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Objective Classification of Spiral Galaxies Having Extended Rotation Curves Beyond the Optical Radius
We carry out an objective classification of four samples of spiralgalaxies having extended rotation curves beyond the optical radius. Amultivariate statistical analysis (viz., principal component analysis[PCA]) shows that about 96% of the total variation is due to twocomponents, one being the combination of absolute blue magnitude andmaximum rotational velocity beyond the optical region and the otherbeing the central density of the halo. On the basis of PCA a fundamentalplane has been constructed that reduces the scatter in the Tully-Fisherrelation up to a maximum of 16%. A multiple stepwise regression analysisof the variation of the overall shape of the rotation curves shows thatit is mainly determined by the central surface brightness, while theshape purely in the outer part of the galaxy (beyond the optical radius)is mainly determined by the size of the galactic disk.
| 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.
| The Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation of Galaxies with Extended Rotation Curves and the Stellar Mass of Rotating Galaxies
I investigate the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation for a sample ofgalaxies with extended 21 cm rotation curves spanning the range 20 kms-1<~Vf<=300 km s-1. A variety ofscalings of the stellar mass-to-light ratio Υ* areconsidered. For each prescription for Υ*, I give fitsof the form Md=AVxf.Presumably, the prescription that comes closest to the correct valuewill minimize the scatter in the relation. The fit with minimum scatterhas A=50 Msolar km-4 s4 andx=4. This relation holds over five decades in mass. Galaxy color,stellar fraction, and Υ* are correlated with eachother and with Md, in the sense that more massivegalaxies tend to be more evolved. There is a systematic dependence ofthe degree of maximality of disks on surface brightness. High surfacebrightness galaxies typically have Υ*~3/4 of themaximum disk value, while low surface brightness galaxies typicallyattain ~1/4 of this amount.
| Nuclear Properties of a Sample of Nearby Spiral Galaxies from Hubble Space Telescope STIS Imaging
We present surface photometry for the central regions of a sample of 48spiral galaxies (mostly unbarred and barred of type Sbc or Sc) observedwith the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble SpaceTelescope. Surface brightness profiles (SBPs) were derived and modeledwith a Nuker law. We also analyzed archival Wide Field Planetary Camera2 images with a larger field of view, which are available for 18galaxies in our sample. We modeled the extracted bulge SBPs with anexponential, an r1/4, or an rn profile. Inagreement with previous studies, we find that bulges of Sbc galaxiesfall into two categories: bulges well described by an exponentialprofile and those well described by an r1/4 profile. Only onegalaxy requires the use of a more general Sérsic profile toproperly describe the bulge. Nuclear photometrically distinct componentsare found in ~55% of the galaxies. For those that we classify as starclusters on the basis of their resolved extent, we find absolutemagnitudes that are brighter on average than those previously identifiedin spiral galaxies. This might be due to a bias in our sample towardstar-forming galaxies, combined with a trend for star-forming galaxiesto host brighter central clusters.Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtainedat the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASAcontract NAS 5-26555.
| Properties of isolated disk galaxies
We present a new sample of northern isolated galaxies, which are definedby the physical criterion that they were not affected by other galaxiesin their evolution during the last few Gyr. To find them we used thelogarithmic ratio, f, between inner and tidal forces acting upon thecandidate galaxy by a possible perturber. The analysis of thedistribution of the f-values for the galaxies in the Coma cluster leadus to adopt the criterion f ≤ -4.5 for isolated galaxies. Thecandidates were chosen from the CfA catalog of galaxies within thevolume defined by cz ≤5000 km s-1, galactic latitudehigher than 40o and declination ≥-2.5o. Theselection of the sample, based on redshift values (when available),magnitudes and sizes of the candidate galaxies and possible perturberspresent in the same field is discussed. The final list of selectedisolated galaxies includes 203 objects from the initial 1706. The listcontains only truly isolated galaxies in the sense defined, but it is byno means complete, since all the galaxies with possible companions underthe f-criterion but with unknown redshift were discarded. We alsoselected a sample of perturbed galaxies comprised of all the diskgalaxies from the initial list with companions (with known redshift)satisfying f ≥ -2 and \Delta(cz) ≤500 km s-1; a totalof 130 objects. The statistical comparison of both samples showssignificant differences in morphology, sizes, masses, luminosities andcolor indices. Confirming previous results, we found that late spiral,Sc-type galaxies are, in particular, more frequent among isolatedgalaxies, whereas Lenticular galaxies are more abundant among perturbedgalaxies. Isolated systems appear to be smaller, less luminous and bluerthan interacting objects. We also found that bars are twice as frequentamong perturbed galaxies compared to isolated galaxies, in particularfor early Spirals and Lenticulars. The perturbed galaxies have higherLFIR/LB and Mmol/LB ratios,but the atomic gas content is similar for the two samples. The analysisof the luminosity-size and mass-luminosity relations shows similartrends for both families, the main difference being the almost totalabsence of big, bright and massive galaxies among the family of isolatedsystems, together with the almost total absence of small, faint and lowmass galaxies among the perturbed systems. All these aspects indicatethat the evolution induced by interactions with neighbors would proceedfrom late, small, faint and low mass Spirals to earlier, bigger, moreluminous and more massive spiral and lenticular galaxies, producing atthe same time a larger fraction of barred galaxies but preserving thesame relations between global parameters. The properties we found forour sample of isolated galaxies appear similar to those of high redshiftgalaxies, suggesting that the present-day isolated galaxies could bequietly evolved, unused building blocks surviving in low densityenvironments.Tables \ref{t1} and \ref{t2} are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| The Hα galaxy survey. I. The galaxy sample, Hα narrow-band observations and star formation parameters for 334 galaxies
We discuss the selection and observations of a large sample of nearbygalaxies, which we are using to quantify the star formation activity inthe local Universe. The sample consists of 334 galaxies across allHubble types from S0/a to Im and with recession velocities of between 0and 3000 km s-1. The basic data for each galaxy are narrowband H\alpha +[NII] and R-band imaging, from which we derive starformation rates, H\alpha +[NII] equivalent widths and surfacebrightnesses, and R-band total magnitudes. A strong correlation is foundbetween total star formation rate and Hubble type, with the strongeststar formation in isolated galaxies occurring in Sc and Sbc types. Moresurprisingly, no significant trend is found between H\alpha +[NII]equivalent width and galaxy R-band luminosity. More detailed analyses ofthe data set presented here will be described in subsequent papers.Based on observations made with the Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope operatedon the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the SpanishObservatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto deAstrofísica de Canarias.The full version of Table \ref{tab3} is available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/414/23 Reduced image datafor this survey can be downloaded fromhttp://www.astro.livjm.ac.uk/HaGS/
| A Survey for H2O Megamasers. III. Monitoring Water Vapor Masers in Active Galaxies
We present single-dish monitoring of the spectra of 13 extragalacticwater megamasers taken over a period of 9 years and a single epoch ofsensitive spectra for seven others. The primary motivation is a searchfor drifting line velocities analogous to those of the systemic featuresin NGC 4258, which are known to result from centripetal acceleration ofgas in an edge-on, subparsec molecular disk. We detect a velocity driftanalogous to that in NGC 4258 in only one source, NGC 2639. Another, themaser source in NGC 1052, exhibits erratic changes in its broad maserprofile over time. Narrow maser features in all of the other diskgalaxies discussed here either remain essentially constant in velocityover the monitoring period or are sufficiently weak or variable inintensity that individual features cannot be traced reliably from oneepoch to the next. In the context of a circumnuclear, molecular diskmodel, our results suggest that either (a) the maser lines seen aresystemic features subject to a much smaller acceleration than present inNGC 4258, presumably because the gas is farther from the nuclear blackhole, or (b) we are detecting ``satellite'' lines for which theacceleration is in the plane of the sky.Our data include the first K-band science observations taken with thenew 100 m Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The GBT data were taken duringtesting and commissioning of several new components and so are subjectto some limitations; nevertheless, they are in most cases the mostsensitive H2O spectra ever taken for each source and cover800 MHz (~=10,800 km s-1) of bandwidth. Many new maserfeatures are detected in these observations. Our data also include atentative and a clear detection of the megamaser in NGC 6240 at epochs ayear and a few months, respectively, prior to the detections reported byHagiwara et al. and Nakai et al.We also report a search for water vapor masers toward the nuclei of 58highly inclined (i>80deg), nearby galaxies. These sourceswere selected to investigate the tendency that H2O megamasersfavor inclined galaxies. None were detected, confirming that megamasersare associated exclusively with active galactic nuclei.
| 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.
| An Atlas of Hubble Space Telescope Spectra and Images of Nearby Spiral Galaxies
We have observed 54 nearby spiral galaxies with the Space TelescopeImaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope to obtainoptical long-slit spectra of nuclear gas disks and STIS optical (~Rband) images of the central 5''×5'' of thegalaxies. These spectra are being used to determine the velocity fieldof nuclear disks and hence to detect the presence of central massiveblack holes. Here we present the spectra for the successfulobservations. Dust obscuration can be significant at opticalwavelengths, and so we also combine the STIS images with archivalNear-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer H-band images toproduce color maps to investigate the morphology of gas and dust in thecentral regions. We find a great variety in the different morphologies,from smooth distributions to well-defined nuclear spirals and dustlanes.Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtainedat the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASAcontract NAS5-26555.
| The luminous and dark matter content of disk galaxies
We have compiled a sample of disk galaxies with available photometry inthe B and K bands, velocity line-widths and HI integral fluxes. Severalparameters that trace the luminous, baryonic and dark matter contentswere inferred. We investigated how these parameters vary with differentgalaxy properties, and compared the results with predictions of galaxyevolutionary models in the context of the Λ Cold Dark Matter(ΛCDM) cosmogony. The ratio of disk-to-total maximum circularvelocity, (Vd,m/Vt,m), depends mainly on thecentral disk surface density Σd,0 (or surfacebrightness, SB), increasing roughly asΣd,00.15. While a fraction of high SBgalaxies have a (Vd,m/Vt,m) ratio corresponding tothe maximum disk solution, the low SB are completely dark matterdominated. The trend is similar for the models, although they haveslightly smaller (Vd,m/Vt,m) ratios thanobservations, in particular at the highest SBs and when small baryonfractions are used. The scatter in the(Vd,m/Vt,m)- Σd,0 plot is large.An analysis of residuals shows that (Vd,m/Vt,m)tends to decrease as the galaxy is redder, more luminous (massive), andof earlier type. The models allow us to explain the physics of theseresults, which imply a connexion between halo structure and luminousproperties. The dynamical-to-baryon mass and dynamical mass-to-light (Band K) ratios at a given radius were also estimated. All these ratios,for observations and models, decrease with Σd,0; (orSB) and do not correlate significantly with the galaxy scale, contraryto what has been reported in previous works, based on the analysis ofrotation curve shapes. We discuss this difference and state theimportance of solving the controversy of whether the dark and luminouscontents in disk galaxies depend on SB or luminosity. The broadagreement between the models and observations presented here regardingthe trends of the dynamical-to-baryon matter and mass-to-light ratioswith several galaxy properties favors the ΛCDM scenario. However,the excess of dark matter inside the optical region of disk galaxiesremains the main difficulty.Appendices A and B are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org. Table 1 is only available at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/412/633
| Modified Newtonian Dynamics as an Alternative to Dark Matter
Modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) is an empirically motivatedmodification of Newtonian gravity or inertia suggested by Milgrom as analternative to cosmic dark matter. The basic idea is that ataccelerations below ao ~ 10-8 cm/s2 ~cHo/6 the effective gravitational attraction approaches√(gnao), where gn is the usualNewtonian acceleration. This simple algorithm yields flat rotationcurves for spiral galaxies and a mass-rotation velocity relation of theform M ∝ V4 that forms the basis for the observedluminosity-rotation velocity relation-the Tully-Fisher law. We reviewthe phenomenological success of MOND on scales ranging from dwarfspheroidal galaxies to superclusters and demonstrate that the evidencefor dark matter can be equally well interpreted as evidence for MOND. Wediscuss the possible physical basis for an acceleration-basedmodification of Newtonian dynamics as well as the extention of MOND tocosmology and structure formation.
| The H I Line Width/Linear Diameter Relationship as an Independent Test of the Hubble Constant
The relationship between corrected H I line widths and linear diameters(LW/LD) for spiral galaxies is used as an independent check on the valueof the Hubble constant. After calibrating the Tully-Fisher (TF) relationin both the B and I bands, the B-band relation is used for galaxies ofmorphological/luminosity types Sc I, Sc I.2, Sc I.3, Sab, Sb, Sb I-II,and Sb II to derive the LW/LD relation. We find that for this sample thescatter in the LW/LD is smallest with a Hubble constant of 90-95 kms-1 Mpc-1. Lower values of the Hubble constantproduce a separation in the LW/LD relation that is a function ofmorphological type. Since a Hubble constant of 90-95 is significantlylarger than the final Key Project value of 72 km s-1Mpc-1, a comparison of TF, surface brightness fluctuation(SBF), and fundamental plane (FP) is made. This comparison indicatesthat the Key Project TF distances to 21 clusters may be too large. For asample of 11 clusters, the Key Project TF distances provide anunweighted mean Hubble constant of 77 km s-1Mpc-1, while a combination of the FP, SBF, and our TFdistances for the same 11 clusters gives H0=91 kms-1 Mpc-1. A more subtle result in our data is amorphological dichotomy in the Hubble constant. The data suggest that ScI galaxies follow a Hubble constant of 90-95 while Sb galaxies follow aHubble constant closer to 75 km s-1 Mpc-1.Possible explanations for this result are considered, but it is shownthat this Sb/Sc I Hubble flow discrepancy is also present in the VirgoCluster and is consistent with previous investigations that indicatethat some galaxies carry a component of age-related intrinsic redshift.
| The Ursa Major cluster of galaxies - III. Optical observations of dwarf galaxies and the luminosity function down to MR=-11
Results are presented of a deep optical survey of the Ursa Majorcluster, a spiral-rich cluster of galaxies at a distance of 18.6Mpcwhich contains about 30 per cent of the light but only 5 per cent of themass of the nearby Virgo cluster. Fields around known cluster membersand a pattern of blind fields along the major and minor axes of thecluster were studied with mosaic CCD cameras on the Canada-France-HawaiiTelescope. The dynamical crossing time for the Ursa Major cluster isonly slightly less than a Hubble time. Most galaxies in the localUniverse exist in similar moderate-density environments. The Ursa Majorcluster is therefore a good place to study the statistical properties ofdwarf galaxies, since this structure is at an evolutionary stagerepresentative of typical environments, yet has enough galaxies thatreasonable counting statistics can be accumulated. The mainobservational results of our survey are as follows. (i) The galaxyluminosity function is flat, with a logarithmic slope α=-1.1 for-17
| The Ursa Major Cluster of Galaxies. V. H I Rotation Curve Shapes and the Tully-Fisher Relations
This paper investigates the statistical properties of the Tully-Fisher(TF) relations for a volume-limited complete sample of spiral galaxiesin the nearby Ursa Major Cluster. The merits of B, R, I, and K' surfacephotometry and the availability of detailed kinematic information from HI synthesis imaging have been exploited. In addition to the corrected HI global profile widths WiR,I, the available H Irotation curves allow direct measurements of the observed maximumrotational velocities Vmax and the amplitudesVflat of the outer flat parts. The dynamical state of the gasdisks could also be determined in detail from the radio observations.The four luminosity and three kinematic measures allowed theconstruction of 12 correlations for various subsamples. For large galaxysamples, the Mb,iR-logWiR,Icorrelation in conjunction with strict selection criteria is preferredfor distance determinations with a 7% accuracy. Galaxies with rotationcurves that are still rising at the last measured point liesystematically on the low-velocity side of the TF relation. Galaxieswith a partly declining rotation curve(Vmax>Vflat) tend to lie systematically on thehigh-velocity side of the relation when usingWiR,I or Vmax. However, systematicoffsets are eliminated when Vflat is used. Residuals of theMb,iB-log(2Vflat) relation correlateconsistently with global galaxy properties along the Hubble sequencelike morphological type, color, surface brightness, and gas massfraction. These correlations are absent for the near-infraredMb,iK'-log(2Vflat)residuals. The tightest correlation(χ2red=1.1) is found for theMb,iK'-log(2Vflat) relation,which has a slope of -11.3+/-0.5 and a total observed scatter of 0.26mag with a most likely intrinsic scatter of zero. The tightness of thenear-infrared correlation is preserved when converting it into abaryonic TF relation that has a slope of -10.0 in the case(Mgas/LK')=1.6 while a zerointrinsic scatter remains most likely. Based on the tightness of thenear-infrared and baryonic correlations, it is concluded that the TFrelation reflects a fundamental correlation between the mass of the darkmatter halo, measured through its induced maximum rotational velocityVflat, and the total baryonic mass Mbar of agalaxy where Mbar~V4flat. Althoughthe actual distribution of the baryonic matter inside halos of similarmass can vary significantly, it does not affect this relation.
| The Ursa Major cluster of galaxies. IV. HI synthesis observations
In this data paper we present the results of an extensive 21 cm-linesynthesis imaging survey of 43 spiral galaxies in the nearby Ursa Majorcluster using the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. Detailedkinematic information in the form of position-velocity diagrams androtation curves is presented in an atlas together with HI channel maps,21 cm continuum maps, global HI profiles, radial HI surface densityprofiles, integrated HI column density maps, and HI velocity fields. Therelation between the corrected global HI linewidth and the rotationalvelocities Vmax and Vflat as derived from therotation curves is investigated. Inclination angles obtained from theoptical axis ratios are compared to those derived from the inclined HIdisks and the HI velocity fields. The galaxies were not selected on thebasis of their HI content but solely on the basis of their clustermembership and inclination which should be suitable for a kinematicanalysis. The observed galaxies provide a well-defined, volume limitedand equidistant sample, useful to investigate in detail the statisticalproperties of the Tully-Fisher relation and the dark matter halos aroundthem.
| Nearby Optical Galaxies: Selection of the Sample and Identification of Groups
In this paper we describe the Nearby Optical Galaxy (NOG) sample, whichis a complete, distance-limited (cz<=6000 km s-1) andmagnitude-limited (B<=14) sample of ~7000 optical galaxies. Thesample covers 2/3 (8.27 sr) of the sky (|b|>20deg) andappears to have a good completeness in redshift (97%). We select thesample on the basis of homogenized corrected total blue magnitudes inorder to minimize systematic effects in galaxy sampling. We identify thegroups in this sample by means of both the hierarchical and thepercolation ``friends-of-friends'' methods. The resulting catalogs ofloose groups appear to be similar and are among the largest catalogs ofgroups currently available. Most of the NOG galaxies (~60%) are found tobe members of galaxy pairs (~580 pairs for a total of ~15% of objects)or groups with at least three members (~500 groups for a total of ~45%of objects). About 40% of galaxies are left ungrouped (field galaxies).We illustrate the main features of the NOG galaxy distribution. Comparedto previous optical and IRAS galaxy samples, the NOG provides a densersampling of the galaxy distribution in the nearby universe. Given itslarge sky coverage, the identification of groups, and its high-densitysampling, the NOG is suited to the analysis of the galaxy density fieldof the nearby universe, especially on small scales.
| Is a Simple Collisionless Relic Dark Matter Particle Ruled Out?
The central densities of dark matter (DM) halos are much lower thanpredicted in cold DM models of structure formation. Confirmation thatthey have cores with a finite central density would allow us to rule outmany popular types of collisionless particles as candidates for DM. Anymodel that leads to cusped halos (such as cold DM) is already facingserious difficulties on small scales, and hot DM models have beenexcluded. Here I show that fermionic warm DM is inconsistent with thewide range of phase-space densities in the DM halos of well-observednearby galaxies.
| The Correlation between Galaxy H I Line Widths and K'Luminosities
The relationship between galaxy luminosities and rotation rates isstudied with total luminosities in the K' band. Extinction problems areessentially eliminated at this band centered at 2.1 μm. A templateluminosity-line width relation is derived based on 65 galaxies drawnfrom two magnitude-limited cluster samples. The zero point is determinedusing four galaxies with accurately known distances. The calibration isapplied to give the distance to the Pisces Cluster (59 Mpc) at aredshift in the cosmic microwave background frame of 4771 kms-1. The resultant value of the Hubble constant is 81 kms-1Mpc-1. The largest sources of uncertainty arethe small number of zero-point calibrators at this time at K' and thepresent application to only one cluster.
| Distances to Galaxies from the Correlation between Luminosities and Line Widths. III. Cluster Template and Global Measurement of H0
The correlation between the luminosities and rotation velocities ofgalaxies can be used to estimate distances to late-type galaxies. It isan appropriate moment to reevaluate this method given the great deal ofnew information available. The major improvements described hereinclude: (1) the template relations can now be defined by large,complete samples, (2) the samples are drawn from a wide range ofenvironments, (3) the relations are defined by photometric informationat the B, R, I, and K' bands, (4) the multiband information clarifiesproblems associated with internal reddening, (5) the template zeropoints are defined by 24 galaxies with accurately known distances, and(6) the relations are applied to 12 clusters scattered across the skyand out to velocities of 8000 km s-1. The biggest change fromearlier calibrations are associated with point 5. Roughly a 15% increasein the distance scale has come about with the fivefold increase in thenumber of zero-point calibrators. The overall increase in the distancescale from the luminosity-line width methodology is about 10% afterconsideration of all factors. Modulo an assumed distance to the LargeMagellanic Cloud of 50 kpc and no metallicity corrections to the Cepheidcalibration, the resulting value of the Hubble constant isH0=77+/-8 km s-1 Mpc-1, where the erroris the 95% probable statistical error. Cumulative systematic errorsinternal to this analysis should not exceed 10%. Uncertainties in thedistance scale ladder external to this analysis are estimated at ~10%.If the Cepheid calibration is shifted from the LMC to NGC 4258 with adistance established by observations of circumnuclear masers, thenH0 is larger by 12%.
| Box- and peanut-shaped bulges. I. Statistics
We present a classification for bulges of a complete sample of ~ 1350edge-on disk galaxies derived from the RC3 (Third Reference Catalogue ofBright Galaxies, de Vaucouleurs et al. \cite{rc3}). A visualclassification of the bulges using the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) inthree types of b/p bulges or as an elliptical type is presented andsupported by CCD images. NIR observations reveal that dust extinctiondoes almost not influence the shape of bulges. There is no substantialdifference between the shape of bulges in the optical and in the NIR.Our analysis reveals that 45% of all bulges are box- and peanut-shaped(b/p). The frequency of b/p bulges for all morphological types from S0to Sd is > 40%. In particular, this is for the first time that such alarge frequency of b/p bulges is reported for galaxies as late as Sd.The fraction of the observed b/p bulges is large enough to explain theb/p bulges by bars. Partly based on observations collected at ESO/LaSilla (Chile), DSAZ/Calar Alto (Spain), and Lowell Observatory/Flagstaff(AZ/U.S.A.). Tables 6 and 7 are only available in electronic form at CDSvia anonymous 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.
| Internal extinction, population incompleteness bias and the faint-end of the B-band Tully-Fisher relation
We analyse the distribution of three different samples of spiralgalaxies of the Local Universe in the B-band luminosity-maximumrotational velocity (L_B-VMax) plane, i.e. the B-magnitudeTully-Fisher (TF) relation. The first sample comprises 25+31 late-type(from Sa to Im-BCD) galaxies, selected from, respectively, the Virgo andthe Ursa Major clusters. In addition, a sample of 20 group extremelate-type (ELT) spiral (from Sd to Sm) galaxies and a sample of 13 dwarflate-type galaxies are selected. First, we analyse the influence ofthree different corrections for internal extinction (IE) on both theslope and the zero-point of the relation. These recipes reflect eitheri) the morphological type dependence of the IE or ii) the assumption ofa ``sandwich-model'' for the distribution of the dust and the stellarcomponents within the disk or iii) the existence of the metallicity-massrelation. As a first result we find that the latter recipe of IEcorrection systematically makes Sa-Sc galaxies brighter than laterspirals. Since the former galaxies mainly populate the region of thebright, fast rotators, the slope of the corresponding TF relationbecomes much steeper than in the other two cases. Under the hypothesisthat the ELT spiral galaxies in clusters and in groups share the sameLF, we show that the claimed skew of the group ELT spiral galaxies withrespect to the extrapolated TF relation of more luminous systems (i.e.the local TF calibrators) is due both to the population incompletenessbias affecting such a template and to the type segregation. Finally, weconfirm that the distribution of dwarf galaxies with comparablerotational and random velocities in the L_B-VMax plane isconsistent with the relation of more luminous systems, while therotationally supported dwarf galaxies are underluminous with respect tothe ELT galaxies of the same VMax. However, the latterresults may suffer from the heterogeneous methods of measurement ofdwarf galaxy distances that were adopted.
| The Speed and Origin of the H i Spiral Pattern in M81
A study of the pattern speeds of disk galaxies is under way usingintegrated forms of the continuity equation that relate the patternspeed to the velocity and surface density of the pattern tracer.Integration removes the unobservable sky-plane velocities and allowsaveraging to improve accuracy and spatial resolution. This approachassumes the disk is flat and the pattern rigid but makes no assumptionabout the dynamics. The method relies on the nonaxisymmetric nature ofthe velocity field and brightness distribution of a spiral. The speedsof nonrigid patterns may be approximated by the same equations inregions where the shear is small. The method is used to determine thespeed of the H I spiral pattern in M81 using intensity and velocity mapsfrom the VLA. The mean pattern speed is 23.4 +/- 2.3 km s-1 kpc-1. Ifthe pattern rotates rigidly then corotation is at a radius of 8.4 kpc,the outer Lindblad resonance (OLR) is within the spiral at 12.6 kpc, andthe inner Lindblad resonance (ILR) is in the central hydrogen hole andwell inside the inner limit of spiral structure. The pattern speed maybe lower in the northern half of M81 than the southern, in which casethe present high symmetry of M81 is accidental. This lower speed couldbe explained by the lower H I content in the south arm. Reapplication ofthe method without the assumption of rigidity shows that the pattern isshearing at a rate of 2.3 km s-1 kpc-2, which is consistent with swingamplification owing to a recent close passage of M82 and NGC 3077. Thepattern and the material have nearly the same speed from a radius ofabout 9 kpc outward. This means there is no OLR in the observed H Igalaxy and explains the lack of asymmetric photometric gradients acrossthe arms. The timescale for winding of the pattern and the period of theorbit of NGC 3077 are roughly the same; periodic reamplification of thepattern by a close passage of NGC 3077 can remove the winding dilemma.The rate of shear, the velocity field of the south arm, and the verysmall amount of interarm H I are inconsistent with a nearly rigiddensity wave. The models most similar to M81 are the shearing gasmodels. Stochastic models give similar morphologies but make noprediction about velocities.
| Rotation Curves of Ursa Major Galaxies in the Context of Modified Newtonian Dynamics
This is the third in a series of papers in which spiral galaxy rotationcurves are considered in the context of Milgrom's modified dynamics(MOND). The present sample of 30 objects is drawn from a complete sampleof galaxies in the Ursa Major cluster, with photometric data from Tullyet al. and 21 cm line data from Verheijen. The galaxies are roughly allat the same distance (15 to 16 Mpc). The radio observations are madewith the Westerbork Synthesis Array, which means that the linearresolution of all rotation curves is comparable. The greatest advantageof this sample is the existence of K'-band surface photometry for allgalaxies; the near-infrared emission, being relatively free of theeffects of dust absorption and less sensitive to recent star formation,is a more precise tracer of the mean radial distribution of the dominantstellar population. The predicted rotation curves are calculated fromthe K'-band surface photometry and the observed distribution of neutralhydrogen using the simple MOND prescription, in which the one adjustableparameter is the mass of the stellar disk or the implied mass-to-lightratio. The predicted rotation curves generally agree with the observedcurves, and the mean M/L in the near-infrared is about 0.9 with a smalldispersion. The fitted M/L in the B-band correlates with B-V color inthe sense predicted by population synthesis models. Including earlierwork, about 80 galaxy rotation curves are now well reproduced from theobserved distribution of detectable matter using the MOND formula tocalculate the gravitational acceleration; this lends considerableobservational support to Milgrom's unconventional hypothesis.
| Groups of galaxies. III. Some empirical characteristics.
Not Available
| 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.
| Homogeneous Velocity-Distance Data for Peculiar Velocity Analysis. III. The Mark III Catalog of Galaxy Peculiar Velocities
This is the third in a series of papers in which we assemble and analyzea homogeneous catalog of peculiar velocity data. In Papers I and II, wedescribed the Tully-Fisher (TF) redshift-distance samples thatconstitute the bulk of the catalog and our methodology for obtainingmutually consistent TF calibrations for these samples. In this paper, wesupply further technical details of the treatment of the data andpresent a subset of the catalog in tabular form. The full catalog, knownas the Mark III Catalog of Galaxy Peculiar Velocities, is available inaccessible on-line databases, as described herein. The electroniccatalog incorporates not only the TF samples discussed in Papers I andII but also elliptical galaxy Dn- sigma samples originally presentedelsewhere. The relative zero pointing of the elliptical and spiral datasets is discussed here. The basic elements of the Mark III Catalog arethe observables for each object (redshift, magnitude, velocity width,etc.) and inferred distances derived from the TF or Dn- sigma relations.Distances obtained from both the forward and inverse TF relations aretabulated for the spirals. Malmquist bias--corrected distances arecomputed for each catalog object using density fields obtained from theIRAS 1.2 Jy redshift survey. Distances for both individual objects andgroups are provided. A variety of auxiliary data, including distancesand local densities predicted from the IRAS redshift surveyreconstruction method, are tabulated as well. We study the distributionsof TF residuals for three of our samples and conclude that they are wellapproximated as Gaussian. However, for the Mathewson et al. sample wedemonstrate a significant decrease in TF scatter with increasingvelocity width. We test for, but find no evidence of, a correlationbetween TF residuals and galaxy morphology. Finally, we derivetransformations that map the apparent magnitude and velocity width datafor each spiral sample onto a common system. This permits theapplication of analysis methods that assume that a unique TF relationdescribes the entire sample.
| The I band Tully-Fisher relation for cluster galaxies: data presentation.
Observational parameters which can be used for redshift-independentdistance determination using the Tully-Fisher (TF) technique are givenfor \ntot spiral galaxies in the fields of 24 clusters or groups. I bandphotometry for the full sample was either obtained by us or compiledfrom published literature. Rotational velocities are derived either from21 cm spectra or optical emission line long-slit spectra, and convertedto a homogeneous scale. In addition to presenting the data, a discussionof the various sources of error on TF parameters is introduced, and thecriteria for the assignment of membership to each cluster are given.
| The Ursa Major Cluster of Galaxies.I.Cluster Definition and Photometric Data
The Ursa Major Cluster has received remarkably little attention,although it is as near as the Virgo Cluster and contains a comparablenumber of H I-rich galaxies. In this paper, criteria for groupmembership are discussed and data are presented for 79 galaxiesidentified with the group. Of these, all 79 have been imaged at B,R,Ibands with CCDs, 70 have been imaged at K' with a HgCdTe array detector,and 70 have been detected in the HI 21 cm line. A complete sample of 62galaxies brighter than M_B_ = - 16.5 is identified. Images and gradientsin surface brightness and color are presented at a common linear scale.As has been seen previously, the galaxies with the reddest global colorsare reddest at the centers and get bluer at large radii. However,curiously, among the galaxies with the bluest global colors there aresystems with very blue cores that get redder at large radii.
| Colliding and Merging Galaxies. III. The Dynamically Young Merger Remnant NGC 3921
This paper presents imaging, photometric, and spectroscopic observationsof NGC 3921 = Mrk 430 gathered over many years with five opticaltelescopes. This luminous galaxy (M_V_= -22.8 for H_0_ = 50) atcz_hel_=5926 +/- 15 km s^-1^ features a single nucleus, a main body withcomplex fine structure (ripples, loops, fan-shaped protrusions), and apair of ~100 kpc long, crossed tidal tails indicative of two former diskgalaxies of near-equal mass. These galaxies have essentially merged. Themain body of the remnant shows a typical post-starburst spectrumdominated in the blue by A 3-5 V stars. The inferred burst age is 0.5-1Gyr and the burst strength ~10% (by mass). Surrounding the nucleus isextremely centrally concentrated ionized gas that can be traced out to~12" (7 kpc), emits ~> 1.5 x 10^41^ ergs s^-1^ in Hα, and showssigns of both rotational and chaotic motions. The bright semistellarnucleus appears strikingly off-centered relative to the main body, whichitself features "sloshing" isophotes. That is, the centers of successiveisophotes shift position by ~>2 kpc, causing the nucleus to appeareccentric by up to 23% relative to a nearly half-light isophote. Theluminous matter has clearly not yet equilibrated, and this mergerremnant is dynamically young. Nevertheless, the mean light distributionof the main body is already well described by an r^1/4^ law. Thisdistribution plus the luminosity, UBV colors, color gradients, velocitydispersion, spectroscopic line strengths, and fine-structure index allagree with the notion that NGC 3921, which is a member of a small, tightgroup of four galaxies, is a 0.7+/-0.3 Gyr old protoelliptical (reckonedsince close passage that started the merger). Both it and its kin NGC7252 are nearby analogs of distant galaxies with "E+A"-type spectra inButcher-Oemler clusters. A search for star clusters and associations inNGC 3921 reveals 19 candidate OB associations, but only five candidateyoung globular clusters with M_V_ = -12 to -14. Thus, NGC 3921 appearsto have distinctly fewer and certainly less luminous young globularclusters than NGC 7252. This less extreme population of young globularsmay reflect a paucity of gas in one of the two merging component disksof this suspected S0-Sc or Sa-Sc merger (Hibbard & van Gorkom, AJ,in press). Such gas paucity may explain the weaker starburst and mayhave supplied fewer giant molecular clouds for globular clusterformation. Hence, the Hubble types and gas contents of componentgalaxies appear to play an important role in determining the clusterpopulations in merger remnants.
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