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The structure of galactic disks. Studying late-type spiral galaxies using SDSS
Using imaging data from the SDSS survey, we present the g' and r' radialstellar light distribution of a complete sample of ~90 face-on tointermediate inclined, nearby, late-type (Sb-Sdm) spiral galaxies. Thesurface brightness profiles are reliable (1 σ uncertainty lessthan 0.2 mag) down to μ˜27 mag/''. Only ~10% of all galaxies havea normal/standard purely exponential disk down to our noise limit. Thesurface brightness distribution of the rest of the galaxies is betterdescribed as a broken exponential. About 60% of the galaxies have abreak in the exponential profile between ˜ 1.5-4.5 times thescalelength followed by a downbending, steeper outer region. Another~30% shows also a clear break between ˜ 4.0-6.0 times thescalelength but followed by an upbending, shallower outer region. A fewgalaxies have even a more complex surface brightness distribution. Theshape of the profiles correlates with Hubble type. Downbending breaksare more frequent in later Hubble types while the fraction of upbendingbreaks rises towards earlier types. No clear relation is found betweenthe environment, as characterised by the number of neighbours, and theshape of the profiles of the galaxies.

Rotational Widths for Use in the Tully-Fisher Relation. I. Long-Slit Spectroscopic Data
We present new long-slit Hα spectroscopy for 403 noninteractingspiral galaxies, obtained at the Palomar Observatory 5 m Hale telescope,which is used to derive well-sampled optical rotation curves. Becausemany of the galaxies show optical emission features that aresignificantly extended along the spectrograph slit, a technique wasdevised to separate and subtract the night sky lines from the galaxyemission. We exploit a functional fit to the rotation curve to identifyits center of symmetry; this method minimizes the asymmetry in thefinal, folded rotation curve. We derive rotational widths using bothvelocity histograms and the Polyex model fit. The final rotational widthis measured at a radius containing 83% of the total light as derivedfrom I-band images. In addition to presenting the new data, we use alarge sample of 742 galaxies for which both optical long-slit and radioH I line spectroscopy are available to investigate the relation betweenthe H I content of the disks and the extent of their rotation curves.Our results show that the correlation between those quantities, which iswell established in the case of H I-poor galaxies in clusters, ispresent also in H I-normal objects: for a given optical size, starformation can be traced farther out in the disks of galaxies with largerH I mass.

Formalism and quality of a proper motion link with extragalactic objects for astrometric satellite missions
The accuracy of the link of the proper motion system of astrometricsatellite missions like AMEX and GAIA is discussed. Monte-Carlo methodswere used to simulate catalogues of positions and proper motions ofquasars and galaxies to test the link. The main conclusion is, thatfuture satellite missions like GAIA may be ``self-calibrated'' by theirmeasurements of QSOs, while additional measurements from radio stars orHST-data are needed to calibrate the less deep reaching astrometricsatellite missions of AMEX type.

Compact groups in the UZC galaxy sample
Applying an automatic neighbour search algorithm to the 3D UZC galaxycatalogue (Falco et al. \cite{Falco}) we have identified 291 compactgroups (CGs) with radial velocity between 1000 and 10 000 kms-1. The sample is analysed to investigate whether Tripletsdisplay kinematical and morphological characteristics similar to higherorder CGs (Multiplets). It is found that Triplets constitute lowvelocity dispersion structures, have a gas-rich galaxy population andare typically retrieved in sparse environments. Conversely Multipletsshow higher velocity dispersion, include few gas-rich members and aregenerally embedded structures. Evidence hence emerges indicating thatTriplets and Multiplets, though sharing a common scale, correspond todifferent galaxy systems. Triplets are typically field structures whilstMultiplets are mainly subclumps (either temporarily projected orcollapsing) within larger structures. Simulations show that selectioneffects can only partially account for differences, but significantcontamination of Triplets by field galaxy interlopers could eventuallyinduce the observed dependences on multiplicity. Tables 1 and 2 are onlyavailable in electronic at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.125.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/391/35

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.

Investigations of the Local Supercluster velocity field. III. Tracing the backside infall with distance moduli from the direct Tully-Fisher relation
We have extended the discussion of Paper II (Ekholm et al.\cite{Ekholm99a}) to cover also the backside of the Local Supercluster(LSC) by using 96 galaxies within Theta <30degr from the adoptedcentre of LSC and with distance moduli from the direct B-bandTully-Fisher relation. In order to minimize the influence of theMalmquist bias we required log Vmax>2.1 and sigmaB_T<0.2mag. We found out that ifRVirgo<20 Mpc this sample fails to follow the expecteddynamical pattern from the Tolman-Bondi (TB) model. When we compared ourresults with the Virgo core galaxies given by Federspiel et al.(\cite{Federspiel98}) we were able to constrain the distance to Virgo:RVirgo=20-24 Mpc. When analyzing the TB-behaviour of thesample as seen from the origin of the metric as well as that withdistances from the extragalactic Cepheid PL-relation we found additionalsupport to the estimate RVirgo= 21 Mpc given in Paper II.Using a two-component mass-model we found a Virgo mass estimateMVirgo=(1.5 - 2)x Mvirial, whereMvirial=9.375*E14Msun forRVirgo= 21 Mpc. This estimate agrees with the conclusion inPaper I (Teerikorpi et al. \cite{Teerikorpi92}). Our results indicatethat the density distribution of luminous matter is shallower than thatof the total gravitating matter when q0<= 0.5. Thepreferred exponent in the density power law, alpha ~2.5, agrees withrecent theoretical work on the universal density profile of dark matterclustering in an Einstein-deSitter universe (Tittley & Couchman\cite{Tittley99}).

The QDOT all-sky IRAS galaxy redshift survey
We describe the construction of the QDOT survey, which is publiclyavailable from an anonymous FTP account. The catalogue consists ofinfrared properties and redshifts of an all-sky sample of 2387 IRASgalaxies brighter than the IRAS PSC 60-μm completeness limit(S_60>0.6Jy), sparsely sampled at a rate of one-in-six. At |b|>10deg, after removing a small number of Galactic sources, the redshiftcompleteness is better than 98per cent (2086/2127). New redshifts for1401 IRAS sources were obtained to complete the catalogue; themeasurement and reduction of these are described, and the new redshiftstabulated here. We also tabulate all sources at |b|>10 deg with noredshift so far, and sources with conflicting alternative redshiftseither from our own work, or from published velocities. A list of 95ultraluminous galaxies (i.e. with L_60μm>10^12 L_solar) is alsoprovided. Of these, ~20per cent are AGN of some kind; the broad-lineobjects typically show strong Feii emission. Since the publication ofthe first QDOT papers, there have been several hundred velocity changes:some velocities are new, some QDOT velocities have been replaced by moreaccurate values, and some errors have been corrected. We also present anew analysis of the accuracy and linearity of IRAS 60-μm fluxes. Wefind that the flux uncertainties are well described by a combination of0.05-Jy fixed size uncertainty and 8per cent fractional uncertainty.This is not enough to cause the large Malmquist-type errors in the rateof evolution postulated by Fisher et al. We do, however, find marginalevidence for non-linearity in the PSC 60-μm flux scale, in the sensethat faint sources may have fluxes overestimated by about 5per centcompared with bright sources. We update some of the previous scientificanalyses to assess the changes. The main new results are as follows. (1)The luminosity function is very well determined overall but is uncertainby a factor of several at the very highest luminosities(L_60μm>5x10^12L_solar), as this is where the remainingunidentified objects are almost certainly concentrated. (2) Thebest-fitting rate of evolution is somewhat lower than our previousestimate; expressed as pure density evolution with density varying as(1+z)^p, we find p=5.6+/-2.3. Making a rough correction for the possible(but very uncertain) non-linearity of fluxes, we find p=4.5+/-2.3. (3)The dipole amplitude decreases a little, and the implied value of thedensity parameter, assuming that IRAS galaxies trace the mass, isΩ=0.9(+0.45, -0.25). (4) Finally, the estimate of density varianceon large scales changes negligibly, still indicating a significantdiscrepancy from the predictions of simple cold dark matter cosmogonies.

Arcsecond Positions of UGC Galaxies
We present accurate B1950 and J2000 positions for all confirmed galaxiesin the Uppsala General Catalog (UGC). The positions were measuredvisually from Digitized Sky Survey images with rms uncertaintiesσ<=[(1.2")2+(θ/100)2]1/2,where θ is the major-axis diameter. We compared each galaxymeasured with the original UGC description to ensure high reliability.The full position list is available in the electronic version only.

A Complete Redshift Survey to the Zwicky Catalog Limit in a 2^h X 15 deg Region around 3C 273
We compile 1113 redshifts (648 new measurements, 465 from theliterature) for Zwicky catalog galaxies in the region (-3.5d <= delta<= 8.5d, 11h5 <= alpha <= 13h5). We include redshifts for 114component objects in 78 Zwicky catalog multiplets. The redshift surveyin this region is 99.5% complete to the Zwicky catalog limit, m_Zw =15.7. It is 99.9% complete to m_Zw = 15.5, the CfA Redshift Survey(CfA2) magnitude limit. The survey region is adjacent to the northernportion of CfA2, overlaps the northernmost slice of the Las CampanasRedshift Survey, includes the southern extent of the Virgo Cluster, andis roughly centered on the QSO 3C 273. As in other portions of theZwicky catalog, bright and faint galaxies trace the same large-scalestructure.

The Southern Sky Redshift Survey
We report redshifts, magnitudes, and morphological classifications for5369 galaxies with m_B <= 15.5 and for 57 galaxies fainter than thislimit, in two regions covering a total of 1.70 sr in the southerncelestial hemisphere. The galaxy catalog is drawn primarily from thelist of nonstellar objects identified in the Hubble Space TelescopeGuide Star Catalog (GSC). The galaxies have positions accurate to ~1"and magnitudes with an rms scatter of ~0.3 mag. We compute magnitudes(m_SSRS2) from the relation between instrumental GSC magnitudes and thephotometry by Lauberts & Valentijn. From a comparison with CCDphotometry, we find that our system is homogeneous across the sky andcorresponds to magnitudes measured at the isophotal level ~26 magarcsec^-2. The precision of the radial velocities is ~40 km s^-1, andthe redshift survey is more than 99% complete to the m_SSRS2 = 15.5 maglimit. This sample is in the direction opposite that of the CfA2; incombination the two surveys provide an important database for studies ofthe properties of galaxies and their large-scale distribution in thenearby universe. Based on observations obtained at Cerro TololoInter-American Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories,operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy,Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation;Complejo Astronomico El Leoncito, operated under agreement between theConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas de laRepública Argentina and the National Universities of La Plata,Córdoba, and San Juan; the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile, partially under the bilateral ESO-ObservatórioNacional agreement; Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory;Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica, Brazil; and the SouthAfrican Astronomical Observatory.

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.

A comparative study of morphological classifications of APM galaxies
We investigate the consistency of visual morphological classificationsof galaxies by comparing classifications for 831 galaxies from sixindependent observers. The galaxies were classified on laser print copyimages or on computer screen using scans made with the Automated PlateMeasuring (APM) machine. Classifications are compared using the RevisedHubble numerical type index T. We find that individual observers agreewith one another with rms combined dispersions of between 1.3 and 2.3type units, typically about 1.8 units. The dispersions tend to decreaseslightly with increasing angular diameter and, in some cases, withincreasing axial ratio (b/a). The agreement between independentobservers is reasonably good but the scatter is non-negligible. In spiteof the scatter, the Revised Hubble T system can be used to train anautomated galaxy classifier, e.g. an artificial neural network, tohandle the large number of galaxy images that are being compiled in theAPM and other surveys.

The UV properties of normal galaxies. III. Standard luminosity profiles and total magnitudes.
In the previous papers of this series we collected and reduced to thesame system all the available photometric data obtained in theultraviolet (UV) range for normal (i.e. non active) galaxies. Here weuse these data to derive standard UV luminosity profiles for threemorphological bins (E/S0; Sa/Sb; Sc/Sd) and extrapolated totalmagnitudes for almost 400 galaxies. We find that: 1) the UV growthcurves are well matched by the B-band revised standard luminosityprofiles, once a proper shift in the effective radius is applied, and 2)the UV light in early-type galaxies is more centrally concentrated thanthe visible light.

The UV properties of normal galaxies. II. The ``non-IUE'' data.
In the last decade several satellite and balloon borne experiments havecollected a large number of ultraviolet fluxes of normal galaxiesmeasured through apertures of various sizes and shapes. We havehomogenized this data set by deriving scale corrections with respect toIUE. In a forthcoming paper these data will be used to derive standardluminosity profiles and total magnitudes.

Arm structure in normal spiral galaxies, 1: Multivariate data for 492 galaxies
Multivariate data have been collected as part of an effort to develop anew classification system for spiral galaxies, one which is notnecessarily based on subjective morphological properties. A sample of492 moderately bright northern Sa and Sc spirals was chosen for futurestatistical analysis. New observations were made at 20 and 21 cm; thelatter data are described in detail here. Infrared Astronomy Satellite(IRAS) fluxes were obtained from archival data. Finally, new estimatesof arm pattern radomness and of local environmental harshness werecompiled for most sample objects.

H I observations of binary spiral galaxies
A sample of binary spiral galaxies has been observed with the Areciboand Westerbork radio telescopes in the H I 21 cm line, and these data,in conjunction with optical information, are used to ascertain thespin-vector spatial orientation of the galaxies, as well as to estimatetheir systemic and rotation velocities. A tabulation is given of theresults thus obtained for 23 galaxies.

Statistical methods for investigating periodicities in double-galaxy redshifts
It is shown how to test binary-galaxy redshift data for periodicitiesagainst all possible monotone-decreasing distribution functions. Thesignificance of the periodicity in both radio and optical data remainshigh. Likelihood methods are used to compare the chances that the datacome from periodic versus Newtonian distributions and find that theoptical data are greater than about 15 times more likely to come from atruly periodic distribution. The same calculation for a new compilationof radio data shows a likelihood ratio of 3. Bayesian inferencetechniques are used to show that the data suggest a much higherprobability for the quantization than has been the case in the past.

Velocity differences in binary galaxies. I - Suggestions for a nonmonotonic, two-component distribution
A compilation of published high-precision velocities for 107 isolatedgalaxies is presented and used to obtain the distribution function oftheir velocity differences. The distribution shows a peak at the zerodifference as expected, but it also exhibits a preference for valuesnear 72 km/2. The distribution function declines smoothly beyond about72 km/s, with no significant peaks at multiples of 72 km/s, as claimedby Tifft (1977, 1980, 1982). It is argued that criteria for selectionprocedures on binary galaxy samples which are defined on the basis oftoo narrow a projected separation in the sky can produce a nonmonotonicdistribution if the orbits are eccentric. Such orbits can produce astrong secondary peak only if the level of incompleteness inbinary-galaxy samples is quite high, suggesting that the presentstatistical estimates of the masses of binary galaxies should bereevaluated.

Galaxy redshifts in an equatorial field in Virgo and the spatial distribution of local Lyman alpha clouds
New redshifts are presented for 51 galaxies which lie in a narrow stripalong the celestial equator. The redshifts are derived from a mixture ofoptical and H I spectra; for the latter subset (37 galaxies) H I fluxesand line widths are also given. One of the two Ly-alpha clouds in theLocal Supercluster appears to be associated with a spiral galaxy,although the angular and physical separations (42 arcmin and 180 kpc)are large. The other nearby Ly-alpha cloud and the large H I cloudappear to be more isolated. None of the nine Ly-alpha clouds withvelocities between 5000-20,000 km/s are associated with any specificgalaxies, but most appear to fall within or near the large-scalestructures defined by the galaxies.

H I observations of galaxies in between the Local and the Hydra/Centaurus superclusters
H I observations obtained with the 300-ft NRAO and 100-m Effelsbergradio telescopes in 1984-1985 are reported for 440 galaxies, ofmorphological types S0/a or later and diameter at least 2 arcmin in thecatalog of de Vaucouleurs et al., 1976, from the region between theLocal and Hya/Cen superclusters. The data are compiled in tables alongwith published data on 310 galaxies to form a data base for studies offilamentary structures in the intercluster region. More than 50 percentof the galaxies are detected in H I, and the redshift distribution isfound to be consistent with the existence of filaments.

Ultraviolet observations and star-formation rate in galaxies
The present 149 galaxies, essentially of spiral and irregular types wereobserved at about 2000 A in a survey using a balloon-borne imagingtelescope. Total ultraviolet fluxes in an about 125-A wide bandpass havebeen obtained by comparison with field stars. On average, the m(2000)-Bcolor gets redder from late to early morphological types. For a giventype, this color exhibits a large scatter which increases from late toearly types. As expected, the galaxies show a relation between them(2000)-B and B-V colors. After a correction for dust extinction basedon the neutral hydrogen content of each galaxy, the observed fluxes areused to obtain quantitative estimates of the current star formation rate(SFR). A good correlation is found between the SFR and the total gascontent. A weak correlation observed between the SFR per unit area andthe average gas surface density might be compatible with the existenceof a power-law relation of exponent 1, between birthrate and gasdensity. The SFR per unit gas mass shows both a significant dispersionand a decrease toward later types. Implications in terms of starformation history are discussed.

Neutral hydrogen in small groups of galaxies
Neutral hydrogen in 36 pairs and small groups of galaxies was studiedusing the Arecibo radio telescope. Potential groups were selected fromthe Uppsala General Catalogue of Galaxies of Nilson (1973) by a simplealgorithm with the aims of determining or improving redshifts forgalaxies in possible groups and of mapping some of the larger galaxiesto determine their internal dynamics. The H I spectra are examined indetail and problems of confusion in these and previous observations areaddressed. A simple analysis of the groups' mean dynamical mass suggeststhat the mass determined from the galaxies' rotation is sufficient tobind them, but there may be important unmodeled selection orcontamination problems. A simple method for estimating errors of H Ivelocity measurements is also derived.

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Observation and Astrometry data

Constellation:Virgo
Right ascension:12h43m17.70s
Declination:-00°38'40.0"
Aparent dimensions:1.585′ × 0.513′

Catalogs and designations:
Proper Names   (Edit)
NGC 2000.0NGC 4642
HYPERLEDA-IPGC 42791

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