Far-infrared properties of cluster galaxies

Far-infrared properties are derived for a sample of over 200 galaxies in seven clusters: A262, Cancer, A1367, A1656 (Coma), A2147, A2151 (Hercules), and Pegasus. The IR-selected sample consists almost entirely of IR normal galaxies, with Log of L(FIR) = 9.79 solar luminosities, Log of L(FIR)/L(B) = 0,79, and Log of S(100 microns)/S(60 microns) = 0.42. None of the sample galaxies has Log of L(FIR) greater than 11.0 solar luminosities, and only one has a FIR-to-blue luminosity ratio greater than 10. No significant differences are found in the FIR properties of HI-deficient and HI-normal cluster galaxies

Galaxy Peculiar Velocities and Infall onto Groups

We perform statistical analyses to study the infall of galaxies onto groups and clusters in the nearby Universe. The study is based on the UZC and SSRS2 group catalogs and peculiar velocity samples. We find a clear signature of infall of galaxies onto groups over a wide range of scales 5 h^{-1} Mpc<r<30 h^{-1} Mpc, with an infall amplitude on the order of a few hundred kilometers per second. We obtain a significant increase in the infall amplitude with group virial mass (M_{V}) and luminosity of group member galaxies (L_{g}). Groups with M_{V}<10^{13} M_{\odot} show infall velocities V_{infall} \simeq 150 km s^{-1} whereas for M_{V}>10^{13} M_{\odot} a larger infall is observed, V_{infall} \simeq 200 km s^{-1}. Similarly, we find that galaxies surrounding groups with L_{g}<10^{15} L_{\odot} have V_{infall} \simeq 100 km s^{-1}, whereas for L_{g}>10^{15} L_{\odot} groups, the amplitude of the galaxy infall can be as large as V_{infall} \simeq 250 km s^{-1}. The observational results are compared with the results obtained from mock group and galaxy samples constructed from numerical simulations, which include galaxy formation through semianalytical models. We obtain a general agreement between the results from the mock catalogs and the observations. The infall of galaxies onto groups is suitably reproduced in the simulations and, as in the observations, larger virial mass and luminosity groups exhibit the largest galaxy infall amplitudes. We derive estimates of the integrated mass overdensities associated with groups by applying linear theory to the infall velocities after correcting for the effects of distance uncertainties obtained using the mock catalogs. The resulting overdensities are consistent with a power law with \delta \sim 1 at r \sim 10 h^{-1}Mpc.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figure

NGC 4254: An Act of Harassment Uncovered by the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey

We present an HI map constructed from the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) survey of the surroundings of the strongly asymmetric Virgo cluster Sc galaxy NGC 4254. Noted previously for its lopsided appearance, rich interstellar medium, and extradisk HI emission, NGC 4254 is believed to be entering the Virgo environment for the first time and at high speed. The ALFALFA map clearly shows a long HI tail extending ~250 kpc northward from the galaxy. Embedded as one condensation within this HI structure is the object previously identified as a "dark galaxy": Virgo HI21 (Davies et al. 2004). A body of evidence including its location within and velocity with respect to the cluster and the appearance and kinematics of its strong spiral pattern, extra-disk HI and lengthy HI tail is consistent with a picture of "galaxy harassment" as proposed by Moore et al. (1996a,b; 1998). The smoothly varying radial velocity field along the tail as it emerges from NGC 4254 can be used as a timing tool, if interpreted as resulting from the coupling of the rotation of the disk and the collective gravitational forces associated with the harassment mechanism.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap.J.(Lett.). higher resolution figure available at http://egg.astro.cornell.edu/alfalfa/pubs/figs/n4254_f1.ep

The WSRT wide-field HI survey: I. The background galaxy sample

We have used the Westerbork array to carry out an unbiased wide-field survey for HI emission features, achieving an RMS sensitivity of about 18 mJy/Beam at a velocity resolution of 17 km/s over 1800 deg^2 and between -1000 < V_Hel<+6500 km/s. The primary data consists of auto-correlation spectra with an effective angular resolution of 49' FWHM. We detect 155 external galaxies in excess of 8 sigma in integrated HI flux density. Plausible optical associations are found within a 30' search radius for all but one of our HI detections in DSS images, although several are not previously cataloged or do not have published red-shift determinations. Twenty-three of our objects are detected in HI for the first time. We classify almost half of our detections as ``confused'', since one or more companions is cataloged within a radius of 30' and a velocity interval of 400 km/s. We identify a handful of instances of significant positional offsets exceeding 10 kpc of unconfused optical galaxies with the associated HI centroid, possibly indicative of severe tidal distortions or uncataloged gas-rich companions. A possible trend is found for an excess of detected HI flux in unconfused galaxies within our large survey beam relative to that detected previously in smaller telescope beams, both as function of increasing distance and increasing gas mass. This may be an indication for a diffuse gaseous component on 100 kpc scales in the environment of massive galaxies or a population of uncataloged low mass companions. We use our galaxy sample to estimate the HI mass function from our survey volume. Good agreement is found with the HIPASS BGC results, but only after explicit correction for galaxy density variations with distance.Comment: 27 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Distances from the Correlation between Galaxy Luminosities and Rotation Rates

A large luminosity--linewidth template sample is now available, improved absorption corrections have been derived, and there are a statistically significant number of galaxies with well determined distances to supply the zero point. A revised estimate of the Hubble Constant is H_0=77 +-4 km/s/Mpc where the error is the 95% probability statistical error. Systematic uncertainties are potentially twice as large.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures. Invited chapter for the book `Post-Hipparcos Cosmic Candles', Eds. F. Caputo and A. Heck (Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht

Slow shocks and conduction fronts from Petschek reconnection of skewed magnetic fields: two-fluid effects

In models of fast magnetic reconnection, flux transfer occurs within a small portion of a current sheet triggering stored magnetic energy to be thermalized by shocks. When the initial current sheet separates magnetic fields which are not perfectly anti-parallel, i.e. they are skewed, magnetic energy is first converted to bulk kinetic energy and then thermalized in slow magnetosonic shocks. We show that the latter resemble parallel shocks or hydrodynamic shocks for all skew angles except those very near the anti-parallel limit. As for parallel shocks, the structures of reconnection-driven slow shocks are best studied using two-fluid equations in which ions and electrons have independent temperature. Time-dependent solutions of these equations can be used to predict and understand the shocks from reconnection of skewed magnetic fields. The results differ from those found using a single-fluid model such as magnetohydrodynamics. In the two-fluid model electrons are heated indirectly and thus carry a heat flux always well below the free-streaming limit. The viscous stress of the ions is, however, typically near the fluid-treatable limit. We find that for a wide range of skew angles and small plasma beta an electron conduction front extends ahead of the slow shock but remains within the outflow jet. In such cases conduction will play a more limited role in driving chromospheric evaporation than has been predicted based on single-fluid, anti-parallel models