30 research outputs found
An Empirical Connection between the UV Color of Early Type Galaxies and the Stellar Initial Mass Function
Using new UV magnitudes for a sample of early-type galaxies, ETGs, with
published stellar mass-to-light ratios, Upsilon_*, we find a correlation
between UV color and Upsilon_* that is tighter than those previously identified
between Upsilon_* and either the central stellar velocity dispersion,
metallicity, or alpha enhancement. The sense of the correlation is that
galaxies with larger Upsilon_* are bluer in the UV. We conjecture that
differences in the lower mass end of the stellar initial mass function, IMF,
are related to the nature of the extreme horizontal branch populations that are
generally responsible for the UV flux in ETGs. If so, then UV color can be used
to identify ETGs with particular IMF properties and to estimate Upsilon_*.Comment: Submitted for publication in ApJ Letter
The connection between the UV colour of early type galaxies and the stellar initial mass function revisited
We extend our initial study of the connection between the UV colour of
galaxies and both the inferred stellar mass-to-light ratio, , and a
mass-to-light ratio referenced to Salpeter initial mass function (IMF) models
of the same age and metallicity, , using new UV
magnitude measurements for a much larger sample of early-type galaxies, ETGs,
with dynamically determined mass-to-light ratios. We confirm the principal
empirical finding of our first study, a strong correlation between the GALEX
FUV-NUV colour and . We show that this finding is not the result of
spectral distortions limited to a single passband (eg. metallicity-dependent
line-blanketing in the NUV band), or of the analysis methodology used to
measure , or of the inclusion or exclusion of the correction for
stellar population effects as accounted for using .
The sense of the correlation is that galaxies with larger , or
larger , are bluer in the UV. We conjecture that
differences in the low mass end of the stellar initial mass function, IMF, are
related to the nature of the extreme horizontal branch stars generally
responsible for the UV flux in ETGs. If so, then UV color can be used to
identify ETGs with particular IMF properties and to estimate . We
also demonstrate that UV colour can be used to decrease the scatter about the
Fundamental Plane and Manifold, and to select peculiar galaxies for follow-up
with which to further explore the cause of variations in and UV
colour.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 8 page
Observational calibration of the projection factor of Cepheids. II. Application to nine Cepheids with HST/FGS parallax measurements
The distance to pulsating stars is classically estimated using the
parallax-of-pulsation (PoP) method, which combines spectroscopic radial
velocity measurements and angular diameter estimates to derive the distance of
the star. An important application of this method is the determination of
Cepheid distances, in view of the calibration of their distance scale. However,
the conversion of radial to pulsational velocities in the PoP method relies on
a poorly calibrated parameter, the projection factor (p-factor). We aim to
measure empirically the value of the p-factors of a homogeneous sample of nine
Galactic Cepheids for which trigonometric parallaxes were measured with the
Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor. We use the SPIPS algorithm, a
robust implementation of the PoP method that combines photometry,
interferometry, and radial velocity measurements in a global modeling of the
pulsation. We obtained new interferometric angular diameters using the PIONIER
instrument at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, completed by data from
the literature. Using the known distance as an input, we derive the value of
the p-factor and study its dependence with the pulsation period. We find the
following p-factors: 1.20 0.12 for RT Aur, 1.48 0.18 for T Vul,
1.14 0.10 for FF Aql, 1.31 0.19 for Y Sgr, 1.39 0.09 for X
Sgr, 1.35 0.13 for W Sgr, 1.36 0.08 for Dor, 1.41
0.10 for Gem, and 1.23 0.12 for Car. These values are
consistently close to p = 1.324 0.024. We observe some dispersion around
this average value, but the observed distribution is statistically consistent
with a constant value of the p-factor as a function of the pulsation period.
The error budget of our determination of the p-factor values is presently
dominated by the uncertainty on the parallax, a limitation that will soon be
waived by Gaia.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figure
Observational calibration of the projection factor of Cepheids I. The Type II Cepheid kappa Pavonis
The distances of pulsating stars, in particular Cepheids, are commonly
measured using the parallax of pulsation technique. The different versions of
this technique combine measurements of the linear diameter variation (from
spectroscopy) and the angular diameter variation (from photometry or
interferometry) amplitudes, to retrieve the distance in a quasi-geometrical
way. However, the linear diameter amplitude is directly proportional to the
projection factor (hereafter p-factor), which is used to convert spectroscopic
radial velocities (i.e., disk integrated) into pulsating (i.e., photospheric)
velocities. The value of the p-factor and its possible dependence on the
pulsation period are still widely debated. Our goal is to measure an
observational value of the p-factor of the type-II Cepheid kappa Pavonis, whose
parallax was measured with an accuracy of 5% using HST/FGS. We used this
parallax as a starting point to derive the p-factor of kappa Pav, using the
SPIPS technique, which is a robust version of the parallax-of-pulsation method
that employs radial velocity, interferometric and photometric data. We applied
this technique to a combination of new VLTI/PIONIER optical interferometric
angular diameters, new CORALIE and HARPS radial velocities, as well as
multi-colour photometry and radial velocities from the literature. We obtain a
value of p = 1.26 +/- 0.07 for the p-factor of kappa Pav. This result agrees
with several of the recently derived Period-p-factor relationships from the
literature, as well as previous observational determinations for Cepheids.
Individual estimates of the p-factor are fundamental to calibrating the
parallax of pulsation distances of Cepheids. Together with previous
observational estimates, the projection factor we obtain points to a weak
dependence of the p-factor on period.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted in A&
Convergence locale de filtres en cascade. Application à l'annulation d'écho non linéaire
Cet article décrit un algorithme d'annulation d'écho acoustique non linéaire traitant plus particulièrement des distorsions dues au haut-parleur. La structure proposée est composée de deux modules adaptatifs organisés en cascade. L'étude théorique de la convergence de systèmes en cascade est réalisée à l'aide de filtres de Wiener et met en évidence le phénomène de convergence locale. Une stratégie d'adaptation est proposée permettant de stabiliser le système : des résultats sur signaux réels sont donnés qui montrent la stabilité de l'algorithme et sa supériorité comparé à un filtrage adaptatif linéaire
The (black hole mass)-(color) relations for early- and late-type galaxies: red and blue sequences
[Abridged] Tight correlations between supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass
() and the properties of the host galaxy have useful implications
for our understanding of the growth of SMBHs and evolution of galaxies. Here,
we present newly observed correlations between and the host galaxy
total UV [3.6] color (, Pearson's r = )
for a sample of 67 galaxies (20 early-type galaxies and 47 late-type galaxies)
with directly measured in the GALEX/SG survey. The colors
are carefully measured in a homogeneous manner using the galaxies' FUV, NUV and
3.6 \micron magnitudes and their multi-component structural decompositions in
the literature. We find that more massive SMBHs are hosted by (early- and
late-type) galaxies with redder colors, but the relations for the two morphological types have slopes that differ at
level. Early-type galaxies define a red sequence in the diagrams, while late-type galaxies trace a blue
sequence. Within the assumption that the specific star formation rate of a
galaxy (sSFR) is well traced by , it follows that the
SMBH masses for late-type galaxies exhibit a steeper dependence on sSFR than
those for early-type galaxies. The and
relations for the sample galaxies reveal a
comparable level of vertical scatter in the log direction, roughly
more than the vertical scatter of the relation.
Our relations suggest different channels
of SMBH growth for early- and late-type galaxies, consistent with their
distinct formation and evolution scenarios.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in Ap
Discovery of New Dwarf Galaxy near The Isolated Spiral Galaxy NGC 6503
We report the discovery of a new dwarf galaxy (NGC6503-d1) during the Subaru
extended ultraviolet (XUV) disk survey. It is a likely companion of the spiral
galaxy NGC6503. The resolved images, in B, V, R, i, and Halpha, show an
irregular appearance due to bright stars with underlying, smooth and unresolved
stellar emission. It is classified as the transition type (dIrr/dSph). Its
structural properties are similar to those of the dwarfs in the Local Group,
with a V absolute magnitude ~ -10.5, half-light radius ~400 pc, and central
surface brightness ~25.2. Despite the low stellar surface brightness
environment, one HII region was detected, though its Halpha luminosity is low,
indicating an absence of any appreciable O-stars at the current epoch. The
presence of multiple stellar populations is indicated by the color-magnitude
diagram of ~300 bright resolved stars and the total colors of the dwarf, with
the majority of its total stellar mass ~4x10^6 Msun in an old stellar
population.Comment: Published in ApJL (ApJ, 802, L24). 7 pages, 4 figure
The distribution of star formation in galactic bars as seen with H and stacked GALEX UV imaging
We investigate the spatial distribution of star formation (SF) within bars of
nearby disk galaxies (inclination ) from the SG survey. We
use archival GALEX far- and near-UV imaging for 772 barred galaxies. We also
assemble a compilation of continuum-subtracted H images for 433 barred
galaxies, of which 70 are produced by ourselves from ancillary photometry and
MUSE/CALIFA IFU data cubes. We employ two complementary approaches: i) the
analysis of bar/disk stacks built from co-added UV images of hundreds of
galaxies; and ii) the classification of the morphology of ionised regions in
galaxies into three main SF classes: A) only circumnuclear SF, B) SF at the bar
ends, but not along the bar, and C) SF along the bar. Lenticular galaxies
typically belong to SF class A: this is probably related to bar-induced SF
quenching. The distribution of SF class B peaks for early- and
intermediate-type spirals: this most likely results from the interplay of gas
flow, shocks, and enhanced shear in centrally concentrated galaxies with large
bar amplitudes. Late-type galaxies are mainly assigned to SF class C: we argue
that this is a consequence of low shear. In bar stacks of spirals, the UV
emission traces the stellar bars and dominates on their leading side, as
witnessed in simulations. For early-types, the central UV emission is 0.5
mag brighter in strongly barred galaxies, relative to their weakly barred
counterparts: this is related to the efficiency of strong bars sweeping the
disk gas and triggering central starbursts. We also show that the distributions
of SF in inner ringed galaxies are broadly the same in barred and non-barred
galaxies, including a UV/H deficit in the middle part of the bar: this
hints at the effect of resonance rings trapping gas. Distinct distributions of
SF within bars are reported in galaxies of different morphological types
(Abridged).Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A (September 2, 2020). 18 pages, 14
figures, 2 tables, plus appendices (16 pages, 8 figures, 1 table
The GALEX/S4G UV-IR color-color diagram: Catching spiral galaxies away from the Blue Sequence
We obtained GALEX FUV, NUV, and Spitzer/IRAC 3.6m photometry for > 2000
galaxies, available for 90% of the S4G sample. We find a very tight "GALEX Blue
Sequence (GBS)" in the (FUV-NUV) versus (NUV-[3.6]) color-color diagram which
is populated by irregular and spiral galaxies, and is mainly driven by changes
in the formation timescale () and a degeneracy between and dust
reddening. The tightness of the GBS provides an unprecedented way of
identifying star-forming galaxies and objects that are just evolving to (or
from) what we call the "GALEX Green Valley (GGV)". At the red end of the GBS,
at (NUV-[3.6]) > 5, we find a wider "GALEX Red Sequence (GRS)" mostly populated
by E/S0 galaxies that has a perpendicular slope to that of the GBS and of the
optical red sequence. We find no such dichotomy in terms of stellar mass
(measured by ), since both massive () blue and red sequence galaxies are identified. The type that is
proportionally more often found in the GGV are the S0-Sa's and most of these
are located in high-density environments. We discuss evolutionary models of
galaxies that show a rapid transition from the blue to the red sequence on
timescale of years.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJ