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Preparing Red-Green-Blue Images from CCD Data
We present a new, and we believe arguably correct, algorithm forproducing red-green-blue (RGB) composites from three-band astronomicalimages. Our method ensures that an object with a specified astronomicalcolor (e.g., g-r and r-i) has a unique color in the RGB image, asopposed to the burnt-out white stars to which we are accustomed. Anatural consequence of this is that we can use the same colors to codecolor-magnitude diagrams, providing a natural ``index'' to our images.We also introduce the use of an arcsinh stretch that allows us to showfaint objects while simultaneously preserving the structure of brighterobjects in the field, such as the spiral arms of large galaxies. Webelieve that in addition to their aesthetic value, our images convey farmore information than do the traditional ones, and we provide examplesfrom Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging, the Hubble Deep Field(HDF), and Chandra to support our claims.4
| The Tully-Fisher Relation for Hickson Compact Groups
We investigate the properties of the B-band Tully-Fisher (TF) relationfor 25 compact group galaxies, using Vmax derived from 2-Dvelocity maps. Our main result is that the majority of the HicksonCompact Group (HCG) galaxies lie on the TF relation, although with largescatter. However, 20% of the galaxies, including the lowest-masssystems, seem to have higher B luminosities, for a given mass, oralternatively, a mass which is too low for their luminosities. We favourthe scenario of brightening of the outliers due to either enhanced starformation or merging, rather than truncation of the dark halo due tointeractions, to explain the position of the outliers on the TFrelation.
| Dynamical Effects of Interactions and the Tully-Fisher Relation for Hickson Compact Groups
We investigate the properties of the B-band Tully-Fisher (T-F) relationfor 25 compact group galaxies, using Vmax derived fromtwo-dimensional velocity maps. Our main result is that the majority ofthe Hickson Compact Group galaxies lie on the T-F relation. However,about 20% of the galaxies, including the lowest-mass systems, havehigher B luminosities for a given mass, or alternatively, a mass that istoo low for their luminosities. We favor a scenario in which outliershave been brightened because of either enhanced star formation ormerging. Alternatively, the T-F outliers may have undergone truncationof their dark halo due to interactions. It is possible that in somecases both effects contribute. The fact that the B-band T-F relation issimilar for compact group and field galaxies tells us that thesegalaxies show common mass-to-size relations and that the halos ofcompact group galaxies have not been significantly stripped insideR25. We find that 75% of the compact group galaxies studied(22 out of 29) have highly peculiar velocity fields. Nevertheless, acareful choice of inclination, position angle, and center, obtained fromthe velocity field, and an average of the velocities over a large sectorof the galaxy enabled the determination of fairly well-behaved rotationcurves for the galaxies. However, two of the compact group galaxies HCG91a and HCG 96a, which are the most massive members in M51-like pairs,have very asymmetric rotation curves, with one arm rising and the otherone falling, indicating most probably a recent perturbation by the smallclose companions.
| Gas Kinematics in Three Hickson Compact Groups: The Data
We present Fabry-Perot observations of three Hickson compact groups, HCG88, 89, and 100. We detect ionized gas in 15 group members, three ofwhich were previously uncataloged objects, two in HCG 89 and one in HCG100. We were able to derive two-dimensional velocity, monochromatic, andcontinuum maps and rotation curves for a total of 12 giant late-typegalaxies and two dwarf galaxies. Even with this small sample of threegroups we can clearly see a trend of kinematic evolution and thedifferent evolutionary stages of the groups. The members of HCG 88 showalmost no signs of previous or current interactions, while HCG 100contains at least two merging and one strongly interacting galaxy. HCG89 shows members with signs of interactions and galaxies with normalkinematics. We therefore classify HCG 88, 89, and 100, respectively, asan unevolved group, a mildly interacting group, and a system in thefinal stage of evolution.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile, and at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, Hawaii.
| Where is the neutral atomic gas in Hickson groups?
We have analyzed the total HI contents of 72 Hickson compact groups ofgalaxies (HCGs) and the detailed spatial distributions and kinematics ofHI within a subset of 16 groups using the high angular resolutionobservations obtained with the VLA in order to investigate a possibleevolutionary scenario for these densest systems in the present daygalaxy hierarchy. For the more homogeneous subsample of 48 groups, wefound a mean HI deficiency of Def_HI = 0.40 +/- 0.07, which correspondsto 40% of the expected HI for the optical luminosities and morphologicaltypes of the member galaxies. The individual galaxies show largerdegrees of deficiency than the groups globally, Def_HI = 0.62 +/- 0.09(24% of the expected HI), due in most cases to efficient gas strippingfrom individual galaxies into the group environment visible in the VLAmaps. The degree of deficiency is found to be similar to the centralgalaxies of Virgo and Coma cluster, and Coma I group, in spite of thesignificantly different characteristics (number of galaxies, velocitydispersion) of these environments. It does not seem plausible that asignificant amount of extended HI has been missed by the observations.Hence phase transformation of the atomic gas should explain the HIdeficiency. The groups richer in early type galaxies or more compactwith larger velocity dispersions show a weak tendency to be more HIdeficient. The detection rate of HCGs at X-ray wavelengths is larger forHI deficient groups, although the hot gas distribution and hence itsorigin is only known for a few cases. In the evolutionary scenario wepropose, the amount of detected HI would decrease further withevolution, by continuous tidal stripping and/or heating. The H_2 contentalso tends to be lower than expected for the galaxies in HI deficientgroups, this may suggest that the HI stripping by frequent tidalinteraction breaks the balance between the disruption of molecularclouds by star formation and the replenishment from the ambient HI. Thiswork is partially based on observations made with the VLA operated bythe National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the NationalScience Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by AssociatedUniversities, Inc., ALFOSC, which is owned by the Instituto deAstrofísica de Andalucía (IAA, CSIC) and operated at theNordic Optical Telescope (NOT) under agreement between IAA and the NBIfAof the Astronomical Observatory of Copenhagen, and 1.5 m telescope ofthe Observatorio de Sierra Nevada, Granada, Spain, which is operated bythe IAA (CSIC).
| A Dynamical Study of Galaxies in the Hickson Compact Groups
To investigate dynamical properties of spiral galaxies in the Hicksoncompact groups (HCGs), we present rotation curves of 30 galaxies in 20HCGs. We found as follows: (1) There is no significant relation betweendynamical peculiarity and morphological peculiarity in HCG spiralgalaxies. (2) There is no significant relation between the dynamicalproperties and the frequency distribution of nuclear activities in HCGspiral galaxies. (3) There are no significant correlations between thedynamical properties of HCG spiral galaxies and any group properties(i.e., size, velocity dispersion, galaxy number density, and crossingtime). (4) Asymmetric and peculiar rotation curves are more frequentlyseen in the HCG spiral galaxies than in field spiral galaxies or incluster ones. However, this tendency is more obviously seen in late-typeHCG spiral galaxies. These results suggest that the dynamical propertiesof HCG spiral galaxies do not strongly correlate with the morphology,the nuclear activity, and the group properties. Our results also suggestthat more frequent galaxy collisions occur in the HCGs than in the fieldand in the clusters.
| The Nuclear Activity of Galaxies in the Hickson Compact Groups
In order to investigate the nuclear activity of galaxies residing incompact groups of galaxies, we present results of our opticalspectroscopic program made at Okayama Astrophysical Observatory. We haveperformed optical spectroscopy of 69 galaxies belonging to 31 Hicksoncompact groups (HCGs) of galaxies. Among them, three galaxies havediscordant redshifts and, moreover, spectral quality is too poor toclassify another three galaxies. Therefore, we describe our results forthe remaining 63 galaxies. Our main results are summarized as follows:(1) We have found in our sample 28 active galactic nuclei (AGNs), 16 HII nuclei, and 19 normal galaxies showing no emission line. We used thisHCG sample for statistical analyses. (2) Comparing the frequencydistributions of activity types between the HCGs and the field galaxieswhose data are taken from Ho, Filippenko, & Sargent (382 fieldgalaxies), we find that the frequency of H II nuclei in the HCGs issignificantly less than that in the field. However, this difference maybe due to selection bias to the effect that our HCG sample contains moreearly-type galaxies than the field, because it is known that H II nucleiare rarer in early-type galaxies than in later ones. (3) Applying acorrection to this morphological bias to the HCG sample, we find thatthere is no statistically significant difference in the frequency ofoccurrence of emission-line galaxies between the HCGs and the field.This implies that the dense galaxy environment in the HCGs does notaffect the triggering of either the AGN activity and the nuclearstarburst. We discuss some implications on the nuclear activity in theHCG galaxies.
| The Evolution of Galaxies in Compact Groups
We present an analysis of the spectra of 62 galaxies in 15 compactgroups. The galaxies are classified into four activity classes: galaxieswithout emission, starburst galaxies, luminous AGNs (Seyfert andLINERs), and low-luminosity AGNs (LLAGNs). The star formation in theHickson compact group (HCG) starbursts is more intense than in normalspirals, but comparable to that observed in starburst-nucleus galaxies(SBNGs) in the field. In general, the HCG starbursts have mean solar gasmetallicity and do not follow the metallicity-luminosity relation tracedby the early-type SBNGs in the field, suggesting that most of them arelate-type SBNGs. This morphology preference, coupled with theobservation that the HCG starbursts are predominantly located in thehalos of the groups, is consistent with the idea that compact groups areembedded in sparser structures. The stellar metallicities of thenonstarburst galaxies are comparable to those observed in normalgalaxies with similar morphologies, but are relatively high for theirluminosities. In these galaxies, the metal absorption line equivalentwidths are slightly narrower than normal, while the Balmer absorptionlines are relatively strong. All these observations suggest the presenceof a population of intermediate-age stars. These galaxies could bepoststarburst, but at a very advanced stage of evolution, the lastbursts having happened more than 2 Gyr in the past. Our observationssupport a scenario in which the cores of the groups are slowlycollapsing evolved systems embedded in more extended structures. In thecores of the groups, the interactions were more frequent and thegalaxies evolved at a more rapid rate than in their halos.
| Effects of Interaction-induced Activities in Hickson Compact Groups: CO and Far-Infrared Study
A study of 2.6 mm CO J = 1 --> 0 and far-infrared (FIR) emission in adistance-limited (z < 0.03) complete sample of Hickson compact group(HCG) galaxies was conducted in order to examine the effects of theirunique environment on the interstellar medium of component galaxies andto search for a possible enhancement of star formation and nuclearactivity. Ubiquitous tidal interactions in these dense groups wouldpredict enhanced activities among the HCG galaxies compared to isolatedgalaxies. Instead, their CO and FIR properties (thus, "star formationefficiency") are surprisingly similar to isolated spirals. The CO datafor 80 HCG galaxies presented here (including 10 obtained from theliterature) indicate that the spirals globally show the same H2 contentas the isolated comparison sample, although 20% are deficient in COemission. Because of their large optical luminosity, low metallicity isnot likely the main cause for the low CO luminosity. The CO deficiencyappears linked with the group evolution, and gas exhaustion through paststar formation and removal of the external gas reserve by tidalstripping of the outer H I disk offer a possible explanation. The IRASdata for the entire redshift-limited complete sample of 161 HCG galaxieswere reanalyzed using ADDSCAN/SCANPI, improving the sensitivity by afactor of 3-5 over the existing Point Source Catalog (PSC) and resolvingbetter the contribution from individual galaxies. The new analysis ofthe IRAS data confirms the previous suggestion that FIR emission in HCGgalaxies is similar to isolated, Virgo Cluster, and weakly interactinggalaxies. Their H2 and FIR characteristics yield a star formationefficiency that is similar to that of these comparison samples. A factor2 enhancement in the 25-100 mu m flux ratio among the HCG spirals isfound, which suggests intense localized nuclear starburst activitysimilar to that of H II galaxies. A number of early-type galaxies inHCGs are detected in CO and FIR, lending further support to the ideathat tidal interactions and tidally induced evolution of the groups andmember galaxies are important in our sample.
| Structural and Dynamical Analysis of the Hickson Compact Groups
Based on the spectroscopic survey of de Carvalho et al., we analyze thestructural and dynamical properties of 17 Hickson compact groups. Thisanalysis probes a region of 0.dg5 x 0.dg5 around each group and showsthat most of them are part of larger structures. Our results alsosuggest that the Hickson sample is composed of different dynamicalstages of the groups" evolution. Specifically, we identify threepossible evolutionary phases among groups in the sample: loose groups,core + halo systems, and compact groups, each one presenting a distinctsurface density profile. This sequence is consistent with thereplenishment scenario for the formation and evolution of compact groupswithin larger and less dense systems.
| The Nature of the Activity in Hickson Compact Groups of Galaxies
We present the results of the spectral classification of the 82brightest galaxies in a sample of 17 compact groups. We verify that theactive galactic nuclei (AGNs) are preferentially located in the mostearly-type and luminous galaxies of the groups, as is usually observedin the field. But these AGNs also appear to be systematicallyconcentrated toward the central parts of the groups. Our observationssuggest a correlation between activity types, morphologies, anddensities of galaxies in the compact groups. This is consistent with ascenario in which galaxies of compact groups evolve by interacting withtheir environment and are currently in a quiet phase of their activity.
| A catalogue of spatially resolved kinematics of galaxies: Bibliography
We present a catalogue of galaxies for which spatially resolved data ontheir internal kinematics have been published; there is no a priorirestriction regarding their morphological type. The catalogue lists thereferences to the articles where the data are published, as well as acoded description of these data: observed emission or absorption lines,velocity or velocity dispersion, radial profile or 2D field, positionangle. Tables 1, 2, and 3 are proposed in electronic form only, and areavailable from the CDS, via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (to130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Molecular gas in galaxies of Hickson compact groups
We have observed 70 galaxies belonging to 45 Hickson compact groups inthe \CO{1}{0} and \CO{2}{1} lines, in order to determine their molecularcontent. We detected 57 galaxies, corresponding to a detection rate of81%. We compare the gas content relative to blue and L_FIR luminositiesof galaxies in compact groups with respect to other samples in theliterature, including various environments and morphological types. Wefind that there is some hint of enhanced MH_2/L_B andM_dust/L_B ratios in the galaxies from compact group with respect to ourcontrol sample, especially for the most compact groups, suggesting thattidal interactions can drive the gas component inwards, by removing itsangular momentum, and concentrating it in the dense central regions,where it is easily detected. The molecular gas content in compact groupgalaxies is similar to that in pairs and starburst samples. However, thetotal L_FIR luminosity of HCGs is quite similar to that of the controlsample, and therefore the star formation efficiency appears lower thanin the control galaxies. However this assumes that the FIR spatialdistributions are similar in both samples which is not the case at radiofrequencies. Higher spatial resolution FIR data are needed to make avalid comparison. Given their short dynamical friction time-scale, it ispossible that some of these systems are in the final stage beforemerging, leading to ultra-luminous starburst phases. We also find forall galaxy samples that the H_2 content (derived from CO luminosity andnormalised to blue luminosity) is strongly correlated to the L_FIRluminosity, while the total gas content (H_2+HI) is not.
| Redshift Survey of Galaxies around a Selected Sample of Compact Groups
We report the results of a spectroscopic survey of faint galaxies in theregions surrounding Hickson compact groups. Our sample is composed of 17groups within 9000 km s-1. The spectra were taken at the prime focus ofthe Tololo 4 m telescope, using the ARGUS fiber-fed spectrograph. Fromthese observations, redshifts were determined for the faint galaxiespreviously identified by de Carvalho, Ribeiro, & Zepf in thesurroundings of the groups. Statistical methods were applied to theresultant catalog in order to determine the kinematical structure ofeach group. This analysis confirms the idea that the Hickson sample ofcompact groups contains a wide variety of projection and dynamicalconfigurations. Our results demonstrate the necessity of newspectroscopic surveys around compact groups in order to assess theircomplete velocity distribution.
| 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.
| Far infrared properties of Hickson compact groups of galaxies. I. High resolution IRAS maps and fluxes.
The Far Infrared (FIR) properties of galaxies which are members ofcompact groups bear relevant information on the dynamical status and thephysical properties of these structures. All studies published so farhave been undermined by the poor sensitivity and spatial resolution ofthe IRAS-PSC and IRAS Sky Survey data. We used the HIRAS softwareavailable at the IRAS server at the Laboratory for Space Research inGroningen to fully exploit the redundancy of the IRAS data and toapproach the theoretical diffraction limit of IRAS. Among the 97 groupswhich were observed by IRAS, 62 were detected in at least one band,while reliable upper limits were derived for all the others. Among thedetected groups, 49 were fully or partially resolved, i.e. it waspossible to discriminate which member or members emit most of the FIRlight. At 60μm, for instance, 87 individual sources were detected in62 groups. In order to ease the comparison with data obtained at otherwavelengths - and in particular in the X and radio domains - we giveco-added and HIRAS maps for all the detected groups.
| The molecular gas content of spiral galaxies in compact groups.
We present ^12^CO(J=1-0) line observations of 15 late-type opticallyselected galaxies in compact groups. In order to study the effects ofenvironment on the molecular content of compact group galaxies we usethe CO(1-0) emission to estimate an indicative molecular hydrogencontent of the target galaxies adopting a standard conversion factorX=N(H_2_)/I(CO). We compare the frequency distribution of the normalizedhybrid molecular gas surface density to the one obtained for anoptically selected reference sample of isolated galaxies. Despite theirhigh-density environment, compact group galaxies have, on average,similar CO emission compared to isolated galaxies of same sizes andluminosities. However there are some compact group galaxies withperturbed morphologies and high far-infrared fluxes which have anenhanced CO emissivity.
| Radio properties of spiral galaxies in high-density groups
Radio-continuum observations with the Very Large Array (VLA) of 133spiral galaxies in 68 Hickson Compact Groups are used to investigatepossible enhancement of the effects of interactions among galaxies insuch high-density groups. In most of the 56 HCG spirals that weredetected the radio radiation is confined to slightly extended nuclearregions suggestive of starburst activity. It is found that the totalradio radiation from compact group spirals is significantly lower thanfrom a comparison sample of isolated spirals. However, the radioradiation from the nuclear regions is more than 10 times that fromcomparable regions in the comparison sample. This effect is moredominant in late-type spirals than it is in early-type spirals. Theobservations are interpreted in a scenario, suggested by numericalsimulation studies by a number of authors, in which galaxy interactionsare shown to cause both massive inflows of gas towards the centres ofgalaxies and outflows from the outer regions. The resultant starformation activity at the centre leads to the formation of supernovaeand the subsequent radio radiation. On the other hand, the outflow fromthe outer regions may be expected to remove the gas and magnetic fieldsfrom the disc, resulting in reduced disc radio emission. Observations ofgaseous and molecular line distributions may be expected to providekinematic information for modelling of specific interacting systems.
| Morphology of galaxies in compact groups
We present the results of an isophotal analysis of 140 early-typegalaxies and a visual inspection of images of an additional 202 galaxiesin compact groups. This is essentially the entire sample of galaxies inthe subset of 92 Hickson compact groups which have at least threeaccordant members. About 12% of the elliptical galaxies have largercharacteristic radii and shallower surface brightness profiles thangalaxies of the same luminosity in less dense environments. The averageellipticity of elliptical galaxies in compact groups is a slowlyincreasing function of the metric radius, as it is for field andloose-group galaxies. No alignment is found among the major axes of thegalaxies and the major axis of the group. When combined with previouslypublished morphological, kinematic, radio, infrared, and colorinformation on the same galaxies, our data show that 43% of the galaxiesin the compact group sample show morphological and/or kinematicaldistortions indicative of interactions and/or mergers. About 32% of thegroups have three or more galaxies which show some sign of interaction.This is a lower limit, since for the great majority of the galaxies inthe groups, only imaging and low-resolution spectra are available. Forthe subsample of 16 groups for which published detailed kinematical dataare also available, the fraction of groups with three or more galaxiesin interaction is 75%. No correlation is found between the number ofinteracting galaxies in a group and the group velocity dispersion orcrossing time. These observations strongly support the view that compactgroups are systems of physically associated galaxies and not chancealignments of field, loose-group, or cluster galaxies. They also confirmthe importance of compact groups for studies of interactions and galaxyevolution. While the lack of a good control sample makes it difficult tomake quantitative comparisons for some aspects of this study, it isclear that the fraction of galaxies showing evidence of interactions ismuch higher in compact groups than in other environments.
| Searching for a far-infrared enhancement in compact groups of galaxies
We test the claim that an FIR enhancement is observed from galaxies incompact groups. We present three kinds of evidence that the FIR sourcesin many groups are likely the combined contribution of two or moremembers. We conclude that the level of FIR emission from group galaxieshas been overestimated in previous work. The overestimate arises becauseof the limited resolution of the IRAS survey. Correction for this effectwill lessen the already weak evidence for an FIR enhancement in groups.This result poses difficulties for models that see the groups as compactconfigurations in the process of merger.
| On actual presence of discordant-redshift galaxies in compact groups
Hickson's compact galaxy groups were classified using the statisticalcriterion which includes the radial velocities of galaxies as well astheir relative positions. These groups on the whole and their componentsare identified as the confident and probable non-chance ones as well asprobable and confident chance ones. All confident chance objects havethe discordant radial velocities with the differences of radialvelocities (DV) Epsilon between 1,000 km/s and 20,000 km/s. The specialclass of objects 'bright discordants' is selected. These galaxies havethe discordant radial velocities with DV Epsilon between 825 km/s and8440 km/s and have a strong tendency to be the brightest components oftheir groups. The lowest difference of radial velocities for the lastclass of objects mean value of DV = (1.0 +/- 0.2) x 103 km/sand we accept this value of DV as the lowest value of discordant radialvelocities. It is found that the biggest part of Hickson's compactgroups consist of non-chance aggregations of galaxies and some of thecases of discordant-redshifts require a special study in order toexplain their origin from a dynamic or some other point of view.
| The morphological catalogue of galaxies equatorial survey
We present 865 redshifts of galaxies located in the equatorial stripdelta between -17.5 deg and -2.5 deg in the right ascension rangebetween 20 h and 5 h. Redshifts have been obtained for the completesample of all 833 galaxies in the Morphological Catalog of Galaxies withmagnitudes brighter than m = 14.5 (corresponding approximately tom(Zwicky) = 15.0). This sample also includes three galaxies from othersources with more reliable magnitudes, satisfying this limit, and 29fainter galaxies, usually companions of the galaxies in the magnitudelimited sample. Our maps of a very large volume of nearby spacedemonstrate a variety of coherent large scale structures which includelarge voids, 20-50/h Mpc in diameter and large walls at least 70/h Mpcacross.
| Dynamical properties of compact groups of galaxies
Radial velocities are presented for 457 galaxies in the 100 Hicksoncompact groups. More than 84 percent of the galaxies measured havevelocities within 1000 km/s of the median velocity in the group.Ninety-two groups have at least three accordant members, and 69 groupshave at least four. The radial velocities of these groups range from1380 to 42,731 km/s with a median of 8889 km/s, corresponding to amedian distance of 89/h Mpc. The apparent space density of these systemsranges from 300 to as much as 10 exp 8 sq h/sq Mpc, which exceeds thedensities in the centers of rich clusters. The median projectedseparation between galaxies is 39/h kpc, comparable to the sizes of thegalaxies themselves. A significant correlation is found between crossingtime and the fraction of gas-rich galaxies in the groups, and a weakanticorrelation is found between crossing time and the luminositycontrast of the first-ranked galaxy.
| Optical properties and dynamics of galaxies in the Hickson compact groups
The way in which galaxy properties in dense galaxy environments comparewith the properties isolated in the field is presently evaluated inlight of broadband R and H-alpha images, as well as H-alpha long-slitspectroscopy, for a set of galaxies (in 21 Hickson compact groups) whoseobserved velocity patterns range from too peculiar for rotation-curveformation, to abnormal, to normal. A surprisingly high correlation isnoted between absolute magnitude and (log) maximum rotation velocity,especially in the case of galaxies with normal rotation curves. Theseobservations support a model in which the compact-group galaxies haveonly recently accumulated from the general galaxy distribution, and inwhich tidal interactions are frequent and persisting.
| The luminosity function of compact groups of galaxies
An analysis of the luminosity function of 68 compact groups of galaxiescataloged by Hickson (1982) is presented. The luminosities of compactgroup galaxies are consistent with their being drawn from a Schechterluminosity function. Individual morphological-type luminosity functionsare also determined. Both the total and morphological-type specificluminosity functions of compact group galaxies are significantlydifferent from those of field, loose-group, and cluster galaxies. Inparticular, the luminosity function of HCG elliptical galaxies has amean magnitude which is significantly brighter than the mean magnitudeof Virgo cluster elliptical galaxies. The mean luminosity density ofgalaxies in compact groups is estimated. The obtained result isconsistent with the conventional scenario in which compact groups mergeto form elliptical galaxies on a relatively short time scale.
| A photometric catalog of compact groups of galaxies
The paper presents astrometry, photometry, and morphological types,derived from CCD images, for 463 galaxies in the 100 compact groupsselected by Hickson. Some minor revisions to the membership of theoriginal catalog are made, based on these new images. The completenessof the catalog is considered as a function of group magnitude andGalactic latitude. At high Galactic latitude the catalog is estimated tobe 90 percent complete for groups with total B(T) magnitude 13.0 orless. It is less complete at lower Galactic latitude because ofobscuration and high stellar density.
| Infrared emission from compact groups of galaxies
A search of the IRAS Point Source Catalog, Version 2 has revealedinfrared sources within 1 arcmin of the optical centers of 54 galaxiesin Hickson's catalog of compact groups of galaxies. The 60-micronluminosity function for these galaxies has the same shape as theluminosity function of the IRAS bright galaxy sample. The space densityof IRAS galaxies in compact groups is 60 times smaller than the spacedensity of IRAS bright galaxies, indicating that of order 1 percent ofall bright IRAS galaxies are in compact groups. The infrared emissionfrom these galaxies is compared with the emission from samples ofisolated galaxies by Keel et al. (1985) and cluster galaxies studied byBicay and Giovanelli (1987). The fractional distribution of the ratio offar-infrared to optical luminosity of compact group galaxies issignificantly larger than that of the isolated galaxies and comparableto that of the cluster galaxies. These results indicate that infraredemission is enhanced in the compact group galaxies, probably because ofinteractions.
| Possible interpretation of Rubin-Ford's observations on compact Hickson 88a object
Two possible mechanisms for producing the assymetric rotation curverecently noted for Hickson 88a are considered. The inclination of thisrotation curve could be obtained if the galaxy revolved as a wholearound a center which is different from the luminous center of thegalaxy. The assymmetry of the rotation curve could be produced bypertubations (such as jet-like emissions) from the center of the galaxy.
| Neutral hydrogen in compact groups of galaxies
Integrated H I profiles were detected for 34 of 51 Hickson compactgroups (HCGs) of galaxies, and sensitive upper limits to the H I fluxdensity were measured for the other 17. About 60 percent of the galaxieswithin compact groups are spirals, and a significant tendency exists forthe fraction of elliptical galaxies to increase with group surfacebrightness. The amount of dark matter within the compact group region isnegligibly small. An HCG on average contains half as much neutralhydrogen as a loose group with a similar spectrum of galaxy luminositiesand morphological types, implying that compact groups are independentdynamical entities and not transient or projected configurations ofloose groups. The observed fraction of galaxies which are luminousenough to be possible merger products of compact groups is smallcompared with the fraction required by the theory of dynamical friction.A clear discrepancy thus exists between solid empirical evidence and astraightforward prediction of Newtonian dynamical theory in a settingwhich does not permit a dark matter explanation.
| Systematic properties of compact groups of galaxies
An analysis of estimated galaxy magnitudes, morphology, and groupangular size for the case of 100 compact groups of galaxies indicatesthat (1) there is no correlation between group density and magnitudedifference between first- and second-ranked galaxies, (2) there is nopreferred morphological type for the first-ranked galaxies, many ofwhich are spiral, (3) the groups contain fewer spirals than a comparablesample of field galaxies, and (4) there seems to be a deficiency offaint galaxies, in comparison with rich cluster and field galaxies. Thisapparent deficiency is greater in groups with elliptical, first-rankedgalaxies. Implications of the above results are discussed from theviewpoint of dynamical evolution.
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