7,409 research outputs found
Galaxy bulges and their black holes: a requirement for the quenching of star formation
One of the central features of the last 8 to 10 billion years of cosmic
history has been the emergence of a well-populated red sequence of
non-star-forming galaxies. A number of models of galaxy formation and evolution
have been devised to attempt to explain this behavior. Most current models
require feedback from supermassive black holes (AGN feedback) to quench star
formation in galaxies in the centers of their dark matter halos (central
galaxies). Such models make the strong prediction that all quenched central
galaxies must have a large supermassive black hole (and, by association, a
prominent bulge component). I show using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
that the observations are consistent with this prediction. Over 99.5% of red
sequence galaxies with stellar masses in excess of 10^{10} M_{\sun} have a
prominent bulge component (as defined by having a Sersic index n above 1.5).
Those very rare red sequence central galaxies with little or no bulge (n<1.5)
usually have detectable star formation or AGN activity; the fraction of truly
quenched bulgeless central galaxies is <0.1% of the total red sequence
population. I conclude that a bulge, and by implication a supermassive black
hole, is an absolute requirement for full quenching of star formation in
central galaxies. This is in agreement with the most basic prediction of the
AGN feedback paradigm.Comment: 6 pages, 4 color figures (figure 1 is of slightly degraded quality).
To appear in August 1 edition of the Astrophysical Journa
B3 0003+387: AGN Marked Large-Scale Structure at z=1.47?
We present evidence for a significant overdensity of red galaxies, as much as
a factor of 14 over comparable field samples, in the field of the z=1.47 radio
galaxy B3 0003+387. The colors and luminosities of the brightest red galaxies
are consistent with their being at z>0.8. The radio galaxy and one of the red
galaxies are separated by 5" and show some evidence of a possible interaction.
However, the red galaxies do not show any strong clustering around the radio
galaxy nor around any of the brighter red galaxies. The data suggest that we
are looking at a wall or sheet of galaxies, possibly associated with the radio
galaxy at z=1.47. Spectroscopic redshifts of these red galaxies will be
necessary to confirm this large-scale structure.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, LaTeX2e/AASTeX v5.0.2. The full photometric
catalog is included as a separate deluxetable file. To appear in the
Astronomical Journal (~Nov 00
Bimodal AGNs in Bimodal Galaxies
By their star content, the galaxies split out into a red and a blue
population; their color index peaked around u-r=2.5 or u-r=1, respectively,
quantifies the ratio of the blue stars newly formed from cold galactic gas, to
the redder ones left over by past generations. On the other hand, upon
accreting substantial gas amounts the central massive black holes energize
active galactic nuclei (AGNs); here we investigate whether these show a
similar, and possibly related, bimodal partition as for current accretion
activity relative to the past. To this aim we use an updated semianalytic
model; based on Monte Carlo simulations, this follows with a large statistics
the galaxy assemblage, the star generations and the black hole accretions in
the cosmological framework over the redshift span from z=10 to z=0. We test our
simulations for yielding in close detail the observed split of galaxies into a
red, early and a blue, late population. We find that the black hole accretion
activities likewise give rise to two source populations: early, bright quasars
and later, dimmer AGNs. We predict for their Eddington parameter --
the ratio of the current to the past black hole accretions -- a bimodal
distribution; the two branches sit now under (mainly
contributed by low-luminosity AGNs) and around . These
not only mark out the two populations of AGNs, but also will turn out to
correlate strongly with the red or blue color of their host galaxies.Comment: 7 pages, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
The First Detailed X-ray Observations of High-Redshift, Optically-Selected Clusters: XMM-Newton Results for Cl 1324+3011 at z = 0.76 and Cl 1604+4304 at z = 0.90
We present the first detailed X-ray observations of optically-selected
clusters at high redshift. Two clusters, Cl 1324+3011 at z = 0.76 and Cl
1604+4304 at z = 0.90, were observed with XMM-Newton. The optical center of
each cluster is coincident with an extended X-ray source whose emission is
detected out to a radius of 0.5 Mpc. The emission from each cluster appears
reasonably circular, with some indication of asymmetries and more complex
morphologies. Similarly to other optically-selected clusters at redshifts of z
> 0.4, both clusters are modest X-ray emitters with bolometric luminosities of
only Lx = 1.4 - 2.0 x 10^(44) erg/s. We measure gas temperatures of T = 2.88
(+0.71/-0.49) keV for Cl 1324+3011 and 2.51 (+1.05/-0.69) keV for Cl 1604+4304.
The X-ray properties of both clusters are consistent with the high-redshift
Lx-T relation measured from X-ray-selected samples at z > 0.5. However, based
on the local relations, their X-ray luminosities and temperatures are low for
their measured velocity dispersions (sigma). The clusters are cooler by a
factor of 2 - 9 compared to the local sigma-T relation. We briefly discuss the
possible explanations for these results.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in Astrophysical
Journal Letters; version with full resolution figures available at
http://bubba.ucdavis.edu/~lubin/xmm.pd
Radio Variability of Sagittarius A* - A 106 Day Cycle
We report the presence of a 106-day cycle in the radio variability of Sgr A*
based on an analysis of data observed with the Very Large Array (VLA) over the
past 20 years. The pulsed signal is most clearly seen at 1.3 cm with a ratio of
cycle frequency to frequency width f/Delta_f= 2.2+/-0.3. The periodic signal is
also clearly observed at 2 cm. At 3.6 cm the detection of a periodic signal is
marginal. No significant periodicity is detected at both 6 and 20 cm. Since the
sampling function is irregular we performed a number of tests to insure that
the observed periodicity is not the result of noise. Similar results were found
for a maximum entropy method and periodogram with CLEAN method. The probability
of false detection for several different noise distributions is less than 5%
based on Monte Carlo tests. The radio properties of the pulsed component at 1.3
cm are spectral index alpha ~ 1.0+/- 0.1 (for S nu^alpha), amplitude Delta
S=0.42 +/- 0.04 Jy and characteristic time scale Delta t_FWHM ~ 25 +/- 5 days.
The lack of VLBI detection of a secondary component suggests that the
variability occurs within Sgr A* on a scale of ~5 AU, suggesting an instability
of the accretion disk.Comment: 14 Pages, 3 figures. ApJ Lett 2000 accepte
The Ages of Elliptical Galaxies in a Merger Model
The tightness of the observed colour-magnitude and Mg- velocity
dispersion relations for elliptical galaxies has often been cited as an
argument against a picture in which ellipticals form by the merging of spiral
disks. A common view is that merging would mix together stars of disparate ages
and produce a large scatter in these relations. Here I use semi-analytic models
of galaxy formation to derive the distribution of the mean ages, colours and
metallicities of the stars in elliptical galaxies formed by mergers in a flat
CDM universe. It is seen that most of the stars in ellipticals form at
relatively high redshift (z > 1.9) and that the predicted scatter in the
colour-magnitude and Mg_2 - sigma relations falls within observational bounds.
I conclude that the apparent homogeneity in the properties of the stellar
populations of ellipticals is not inconsistent with a merger scenario for the
origin of these systems.Comment: latex file, figures available upon reques
Early-type Galaxies in the Cluster Abell 2390 at z=0.23
To examine the evolution of the early-type galaxy population in the rich
cluster Abell 2390 at z=0.23 we have gained spectroscopic data of 51 elliptical
and lenticular galaxies with MOSCA at the 3.5 m telescope on Calar Alto
Observatory. This investigation spans both a broad range in luminosity
(-19.3>M_B>-22.3) and uses a wide field of view of 10'x10', therefore the
environmental dependence of different formation scenarios can be analysed in
detail as a function of radius from the cluster centre. Here we present results
on the surface brightness modelling of galaxies where morphological and
structural information is available in the F814W filter aboard the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST) and investigate for this subsample the evolution of the
Fundamental Plane.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, to appear in "Carnegie Observatories Astrophysics
Series, Vol. 3: Clusters of Galaxies: Probes of Cosmological Structure and
Galaxy Evolution", ed. J. S. Mulchaey, A. Dressler, and A. Oemler (Pasadena:
Carnegie Observatories,
http://www.ociw.edu/ociw/symposia/series/symposium3/proceedings.html
The Impact of Title IX on Career Opportunities in Intercollegiate Athletic Administration
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of Title IX on the careers of men and women working in intercollegiate athletic administration. The participants (N = 1275) for this study were women (n = 497) and men (n = 778) working in intercollegiate athletic administration at NCAA Divisions I, II, II, as well as at NAIA schools and junior colleges. The participants completed the Female Sport Manager Career Survey and provided demographic and qualitative data. The primary impacts on careers described by the women in the study were (a) increased job opportunities for women, (b) no impact, and (c) increased opportunities for participation. The men, on the other hand, indicated the greatest impacts on careers as (a) no impact, (b) discrimination against qualified men, and (c) increased job opportunities for women. More research is needed to further examine these perceived impacts and how they affect the culture of an intercollegiate athletic department
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