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Hubble Space Telescope STIS Spectra of Nuclear Star Clusters in Spiral Galaxies: Dependence of Age and Mass on Hubble Type
We study the nuclear star clusters (NCs) in spiral galaxies of variousHubble types using spectra obtained with the STIS on board the HubbleSpace Telescope (HST). We observed the nuclear clusters in 40 galaxies,selected from two previous HST WFPC2 imaging surveys. At a spatialresolution of ~0.2" the spectra provide a better separation of clusterlight from underlying galaxy light than is possible with ground-basedspectra. Approximately half of the spectra have a sufficiently highsignal-to-noise ratio for detailed stellar population analysis. For theother half we only measure the continuum slope, as quantified by the B-Vcolor. To infer the star formation history, metallicity, and dustextinction, we fit weighted superpositions of single-age stellarpopulation templates to the high signal-to-noise ratio spectra. We usethe results to determine the luminosity-weighted age, mass-to-lightratio, and masses of the clusters. Approximately half of the sampleclusters contain a population younger than 1 Gyr. Theluminosity-weighted ages range from 10 Myr to 10 Gyr. The stellarpopulations of NCs are generally best fit as a mixture of populations ofdifferent ages. This indicates that NCs did not form in a single event,but that instead they had additional star formation long after theoldest stars formed. On average, the sample clusters in late-typespirals have a younger luminosity-weighted mean age than those inearly-type spirals (L=8.37+/-0.25 vs.9.23+/-0.21). The average mass-weighted ages are older by ~0.7 dex,indicating that there often is an underlying older population that doesnot contribute much light but does contain most of the mass. The averagecluster masses are smaller in late-type spirals than in early-typespirals (logM=6.25+/-0.21 vs. 7.63+/-0.24) and exceed the masses typicalof globular clusters. The cluster mass correlates loosely with totalgalaxy luminosity. It correlates more strongly with both the Hubble typeof the host galaxy and the luminosity of its bulge. The lattercorrelation has the same slope as the well-known correlation betweensupermassive black hole mass and bulge luminosity. The properties ofboth nuclear clusters and black holes in the centers of spiral galaxiesare therefore intimately connected to the properties of the host galaxy,and in particular its bulge component. Plausible formation scenarioshave to account for this. We discuss various possible selection biasesin our results, but conclude that none of them can explain thedifferences seen between clusters in early- and late-type spirals. Theinability to infer spectroscopically the populations of faint clustersdoes introduce a bias toward younger ages, but not necessarily towardhigher masses.Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope,obtained from the Data Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute,which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research inAstronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. These observations areassociated with proposals 9070 and 9783.
| Hα Imaging of Early-Type Sa-Sab Spiral Galaxies. II. Global Properties
New results, based on one of the most comprehensive Hα imagingsurveys of nearby Sa-Sab spirals completed to date, reveals early-typespirals to be a diverse group of galaxies that span a wide range inmassive star formation rates. While the majority of Sa-Sab galaxies inour sample are forming stars at a modest rate, a significant fraction(~29%) exhibit star formation rates greater than 1 Msolaryr-1, rivaling the most prolifically star-forming late-typespirals. A similar diversity is apparent in the star formation historyof Sa-Sab spirals as measured by their Hα equivalent widths.Consistent with our preliminary results presented in the first paper inthis series, we find giant H II regions [L(Hα)>=1039ergs s-1] in the disks of ~37% of early-type spirals. Wesuspect that recent minor mergers or past interactions are responsiblefor the elevated levels of Hα emission and, perhaps, for thepresence of giant H II regions in these galaxies. Our results, however,are not in total agreement with the Hα study of Kennicutt &Kent, who did not find any early-type spirals with Hα equivalentwidths >14 Å. A close examination of the morphologicalclassification of galaxies, however, suggests that systematicdifferences between the Revised Shapley-Ames Catalog and the SecondReference Catalogue may be responsible for the contrasting results.Based on observations obtained with the 3.5 m telescope at Apache PointObservatory (APO) and the 0.9 m telescope at Kitt Peak NationalObservatory (KPNO). The APO 3.5 m telescope is owned and operated by theAstrophysical Research Consortium.
| Circumnuclear Structure and Black Hole Fueling: Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS Imaging of 250 Active and Normal Galaxies
Why are the nuclei of some galaxies more active than others? If mostgalaxies harbor a central massive black hole, the main difference isprobably in how well it is fueled by its surroundings. We investigatethe hypothesis that such a difference can be seen in the detailedcircumnuclear morphologies of galaxies using several quantitativelydefined features, including bars, isophotal twists, boxy and diskyisophotes, and strong nonaxisymmetric features in unsharp-masked images.These diagnostics are applied to 250 high-resolution images of galaxycenters obtained in the near-infrared with NICMOS on the Hubble SpaceTelescope. To guard against the influence of possible biases andselection effects, we have carefully matched samples of Seyfert 1,Seyfert 2, LINER, starburst, and normal galaxies in their basicproperties, taking particular care to ensure that each was observed witha similar average scale (10-15 pc pixel-1). Severalmorphological differences among our five different spectroscopicclassifications emerge from the analysis. The H II/starburst galaxiesshow the strongest deviations from smooth elliptical isophotes, whilethe normal galaxies and LINERs have the least disturbed morphology. TheSeyfert 2s have significantly more twisted isophotes than any othercategory, and the early-type Seyfert 2s are significantly more disturbedthan the early-type Seyfert 1s. The morphological differences betweenSeyfert 1s and Seyfert 2s suggest that more is at work than simply theviewing angle of the central engine. They may correspond to differentevolutionary stages.
| The PDS versus Markarian starburst galaxies: comparing strong and weak IRAS emitter at 12 and 25 μm in the nearby Universe
The characteristics of the starburst galaxies from the Pico dos Diassurvey (PDS) are compared with those of the nearby ultraviolet (UV)bright Markarian starburst galaxies, having the same limit in redshift(vh < 7500 km s-1) and absolute B magnitude(MB < -18). An important difference is found: theMarkarian galaxies are generally undetected at 12 and 25 μm in IRAS.This is consistent with the UV excess shown by these galaxies andsuggests that the youngest star-forming regions dominating thesegalaxies are relatively free of dust.The far-infrared selection criteria for the PDS are shown to introduce astrong bias towards massive (luminous) and large size late-type spiralgalaxies. This is contrary to the Markarian galaxies, which are found tobe remarkably rich in smaller size early-type galaxies. These resultssuggest that only late-type spirals with a large and massive disc arestrong emitters at 12 and 25 μm in IRAS in the nearby Universe.The Markarian and PDS starburst galaxies are shown to share the sameenvironment. This rules out an explanation of the differences observedin terms of external parameters. These differences may be explained byassuming two different levels of evolution, the Markarian being lessevolved than the PDS galaxies. This interpretation is fully consistentwith the disc formation hypothesis proposed by Coziol et al. to explainthe special properties of the Markarian SBNG.
| FLASH redshift survey - I. Observations and catalogue
The FLAIR Shapley-Hydra (FLASH) redshift survey catalogue consists of4613 galaxies brighter than bJ= 16.7 (corrected for Galacticextinction) over a 700-deg2 region of sky in the generaldirection of the Local Group motion. The survey region is a70°× 10° strip spanning the sky from the ShapleySupercluster to the Hydra cluster, and contains 3141 galaxies withmeasured redshifts. Designed to explore the effect of the galaxyconcentrations in this direction (in particular the Supergalactic planeand the Shapley Supercluster) upon the Local Group motion, the 68 percent completeness allows us to sample the large-scale structure betterthan similar sparsely-sampled surveys. The survey region does notoverlap with the areas covered by ongoing wide-angle (Sloan or 2dF)complete redshift surveys. In this paper, the first in a series, wedescribe the observation and data reduction procedures, the analysis forthe redshift errors and survey completeness, and present the surveydata.
| The IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample
IRAS flux densities, redshifts, and infrared luminosities are reportedfor all sources identified in the IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample(RBGS), a complete flux-limited survey of all extragalactic objects withtotal 60 μm flux density greater than 5.24 Jy, covering the entiresky surveyed by IRAS at Galactic latitudes |b|>5°. The RBGS includes629 objects, with median and mean sample redshifts of 0.0082 and 0.0126,respectively, and a maximum redshift of 0.0876. The RBGS supersedes theprevious two-part IRAS Bright Galaxy Samples(BGS1+BGS2), which were compiled before the final(Pass 3) calibration of the IRAS Level 1 Archive in 1990 May. The RBGSalso makes use of more accurate and consistent automated methods tomeasure the flux of objects with extended emission. The RBGS contains 39objects that were not present in the BGS1+BGS2,and 28 objects from the BGS1+BGS2 have beendropped from RBGS because their revised 60 μm flux densities are notgreater than 5.24 Jy. Comparison of revised flux measurements forsources in both surveys shows that most flux differences are in therange ~5%-25%, although some faint sources at 12 and 25 μm differ byas much as a factor of 2. Basic properties of the RBGS sources aresummarized, including estimated total infrared luminosities, as well asupdates to cross identifications with sources from optical galaxycatalogs established using the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Inaddition, an atlas of images from the Digitized Sky Survey with overlaysof the IRAS position uncertainty ellipse and annotated scale bars isprovided for ease in visualizing the optical morphology in context withthe angular and metric size of each object. The revised bolometricinfrared luminosity function, φ(Lir), forinfrared-bright galaxies in the local universe remains best fit by adouble power law, φ(L)~Lα, withα=-0.6(+/-0.1) and α=-2.2(+/-0.1) below and above the``characteristic'' infrared luminosityL*ir~1010.5Lsolar,respectively. A companion paper provides IRAS High Resolution (HIRES)processing of over 100 RBGS sources where improved spatial resolutionoften provides better IRAS source positions or allows for deconvolutionof close galaxy pairs.
| Spiral Galaxies with HST/NICMOS. II. Isophotal Fits and Nuclear Cusp Slopes
We present surface brightness profiles for 56 of the 78 spiral galaxiesobserved in the HST/NICMOS2 F160W snapshot survey introduced in Paper Iof this series, as well as surface brightness profiles for 23 objectsout of the 41 that were also observed in the F110W filter. We fit thesesurface brightness profiles with the Nuker law of Lauer et al. and usethe smooth analytical descriptions of the data to compute the averagenuclear stellar cusp slopes <γ> in the 0.1"-0.5" radialrange. Our main result is the startling similarity between the nuclearstellar cusp slopes <γ> in the near-infrared compared withthose derived in the visual passband. This similarity has severalimplications: (1) Despite the significant local color variations thatare found in the nuclear regions of spirals and that are documented inPaper I, there are typically little or no optical-NIR global colorgradients, and thus no global stellar population variations, inside~50-100 pc from the nucleus in nearby spirals. (2) The large observedrange of the strength of the nuclear stellar cusps seen in the HSToptical study of spiral galaxies reflects a physical difference betweengalaxies and is not an artifact caused by nuclear dust and/or recentstar formation. (3) The dichotomy between R1/4 bulges, withsteep nuclear stellar cusps <γ>~1, and exponential bulges,with shallow nuclear stellar cusps <γ><0.3, is also notan artifact of the effects of dust or recent star formation. (4) Thepresence of a surrounding massive disk appears to have no effect on therise of the stellar density distribution within the innermost hundredparsecs of the R1/4 spheroids. These results imply abreakdown within the family of exponential bulges of the nuclear versusglobal relationships that have been found for the R1/4spheroids. Such a breakdown is likely to have significant implicationsconcerning the formation of exponential bulges and their connection withthe R1/4 spheroids. Based on observations with the NASA/ESAHubble 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.
| Spiral Galaxies with HST/NICMOS. I. Nuclear Morphologies, Color Maps, and Distinct Nuclei
This is the first of two papers where we present the analysis of anHST/NICMOS2 near-infrared (NIR) snapshot survey in the F160W (H) filterfor a sample of 78 spiral galaxies selected from the UGC and ESOLVcatalogs. For 69 of these objects we provide nuclear color informationderived by combining the H data either with additional NICMOS F110W (J)images or with V WFPC2/HST data. Here we present the NIR images and theoptical-NIR color maps. We focus our attention on the properties of thephotometrically distinct ``nuclei'' which are found embedded in most ofthe galaxies and provide measurements of their half-light radii andmagnitudes in the H (and when available in the J) band. We find that (1)in the NIR the nuclei embedded in the bright early- to intermediate-typegalaxies span a much larger range in brightness than the nuclei whichare typically found embedded in bulgeless late-type disks: the nucleiembedded in the early- to intermediate-type galaxies reach, on thebright end, values up to HAB~-17.7 mag; (2) nuclei are foundin both nonbarred and barred hosts, in large-scale (>~1 kpc) as wellas in nuclear (up to a few 100 pc) bars; (3) there is a significantincrease in half-light radius with increasing luminosity of the nucleusin the early/intermediate types (a decade in radius for ~8 magbrightening), a correlation which was found in the V band and which isalso seen in the NIR data; (4) the nuclei of early/intermediate-typespirals cover a large range of optical-NIR colors, from V-H~-0.5 to 3.Some nuclei are bluer and others redder than the surroundinggalaxy,indicating the presence of activity or reddening by dust in many ofthese systems; (5) someearly/intermediate nuclei are elongated and/orslightly offset from the isophotal center of the host galaxy. Onaverage, however, these nuclei appear as centered, star-cluster-likestructures similar to those whichare found in the late-type disks. Basedon observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained atthe Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by Associationof Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.
| Supernovae in the nuclear regions of starburst galaxies
The feasibility of using near-infrared observations to discoversupernovae in the nuclear and circumnuclear regions of nearby starburstgalaxies is investigated. We provide updated estimates of the intrinsiccore-collapse supernova rates in these regions. We discuss the problemof extinction, and present new estimates of the extinction towards 33supernova remnants in the starburst galaxy M 82. This is done using Hiand H2 column density measurements. We estimate the molecularto atomic hydrogen mass ratio to be 7.4+/-1.0 in M 82. We have assemblednear-infrared photometric data for a total of 13 core-collapsesupernovae, some unpublished hitherto. This constitutes the largestdatabase of infrared light curves for such events. We show that theinfrared light curves fall into two classes, `ordinary' and `slowlydeclining'. Template JHKL light curves are derived for both classes. Forordinary core-collapse supernovae, the average peak JHKL absolutemagnitudes are -18.4, -18.6, -18.6 and -19.0 respectively. The slowlydeclining core-collapse supernovae are found to be significantly moreluminous than the ordinary events, even at early times, having averagepeak JHKL absolute magnitudes of -19.9, -20.0, -20.0 and -20.4respectively. We investigate the efficiency of a computerized imagesubtraction method in supernova detection. We then carry out a MonteCarlo simulation of a supernova search using K-band images of NGC 5962.The effects of extinction and observing strategy are discussed. Weconclude that a modest observational programme will be able to discovera number of nuclear supernovae.
| 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.
| Compact Radio Emission from Warm Infrared Galaxies
In this paper, we present a comparison between the optical spectroscopicdata and the incidence of compact radio emission for a sample of 60 warminfrared galaxies. We find that 80% of optically classified activegalactic nucleus (AGN)-type galaxies contain compact radio sources,while 37% of optically classified starburst galaxies contain compactradio sources. The compact radio luminosity shows a bimodaldistribution, indicating two populations in our sample. The majority ofthe higher radio luminosity class (L>104Lsolar) are AGNs, while the majority of the lower radioluminosity class (L<104 Lsolar) are starbursts.The compact radio emission in the starburst galaxies may be due toeither obscured AGNs or complexes of extremely luminous supernovae suchas that seen in Arp 220. The incidence of optically classified AGNsincreases with increasing far-infrared (FIR) luminosity. Using FIRcolor-color diagrams, we find that globally the energetics of 92% of thegalaxies in our sample are dominated by starburst activity, including60% of galaxies that we find to contain AGNs on the basis of theiroptical classification. The remainder are energetically dominated bytheir AGNs in the infrared. For starburst galaxies, electron densityincreases with dust temperature, consistent with the merger model forinfrared galaxies.
| 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
| The Centers of Early- to Intermediate-Type Spiral Galaxies: A Structural Analysis
A recent Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/WFPC2 visual survey of early- andintermediate-type spiral galaxies has unveiled a great complexity in theinner regions of these systems, which include a high fraction ofphotometrically distinct compact sources sitting at the galactic centers(``nuclei''). The faint nuclei (M_V>~-12) are typically hosted byrather amorphous, quiescent, bulgelike structures with an exponential(rather than the classical R^1/4) light profile. These ``exponentialbulges'' are commonly found inside the intermediate-type disks,consistent with previous studies. Brighter nuclei (M_V<~-12) aretypically found instead in the centers of galaxies with circumnuclearrings/arms of star formation or dust and an active, i.e., H II- orAGN-type, central spectrum at ground-based resolution. On the structuralplane of half-light radius (R_e) versus mean surface brightness withinthe half-light radius (mu_e), faint and bright nuclei overlap with, andfill the region of parameter space between, the old Milky Way globularclusters and the young star clusters, respectively, with typical R_e ofabout a few up to ~20 pc. On the same plane, the exponential bulges havesignificantly fainter mu_e than R^1/4 bulges for any given radius andfollow a mu_e-R_e relation typical of disks, which strengthens thesuggestion that the exponential bulges grow inside the disks as a resultof the secular evolution of the latter. Under the likely assumption thatthe visual light from the faint nuclei embedded in the quiescentexponential bulges is of stellar origin and of a similar (>~1 Gyr)age for the central star clusters and their host bulges, the massesinferred for the former agree with those required to disrupt barscomparable in size to the latter. This offers support to scenarios inwhich the exponential bulges grow inside the disks owing to the orbitaldisruption of progenitor bars caused by the growth of a centralconcentration of mass and suggests that this specific mode of bulgeformation is (still) active in the present-day universe. On the otherhand, the presence of the massive clusters at the very center of thelow-density exponential bulges should prevent any other ``nuclear'' barfrom forming, thereby preventing further infall of dissipative fuel tothe nuclear regions. This may argue against the possibility of evolvingthe exponential bulges into denser, R^1/4 bulges by a simple looping forseveral cycles of the bar formation/disruption mechanism.
| Two Galaxy Clusters: A3565 and A3560
We report 102 new redshifts and magnitudes for a sample of galaxies toR_F~15.5 mag in a 2.17dx2.17d region centered on the galaxy IC 4296, themost luminous member of the A3565 Cluster. Up to the limiting magnitude,we find 29 cluster members and measure a velocity dispersion ofsigma=228 km s^-1. The estimated total mass for this system is~3.0x10^13 h^-1 M_solar [where h=H_0/(100 km s^-1 Mpc^-1)], and itsdynamical properties are quite typical of poor clusters presenting X-rayemission. We also find that galaxies with absorption lines are moreconcentrated toward the center of the cluster, while systems withemission lines are mainly located in the outer parts. The small velocitydispersion of the cluster, coupled with the known presence of aninteracting pair of galaxies, and the large extent of the brightestcluster galaxy, could indicate that galaxy formation through mergers maystill be underway in this system. The surveyed region also containsgalaxies belonging to the Shapley concentration cluster A3560. Within30' of the cluster center, we detect 32 galaxies, for which we measure avelocity dispersion of 588 km s^-1 and a mass of ~2x10^14 h^-1 M_solar.However, because our sample is restricted to galaxies brighter than M^*,these values should be considered only as rough estimates.
| Hα Imaging of Early-Type (SA-SAB) Spiral Galaxies. I.
Hα and continuum images are presented for 27 nearby early-type(Sa-Sab) spiral galaxies. Contrary to popular perception, the imagesreveal copious massive star formation in some of these galaxies. Adetermination of the Hα morphology and a measure of the Hαluminosity suggest that early-type spirals can be classified into twobroad categories based on the luminosity of the largest H II region inthe disk. The first category includes galaxies for which the individualH II regions have L_Hα<10^39 ergs s^-1. Most of the category 1galaxies appear to be morphologically undisturbed but show a widediversity in nuclear Hα properties. The second category includesgalaxies that have at least one H II region in the disk withL_Hα>=10^39 ergs s^-1. All category 2 galaxies show eitherprominent dust lanes or other morphological peculiarities such as tidaltails, which suggests that the anomalously luminous H II regions incategory 2 galaxies may have formed as a result of a recent interaction.The observations, which are part of an ongoing Hα survey, revealearly-type spirals to be a heterogeneous class of galaxies that areevolving in the current epoch. We have also identified some systematicdifferences between the classifications of spiral galaxies in the SecondGeneral Catalog and the Revised Shapley-Ames Catalog that may be tracedto subtle variations in the application of the criteria used forclassifying spiral galaxies. An examination of earlier studies suggeststhat perceptions concerning the Hubble-type dependence of star formationrates among spiral galaxies depends on the choice of catalog.
| The Pico DOS Dias Survey Starburst Galaxies
We discuss the nature of the galaxies found in the Pico dos Dias Survey(PDS) for young stellar objects. The PDS galaxies were selected from theIRAS Point Source catalog. They have flux density of moderate or highquality at 12, 25, and 60 μm and spectral indices in the ranges -3.00<= alpha(25, 12) <= + 0.35 and -2.50 <= alpha(60, 25) <=+0.85. These criteria allowed the detection of 382 galaxies, which are amixture of starburst and Seyfert galaxies. Most of the PDS Seyfertgalaxies are included in the catalog of warm IRAS sources by de Grijp etal. The remaining galaxies constitute a homogeneous sample of luminous[log F (L_B/L_ȯ) = 9.9 +/- 0.4] starburst galaxies, 67% of whichwere not recognized as such before. The starburst nature of the PDSgalaxies is established by comparing their L_IR/L_B ratios and IRAScolors with a sample of emission-line galaxies from the literaturealready classified as starburst galaxies. The starburst galaxies show anexcess of FIR luminosity, and their IRAS colors are significantlydifferent from those of Seyfert galaxies-99% of the starburst galaxiesin our sample have a spectral index alpha(60, 25) < -1.9. As opposedto Seyfert galaxies, very few PDS starbursts are detected in X-rays. Inthe infrared, the starburst galaxies form a continuous sequence withnormal galaxies. But they generally can be distinguished from normalgalaxies by their spectral index alpha(60, 25) > -2.5. This colorcutoff also marks a change in the dominant morphologies of the galaxies:the normal IRAS galaxies are preferentially late-type spirals (Sb andlater), while the starbursts are more numerous among early-type spirals(earlier than Sbc). This preference of starbursts for early-type spiralsis not new, but a trait of the massive starburst nucleus galaxies(Coziol et al.). As in other starburst nucleus galaxy samples, the PDSstarbursts show no preference for barred galaxies. No difference isfound between the starbursts detected in the FIR and those detected onthe basis of UV excess. The PDS starburst galaxies represent the FIRluminous branch of the UV-bright starburst nucleus galaxies, with meanFIR luminosity log (L_IR/L_ȯ) = 10.3 +/- 0.5 and redshifts smallerthan 0.1. They form a complete sample limited in flux in the FIR at 2 x10^-10 ergs cm^-2 s^-1.
| Dust Spirals and Acoustic Noise in the Nucleus of the Galaxy NGC 2207
Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope reveal an irregular networkof dust spiral arms in the nuclear region of the interacting disk galaxyNGC 2207. The spirals extend from ~50 to ~300 pc in galactocentricradius, with a projected width of ~20 pc. Radiative transfercalculations determine the gas properties of the spirals and the innerdisk and imply a factor of ~4 local gas compression in the spirals. Thegas is not strongly self-gravitating, nor is there a nuclear bar, so thespirals could not have formed by the usual mechanisms applied to maingalaxy disks. Instead, they may result from acoustic instabilities thatamplify at small galactic radii. Such instabilities may promote gasaccretion into the nucleus.
| Spiral Galaxies with WFPC2. II. The Nuclear Properties of 40 Objects
We report the analysis of Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field PlanetaryCamera 2 F606W images of 40 spiral galaxies belonging to the sampleintroduced in Paper I, where 35 other targets were discussed. Wedescribe the optical morphological properties of the new 40 galaxies,derive the surface brightness profiles for 25 of them, and present theresults of photometric decompositions of these profiles into a ``bulge''(R^1/4 or exponential) and a disk component. The analysis of theenlarged sample of 75 galaxies puts on a statistically more solid groundthe main results presented in Paper I: (1) In ~30% of the galaxies, theinner, morphologically distinct structures have an irregular appearance.Some of these ``irregular bulges'' are likely to be currently formingstars. (2) Resolved, central compact sources are detected in about 50%of the galaxies. (3) The central compact sources in galaxies withnuclear star formation are brighter, for similar sizes, than those innon-star-forming galaxies. (4) The luminosity of the compact sourcescorrelates with the total galactic luminosity. Furthermore, the analysisof the enlarged sample of 75 objects shows the following: (a) Several ofthe nonclassical inner structures are well fitted by an exponentialprofile. These ``exponential bulges'' are typically fainter than R^1/4bulges, for a given total galaxy luminosity and (catalog) Hubble typelater than Sab. (b) Irregular/exponential bulges typically host centralcompact sources. (c) The central sources are present in all types ofdisk galaxies, starting with systems as early as S0a. About 60% of Sb toSc galaxies host a central compact source. Many of the galaxies thathost compact sources contain a barred structure. (d) Galaxies withapparent nuclear star formation, which also host the brightest compactsources, are preferentially the early- and intermediate-type (S0a-Sb)systems. (e) None of the features depend on environment: isolated andnonisolated galaxies show indistinguishable properties. Independent ofthe physical nature of the nonclassical inner structures, our mainconclusion is that a significant fraction of galaxies classified fromthe ground as relatively early-type spirals show a rich variety ofcentral properties and little or no morphological/photometric evidencefor a smooth, R^1/4 law bulge. Based on observations with the NASA/ESAHubble 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.
| Kinematics of the local universe. VII. New 21-cm line measurements of 2112 galaxies
This paper presents 2112 new 21-cm neutral hydrogen line measurementscarried out with the meridian transit Nan\c cay radiotelescope. Amongthese data we give also 213 new radial velocities which complement thoselisted in three previous papers of this series. These new measurements,together with the HI data collected in LEDA, put to 6 700 the number ofgalaxies with 21-cm line width, radial velocity, and apparent diameterin the so-called KLUN sample. Figure 5 and Appendices A and B forcorresponding comments are available in electronic form at thehttp://www.edpsciences.com
| 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.
| Massive Star Formation Along the Hubble Sequence
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1997AJ....113..599D&db_key=AST
| Scaleheights of 486 southern spiral galaxies and some statistical correlation
Based on Peng's method (1988), we obtain scaleheights of 486 southernspiral galaxies, the images of which are taken from the Digitized SkySurvey at Xinglong Station of Beijing Astronomical Observatory. Thefitted spiral arms of 70 galaxies are compared with their images to gettheir optimum inclinations. The scaleheights of other 416 ones arelisted in Table A1 in Appendix. After compiling and analyzing the data,we find some statistical correlations. The most interesting results arethat a flatter galaxy is bluer and looks brighter, and galaxies becomeflatter along the Hubble sequence Sab -- Scd. Based on photographic dataof the National Geographic Society -- Palomar Observatory Sky Survey(NGS-POSS) obtained using the Oschin Telescope Palomar Mountain. TheNGS-POSS was funded by a grant from the National Geographic Society tothe California Institute of Technology. The plates were processed intothe present compressed digital form with their permission. The DigitizedSky Survey was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute underUS Government grant NAG W-2166. Table A1 is available in electronic fromonly, via anonymous ftp 130.79.128.5 orhttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Spatial Distribution of Ionized Gas in Bright Barred Spiral Galaxies: H(alpha) Images
Charged Coupled Detector (CCD) images of a set of 52 bright barredspiral galaxies in the narrow band filter H(alpha) and in the broadbandI filter are presented. The sample was selected from the Shapley AmesCatalog, with IRAS fluxes characteristic of star formation and a dusttemperature above Td greater than or equal to 25 K. The study is aimedat identifying the global distribution and the underlying symmetries ofthe structures of ionized gas in barred galaxies. Thirty-two galaxiespresent H(alpha) emission from the innermost central regions, but theemission from nuclear rings is observed only in ten galaxies. About halfof the observed galaxies show H(alpha) emission from several regions inthe disk, and 18 galaxies display emission from along the bar. TheH(alpha) emission from inner and outer rings are easily identified insome galaxies. Some other galaxies present more complicated spatialdistributions, probably due to tidal or direct encounters withneighboring galaxies.
| Molecular hydrogen in the central regions of southern infrared galaxies
An extensive set of molecular hydrogen observations of centers ofsouthern infrared galaxies is presented. Our data are combined withpublished infrared and radio observations to investigate therelationship between nuclear and circumnuclear activity. We convert theobservational data to absolute luminosities, by applying the knowndistances. The resulting dataset covers several decades in luminosityfor the various parameters, which observe fairly tight correlations. Theparameters of our (power law) fits are, at the level of accuracyachieved, not dependent on the type of nuclear activity: while thedataset comprises a mixture of alleged Seyfert, Liner & starburstgalaxies, single fits match the complete sample well enough. Inparticular, non-thermal nuclei (AGN) present in some of the galaxies inthe current sample, do not stand out in the parameters we investigated.The absence of a significant dependence on the nuclear type isconsistent with the idea that the ever present starbursts energeticallydominate a possible `AGN in a dusty environment'-component in mostgalaxy nuclei with infrared excesses. The size of the H_2 emittingregion is found to be proportional to the square root of the 21 cm radiocontinuum luminosity. The excitation of the circumnuclear H_2 isdominated by shocks. If the H_2 extent marks the size of an inner cavityin the dense molecular material surrounding a galaxy nucleus and theradio luminosity is proportional to the mechanical luminosity of(circum)nuclear winds. This result then indicates that the cavity sizeoccurs at constant pressure in the sample galaxies, in accordance withthe superwind model by Heckman et al. (1990) [ApJS, 74, 833]. Ourresults, together with those obtained by others, thus suggest thatluminosities and size scales of excited gas associated with activenuclei are dominated by the mechanical energy input. Given thedifficulties of uniquely establishing the presence of an AGN, we cannotexclude that (a large fraction of the) infrared luminous galaxiesprocure part of their radiated energy through accretion onto a massivedark object.
| A 1.425 GHz Atlas of the IRAS Bright Galaxy Sample, Part II
Galaxies with δ >= -45^deg^ and |b| >= 10^deg^ in the IRASBright Galaxy Sample, Part II, were observed at 1.425 GHz by the VeryLarge Array in its B, CnB, C, DnC, and D configurations. An atlas ofradio contour maps and a table listing the principal radio sourceparameters (position, flux density, angular size) are given. This atlasof 187 galaxies supplements the 1.49 GHz atlas of 313 galaxies in therevised Bright Galaxy Sample, Part I. Together, they are complete forextragalactic sources stronger than S = 5.24Jy at λ = 60 micronsin the area |b| > 10^deg^, δ > -45^deg^. To the extent thatthe far-infrared and radio brightness distributions overlap, these radiomaps provide the most accurate positions and high-resolution images ofthe brightest extragalactic far-infrared sources.
| The Catalog of Southern Ringed Galaxies
The Catalog of Southern Ringed Galaxies (CSRG) is a comprehensivecompilation of diameters, axis ratios, relative bar position angles, andmorphologies of inner and outer rings, pseudorings, and lenses in 3692galaxies south of declination -17 deg. The purpose of the catalog is toevaluate the idea that these ring phenomena are related to orbitalresonances with a bar or oval in galaxy potentials. The catalog is basedon visual inspection of most of the 606 fields of the Science ResearchCouncil (SRC) IIIa-J southern sky survey, with the ESO-B, ESO-R, andPalomar Sky surveys used as auxiliaries when needed for overexposed coreregions. The catalog is most complete for SRC fields 1-303 (mostly southof declination -42 deg). In addition to ringed galaxies, a list of 859mostly nonringed galaxies intended for comparison with other catalogs isprovided. Other findings from the CSRG that are not based on statisticsare the identification of intrinsic bar/ring misalignment; bars whichunderfill inner rings; dimpling of R'1pseudorings; pointy, rectangular, or hexagonal inner or outer ringshapes; a peculiar polar-ring-related system; and other extreme examplesof spiral structure and ring morphology.
| Multiwavelength Energy Distributions and Bolometric Luminosities of the 12 Micron Galaxy Sample
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1995ApJ...453..616S&db_key=AST
| The IRAS Bright Galaxy Survey - Part II: Extension to Southern Declinations (delta ~< -30), and Low Galactic Latitudes (f<|b|
Complete IRAS Observations and redshifts are reported for all sourcesidentified in the IRAS Bright Galaxy Survey-Part II (hereafter referredto as BGS_2_). Source positions, radial velocities, optical magnitudes,and total flux densities, peak flux densities, and spatial extents at12, 25, and 100 ,microns are reported for 288 sources having 60 micronflux densities > 5.24 Jy, the completeness limit of the originalBright Galaxy Survey [Soifer et al., AJ, 98,766(1989)], hereafterreferred to as BGS_1_. These new data represent the extension of theIRAS Bright Galaxy Survey to southern declinations,δ<~-30^deg^, and low Galactic latitudes,5^deg^<|b|<30^deg^. Although the sky coverage of the BGS_2_ (~19935 deg^2^) is 37% larger than the sky coverage of the BGS_1_, thenumber of sources is 8% smaller due primarily to large scale structurein the local distribution of galaxies. Otherwise, the sources in theBGS_2_ show similar relationships between number counts and flux densityas observed for the 313 sources in the BGS_1_. The BGS_2_ along with theearlier BGS, represents the best sample currently available for definingthe infrared properties of galaxies in the local (z <~ 0.1) Universe.
| The nuclear 10 micron emission of spiral galaxies
We examine the 10 micrometer(s) emission of the central regions of 281spiral galaxies, after having compiled all ground-based, small-aperture(approximately 5 sec) broad-band photometric observations at lambdaapproximately 10 micrometer(s) (N magnitudes) published in theliterature. We evaluate the compactness of the approximately 10micrometer(s) emission of galaxy nuclei by comparing these small-beammeasures with the large-beam IRAS 12 micrometer(s) fluxes. In theanalysis of different subsets of objects, we apply survival analysistechniques in order to exploit the information contained in 'censored'data (i.e., upper limits on the fluxes). Seyfert galaxies are found tocontain the most powerful nuclear sources of mid-infrared emission,which in approximately one-third of the cases provide the bulk of theemission of the entire galaxy; thus, mid-infrared emission in the outerdisk regions is not uncommon in Seyfert galaxies. The 10 micrometer(s)emission of Seyfert galaxies appears to be unrelated to their X-rayemission. H II region-like nuclei are stronger mid-infrared sources thannormal nuclei and LINER nuclei (whose level of emission is notdistinguishable form that of normal nuclei). Interacting objects have,on average, greater 10 micrometer(s) luminosities than noninteractingones and exhibit more compact emission. Early-type spirals have strongerand more compact 10 micrometer(s) emisison than late-type ones. Barredspirals are brighter at approximately 10 micrometer(s) than unbarredsystems, essentially because they more frequently contain H IIretion-like nuclei. The results of our detailed comparison between thebehavior of various categories of objects stress that the 10micrometer(s) emission of spiral nuclei is closely linked to the(predominantly nonthermal synchrotron) radio emission.
| A volume-limited sample of IRAS galaxies to 4000 km/s, 3: CCD photometry from Palomar and Tololo observatories
An all-sky, quasi-volume-limited sample of 251 spiral galaxies within4000 km/s has been extracted from the redshift survey of InfraredAstronomy Satellite (IRAS) galaxies by Strauss (1992). Distance modulifor these objects estimated via the Tully-Fisher (TF) method allow thepeculiar velocity field and the cosmological density parameter to beconstrained within this volume. The TF relation we exploit relatesdeprojected neutral hydrogen line width to near-infrared luminosity.Herein we present I and V band photometry for 159 members of this sampleobtained with charge coupled device (CCD) cameras at Palomar and Tololoobservatories. Image processing and photometric calibration proceduresare described. Twenty seven objects with multiple calibratedobservations suggest that isophotal I band magnitudes are reproduced toequal to or less than 0.05 mag precision at sigmaI = 23.5 magarcsec-2, and that systematic run-to-run offsets are limitedto equal to or less than 0.05 I mag.
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