published data in building these samples. As part of alarger project to compare the TF and FP distance-scales, we haveobtained a new FP template using for the first time I band photometry.The template is derived using a sample of 109 E and S0 galaxies that aremembers of the Coma cluster. Its parameters are in very good agreementwith recent determinations of the FP obtained at shorter wavelengths.The uncertainty with which the FP can provide peculiar velocityestimates for single galaxies is =~ 0.43 mag in the distance modulus, or20% of the distance. This uncertainty is slightly larger than thetypical uncertainty that characterizes TF estimates. However thisdisadvantage is partly compensated by the fact that the sampleincompleteness bias has a less severe effect on FP cluster distanceestimates than it has on the corresponding TF distance estimates. Also,cluster membership is more readily established for early-type objectsthan for spirals. After the appropriate corrections for sampleincompleteness have been taken into account, we find the TF and FPdistance estimates to be in good agreement, both indicating that A2634has a negligibly small peculiar velocity with respect to the CosmicMicrowave Background reference frame. Because of the high accuracy withwhich the two distance estimates have been obtained, their agreementstrongly supports the universality of the TF and FP relations, andtherefore their reliability for the estimate of redshift-independentdistances.
| An image database. II. Catalogue between δ=-30deg and δ=70deg.
A preliminary list of 68.040 galaxies was built from extraction of35.841 digitized images of the Palomar Sky Survey (Paper I). For eachgalaxy, the basic parameters are obtained: coordinates, diameter, axisratio, total magnitude, position angle. On this preliminary list, weapply severe selection rules to get a catalog of 28.000 galaxies, wellidentified and well documented. For each parameter, a comparison is madewith standard measurements. The accuracy of the raw photometricparameters is quite good despite of the simplicity of the method.Without any local correction, the standard error on the total magnitudeis about 0.5 magnitude up to a total magnitude of B_T_=17. Significantsecondary effects are detected concerning the magnitudes: distance toplate center effect and air-mass effect.
| 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.
| 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.
| Automated surface photometry for the Coma Cluster galaxies: The catalog
A homogeneous photometry catalog is presented for 450 galaxies withB25.5 less than or equal to 16 mag located in the 9.8 deg x9.8 deg region centered on the Coma Cluster. The catalog is based onphotographic photometry using an automated surface photometry softwarefor data reduction applied to B-band Schmidt plates. The catalogprovides accurate positions, isophotal and total magnitudes, major andminor axes, and a few other photometric parameters including rudimentarymorphology (early of late type).
| Galaxy Properties at the North Galactic Pole. I. Photometric Properties on Large Spatial Scales
A two-color study of the galaxies detected on POSS-I in a 289 squaredegree region centered on the North Galactic Pole is presented. We use avariety of mapping techniques to characterize the large-scale spatialdistribution of galaxies. The depth and sample size of this new surveyallows, for the first time, the isolation of large photometricsubsamples of galaxies in high- and low-density environments on thescale of superclusters. Our principal finding is a statisticallysignificant difference between the mean photometric properties of thesesubsamples in the sense that galaxies in the high-density Coma andfilament environments have redder colors and larger concentrationindices than galaxies drawn from low-density interfilament regions.These results are in accord with the known morphology-density relation.Thus, appropriately chosen photometric and morphological parameters, inconcert with a galaxy surface density map, can be used to selectstructures from the projected galaxy distribution which correspond toregions of high density. An illustration of this point is our discoveryof a concentration of blue galaxies identified in our maps near the coreof the Coma cluster. This feature is comprised of early-type galaxieswhich exhibit signs of current or recent star formation. These resultsare predicated on relations between morphological type and photometricparameters derived from APS scans of POSS-I. We therefore discuss theimage calibration procedures used to compile our catalog of physicallysignificant photometric parameters. We demonstrate the morphologicaltype dependence among quantities such as mean color and imageconcentration index, and the lack of such a dependence for mean surfacebrightness.
| The Virgocentric velocity from bright cluster galaxies.
By referencing Weedman's nuclear magnitudes of bright cluster galaxiesto the microwave background radiation (MBR) frame and correcting themfor cluster richness by means of new CCD observations, I find aVirgocentric velocity (the actual difference between the Virgo clusterpeculiar velocity and the peculiar velocity of the Local Group (LG) inthe direction of Virgo) of -38+/-72km/s (inflow). The same analysisapplied to the brightest cluster galaxy data of Sandage & Hardyyields a Virgocentric motion of 22+/-151km/s (outflow). From theweighted averages of several distance indicators for 17 selectedclusters, the Virgocentric motion is -52+/-67km/s (inflow). There isthus little evidence for a significant Virgocentric motion, a result inagreement with previous studies using m^*^ from cluster galaxyluminosity functions, and r_g_ from the fundamental planes. Because thedistance indicators span the range from nearby to very distant clusters(where peculiar velocities are proportionally small), these GlobalMethod results are independent of any assumed model for flow within theLocal Supercluster (LSC). An estimate of the collective Virgocentricvelocity in the LSC at the position of the LG yields a slight outflow,i.e., 39+/-100km/s. The Weedman data give a Virgo peculiar velocity(difference between the MBR frame velocity and the Hubble flow) of401+/-71km/s. Sandage & Hardy's data give 462+/-151km/s, and theselected clusters give 387+/-66km/s. A large peculiar velocity of Virgois associated with a small Hubble parameter. The predicted MBR framevelocities of the Virgo cluster from these methods are 1073+/-60km/s,1012+/-146km/s, and 1087+/-54km/s, respectively. These velocities areconsiderably smaller than those computed by simply adding the sun'sprojected MBR motion to Virgo's heliocentric velocity. If a truedistance modulus of 31.70 (long scale) is assumed for Virgo, H_0_=49,46, and 50km/s/Mpc, respectively. On the other hand, for a true distancemodulus of 30.84 (short scale), H_0_=73, 69, and 74km/s/Mpc,respectively. The velocity of the LG relative to the MBR, undisturbed bythe infall determined from the selected clusters, is 584km/s. Itsdirection lies about 4deg away from the LG's original direction and 8degaway from the Hydra-Centaurus supercluster. If Virgo also has this samespace velocity, then its component in the radial direction from the LGis 387km/s. Remarkably, this is the same as its peculiar velocity.Similar agreement is found between the velocity component of the Hydra Icluster and its measured radial peculiar velocity. These resultsindicate a high degree of consistency not found in previous studies.
| The Dynamics of the Outer Regions of the Coma Cluster
We apply the spherical infall model to compare the observed distributionof radial velocities of galaxies around Coma with predictions that arebased on optical and X-ray overdensity profiles. Two optically selectedgalaxy catalogues, the CfA redshift survey and a UKST plate scanned withthe APM, are used to determine the overdensity profile of the cluster.The two sets of predicted caustics in the angular separation-redshiftdiagram are compared with a radial velocity catalogue which we haveextended significantly in the range between 10 and 40 from the centre ofthe Coma cluster. In total, we have measured 98 new redshifts. Despitealmost doubling the number of radial velocities in this interval, wefail to find the caustics with any degree of certainty. Using recentX-ray-based density profiles of Coma, we derive an independentprediction of the caustics in redshift space. The velocities predictedusing these X-ray profiles are in general agreement with the observedvelocity distribution. We also investigate the effect that non-sphericalmass distributions have on the velocity field in the halo. For avelocity field that is constant on concentric ellipsoids, we show thatthe caustics are blurred, providing a natural explanation of why we donot see the caustics in Coma.
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