480 research outputs found
Combined color indexes and photometric structure of galaxies NGC 834 and NGC 1134
We present the results of BVRI photometry of two galaxies with active star
formation: NGC 834 and NGC 1134. Combined color index Q_{BVI} was used to
investigate the photometrical structure of the galaxies. Index Q_{BVI} is not
affected by internal extinction and is sensitive to the presence of blue stars.
Ring-like region with active star formation at 15" from the center reveals
itself in the Q_{BVI} map of NGC 834. Three-arm spiral structure is well-seen
on the Q_{BVI} map of NGC 1134.
We propose to use the combined indexes Q_{BVI} and similarly defined indices
as a tracers of Star Formation activity and structure of dusty galaxies.Comment: 3 pages, 4 embedded figures, LaTeX2e, using the EslabStyle.cls file,
presented as a poster in the 33rd ESLAB Symp. "Star formation from the small
to the large scale", Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 2-5 November 1999, (F.
Favata, A.A. Kaas & A. Wilson eds, ESA SP-445
The Kinematically Measured Pattern Speeds of NGC 2523 and NGC 4245
We have applied the Tremaine-Weinberg continuity equation method to derive
the bar pattern speed in the SB(r)b galaxy NGC 2523 and the SB(r)0/a galaxy NGC
4245 using the Calcium Triplet absorption lines. These galaxies were selected
because they have strong inner rings which can be used as independent tracers
of the pattern speed. The pattern speed of NGC 2523 is 26.4 6.1 km
s kpc, assuming an inclination of 49.7 and a distance
of 51.0 Mpc. The pattern speed of NGC 4245 is 75.5 31.3 km s
kpc, assuming an inclination of 35.4 and a distance of 12.6
Mpc. The ratio of the corotation radius to the bar radius of NGC 2523 and NGC
4245 is 1.4 0.3 and 1.1 0.5, respectively. These values place the
bright inner rings near and slightly inside the corotation radius, as predicted
by barred galaxy theory. Within the uncertainties, both galaxies are found to
have fast bars that likely indicate dark halos of low central concentration.
The photometric properties, bar strengths, and disk stabilities of both
galaxies are also discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal, 11 figures, 2
table
Do Bars Drive Spiral Density Waves?
We present deep near-infrared K_s-band AAT IRIS2 observations of a selected
sample of nearby barred spiral galaxies, including some with the strongest
known bars. The sample covers a range of Hubble types from SB0- to SBc. The
goal is to determine if the torque strengths of the spirals correlate with
those of the bars, which might be expected if the bars actually drive the
spirals as has been predicted by theoretical studies. This issue has
implications for interpreting bar and spiral fractions at high redshift.
Analysis of previous samples suggested that such a correlation exists in the
near-infrared, where effects of extinction and star formation are less
important. However, the earlier samples had only a few excessively strong bars.
Our new sample largely confirms our previous studies, but still any correlation
is relatively weak. We find two galaxies, NGC 7513 and UGC 10862, where there
is a only a weak spiral in the presence of a very strong bar. We suggest that
some spirals probably are driven by their bars at the same pattern speed, but
that this may be only when the bar is growing or if there is abundant gas and
dissipation.Comment: 84 pages, 29 figures, accepted by Astronomical Journa
Grand Design and Flocculent Spirals in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G)
Spiral arm properties of 46 galaxies in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar
Structure in Galaxies (S4G) were measured at 3.6mu, where extinction is small
and the old stars dominate. The sample includes flocculent, multiple arm, and
grand design types with a wide range of Hubble and bar types. We find that most
optically flocculent galaxies are also flocculent in the mid-IR because of star
formation uncorrelated with stellar density waves, whereas multiple arm and
grand design galaxies have underlying stellar waves. Arm-interarm contrasts
increase from flocculent to multiple arm to grand design galaxies and with
later Hubble types. Structure can be traced further out in the disk than in
previous surveys. Some spirals peak at mid-radius while others continuously
rise or fall, depending on Hubble and bar type. We find evidence for regular
and symmetric modulations of the arm strength in NGC 4321. Bars tend to be
long, high amplitude, and flat-profiled in early type spirals, with arm
contrasts that decrease with radius beyond the end of the bar, and they tend to
be short, low amplitude, and exponential-profiled in late Hubble types, with
arm contrasts that are constant or increase with radius. Longer bars tend to
have larger amplitudes and stronger arms.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures, ApJ in pres
The Distribution of Dark Matter in a Ringed Galaxy
Outer rings are located at the greatest distance from the galaxy center of
any feature resonant with a bar. Because of their large scale, their morphology
is sensitive to the distribution of the dark matter in the galaxy. We introduce
here how study of these rings can constrain the mass-to-light ratio of the bar,
and so the percentage of dark matter in the center of these galaxies. We
compare periodic orbits integrated in the ringed galaxy NGC 6782 near the outer
Lindblad resonance to the shape of the outer ring. The non-axisymmetric
component of the potential resulting from the bar is derived from a
near-infrared image of the galaxy. The axisymmetric component is derived
assuming a flat rotation curve. We find that the pinched non-self-intersecting
periodic orbits are more elongated for higher bar mass-to-light ratios and
faster bars. The inferred mass-to-light ratio of the bar depends on the assumed
inclination of the galaxy. With an assumed galaxy inclination of i=41 degrees,
for the orbits to be consistent with the observed ring morphology the
mass-to-light ratio of the bar must be high, greater than 70% of a maximal disk
value. For i=45 degrees, the mass-to-light ratio of the bar is of
the maximal disk value. Since the velocity field of these rings can be used to
constrain the galaxy inclination as well as which periodic orbit is represented
in the ring, further study will yield tighter constraints on the mass-to-light
ratio of the bar. If a near maximal disk value for the bar is required, then
either there would be little dark matter within the bar, or the dark matter
contained in the disk of the galaxy would be non-axisymmetric and would rotate
with the bar.Comment: AAS Latex + jpg Figures, Accepted for publication in Ap
The Upper Asymptotic Giant Branch of the Elliptical Galaxy Maffei 1, and Comparisons with M32 and NGC 5128
Deep near-infrared images obtained with adaptive optics systems on the Gemini
North and Canada-France-Hawaii telescopes are used to investigate the bright
stellar content and central regions of the nearby elliptical galaxy Maffei 1.
Stars evolving on the upper asymptotic giant branch (AGB) are resolved in a
field 3 arcmin from the center of the galaxy. The locus of bright giants on the
(K, H-K) color-magnitude diagram is consistent with a population of stars like
those in Baade's Window reddened by E(H-K) = 0.28 +/- 0.05 mag. This
corresponds to A_V = 4.5 +/- 0.8 mag, and is consistent with previous estimates
of the line of sight extinction computed from the integrated properties of
Maffei 1. The AGB-tip occurs at K = 20.0, which correponds to M_K = -8.7;
hence, the AGB-tip brightness in Maffei 1 is comparable to that in M32, NGC
5128, and the bulges of M31 and the Milky-Way. The near-infrared luminosity
functions (LFs) of bright AGB stars in Maffei 1, M32, and NGC 5128 are also in
excellent agreement, both in terms of overall shape and the relative density of
infrared-bright stars with respect to the fainter stars that dominate the light
at visible and red wavelengths. It is concluded that the brightest AGB stars in
Maffei 1, NGC 5128, M32, and the bulge of M31 trace an old, metal-rich
population, rather than an intermediate age population. It is also demonstrated
that Maffei 1 contains a distinct red nucleus, and this is likely the optical
signature of low-level nuclear activity and/or a distinct central stellar
population. Finally, there is an absence of globular clusters brighter than the
peak of the globular cluster LF in the central 700 x 700 parsecs of Maffei 1.Comment: 22 pages of text and 9 postscript figures; to appear in the
Astronomical Journa
Variation of Galactic Bar Length with Amplitude and Density as Evidence for Bar Growth over a Hubble Time
K_s-band images of 20 barred galaxies show an increase in the peak amplitude
of the normalized m=2 Fourier component with the R_25-normalized radius at this
peak. This implies that longer bars have higher amplitudes. The long bars
also correlate with an increased density in the central parts of the disks, as
measured by the luminosity inside 0.25R_25 divided by the cube of this radius
in kpc. Because denser galaxies evolve faster, these correlations suggest that
bars grow in length and amplitude over a Hubble time with the fastest evolution
occurring in the densest galaxies. All but three of the sample have early-type
flat bars; there is no clear correlation between the correlated quantities and
the Hubble type.Comment: ApJ Letters, 670, L97, preprint is 7 pages, 4 figure
A Dust-Penetrated Classification Scheme for Bars as Inferred from their Gravitational Force Fields
The division of galaxies into ``barred'' (SB) and ``normal'' (S) spirals is a
fundamental aspect of the Hubble galaxy classification system. This ``tuning
fork'' view was revised by de Vaucouleurs, whose classification volume
recognized apparent ``bar strength'' (SA, SAB, SB) as a continuous property of
galaxies called the ``family''. However, the SA, SAB, and SB families are
purely visual judgments that can have little bearing on the actual bar strength
in a given galaxy. Until very recently, published bar judgments were based
exclusively on blue light images, where internal extinction or star formation
can either mask a bar completely or give the false impression of a bar in a
nonbarred galaxy. Near-infrared camera arrays, which principally trace the old
stellar populations in both normal and barred galaxies, now facilitate a
quantification of bar strength in terms of their gravitational potentials and
force fields. In this paper, we show that the maximum value, Qb, of the ratio
of the tangential force to the mean radial force is a quantitative measure of
the strength of a bar. Qb does not measure bar ellipticity or bar shape, but
rather depends on the actual forcing due to the bar embedded in its disk. We
show that a wide range of true bar strengths characterizes the category ``SB'',
while de Vaucouleurs category ``SAB'' corresponds to a much narrower range of
bar strengths. We present Qb values for 36 galaxies, and we incorporate our bar
classes into a dust-penetrated classification system for spiral galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (LaTex, 30
pages + 3 figures); Figs. 1 and 3 are in color and are also available at
http://bama.ua.edu/~rbuta/bars
The Ringed Spiral Galaxy NGC 4622. I. Photometry, Kinematics, and the Case for Two Strong Leading Outer Spiral Arms
The intriguing nearly face-on southern ringed spiral galaxy NGC 4622, the
first galaxy definitively shown to have leading spiral structure, is revisited
in this paper with new images from the Hubble Space Telescope's WFPC2, together
with ground-based optical and near-IR imaging, and a Fabry-Perot H-alpha
velocity field. The data provide new information on the disk/bulge/halo mix,
rotation curve, star formation in the galaxy, and the sense of winding of its
prominent spiral arms. Previously, we suggested that the weaker, inner single
arm most likely has the leading sense, based on a numerical simulation. Now,
taking advantage of HST resolution and using de Vaucouleurs' standard
extinction and reddening technique to determine the near side of the galaxy's
slightly tilted disk, we come to the more surprising conclusion that the two
strong outer arms have the leading sense. We suggest that this highly unusual
configuration may be the result of a past minor merger or mild tidal encounter.
Possible evidence for a minor merger is found in a short, central dust lane,
although this is purely circumstantial and an unrelated interaction with a
different companion could also be relevant. The leading arms may be allowed to
persist because NGC 4622 is dark halo-dominated (i.e., not ``maximum disk'' in
the inner regions) and displays a significantly rising rotation curve. The new
HST observations also reveal a rich globular cluster system in the galaxy. The
mean color of these clusters is = 1.04 and the specific frequency is
3.40.6. The luminosity function of these clusters confirms the membership
of NGC 4622 in the Centaurus Cluster.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal, February 2003
issue (LaTex, 28 pages + 38 figures, 3 in color); for gzipped postscript file
see http://bama.ua.edu/~rbuta/ngc4622/paper/paper.htm
The Luminous Starburst Ring in NGC 7771: Sequential Star Formation?
Only two of the twenty highly luminous starburst galaxies analyzed by Smith
et al. exhibit circumnuclear rings of star formation. These galaxies provide a
link between 10^11 L_sun systems and classical, less-luminous ringed systems.
We report the discovery of a near-infrared counterpart to the nuclear ring of
radio emission in NGC 7771. A displacement between the ~10 radio bright clumps
and the ~10 near-infrared bright clumps indicates the presence of multiple
generations of star formation. The estimated thermal emission from each radio
source is equivalent to that of ~35000 O6 stars. Each near-infrared bright knot
contains ~5000 red supergiants, on average. The stellar mass of each knot is
estimated to be ~10^7 M_sun. The implied time-averaged star formation rate is
\~40 M_sun per yr. Several similarities are found between the properties of
this system and other ringed and non-ringed starbursts. Morphological
differences between NGC 7771 and the starburst + Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 7469
suggest that NGC 7771 may not be old enough to fuel an AGN, or may not be
capable of fueling an AGN. Alternatively, the differences may be unrelated to
the presence or absence of an AGN and may simply reflect the possibility that
star formation in rings is episodic.Comment: accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal (10 January
1999); 48 pages including 13 figures; AAS LaTe
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