2,634 research outputs found
SPITZER IRS spectra of Virgo early type galaxies: detection of stellar silicate emission
We present high signal to noise ratio Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph
observations of 17 Virgo early-type galaxies. The galaxies were selected from
those that define the colour-magnitude relation of the cluster, with the aim of
detecting the silicate emission of their dusty, mass-losing evolved stars. To
flux calibrate these extended sources we have devised a new procedure that
allows us to obtain the intrinsic spectral energy distribution and to
disentangle resolved and unresolved emission within the same object. We have
found that thirteen objects of the sample (76%) are passively evolving galaxies
with a pronounced broad silicate feature which is spatially extended and likely
of stellar origin, in agreement with model predictions. The other 4 objects
(24%) are characterized by different levels of activity. In NGC 4486 (M 87) the
line emission and the broad silicate emission are evidently unresolved and,
given also the typical shape of the continuum, they likely originate in the
nuclear torus. NGC 4636 shows emission lines superimposed on extended (i.e.
stellar) silicate emission, thus pushing the percentage of galaxies with
silicate emission to 82%. Finally, NGC 4550 and NGC 4435 are characterized by
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and line emission, arising from a central
unresolved region. A more detailed analysis of our sample, with updated models,
will be presented in a forthcoming paper.Comment: 6 pages; ApJ Letters, accepte
Star Formation History and Extinction in the central kpc of M82-like Starbursts
We report on the star formation histories and extinction in the central kpc
region of a sample of starburst galaxies that have similar far infrared (FIR),
10 micron and K-band luminosities as those of the archetype starburst M82. Our
study is based on new optical spectra and previously published K-band
photometric data, both sampling the same area around the nucleus. Model
starburst spectra were synthesized as a combination of stellar populations of
distinct ages formed over the Hubble time, and were fitted to the observed
optical spectra and K-band flux. The model is able to reproduce simultaneously
the equivalent widths of emission and absorption lines, the continuum fluxes
between 3500-7000 Ang, the K-band and the FIR flux. We require a minimum of 3
populations -- (1) a young population of age < 8 Myr, with its corresponding
nebular emission, (2) an intermediate-age population (age < 500 Myr), and (3)
an old population that forms part of the underlying disk or/and bulge
population. The contribution of the old population to the K-band luminosity
depends on the birthrate parameter and remains above 60% in the majority of the
sample galaxies. Even in the blue band, the intermediate age and old
populations contribute more than 40% of the total flux in all the cases. A
relatively high contribution from the old stars to the K-band nuclear flux is
also apparent from the strength of the 4000 Ang break and the CaII K line. The
extinction of the old population is found to be around half of that of the
young population. The contribution to the continuum from the relatively old
stars has the effect of diluting the emission equivalent widths below the
values expected for young bursts. The mean dilution factors are found to be 5
and 3 for the Halpha and Hbeta lines respectively.Comment: 20 pages, uses emulateapj.cls. Scheduled to appear in ApJ Jan 1, 200
Spectro-photometric Evolution of Elliptical Galaxies. II. Models with infall
In this paper we present new chemo-spectro-photometric models of elliptical
galaxies in which infall of primordial gas is allowed to occur. They aim to
simulate the collapse of a galaxy made of two components, i.e. luminous
material and dark matter. The mass of the dark component is assumed to be
constant in time, whereas that of the luminous material is supposed to accrete
at a suitable rate. They also include the effect of galactic winds powered by
supernova explosions and stellar winds from massive, early-type stars. The
models are constrained to match a number of properties of elliptical galaxies,
i.e. the slope and mean colours of the colour-magnitude relation (CMR), V
versus (V--K), the UV excess as measured by the colour (1550--V) together with
the overall shape of the integrated spectral energy distribution (ISED) in the
ultraviolet, the relation between the Mg2 index and (1550--V), the mass to blue
luminosity ratio M/Lb as a function of the B luminosity, and finally the
broad-band colours (U--B), (B--V), (V--I), (V--K), etc.Comment: pages 22, 20 postscript figures, 2 external table (tab2_infall using
supertabular.sty and tab5_infall using supertabular1.sty
The role of the synchrotron component in the mid infrared spectrum of M 87
We study in detail the mid-infrared Spitzer-IRS spectrum of M 87 in the range
5 to 20 micron. Thanks to the high sensitivity of our Spitzer-IRS spectra we
can disentangle the stellar and nuclear components of this active galaxy. To
this end we have properly subtracted from the M 87 spectrum, the contribution
of the underlying stellar continuum, derived from passive Virgo galaxies in our
sample. The residual is a clear power-law, without any additional thermal
component, with a zero point consistent with that obtained by high spatial
resolution, ground based observations. The residual is independent of the
adopted passive template. This indicates that the 10 micron silicate emission
shown in spectra of M 87 can be entirely accounted for by the underlying old
stellar population, leaving little room for a possible torus contribution. The
MIR power-law has a slope alpha ~ 0.77-0.82 (S),
consistent with optically thin synchrotron emission.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ main journa
Star Formation History of Early-Type Galaxies in Low Density Environments V. Blue line-strength indices for the nuclear region
We analyze the star formation properties of a sample of 21 shell galaxies and
30 early-type galaxies members of interacting pairs, located in low density
environments (Longhetti et al 1998a, 1998b).
The study is based on new models developed to interpret the information
coming from `blue' H/FeI, H+K(CaII) and \D4000 line-strength indices
proposed by Rose (1984; 1985) and Hamilton (1985).
We find that the last star forming event that occurred in the nuclear region
of shell galaxies is statistically old (from 0.1 up to several Gyr) with
respect to the corresponding one in the sub-sample of pair galaxies (<0.1 Gyr
or even ongoing star formation).
If the stellar activity is somehow related to the formation of shells, as
predicted by several dynamical models of galaxy interaction, shells have to be
considered long lasting structures.
Since pair members show evidence of very recent star formation, we suggest
that either large reservoirs of gas have to be present to maintain active star
formation, if these galaxies are on periodic orbits, or most of the pair
members in the present sample are experiencing unbound encounters.Comment: 12 pages, including 7 figures - Accepted for publication in A&
Effects of dark matter annihilation on the first stars
We study the evolution of the first stars in the universe (Population III)
from the early pre-Main Sequence until the end of helium burning in the
presence of WIMP dark matter annihilation inside the stellar structure. The two
different mechanisms that can provide this energy source are the contemporary
contraction of baryons and dark matter, and the capture of WIMPs by scattering
off the gas with subsequent accumulation inside the star. We find that the
first mechanism can generate an equilibrium phase, previously known as a "dark
star", which is transient and present in the very early stages of pre-MS
evolution. The mechanism of scattering and capture acts later, and can support
the star virtually forever, depending on environmental characteristic of the
dark matter halo and on the specific WIMP model.Comment: Proceedings of the IAU Symposium 255, "Low-Metallicity Star
Formation: From the First Stars to Dwarf Galaxies"; L.K. Hunt, S. Madden and
R. Schneider ed
Mid-infrared colour gradients and the colour-magnitude relation in Virgo early-type galaxies
We make use of Spitzer imaging between 4 and 16 micron and near-infrared data
at 2.2 micron to investigate the nature and distribution of the mid-infrared
emission in a sample of early-type galaxies in the Virgo cluster. These data
allow us to conclude, with some confidence, that the emission at 16 micron in
passive ETGs is stellar in origin, consistent with previous work concluding
that the excess mid-infrared emission comes from the dusty envelopes around
evolved AGB stars. There is little evidence for the mid-infrared emission of an
unresolved central component, as might arise in the presence of a dusty torus
associated with a low-luminosity AGN. We nonetheless find that the 16 micron
emission is more centrally peaked than the near-infrared emission, implying a
radial stellar population gradient. By comparing with independent evidence from
studies at optical wavelengths, we conclude that a metallicity that falls with
increasing radius is the principal driver of the observed gradient. We also
plot the mid-infrared colour-magnitude diagram and combine with similar work on
the Coma cluster to define the colour-magnitude relation for absolute K-band
magnitudes from -26 to -19. Because a correlation between mass and age would
produce a relation with a gradient in the opposite sense to that observed, we
conclude that the relation reflects the fact that passive ETGs of lower mass
also have a lower average metallicity. The colour-magnitude relation is thus
driven by metallicity effects. In contrast to what is found in Coma, we do not
find any objects with anomalously bright 16 micron emission relative to the
colour-magnitude relation. Although there is little overlap in the mass ranges
probed in the two clusters, this may suggest that observable ``rejuvenation''
episodes are limited to intermediate mass objects.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
SBV Regularity for Genuinely Nonlinear, Strictly Hyperbolic Systems of Conservation Laws in one space dimension
We prove that if is the entropy
solution to a strictly hyperbolic system of conservation laws with
genuinely nonlinear characteristic fields then up to a
countable set of times the function is in
, i.e. its distributional derivative is a measure with no
Cantorian part.
The proof is based on the decomposition of into waves belonging to
the characteristic families and the balance
of the continuous/jump part of the measures in regions bounded by
characteristics. To this aim, a new interaction measure \mu_{i,\jump} is
introduced, controlling the creation of atoms in the measure .
The main argument of the proof is that for all where the Cantorian part
of is not 0, either the Glimm functional has a downward jump, or there is
a cancellation of waves or the measure is positive
Optical properties of the NGC 5328 group of galaxies
We present the results of a photometric and spectroscopic study of seven
members of the NGC 5328 group of galaxies, a chain of galaxies spanning over
200 kpc (H_0 = 70 km/s/Mpc). We analyze the galaxy structure and study the
emission line properties of the group members looking for signatures of star
formation and AGN activity. We finally attempt to infer, from the modeling of
line-strength indices, the stellar population ages of the early-type members.
We investigate also the presence of a dwarf galaxy population associated with
the bright members.
The group is composed of a large fraction of early-type galaxies including
NGC 5328 and NGC 5330, two bona fide ellipticals at the center of the group. In
both galaxies no recent star formation episodes are detected by the H_beta vs.
MgFe indices of these galaxies. 2MASX J13524838-2829584 has extremely boxy
isophotes which are believed to be connected to a merging event: line strength
indices suggest that this object probably had a recent star formation episode.
A warped disc component emerges from the model subtracted image of 2MASX
J13530016-2827061 which is interpreted as a signature of an ongoing interaction
with the rest of the group.
Ongoing star formation and nuclear activity is present in the projected
outskirts of the group. The two early-type galaxies 2MASX J13523852-2830444 and
2MASX J13525393-2831421 show spectral signatures of star formation, while a
Seyfert 2 type nuclear activity is detected in MCG -5-33-29.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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