8,759 research outputs found
The Possible z=0.83 Precursors of z=0 M* Early-type Cluster Galaxies
We examine the distribution of stellar masses of galaxies in MS 1054-03 and
RX J0152.7-1357, two X-ray selected clusters of galaxies at z=0.83. Our stellar
mass estimates, from spectral energy distribution fitting, reproduce the
dynamical masses as measured from velocity dispersions and half-light radii
with a scatter of 0.2 dex in the mass for early-type galaxies. When we restrict
our sample of members to high stellar masses, > 1e11.1 Msun (M* in the
Schechter mass function for cluster galaxies), we find that the fraction of
early-type galaxies is 79 +/- 6% at z=0.83 and 87 +/- 6% at z=0.023 for the
Coma cluster, consistent with no evolution. Previous work with
luminosity-selected samples finds that the early-type fraction in rich clusters
declines from =~80% at z=0 to =~60% at z=0.8. The observed evolution in the
early-type fraction from luminosity-selected samples must predominately occur
among sub-M* galaxies. As M* for field and group galaxies, especially
late-types, is below M* for clusters galaxies, infall could explain most of the
recent early-type fraction growth. Future surveys could determine the
morphological distributions of lower mass systems which will confirm or refute
this explanation.Comment: 5 pages in emulate ApJ format with three color figures. Accepted for
publication in ApJ Letters, v642n2. Updated to correct grammatical and
typographic errors found by the journa
Mass-Selection and the Evolution of the Morphology-Density Relation from z=0.8 to z=0
We examined the morphology-density relations for galaxy samples selected by
luminosity and by mass in each of five massive X-ray clusters from z=0.023 to
0.83 for 674 spectroscopically-confirmed members. Rest-frame optical colors and
visual morphologies were obtained primarily from Hubble Space Telescope images.
Morphology-density relations (MDR) are derived in each cluster from a complete,
luminosity-selected sample of 452 galaxies with a magnitude limit M_V <
M^{*}_{V} + 1. The change in the early-type fraction with redshift matches
previous work for massive clusters of galaxies. We performed a similar
analysis, deriving MDRs for complete, mass-selected samples of 441 galaxies
with a mass-limit of 10^{10.6} M_{\sun}. Our mass limit includes faint objects,
the equivalent of =~1 mag below L^{*} for the red cluster galaxies, and
encompasses =~70% of the stellar mass in cluster galaxies. The MDRs in the
mass-selected sample at densities of Sigma > 50 galaxies Mpc^{-2} are similar
to those in the luminosity-selected sample but show larger early-type
fractions. However, the trend with redshift in the fraction of elliptical and
S0 galaxies with masses > 10^{10.6} M_{\sun} differs significantly between the
mass- and luminosity-selected samples. The clear trend seen in the early-type
fraction from z=0 to z=~ 0.8 is not found in mass-selected samples. The
early-type galaxy fraction changes much less, and is consistent with being
constant at 92% +/- 4% at \Sigma> 500 galaxies Mpc^{-2} and 83 +/- 3% at 50 <
\Sigma < 500 galaxies Mpc^{-2}. This suggests that galaxies of mass lower than
> 10^{10.6} M_{\sun} play a significant role in the evolution of the early-type
fraction in luminosity-selected samples. (Abstract abridged)Comment: 18 pages in emulate ApJ format, with 10 color figures, Accepted to
ApJ. Version updated to reflect published version, includes new references
and a correction to table
Redshift-Distance Survey of Early-type Galaxies. I. Sample Selection, Properties and Completeness
This is the first in a series of papers describing the recently completed
all-sky redshift-distance survey of nearby early-type galaxies (ENEAR) carried
out for peculiar velocity analysis. The sample is divided into two parts and
consists of 1607 elliptical and lenticular galaxies with cz < 7000 km/s and
with blue magnitudes brighter than m_B=14.5 (ENEARm), and of galaxies in
clusters (ENEARc). Galaxy distances based on the Dn-sigma and Fundamental Plane
(FP) relations are now available for 1359 and 1107 ENEARm galaxies,
respectively, with roughly 80% based on new data gathered by our group. The
Dn-sigma and FP template distance relations are derived by combining 569 and
431 galaxies in 28 clusters, respectively, of which about 60% are based on our
new measurements. The ENEARm redshift-distance survey extends the earlier work
of the 7S and the recent Tully-Fisher surveys sampling a comparable volume. In
subsequent papers of this series we intend to use the ENEAR sample by itself or
in combination with the SFI Tully-Fisher survey to analyze the properties of
the local peculiar velocity field and to test how sensitive the results are to
different sampling and to the distance indicators. We also anticipate that the
homogeneous database assembled will be used for a variety of other applications
and serve as a benchmark for similar studies at high-redshift.Comment: 43 pages, 15 figures, submitted to the Astronomical Journa
Harmonic analysis of iterated function systems with overlap
In this paper we extend previous work on IFSs without overlap. Our method
involves systems of operators generalizing the more familiar Cuntz relations
from operator algebra theory, and from subband filter operators in signal
processing.Comment: 37 page
Redshift-distance Survey of Early-type Galaxies: The D_n-sigma Relation
In this paper R-band photometric and velocity dispersion measurements for a
sample of 452 elliptical and S0 galaxies in 28 clusters are used to construct a
template D_n-sigma relation. This template relation is constructed by combining
the data from the 28 clusters, under the assumption that galaxies in different
clusters have similar properties. The photometric and spectroscopic data used
consist of new as well as published measurements, converted to a common system,
as presented in a accompanying paper. The resulting direct relation, corrected
for incompleteness bias, is log{D_n} =1.203 log{sigma} + 1.406; the zero-point
has been defined by requiring distant clusters to be at rest relative to the
CMB. This zero-point is consistent with the value obtained by using the
distance to Virgo as determined by the Cepheid period-luminosity relation. This
new D_n-sigma relation leads to a peculiar velocity of -72 (\pm 189) km/s for
the Coma cluster. The scatter in the distance relation corresponds to a
distance error of about 20%, comparable to the values obtained for the
Fundamental Plane relation. Correlations between the scatter and residuals of
the D_n-sigma relation with other parameters that characterize the cluster
and/or the galaxy stellar population are also analyzed. The direct and inverse
relations presented here have been used in recent studies of the peculiar
velocity field mapped by the ENEAR all-sky sample.Comment: 46 pages, 20 figures, and 7 tables. To appear in AJ, vol. 123, no. 5,
May 200
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NP3 â New Purposes, New Practices, New Pedagogy: Meta-analysis report
This is the main report of the findings of the NP3 project, which looked at children's use of ICT outside school and the extent to which this influenced pedagogy inside primary schools
Flows on scales of 150 Mpc?
We investigate the reality of large-scale streaming on scales of up to 150
Mpc using the peculiar motions of galaxies in three directions. New R-band CCD
photometry and spectroscopy for elliptical galaxies is used. The Fundamental
Plane distance indicator is calibrated using the Coma cluster and an
inhomogeneous Malmquist bias correction is applied. A linear bulk-flow model is
fitted to the peculiar velocities in the sample regions and the results do not
reflect the bulk flow observed by Lauer and Postman (LP). Accounting for the
difference in geometry between the galaxy distribution in the three regions and
the LP clustersconfirms the disagreement; assuming a low-density CDM power
spectrum, we find that the observed bulk flow of the galaxies in our sample
excludes the LP bulk flow at the 99.8% confidence level.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figur
X-ray Spectral Properties of Low-Mass X-ray Binaries in Nearby Galaxies
We investigated the X-ray spectral properties of a collection of low-mass
X-ray binaries (LMXBs) within a sample of 15 nearby early-type galaxies
observed with Chandra. We find that the spectrum of the sum of the sources in a
given galaxy is remarkably similar from galaxy to galaxy when only sources with
X-ray luminosities less than 10^39 ergs/s (0.3-10 keV) are considered. Fitting
these lower luminosity sources in all galaxies simultaneously yielded a
best-fit power law exponent of Gamma = 1.56 +/- 0.02 (or kT_brem = 7.3 +/- 0.3
keV). This is the tightest constraint to date on the spectral properties of
LMXBs in external galaxies. There is no apparent difference in the spectral
properties of LMXBs that reside inside and outside globular clusters. We
demonstrate how the uniformity of the spectral properties of LMXBs can lead to
more accurate determinations of the temperature and metallicity of the hot gas
in galaxies. Although few in number in any given galaxy, sources with
luminosities of 1-2 x 10^39 ergs/s are present in 10 of the galaxies. The
spectra of these luminous sources are softer than the spectra of the rest of
the sources, and are consistent with the spectra of Galactic black hole X-ray
binary candidates when they are in their very high state. The spectra of these
sources are very different than those of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs)
found within spiral galaxies, suggesting that the two populations of X-ray
luminous objects have different formation mechanisms. The number of sources
with apparent luminosities above 2 x 10^39 ergs/s is equal to the number of
expected background AGN and thus appear to not be associated with the galaxy,
indicating that very luminous sources are absent or very rare in early-type
galaxies. (Abridged)Comment: 11 pages in emulateapj5 style with 4 embedded Postscript figures; to
be accepted by Ap
HST and Spitzer imaging of red and blue galaxies at z~2.5: A correlation between size and star formation activity from compact quiescent galaxies to extended star forming galaxies
We present HST NICMOS+ACS and Spitzer IRAC+MIPS observations of 41 galaxies
at 2<z<3.5 in the FIRES MS1054 field with red and blue rest-frame optical
colors. About half of the galaxies are very compact (effective radii r_e < 1
kpc) at rest-frame optical wavelengths, the others are extended (1< r_e < 10
kpc). For reference, 1 kpc corresponds to 0.12 arcsec at z=2.5 in the adopted
cosmology. We separate actively star forming galaxies from quiescent galaxies
by modeling their rest-frame UV-NIR SEDs. The star forming galaxies span the
full range of sizes, while the quiescent galaxies all have r_e<2kpc. In the
redshift range where MIPS 24 micron imaging is a sensitive probe of re-radiated
dust emission (z<2.5), the 24 micron fluxes confirm that the light of the small
quiescent galaxies is dominated by old stars, rather than dust-enshrouded star
formation or AGN activity. The inferred surface mass densities and velocity
dispersions for the quiescent galaxies are very high compared to those in local
galaxies. The galaxies follow a Kormendy relation (between surface brightness
and size) with approximately the same slope as locally, but shifted to brighter
surface brightnesses, consistent with a mean stellar formation redshift of
z_f~5. This paper demonstrates a direct relation between star formation
activity and size at z~2.5, and the existence of a significant population of
massive, extremely dense, old stellar systems without readily identifiable
counterparts in the local universe.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
Near-Infrared Imaging of Early-Type Galaxies IV. The Physical Origins of the Fundamental Plane Scaling Relations
The physical origins of the Fundamental Plane (FP) scaling relations are
investigated for early-type galaxies observed at optical and near-infrared
wavelengths. The slope for the FP is shown to increase systematically with
wavelength from the U-band through the K-band. A distance-independent
construction of the observables is described which provides an accurate
measurement of the change in the FP slope between any pair of bandpasses. The
variation of the FP slope with wavelength is strong evidence of systematic
variations in stellar content along the elliptical galaxy sequence. The
intercept of the diagnostic relationship between log(D_K/D_V) and log(sigma_0)
shows no significant dependence on environment within the uncertainties of the
Galactic extinction corrections, demonstrating the universality of the stellar
populations contributions at the level of Delta(V-K)=0.03 mag to the zero-point
of the global scaling relations.
Several other constraints on the properties of early-type galaxies --- the
slope of the Mg_2-sigma_0 relation, the effects of stellar populations
gradients, and deviations of early-type galaxies from a dynamically homologous
family --- are included to construct an empirical, self-consistent model which
provides a complete picture of the underlying physical properties which are
varying along the early-type galaxy sequence. This empirical approach
demonstrates that there are significant systematic variations in both age and
metallicity along the elliptical galaxy sequence, and that a small, but
systematic, breaking of dynamical homology (or a similar, wavelength
independent effect) is required. Predictions for the evolution of the slope of
the FP with redshift are described. [abriged]Comment: to appear in The Astronomical Journal; 40 pages, including 10
Postscript figures and 3 tables; uses AAS LaTeX style file
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