5,611 research outputs found
Testing the Modern Merger Hypothesis via the Assembly of Massive Blue Elliptical Galaxies in the Local Universe
The modern merger hypothesis offers a method of forming a new elliptical
galaxy through merging two equal-mass, gas-rich disk galaxies fuelling a
nuclear starburst followed by efficient quenching and dynamical stabilization.
A key prediction of this scenario is a central concentration of young stars
during the brief phase of morphological transformation from highly-disturbed
remnant to new elliptical galaxy. To test this aspect of the merger hypothesis,
we use integral field spectroscopy to track the stellar Balmer absorption and
4000\AA\ break strength indices as a function of galactic radius for 12 massive
(), nearby (),
visually-selected plausible new ellipticals with blue-cloud optical colours and
varying degrees of morphological peculiarities. We find that these index values
and their radial dependence correlate with specific morphological features such
that the most disturbed galaxies have the smallest 4000\AA\ break strengths and
the largest Balmer absorption values. Overall, two-thirds of our sample are
inconsistent with the predictions of the modern merger hypothesis. Of these
eight, half exhibit signatures consistent with recent minor merger
interactions. The other half have star formation histories similar to local,
quiescent early-type galaxies. Of the remaining four galaxies, three have the
strong morphological disturbances and star-forming optical colours consistent
with being remnants of recent, gas-rich major mergers, but exhibit a weak,
central burst consistent with forming of their stars. The final
galaxy possesses spectroscopic signatures of a strong, centrally-concentrated
starburst and quiescent core optical colours indicative of recent quenching
(i.e., a post-starburst signature) as prescribed by the modern merger
hypothesis.Comment: 25 pages, 37 figures, accepted to MNRA
The Galaxy Angular Correlation Functions and Power Spectrum from the Two Micron All Sky Survey
We calculate the angular correlation function of galaxies in the Two Micron
All Sky Survey. We minimize the possible contamination by stars, dust, seeing
and sky brightness by studying their cross correlation with galaxy density, and
limiting the galaxy sample accordingly. We measure the correlation function at
scales between 1-18 arcdegs using a half million galaxies. We find a best fit
power law to the correlation function has a slope of 0.76 and an amplitude of
0.11. However, there are statistically significant oscillations around this
power law. The largest oscillation occurs at about 0.8 degrees, corresponding
to 2.8 h^{-1} Mpc at the median redshift of our survey, as expected in halo
occupation distribution descriptions of galaxy clustering.
We invert the angular correlation function using Singular Value Decomposition
to measure the three-dimensional power spectrum and find that it too is in good
agreement with previous measurements. A dip seen in the power spectrum at small
wavenumber k is statistically consistent with CDM-type power spectra. A fit of
CDM-type power spectra to k < 0.2 h Mpc^{-1} give constraints of
\Gamma_{eff}=0.116 and \sigma_8=0.96. This suggest a K_s-band linear bias of
1.1+/-0.2. This \Gamma_{eff} is different from the WMAP CMB derived value. On
small scales the power-law shape of our power spectrum is shallower than that
derived for the SDSS. These facts together imply a biasing of these different
galaxies that might be nonlinear, that might be either waveband or luminosity
dependent, and that might have a nonlocal origin.Comment: 14 pages, 20 figures, to be published in ApJ January 20th, revision
included two new figures, version with high resolution figures can be found
here http::ww
Properties of the Soluble and Membrane-Bound Forms of Acetylcholinesterase Present in Pig Brain
Approximately 150/o of the total acetylcholinesterase (AChE)
activity of pig brain cortex can be extracted in dilute buffer solution
and the properties of this »soluble« form of the enzyme have been
compared with the membrane bound enzyme which was brought
into solution by extraction with 1-0/o Triton X-100 or 1 mM EDTA.
The activity of the »soluble« enzyme against a range of ·substrates is
identical to the membrane enzyme. The variation of activity with
pH and substrate concentration are similar for the two phyisical
forms of the AChE. Gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
demonstrated the similarities of the »soluble« and detergent solubilized
enzyme preparations. Three molecular weight species were
common to both preparations: 353 000, 262 000, and 68 000 and in
addition the »soluble« enzyme had a band of mol. wt. 135 000 while
the Triton X - 100 extract contained species of mol. wt. 181 000
and 83 000. The membrane AChE showed a break in the Arrhenius plot
with a transition temperature of 27 °c and this was abolished with
detergent. In contrast the »soluble« enzyime showed no break in
the Arrhenius plot suggesting the absence of associated membrane
material. There are however more similarities than differences
between the two physical forms of the enzyme which appear to be
closely related
OAO-3 end of mission tests report
Twelve engineering type tests were performed on several subsystems and experiment(s) of the OAO 3 spacecraft near its end of mission. The systems tested include: Princeton experiment package (PEP), fine error system guidance, inertial reference unit, star trackers, heat pipes, thermal control coatings, command and data handling, solar array; batteries, and onboard processor/power boost regulator. Generally, the systems performed well for the 8 1/2 years life of OAO 3, although some degradation was noted in the sensitivity of PEP and in the absorptivity of the skin coatings. Battery life was prolonged during the life of the mission in large part by carefully monitoring the charge-discharge cycle with careful attention not to overcharge
Evolution of optically faint AGN from COMBO-17 and GEMS
We have mapped the AGN luminosity function and its evolution between z=1 and
z=5 down to apparent magnitudes of . Within the GEMS project we have
analysed HST-ACS images of many AGN in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South,
enabling us to assess the evolution of AGN host galaxy properties with cosmic
time.Comment: to appear in proceedings 'Multiwavelength AGN Surveys', Cozumel 200
Exploring the Impact of Galaxy Interactions over Seven Billion Years with CAS
We explore galaxy assembly over the last seven billion years by
characterizing "normal" galaxies along the Hubble sequence, against strongly
disturbed merging/interacting galaxies with the widely used CAS system of
concentration (C), asymmetry (A), and 'clumpiness' (S) parameters, as well as
visual classification. We analyze Hubble Space Telescope (HST) ACS images of
~4000 intermediate and high mass (> 10^9 solar masses) galaxies from the GEMS
survey, one of the largest HST surveys conducted to date in two filters. We
explore the effectiveness of the CAS criteria [A>S and A>~0.35] in separating
normal and strongly disturbed galaxies at different redshifts, and quantify the
recovery and contamination rate. We also compare the average star formation
rate and the cosmic star formation rate density as a function of redshift
between normal and interacting systems identified by CAS.Comment: ASP conference proceedings of 2007 Bash Symposium. Latex with
asp2006.sty. 4 pages, 4 figure
Recommended from our members
Mineral Surface and Fluid Chemistry in Nakhlite Analog Water-Rock Reactions
We report on experiments with Mars analog materials under diagenetic conditions and find characteristic chemical surface changes in correspondence with the fluid conditions
Parametric ordering of complex systems
Cellular automata (CA) dynamics are ordered in terms of two global
parameters, computable {\sl a priori} from the description of rules. While one
of them (activity) has been used before, the second one is new; it estimates
the average sensitivity of rules to small configurational changes. For two
well-known families of rules, the Wolfram complexity Classes cluster
satisfactorily. The observed simultaneous occurrence of sharp and smooth
transitions from ordered to disordered dynamics in CA can be explained with the
two-parameter diagram
Evolution and Impact of Bars over the Last Eight Billion Years: Early Results from GEMS
Bars drive the dynamical evolution of disk galaxies by redistributing mass
and angular momentum, and they are ubiquitous in present-day spirals. Early
studies of the Hubble Deep Field reported a dramatic decline in the rest-frame
optical bar fraction f_opt to below 5% at redshifts z>0.7, implying that disks
at these epochs are fundamentally different from present-day spirals. The GEMS
bar project, based on ~8300 galaxies with HST-based morphologies and accurate
redshifts over the range 0.2-1.1, aims at constraining the evolution and impact
of bars over the last 8 Gyr. We present early results indicating that f_opt
remains nearly constant at ~30% over the range z=0.2-1.1,corresponding to
lookback times of ~2.5-8 Gyr. The bars detected at z>0.6 are primarily strong
with ellipticities of 0.4-0.8. Remarkably, the bar fraction and range of bar
sizes observed at z>0.6 appear to be comparable to the values measured in the
local Universe for bars of corresponding strengths. Implications for bar
evolution models are discussed.Comment: Submitted June 25, 2004. 10 pages 5 figures. To appear in Penetrating
Bars through Masks of Cosmic Dust: The Hubble Tuning Fork Strikes a New Note,
eds. D. Block, K. Freeman, R. Groess, I. Puerari, & E.K. Block (Dordrecht:
Kluwer), in pres
- …