Imaging Carbon Monoxide Emission in the Starburst Galaxy NGC 6000

We present measurements of carbon monoxide emission in the central region of the nearby starburst NGC 6000 taken with the Submillimeter Array. The J=2-1 transition of 12CO, 13CO, and C18O were imaged at a resolution of ~3''x2'' (450x300 pc). We accurately determine the dynamical center of NGC 6000 at R.A(J2000.0)=15h49m49.5s and dec(J2000.0)=-29d23'13'' which agrees with the peak of molecular emission position. The observed CO dynamics could be explained in the context of the presence of a bar potential affecting the molecular material, likely responsible for the strong nuclear concentration where more than 85% of the gas is located. We detect a kinematically detached component of dense molecular gas at relatively high velocity which might be fueling the star formation. A total nuclear dynamical mass of 7x10^9 Msun is derived and a total mass of gas of 4.6x10^8 Msun, yielding a Mgas/Mdyn~6%, similar to other previously studied barred galaxies with central starbursts. We determined the mass of molecular gas with the optically thin isotopologue C18O and we estimate a CO-to-H2 conversion factor X(CO)=0.4x10^20 cm-2/(K km s-1) in agreement with that determined in other starburst galaxies.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomical Journal

Iron and alpha-element Production in the First One Billion Years after the Big Bang

We present measurements of carbon, oxygen, silicon, and iron in quasar absorption systems existing when the universe was roughly one billion years old. We measure column densities in nine low-ionization systems at 4.7 < z < 6.3 using Keck, Magellan, and VLT optical and near-infrared spectra with moderate to high resolution. The column density ratios among C II, O I, Si II, and Fe II are nearly identical to sub-DLAs and metal-poor ([M/H] < -1) DLAs at lower redshifts, with no significant evolution over 2 < z < 6. The estimated intrinsic scatter in the ratio of any two elements is also small, with a typical r.m.s. deviation of <0.1 dex. These facts suggest that dust depletion and ionization effects are minimal in our z > 4.7 systems, as in the lower-redshift DLAs, and that the column density ratios are close to the intrinsic relative element abundances. The abundances in our z > 4.7 systems are therefore likely to represent the typical integrated yields from stellar populations within the first gigayear of cosmic history. Due to the time limit imposed by the age of the universe at these redshifts, our measurements thus place direct constraints on the metal production of massive stars, including iron yields of prompt supernovae. The lack of redshift evolution further suggests that the metal inventories of most metal-poor absorption systems at z > 2 are also dominated by massive stars, with minimal contributions from delayed Type Ia supernovae or AGB winds. The relative abundances in our systems broadly agree with those in very metal-poor, non-carbon-enhanced Galactic halo stars. This is consistent with the picture in which present-day metal-poor stars were potentially formed as early as one billion years after the Big Bang.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

The Dark Energy Survey : more than dark energy – an overview

This overview paper describes the legacy prospect and discovery potential of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) beyond cosmological studies, illustrating it with examples from the DES early data. DES is using a wide-field camera (DECam) on the 4 m Blanco Telescope in Chile to image 5000 sq deg of the sky in five filters (grizY). By its completion, the survey is expected to have generated a catalogue of 300 million galaxies with photometric redshifts and 100 million stars. In addition, a time-domain survey search over 27 sq deg is expected to yield a sample of thousands of Type Ia supernovae and other transients. The main goals of DES are to characterize dark energy and dark matter, and to test alternative models of gravity; these goals will be pursued by studying large-scale structure, cluster counts, weak gravitational lensing and Type Ia supernovae. However, DES also provides a rich data set which allows us to study many other aspects of astrophysics. In this paper, we focus on additional science with DES, emphasizing areas where the survey makes a difference with respect to other current surveys. The paper illustrates, using early data (from ‘Science Verification’, and from the first, second and third seasons of observations), what DES can tell us about the Solar system, the Milky Way, galaxy evolution, quasars and other topics. In addition, we show that if the cosmological model is assumed to be +cold dark matter, then important astrophysics can be deduced from the primary DES probes. Highlights from DES early data include the discovery of 34 trans-Neptunian objects, 17 dwarf satellites of the Milky Way, one published z > 6 quasar (and more confirmed) and two published superluminous supernovae (and more confirmed)

ZENS. IV. Similar Morphological Changes Associated with Mass Quenching and Environment Quenching and the Relative Importance of Bulge Growth versus the Fading of Disks*

We use the low-redshift Zurich Environmental Study (ZENS) catalog to study the dependence of the quenched satellite fraction at ${10}^{10.0}\;{M}_{\odot }\to {10}^{11.5}\;{M}_{\odot }$, and of the morphological mix of these quenched satellites, on three different environmental parameters: group halo mass, halo-centric distance, and large-scale structure (LSS) overdensity. Within the two mass bins into which we divide our galaxy sample, the fraction of quenched satellites is more or less independent of halo mass and the surrounding LSS overdensity, but it increases toward the centers of the halos, as found in previous studies. The morphological mix of these quenched satellites is, however, constant with radial position in the halo, indicating that the well-known morphology–density relation results from the increasing fraction of quenched galaxies toward the centers of halos. If the radial variation in the quenched fraction reflects the action of two quenching processes, one related to mass and the other to environment, then the constancy with radius of the morphological outcome suggests that both have the same effect on the morphologies of the galaxies. Alternatively, mass and environment quenching may be two reflections of a single physical mechanism. The quenched satellites have larger bulge-to-total ratios (B/T) and smaller half-light radii than the star-forming satellites. The bulges in quenched satellites have very similar luminosities and surface brightness profiles, and any mass growth of the bulges associated with quenching cannot greatly change these quantities. The differences in the light-defined B/T and in the galaxy half-light radii are mostly due to differences in the disks, which have lower luminosities in the quenched galaxies. The difference in galaxy half-light radii between quenched and star-forming satellites is however larger than can be explained by uniformly fading the disks following quenching, and the quenched disks have smaller scale lengths than in star-forming satellites. This can be explained either by a differential fading of the disks with galaxy radius or the disks being generally smaller in the past, both of which would be expected in an inside-out disk growth scenario. The overall conclusion is that, at least at low redshifts, the structure of massive quenched satellites at these masses is produced by processes that operate before the quenching takes place. A comparison of our results with semianalytic models argues for a reduction in the efficiency of group halos in quenching their disk satellites and for mechanisms to increase the B/T of low-mass quenched satellites