130 research outputs found
Image construction from the IRAS survey and data fusion
The IRAS survey data can be used successfully to produce images of extended objects. The major difficulty, viz. non-uniform sampling, different response functions for each detector, and varying signal-to-noise levels for each detector for each scan, were resolved. The results of three different image construction techniques are compared: co-addition, constrained least squares, and maximum entropy. The maximum entropy result is superior. An image of the galaxy M51 with an average spatial resolution of 45 arc seconds, is presented using 60 micron survey data. This exceeds the telescope diffraction limit of 1 minute of arc, at this wavelength. Data fusion is a proposed method for combining data from different instruments, with different spatial resolutions, at different wavelengths. Direct estimates of the physical parameters, temperature, density and composition, can be made from the data without prior images (re-)construction. An increase in the accuracy of these parameters is expected as the result of this more systematic approach
The fate of cannibalized fundamental-plane ellipticals
Evolution and disruption of galaxies orbiting in the gravitational field of a
larger cluster galaxy are driven by three coupled mechanisms: 1) the heating
due to its time dependent motion in the primary; 2) mass loss due to the tidal
strain field; and 3) orbital decay. Previous work demonstrated that tidal
heating is effective well inside the impulse approximation limit. Not only does
the overall energy increase over previous predictions, but the work is done
deep inside the secondary galaxy, e.g. at or inside the half mass radius in
most cases. Here, these ideas applied to cannibalization of elliptical galaxies
with fundamental-plane parameters. In summary, satellites which can fall to the
center of a cluster giant by dynamical friction are evaporated by internal
heating by the time they reach the center. This suggests that true
merger-produced multiple nuclei giants should be rare. Specifically,
secondaries with mass ratios as small as 1\% on any initial orbit evaporate and
those on eccentric orbits with mass ratios as small as 0.1\% evolve
significantly and nearly evaporate in a galaxian age. Captured satellites with
mass ratios smaller than roughly 1\% have insufficient time to decay to the
center. After many accretion events, the model predicts that the merged system
has a profile similar to that of the original primary with a weak increase in
concentration.Comment: 19 pages, 10 Postscript figures, uses aaspp4.sty. Submitted to
Astrophysical Journa
CG J1720-67.8: A Detailed Analysis of Optical and Infrared Properties of a New Ultracompact Group of Galaxies
We present here optical spectroscopy and BVRJHK(s) photometry of the recently
discovered ultra-compact group of galaxies CG J1720-67.8. This work represents
a considerable extension of the preliminary results we presented in a previous
paper. Despite the complicated morphology of the group, a quantitative
morphological classification of the three brightest members of the group is
attempted based on photometric analysis. We find that one galaxy is consistent
with a morphological type S0, while the other two are most probably late-type
spirals that are already losing their identity due tothe interaction process.
Information on the star formation activity and dust content derived from both
spectroscopic data and optical and near-infrared colors are complemented with a
reconstruction of far-infrared (FIR) maps from IRAS raw data. Enhanced star
formation activity is revealed in all the group's members, including the
early-type galaxy and the extended tidal tail, along which several tidal dwarf
galaxy candidates are identified. The metallicity of the gaseous component is
investigated and photoionization models are applied to the three main galaxies
of the group, while a detailed study of the tidal dwarf candidates will appear
in a companion paper. Subsolar metal abundances are found for all the three
galaxies, the highest values being shown by the early-type galaxy (Z ~ 0.5
Zsolar).Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
Dissipationless Merging and the Assembly of Central Galaxies
We reanalyze the galaxy-mass correlation function measured by the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey to obtain host dark matter halo masses at galaxy and galaxy
group scales. We extend the data to galaxy clusters in the 2MASS catalog and
study the relation between central galaxy luminosity and halo mass. While the
central galaxy luminosity scales as ~M^{0.7-0.8} at low masses, the relation
flattens to ~M^{<0.3} above ~4x10^{13} M_sun. The total luminosity of galaxies
in the halo, however, continues to grow as a power-law ~M^{0.8-0.9}. Starting
from the hypothesis that the central galaxies grow by merging ("galactic
cannibalism"), we develop a simple model for the evolution of their
luminosities as a consequence of the accretion of satellite galaxies. The
luminosity-mass relation flattens when the time scale on which dynamical
friction induces orbital decay in the satellite galaxies exceeds the age of the
dark matter halo. Then, the growth of the central galaxy is suppressed as it
can cannibalize only the rare, massive satellite galaxies. The model takes the
dependence of the total luminosity of galaxies in a halo on its mass and the
global galaxy luminosity function as input, and reproduces the observed central
galaxy luminosity-mass relation over three decades in halo mass,
(10^{12}-10^{15}) M_sun.
The success of the model suggests that gas cooling and subsequent star
formation did not play an important role in the final assembly of central
galaxies from sub-L_star precursors.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitte
Історія польських поселень Володарсько-Волинського району
В даній роботі описано 10 сіл з переважаючим польським населенням, на що вказують архівні матеріали і опитування жителів сіл
Accretion of a satellite onto a spherical galaxy. II. Binary evolution and orbital decay
We study the dynamical evolution of a satellite orbiting outside of a
companion spherical galaxy. The satellite is subject to a back-reaction force
resulting from the density fluctuations excited in the primary stellar system.
We evaluate this force using the linear response theory developed in Colpi and
Pallavicini (1997). The force is computed in the reference frame comoving with
the primary galaxy and is expanded in multipoles. To capture the relevant
features of the physical process determining the evolution of the detached
binary, we introduce in the Hamiltonian the harmonic potential as interaction
potential among stars. The dynamics of the satellite is computed
self-consistently. We determine the conditions for tidal capture of a satellite
from an asymptotic free state. If the binary comes to existence as a bound
pair, stability against orbital decay is lost near resonance. The time scale of
binary coalescence is computed as a function of the eccentricity and mass
ratio. In a comparison with Weinberg's perturbative technique we demonstrate
that pinning the center of mass of the galaxy would induce a much larger torque
on the satellite.Comment: 13 pages, Tex,+ 10 .ps figures Submitted to The Astrophysical Journa
Dynamical friction and the evolution of satellites in virialized halos: the theory of linear response
The evolution of a small satellite inside a more massive truncated isothermal
spherical halo is studied using both the Theory of Linear Response for
dynamical friction and N-Body simulations. The analytical approach includes the
effects of the gravitational wake, of the tidal deformation and the shift of
the barycenter of the primary, so unifying the local versus global
interpretation of dynamical friction. Sizes, masses, orbital energies and
eccentricities are chosen as expected in hierarchical clustering models. We
find that in general the drag force in self-gravitating backgrounds is weaker
than in uniform media and that the orbital decay is not accompanied by a
significant circularization. We also show that the dynamical friction time
scale is weakly dependent on the initial circularity. We provide a fitting
formula for the decay time that includes the effect of mass and angular
momentum loss. Live satellites with dense cores can survive disruption up to an
Hubble time within the primary, notwithstanding the initial choice of orbital
parameters. Dwarf spheroidal satellites of the Milky Way, like Sagittarius A
and Fornax, have already suffered mass stripping and, with their present
masses, the sinking times exceed 10 Gyr even if they are on very eccentric
orbits.Comment: 27 pages including 9 figures. Accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journal. Part 2, issue November 10 1999, Volume 52
Ejection of Supermassive Black Holes from Galaxy Cores
[Abridged] Recent numerical relativity simulations have shown that the
emission of gravitational waves during the merger of two supermassive black
holes (SMBHs) delivers a kick to the final hole, with a magnitude as large as
4000 km/s. We study the motion of SMBHs ejected from galaxy cores by such kicks
and the effects on the stellar distribution using high-accuracy direct N-body
simulations. Following the kick, the motion of the SMBH exhibits three distinct
phases. (1) The SMBH oscillates with decreasing amplitude, losing energy via
dynamical friction each time it passes through the core. Chandrasekhar's theory
accurately reproduces the motion of the SMBH in this regime if 2 < ln Lambda <
3 and if the changing core density is taken into account. (2) When the
amplitude of the motion has fallen to roughly the core radius, the SMBH and
core begin to exhibit oscillations about their common center of mass. These
oscillations decay with a time constant that is at least 10 times longer than
would be predicted by naive application of the dynamical friction formula. (3)
Eventually, the SMBH reaches thermal equilibrium with the stars. We estimate
the time for the SMBH's oscillations to damp to the Brownian level in real
galaxies and infer times as long as 1 Gyr in the brightest galaxies. Ejection
of SMBHs also results in a lowered density of stars near the galaxy center;
mass deficits as large as five times the SMBH mass are produced for kick
velocities near the escape velocity. We compare the N-body density profiles
with luminosity profiles of early-type galaxies in Virgo and show that even the
largest observed cores can be reproduced by the kicks, without the need to
postulate hypermassive binary SMBHs. Implications for displaced AGNs and
helical radio structures are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, The Astrophysical Journal, in press. Replaced with revised
versio
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