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An H_alpha catalogue of galaxies in Hickson compact groups. I. The sample
We present H_alpha photometry for a sample of 95 galaxies in HicksonCompact Groups obtained from observations of 31 groups. The Cataloguelists isophotal and adaptive aperture (Kron aperture) flux measurementsfor about 75% of the accordant galaxies inside the observed HCGs, 22 outof which are upper limits. Non standard data reduction procedures havebeen used to obtain the continuum subtracted H_alpha images for each HCGof the target sample. Flux calibration has also been performed in orderto obtain H_alpha luminosities for the whole sample. Both the datareduction and calibration procedures are carefully described in thispaper. The new data listed in this Catalogue are of great importance inunderstanding the star formation rate inside HCG galaxies and in givingnew insights on its dependence on galaxy interactions. Tables 3 to 10and Figs. 6 to 11 are only available in electronic version athttp://www.edpsciences.com Tables 7, 8, 9 are also available inelectronic version form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| 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.
| Corrections and additions to the third reference catalogue of bright galaxies
List of corrections and additions to the Third Reference Catalogue ofBright Galaxies (RC3) are given. The corrected version of the catalogue(RC3.9b), dated April 1994, is currently available through the nationaldata centers.
| Galaxy structures in the Hercules region
216 redshifts have been obtained in a region of 981 sq deg south of theHercules supercluster. 172 of these redshifts are of galaxies withmpg less than or equal to 15.1, 110 of which had no previousvelocity measurement. 44 new redshifts are of galaxies fainter thanmpg = 15.1. With these new data we have been able to define asample in a vast region (approximately 1700 sq deg) around Herculeslimited to mpg less than or equal to 15.1 with a velocitycompleteness of 81.5%. 189 galaxies have been morphologically classifiedso that all galaxies in the sample with known velocity now also haveknown morphology. The magnitude limited sample, including 556 galaxies,is then used to identify and describe galaxy structures in the region.We find that the overdense volume is small, that its overall appearanceis that of a coral branch floating in a sea of nothing and that earlyand late type galaxies defined different structures.
| Morphology of early-type galaxies in compact groups.
Investigations on the morphology of early-type galaxies in compactgroups should help us to understand if we are looking at objects whichhave jet experienced encounters and merging events. In this paper, wepresent geometrical and luminosity profiles of a sample of 55 early-typegalaxies belonging to 18 Hickson Compact Groups. Although acomprehensive discussion of the morphological properties of this classof objects cannot be tried at this stage, some morphological trends aresuggested by the data. In particular, an indication that boxyellipticals are less frequent in compact groups than in differentenvironments is found.
| 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.
| 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.
| A catalog of low-surface-brightness objects - Declination zone + 20 deg
Plates from the second Palomar Sky Survey are used to compile a list oflow-surface-brightness objects located along declination zone + 20 deg.Coordinates, descriptions, sizes, and ellipticities are presented usingthe same selection criteria of 1 arcmin limiting diameter as the UppsalaCatalog of Galaxies (Nilson 1973). Lists of previously known galaxieswith new low-surface-brightness features and interestinglow-surface-brightness objects with diameters between 0.5 and 1 arcminare also presented. As expected, the low-surface-brightness end of theluminosity function is dominated by late-type systems and dwarfs.Comparison with CCD surface photometry indicates an average limitingsurface brightness of 26.0 B mag/sq arcsec for this survey as comparedto 25.2 B mag/sq arcsec for the UGC. On the whole, too few newlow-surface-brightness galaxies have been found for the space density ofthese objects to be higher than that defined by conventional diskgalaxies.
| 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.
| Radial Velocities of the Galaxies in Compact Groups
Not Available
| 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.
| The anomalous luminosity function of galaxies in compact groups
Determination of the luminosity function of galaxies in compact groupsis presented. It is different from the luminosity functions of galaxiesin rich clusters, normal small groups, and the field in a way such thatthe number of galaxies per unit magnitude decreases with decreasingbrightness at the faint end. The deficiency of low-luminosity galaxiesin the compact groups cannot be ascribed easily to statisticalfluctuations, selection effects, or other systematic biases; possibleexplanations for the anomaly are discussed.
| Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1966ApJS...14....1A&db_key=AST
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