810 research outputs found
Dependence of Spiral Galaxy Distribution on Viewing Angle in RC3
The normalized inclination distributions are presented for the spiral
galaxies in RC3. The results show that, except for the bin of
-, in which the apparent minor isophotal diameters that
are used to obtain the inclinations, are affected by the central bulges, the
distributions for Sa, Sab, Scd and Sd are well consistent with the Monte-Carlo
simulation of random inclinations within 3-, and Sb and Sbc almost, but
Sc is different. One reason for the difference between the real distribution
and the Monte-Carlo simulation of Sc may be that some quite inclined spirals,
the arms of which are inherently loosely wound on the galactic plane and should
be classified to Sc galaxies, have been incorrectly classified to the earlier
ones, because the tightness of spiral arms which is one of the criteria of the
Hubble classification in RC3 is different between on the galactic plane and on
the tangent plane of the celestial sphere. Our result also implies that there
might exist biases in the luminosity functions of individual Hubble types if
spiral galaxies are only classified visually.Comment: 5 pages + 8 figures, LaTe
Supernovae Rates: A Cosmic History
We discuss the cosmic history of supernovae on the basis of various
assumptions and recent data on the star formation history.
We show that supernova rates as a function of redshift can be used to place
significant constraints on progenitor models, on the star formation history,
and on the importance of dust obscuration.
We demonstrate that it is unlikely that the current observational indications
for the existence of a cosmological constant are merely an artifact of the
dominance of different progenitor classes at different redshift intervals.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
Supernova type Ia luminosities, their dependence on second parameters, and the value of H_0
A sample of 35 SNe Ia with good to excellent photometry in B and V, minimum
internal absorption, and 1200 < v < \approx 30000 km/s is compiled from the
literature. As far as their spectra are known they are all Branch-normal. For
29 of the SNe Ia also peak magnitudes in I are known. The SNe Ia have uniform
colors at maximum, i.e. =-0.012 mag (sigma=0.051) and =-0.276 mag
(sigma=0.078). In the Hubble diagram they define a Hubble line with a scatter
of =0.21-0.16 mag, decreasing with wavelength. The scatter is further
reduced if the SNe Ia are corrected for differences in decline rate Delta_m_15
or color (B-V). A combined correction reduces the scatter to sigma<=0.13 mag.
After the correction no significant dependence remains on Hubble type or
galactocentric distance. The Hubble line suggests some curvature which can be
differently interpreted. A consistent solution is obtained for a cosmological
model with Omega_M=0.3, Omega_Lambda=0.7, which is indicated also by much more
distant SNe Ia. Absolute magnitudes are available for eight equally blue
(Branch-normal) SNe Ia in spirals, whose Cepheid distances are known. If their
well defined mean values of M_B, M_V, and M_I are used to fit the Hubble line
to the above sample of SNe Ia one obtains H_0=58.3 km/s/Mpc, or, after
adjusting all SNe Ia to the average values of Delta_m_15 and (B-V), H_0=60.9
km/s/Mpc. Various systematic errors are discussed whose elimination tends to
decrease H_0. The finally adopted value at the 90-percent level, including
random and systematic errors, is H_0=58.5 +/- 6.3 km/s/Mpc. Several higher
values of H_0 from SNe Ia, as suggested in the literature, are found to depend
on large corrections for variations of the light curve parameter and/or on an
unwarranted reduction of the Cepheid distances of the calibrating SNe Ia.Comment: 42 pages, including 9 figures; submitted to Ap
Bars from the Inside Out: An HST Study of their Dusty Circumnuclear Regions
The results of bar-driven mass inflow are directly observable in
high-resolution HST observations of their circumnuclear regions. These
observations reveal a wealth of structures dominated by dust lanes, often with
a spiral-like morphology, and recent star formation. Recent work has shown that
some of these structures are correlated with the presence or absence of a bar.
I extend this work with an investigation of circumnuclear morphology as a
function of bar strength for a sample of 48 galaxies with both measured bar
strengths and ``structure maps'' computed from HST images. The structure maps
for these galaxies, which have projected spatial resolutions of 2 - 15 pc, show
that the fraction of galaxies with grand-design (GD) circumnuclear dust spirals
increases significantly with bar strength, while tightly wound dust spirals are
only present in the most axisymmetric galaxies. GD structure is only found at
the centers of galaxies classified as SB(s) or SB(rs) and not SB(r). SB(s)
galaxies on average have stronger bars than SB(r) galaxies. There is also a
modest increase in the fraction of loosely wound dust spirals at later
morphological types, which may reflect an increase in the fraction of galaxies
with circumnuclear, gaseous disks. (abridged)Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. To appear in "Penetrating Bars through Masks of
Cosmic Dust: The Hubble Tuning Fork strikes a New Note" held June 7-12th,
2004 in Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa. Version with higher
resolution figures is available at
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~pmartini/professional/publications/safrica04.pd
Allan Sandage and the Cosmic Expansion
This is an account of Allan Sandage's work on (1) The character of the
expansion field. For many years he has been the strongest defender of an
expanding Universe. He later explained the CMB dipole by a local velocity of
220 +/- 50 km/s toward the Virgo cluster and by a bulk motion of the Local
supercluster (extending out to ~3500 km/s) of 450-500 km/s toward an apex at
l=275, b=12. Allowing for these streaming velocities he found linear expansion
to hold down to local scales (~300 km/s). (2) The calibration of the Hubble
constant. Probing different methods he finally adopted - from
Cepheid-calibrated SNe Ia and from independent RR Lyr-calibrated TRGBs - H_0 =
62.3 +/- 1.3 +/- 5.0 km/s/Mpc.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, Submitted to Astrophysics and Space
Science, Special Issue on the Fundamental Cosmic Distance Scale in the Gaia
Er
Classical Cosmological Tests for Galaxies of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
Images of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field are analyzed to obtain a catalog of
galaxies for which the angular sizes, surface brightness, photometric
redshifts, and absolute magnitudes are found. The catalog contains a total of
about 4000 galaxies identified at a high signal-to-noise ratio, which allows
the cosmological relations angular size{redshift and surface
brightness-redshift to be analyzed. The parameters of the evolution of linear
sizes and surface brightness of distant galaxies in the redshift interval
0.5-6.5 are estimated in terms of a grid of cosmological models with different
density parameters. The distribution of photometric redshifts of galaxies is
analyzed and possible superlarge inhomogeneities in the radial distribution of
galaxies are found with scale lengths as large as 2000 Mpc.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl
Distances from the Correlation between Galaxy Luminosities and Rotation Rates
A large luminosity--linewidth template sample is now available, improved
absorption corrections have been derived, and there are a statistically
significant number of galaxies with well determined distances to supply the
zero point. A revised estimate of the Hubble Constant is H_0=77 +-4 km/s/Mpc
where the error is the 95% probability statistical error. Systematic
uncertainties are potentially twice as large.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures. Invited chapter for the book `Post-Hipparcos
Cosmic Candles', Eds. F. Caputo and A. Heck (Kluwer Academic Publishers,
Dordrecht
The Metallicity Dependence of the Fourier Components of RR Lyrae Light Curves is the Oosterhoff/Arp/Preston Period Ratio Effect in Disguise
The correlation of particular Fourier components of the light curves of RR
Lyrae variables with metallicity, discovered by Simon and later by Kovacs and
his coworkers, is shown to have the same explanation as the period ratios
(period shifts in log P) between RRab Lyrae variables that have the same
colors, amplitudes, and light-curve shapes but different metallicities. A
purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the model which predicts the
period-metallicity relations is the mediating parameters of colors, amplitudes,
and light-curve shapes also explains the Simon/Kovacs et al. correlation
between period, Phi_31, and metallicity. The proof is made by demonstrating
that the combination of the first and third phase terms in a Fourier
decomposition of RRab light curves, called Phi_31 by Simon and Lee, varies
monotonically across the RR Lyrae instability strip in the same way that
amplitude, color, and rise time vary with period within the strip. The premise
of the model is that if horizontal branches at the RR Lyrae strip are stacked
in luminosity according to the metallicity, then there necessarily must be a
log period shift between RR Lyraes with different metallicities at the same
Phi_31 values. However, there are exceptions to the model. (...)Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in The A
Dark Energy and the quietness of the Local Hubble Flow
The linearity and quietness of the Local () Hubble Flow (LHF) in
view of the very clumpy local universe is a long standing puzzle in standard
and in open CDM cosmogony. The question addressed in this paper is whether the
antigravity component of the recently discovered dark energy can cool the
velocity flow enough to provide a solution to this puzzle. We calculate the
growth of matter fluctuations in a flat universe containing a fraction
of dark energy obeying the time independent equation of state
. We find that dark energy can indeed cool the LHF. However the
dark energy parameter values required to make the predicted velocity dispersion
consistent with the observed value have been ruled out
by other observational tests constraining the dark energy parameters and
. Therefore despite the claims of recent qualitative studies dark
energy with time independent equation of state can not by itself explain the
quietness and linearity of the Local Hubble Flow.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev. D. Minor corrections, one
figure adde
The Age of the Oldest Stars in the Local Galactic Disk From Hipparcos Parallaxes of G and K Subgiants
We review the history of the discovery of field subgiant stars and their
importance in the age dating of the Galactic disk. We use the cataloged data
from the Hipparcos satellite in this latter capacity. Based on Hipparcos
parallaxes accurate to 10% or better, the absolute magnitude of the lower
envelope of the nearly horizontal subgiant sequence for field stars in the H-R
diagram for B-V colors between 0.85 and 1.05 is measured to be M_V = 4.03 +/-
0.06. The age of the field stars in the solar neighborhood is found to be 7.9
+/- 0.7 Gyr by fitting the theoretical isochrones for [Fe/H] = +0.37 to the
lower envelope of the Hipparcos subgiants. The same grid of isochrones yields
ages, in turn, of 4.0 +/- 0.2 Gyr, 6.2 +/- 0.5 Gyr, and 7.5 to 10 Gyr for the
old Galactic clusters M67, NGC188, and NGC6791. The ages of both the Galactic
disk in the solar neighborhood and of NGC6791 are, nevertheless, likely between
3 and 5 Gyr younger than the oldest halo globular clusters, which have ages of
13.5 Gyr. The most significant results are (1) the supermetallicity of the
oldest local disk stars, and (2) the large age difference between the most
metal-poor component of the halo and the thick and thin disk in the solar
neighborhood. These facts are undoubtedly related and pose again the problem of
the proper scenario for the timing of events in the formation of the halo and
the Galactic disk in the solar neighborhood. [Abstract Abridged]Comment: 44 pages, 12 Figures; accepted for publication in PASP; high
resolution versions of Figures 1, 2, 6 and 9 available at
http://bubba.ucdavis.edu/~lubin/Sandage
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