1,082 research outputs found
Evidence for the disky origin of luminous Virgo dwarf ellipticals from the kinematics of their globular cluster systems
We report evidence for dynamically significant rotation in the globular
cluster systems of two luminous Virgo dwarf ellipticals, VCC1261 and VCC1528.
Including previous results for VCC1087, the globular cluster systems of all
three Virgo dwarf ellipticals studied in detail to date exhibit v_rot/sigma >
1. Taking the rotation seen in the globular clusters as maximal disk rotation,
we find all three dEs lie on the r-band Tully-Fisher relation. We argue that
these data support the hypothesis that luminous dEs are the remnants of
transformed disk galaxies. We also obtained deep, longslit data for the stars
in VCC1261 and VCC1528. Both these galaxies show rapid rotation in their inner
regions, with spatial scales of ~0.5 kpc. These rotation velocities are similar
to those seen in the GC systems. Since our longslit data for Virgo dEs extend
out to 1-2 effective radii (typical of deep observations), whereas the globular
clusters extend out to 4--7 effective radii, we conclude that non-detections of
rotation in many luminous dEs may simply be due to a lack of radial coverage in
the stellar data, and that globular clusters represent singularly sensitive
probes of the dynamics of dEs. Based on these data, we suggest that gas disks
are significant sites of globular cluster formation in the early universe.Comment: To appear in the AJ, corrected typographical errors in Table 1, added
a referenc
Use of Computer-based Clinical Examination for Assessment of Medical Students in Surgery
Background: The Video-projected Structured Clinical Examination (ViPSCE) replaced the oral (viva) examination as a student assessment tool in clinical surgery in our department since its invention in 2001 (1, 2). It has been useful for assessing higher knowledge domain includingproblem-solving abilities.Objectives: To improve the viewing of the Video-projected Structured Clinical Examination (ViPSCE), we developed a computerized version, and called it ‘Computerized Clinical Examination’ or (CCE). This was used to assess medical students’ higher knowledge and problem solving skills in surgery. We present how we did it, test scores descriptive statistics, and the students’ evaluation. To our knowledge the use of computers in this way has not been reported before.Methods: A computer-based clinical examination (CCE) in surgery is administered to assess a class of 43 final year medical students at the end of their surgical clerkship. Like the ViPSCE, the exam was delivered as a slide show, using ‘PowerPoint’ computer program. However, instead of projecting it onto a screen with a video-projector, each student had his/her own computer. The CCE consisted of 20 slides containing either still photos or short video clips of clinical situations in surgery. The students answered by hand writing on the exam papers. At the end, they filled evaluation forms. The exam papers were corrected manually. The test scores descriptive statistics were calculated, and correlated with the students’ scores in other exams in surgery. The evaluation forms wereanalyzed.Results: Administration of the CCE was straightforward. The test scores were normally distributed. They correlated significantly with the scores obtained by the students in the other exams in surgery. Students’ acceptability was high.Conclusion: CCE is feasible. It inherits the validity and reliability of the ViPSCE with the added advantage of improving the viewing of the slides. It proved popular with the students
The Baryon Content of Extremely Low Mass Dwarf Galaxies
We investigate the gas content and baryonic Tully-Fisher relationship for
extremely low luminosity dwarf galaxies in the absolute magnitude range -13.5 >
Mr > -16. The sample is selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and consists
of 101 galaxies for which we have obtained follow-up HI observations using the
Arecibo Observatory and Green Bank Telescope. This represents the largest
homogeneous sample of dwarfs at low luminosities with well-measured HI and
optical properties. The sample spans a range of environments, from dense groups
to truly isolated galaxies. The average neutral gas fraction is f_gas=0.6,
significantly exceeding that of typical gas-rich galaxies at higher
luminosities. Dwarf galaxies are therefore less efficient at turning gas into
stars over their lifetimes. The strong environmental dependence of the gas
fraction distribution demonstrates that while internal processes can reduce the
gas fractions to roughly f_gas=0.4, external processes are required to fully
remove gas from a dwarf galaxy. The average rotational velocity of our sample
is vrot=50 km/s. Including more massive galaxies from the literature, we fit a
baryonic Tully-Fisher slope of M_baryon \propto vrot^(3.70+/- 0.15). This slope
compares well with CDM models that assume an equal baryon to dark matter ratio
at all masses. While gas stripping or other processes may modify the baryon to
dark matter ratio for dwarfs in the densest environments, the majority of dwarf
galaxies in our sample have not preferentially lost significant baryonic mass
relative to more massive galaxies.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures. Accepted to ApJ. Data available at
http://www.ociw.edu/~mgeha/researc
A Megacam Survey of Outer Halo Satellites. IV. Two foreground populations possibly associated with the Monoceros substructure in the direction of NGC2419 and Koposov2
The origin of the Galactic halo stellar structure known as the Monoceros ring
is still under debate. In this work, we study that halo substructure using deep
CFHT wide-field photometry obtained for the globular clusters NGC2419 and
Koposov2, where the presence of Monoceros becomes significant because of their
coincident projected position. Using Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometry and
spectroscopy in the area surrounding these globulars and beyond, where the same
Monoceros population is detected, we conclude that a second feature, not likely
to be associated with Milky Way disk stars along the line-of-sight, is present
as foreground population. Our analysis suggests that the Monoceros ring might
be composed of an old stellar population of age t ~ 9Gyr and a new component ~
4Gyr younger at the same heliocentric distance. Alternatively, this detection
might be associated with a second wrap of Monoceros in that direction of the
sky and also indicate a metallicity spread in the ring. The detection of such a
low-density feature in other sections of this halo substructure will shed light
on its nature.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
AGN All the Way Down? AGN-like Line Ratios are Common In the Lowest-Mass Isolated Quiescent Galaxies
We investigate the lowest-mass quiescent galaxies known to exist in isolated
environments (; 1.5 Mpc from a more
massive galaxy). This population may represent the lowest stellar mass galaxies
in which internal feedback quenches galaxy-wide star formation. We present
Keck/ESI long-slit spectroscopy for 27 isolated galaxies in this regime: 20
quiescent galaxies and 7 star-forming galaxies. We measure emission line
strengths as a function of radius and place galaxies on the Baldwin Phillips
Terlevich (BPT) diagram. Remarkably, 16 of 20 quiescent galaxies in our sample
host central AGN-like line ratios. Only 5 of these quiescent galaxies were
identified as AGN-like in SDSS due to lower spatial resolution and
signal-to-noise. We find that many of the quiescent galaxies in our sample have
spatially-extended emission across the non-SF regions of BPT-space. When
considering only the central 1, we identify a tight
relationship between distance from the BPT star-forming sequence and host
galaxy stellar age as traced by , such that older stellar
ages are associated with larger distances from the star-forming locus. Our
results suggest that the presence of hard ionizing radiation (AGN-like line
ratios) is intrinsically tied to the quenching of what may be the lowest-mass
self-quenched galaxies.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Ap
A MegaCam Survey of Outer Halo Satellites. VII. A Single S\'ersic Index v/s Effective Radius Relation for Milky Way Outer Halo Satellites
In this work we use structural properties of Milky Way's outer halo () satellites (dwarf spheroidal galaxies, ultra-faint dwarf
galaxies and globular clusters) derived from deep, wide-field and homogeneous
data, to present evidence of a correlation in the S\'ersic index v/s effective
radius plane followed by a large fraction of outer halo globular clusters and
satellite dwarf galaxies. We show that this correlation can be entirely
reproduced by fitting empirical relations in the central surface brightness v/s
absolute magnitude and S\'ersic index v/s absolute magnitude parameter spaces,
and by assuming the existence of two types of outer halo globular clusters: one
of high surface brightness (HSB group), with properties similar to inner halo
clusters; and another of low surface brightness (LSB group), which share
characteristics with dwarf spheroidal and ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. Given the
similarities of LSB clusters with dwarf spheroidal and ultra-faint dwarf
galaxies, we discuss the possibility that outer halo clusters also originated
inside dark matter halos and that tidal forces from different galaxy host's
potentials are responsible for the different properties between HSB and LSB
clusters.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, 3 table
Structure and Dynamics of the Globular Cluster Palomar 13
We present Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopy and Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/MegaCam photometry for the Milky Way globular cluster Palomar 13. We triple the number of spectroscopically confirmed members, including many repeat velocity measurements. Palomar 13 is the only known globular cluster with possible evidence for dark matter, based on a Keck/High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer 21 star velocity dispersion of Ï = 2.2 ± 0.4 km s^(â1). We reproduce this measurement, but demonstrate that it is inflated by unresolved binary stars. For our sample of 61 stars, the velocity dispersion is Ï = 0.7^(+0.6)_(â0.5) km s^(â1). Combining our DEIMOS data with literature values, our final velocity dispersion is Ï = 0.4^(+0.4)_( â0.3) km s^(â1). We determine a spectroscopic metallicity of [Fe/H] = â1.6 ± 0.1 dex, placing a 1Ï upper limit of Ï_([Fe/H]) ~ 0.2 dex on any internal metallicity spread. We determine Palomar 13's total luminosity to be M_V = â2.8 ± 0.4, making it among the least luminous known globular clusters. The photometric isophotes are regular out to the half-light radius and mildly irregular outside this radius. The outer surface brightness profile slope is shallower than typical globular clusters (ÎŁ α r^η, η = â2.8 ± 0.3). Thus at large radius, tidal debris is likely affecting the appearance of Palomar 13. Combining our luminosity with the intrinsic velocity dispersion, we find a dynamical mass of M_(1/2) = 1.3^(+2:7)_(â1.3) Ă 10^3 M_â and a mass-to-light ratio of M/L_V = 2.4^(+5.0)_(â2.4) M_â/L_â. Within our measurement errors, the mass-to-light ratio agrees with the theoretical predictions for a single stellar population. We conclude that, while there is some evidence for tidal stripping at large radius, the dynamical mass of Palomar 13 is consistent with its stellar mass and neither significant dark matter, nor extreme tidal heating, is required to explain the cluster dynamics
The Globular Cluster System of the Virgo Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy VCC 1087
We have analysed the globular cluster (GC) system of the nucleated dwarf
elliptical galaxy VCC 1087 in the Virgo cluster, based on Keck/LRIS
spectroscopy and archival HST/ACS imaging. We estimate VCC 1087 hosts a total
population of 77+/-19 GCs, which corresponds to a relatively high V-band
specific frequency of 5.8+/-1.4. The g-z color distribution of the GCs shows a
blue (metal-poor) peak with a tail of redder (metal-rich) clusters similar in
color to those seen in luminous ellipticals. Spectroscopy of a subsample of 12
GCs suggests that the GC system is old and coeval (~10 Gyr), with a fairly
broad metallicity distribution (-1.8<[m/H]<-0.8). In contrast, an integrated
spectrum of the underlying galaxy starlight reveals that its optical luminosity
is dominated by metal-rich, intermediate-aged stars. Radial velocities of the
GCs suggest rotation close to the major axis of the galaxy, and this rotation
is dynamically significant with (v/sigma)^* >1. A compilation of the kinematics
of the GC systems of 9 early-type galaxies shows surprising diversity in the
v/sigma parameter for GC systems. In this context, the GC system of VCC 1087
exhibits the most significant rotation to velocity dispersion signature.
Modeling the velocity dispersion profile of the GCs and galaxy stars suggest
fairly constant mass-to-light ratios of ~3 out to 6.5 kpc. The present
observations can entertain both baryonic and non-baryonic solutions, and GC
velocities at larger radii would be most valuable with regard to this issue. We
discuss the evolution of VCC 1087 in terms of the galaxy ``harassment''
scenario, and conclude that this galaxy may well be the remains of a faded,
tidally perturbed Sc spiral [abridged].Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, to appear in the A
The SPLASH Survey: Kinematics of Andromeda's Inner Spheroid
The combination of large size, high stellar density, high metallicity, and
Sersic surface brightness profile of the spheroidal component of the Andromeda
galaxy (M31) within R_proj ~ 20 kpc suggest that it is unlike any subcomponent
of the Milky Way. In this work we capitalize on our proximity to and external
view of M31 to probe the kinematical properties of this "inner spheroid." We
employ a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis of resolved stellar
kinematics from Keck/DEIMOS spectra of 5651 red giant branch stars to
disentangle M31's inner spheroid from its stellar disk. We measure the mean
velocity and dispersion of the spheroid in each of five spatial bins after
accounting for a locally cold stellar disk as well as the Giant Southern Stream
and associated tidal debris. For the first time, we detect significant spheroid
rotation (v_rot ~ 50 km/s) beyond R_proj ~ 5 kpc. The velocity dispersion
decreases from about 140 km/s at R_proj = 7 kpc to 120 km/s at R_proj = 14 kpc,
consistent to 2 sigma with existing measurements and models. We calculate the
probability that a given star is a member of the spheroid and find that the
spheroid has a significant presence throughout the spatial extent of our
sample. Lastly, we show that the flattening of the spheroid is due to velocity
anisotropy in addition to rotation. Though this suggests that the inner
spheroid of M31 more closely resembles an elliptical galaxy than a typical
spiral galaxy bulge, it should be cautioned that our measurements are much
farther out (2 - 14 r_eff) than for the comparison samples.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
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