Near-Infrared Adaptive Optics Imaging of the Central Regions of Nearby Sc Galaxies. II. NGC 247 and NGC 2403

J, H, and K' images obtained with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope adaptive optics system are used to investigate the star-forming histories of the central regions of the Sc galaxies NGC 247 and NGC 2403. The brightest resolved red stars within 15 arcsec of the nucleus of each galaxy are red supergiants, indicating that the central few hundred parsecs of these galaxies experienced star formation within the last ~ 0.1 Gyr. However, when averaged over Gyr time scales, the star-forming histories of the inner disks of these galaxies have been remarkably similar, as expected if the long-term evolution of disks is defined by local characteristics such as mass density. It is demonstrated that NGC 247 and NGC 2403, like M33, harbour nuclear star clusters with stellar contents that differ from the surrounding central light concentrations. The nucleus of NGC 2403 is significantly bluer than that of the other two galaxies and the K-band surface brightnesses near the centers of NGC 247 and NGC 2403 are 1 -- 2 mag per square arcsec lower than in M33. Finally, it is noted that young or intermediate-age nuclear star clusters are a common occurence in nearby spirals, indicating that nuclear star formation in these objects is either continuous or episodic on time scales of 0.1 - 1 Gyr.Comment: 27 pages of text and 14 figures; to appear in the Astronomical Journa

Investigating Ca II emission in the RS CVn binary ER Vulpeculae using the Broadening Function Formalism

The synchronously rotating G stars in the detached, short-period (0.7 d), partially eclipsing binary, ER Vul, are the most chromospherically active solar-type stars known. We have monitored activity in the Ca II H & K reversals for almost an entire orbit. Rucinski's Broadening Function Formalism allows the photospheric contribution to be objectively subtracted from the highly blended spectra. The power of the BF technique is also demonstrated by the good agreement of radial velocities with those measured by others from less crowded spectral regions. In addition to strong Ca II emission from the primary and secondary, there appears to be a high-velocity stream flowing onto the secondary where it stimulates a large active region on the surface 30 - 40 degrees in advance of the sub-binary longitude. A model light curve with a spot centered on the same longitude also gives the best fit to the observed light curve. A flare with approximately 13% more power than at other phases was detected in one spectrum. We suggest ER Vul may offer a magnified view of the more subtle chromospheric effects synchronized to planetary revolution seen in certain `51 Peg'-type systems.Comment: Accepted to AJ; 17 pages and 16 figure

The Disk and Extraplanar Environment of NGC 247

The stellar content of the spiral galaxy NGC 247 is investigated. The main sequence turn-off (MSTO) in the inner 12 kpc of the disk corresponds to an age of 6 Myr. A mean star formation rate (SFR) of 0.1 solar masses per year during the past 16 Myr is computed from star counts. The color of the red supergiant plume does not change with radius, suggesting that the mean metallicity of young stars does not vary by more than 0.1 dex. The number of bright main sequence stars per local stellar mass density climbs towards larger radii out to a distance of 12 kpc; the scale lengths that characterize the radial distributions of young and old stars in the disk thus differ. The density of bright main sequence stars with respect to projected HI mass gradually drops with increasing radius. The population of very young stars disappears in the outer disk; the MSTO at galactocentric radii between 12 and 15 kpc corresponds to 16 Myr, while between 15 and 18 kpc the age is > 40 Myr. Red giant branch (RGB) stars are resolved at a projected minor axis galactocentric distance of 12 kpc. There is a broad spread in metallicity among the RGB stars, with a mean [M/H] = -1.2. The RGB-tip occurs at i' = 24.5 +/- 0.1, indicating that the distance modulus is 27.9 +/- 0.1. Luminous AGB stars with an age 3 Gyr are also seen in this field.Comment: Includes 16 eps figures; to appear in the Astrophysical Journa

Deep ALTAIR + NIRI Imaging of the Disk and Bulge of M31

Deep J, H, and K' images, recorded with the ALTAIR adaptive optics system and NIRI imager on Gemini North, are used to probe the stellar content of the disk and bulge of the Local Group galaxy M31. With FWHM near 0.08 arcsec in K, these are the highest angular resolution near-infrared images yet obtained of this galaxy. Four fields that sample M31 at galactocentric radii of 62, 9, 4, and 2 arcmin were observed. The RGB-tip occurs between K = 17.0 and 17.2, and the color of the RGB in the field closest to the center of M31 is consistent with that of NGC 6528. After accounting for random photometric errors, the upper RGB in each field has a width on the (K, J-K) CMD that is consistent with a +/- 0.5 dex dispersion in [Fe/H], in rough agreement with what is seen in other disk and spheroid fields in M31. A population of very bright red stars, which we identify as C stars, are seen in the three fields that are closest to the center of M31. The spatial distribution of these objects suggests that they are well mixed throughout this part of M31, and so likely did not form in a compact region near the galactic nucleus, but more probably formed in the inner disk. We speculate that these C stars may be the most luminous members of the intermediate age population that has been detected previously in studies of the integrated spectrum of the central regions of M31.Comment: 36 pages of text + 16 eps figures; Astronomical Journal in pres

HD 51106 and HD 50747: an ellipsoidal binary and a triple system observed with CoRoT

We present an analysis of the observations of HD 51106 and HD 50747 by the satellite CoRoT, obtained during its initial run, and of the spectroscopic preparatory observations. AIMS: We complete an analysis of the light curve, extract the main frequencies observed, and discuss some preliminary interpretations about the stars. Methods: We used standard Fourier transform and pre-whitening methods to extract information about the periodicities of the stars. Results: HD 51106 is an ellipsoidal binary, the light curve of which can be completely explained by the tidal deformation of the star and smaller secondary effects. HD 50747 is a triple system containing a variable star, which exhibits many modes of oscillation with periods in the range of a few hours. On the basis of this period range and the analysis of the physical parameters of the star, we conclude that HD 50747 is a Gamma-Doradus star.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, use (Astronomy-Astrophysics format/macro LAtex

New Light on the Formation and Evolution of M31 and its Globular Cluster System

We present spectroscopic ages, metallicities, and [alpha/Fe] ratios for 70 globular clusters in M31 that were derived from Lick line-index measurements. In addition to a population of old (>10 Gyr) globular clusters with a wide range of metallicities, from about -2.0 dex to solar values, we find evidence for a population of intermediate-age globular clusters with ages between ~5 and 8 Gyr and a mean metallicity around [Z/H]=-0.6. We also confirm the presence of young M31 globular clusters that were recently identified by Beasley et al. (2004), which have ages <1 Gyr and relatively high metallicities around -0.4 dex. The M31 globular cluster system has a clearly super-solar mean [alpha/Fe]=0.14\pm0.04 dex. Intermediate-age and young objects show roughly solar abundance ratios. We find evidence for an age-[alpha/Fe] relation in the sense that younger clusters have smaller mean [alpha/Fe] ratios. From a comparison of indices, mostly sensitive to carbon and/or nitrogen abundance, with SSP model predictions for nitrogen-enhanced stellar populations, we find a dichotomy in nitrogen enhancement between young and old M31 globular clusters. The indices of objects older than 5 Gyr are consistent with a factor of three or higher in nitrogen enhancement compared to their younger counterparts. Using kinematical data from Morrison et al. (2004) we find that the globular cluster sub-population with halo kinematics is old (>9 Gyr), has a bimodal metallicity distribution, and super-solar [alpha/Fe]. Disk globular clusters have a wider range of ages, are on average more metal-rich, and have a slightly smaller mean [alpha/Fe] ratio. (abridged)Comment: 32 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Local Group Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies: II. Stellar Kinematics to Large Radii in NGC 147 and NGC 185

We present kinematic and metallicity profiles for the M31 dwarf elliptical (dE) satellite galaxies NGC 147 and NGC 185. The profiles represent the most extensive spectroscopic radial coverage for any dE galaxy, extending to a projected distance of eight half-light radii (8 r_eff = 14'). We achieve this coverage via Keck/DEIMOS multislit spectroscopic observations of 520 and 442 member red giant branch stars in NGC 147 and NGC 185, respectively. In contrast to previous studies, we find that both dEs have significant internal rotation. We measure a maximum rotational velocity of 17+/-2 km/s for NGC 147 and 15+/-5 km/s for NGC 185. The velocity dispersions decrease gently with radius with an average dispersion of 16+/-1 km/s for NGC 147 and 24+/-1 km/s for NGC 185. Both dEs have internal metallicity dispersions of 0.5 dex, but show no evidence for a radial metallicity gradient. We construct two-integral axisymmetric dynamical models and find that the observed kinematical profiles cannot be explained without modest amounts of non-baryonic dark matter. We measure central mass-to-light ratios of ML_V = 4.2+/-0.6 and ML_V = 4.6+/-0.6 for NGC 147 and NGC 185, respectively. Both dE galaxies are consistent with being primarily flattened by their rotational motions, although some anisotropic velocity dispersion is needed to fully explain their observed shapes. The velocity profiles of all three Local Group dEs (NGC 147, NGC 185 and NGC 205) suggest that rotation is more prevalent in the dE galaxy class than previously assumed, but is often manifest only at several times the effective radius. Since all dEs outside the Local Group have been probed to only inside the effective radius, this opens the door for formation mechanisms in which dEs are transformed or stripped versions of gas-rich rotating progenitor galaxies.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures. accepted to A

Inner Polar Rings and Disks: Observed Properties

A list of galaxies with inner regions revealing polar (or strongly inclined to the main galactic plane) disks and rings is compiled from the literature data. The list contains 47 galaxies of all morphological types, from E to Irr. We consider the statistics of the parameters of polar structures known from observations. The radii of the majority of them do not exceed 1.5 kpc. The polar structures are equally common in barred and unbarred galaxies. At the same time, if a galaxy has a bar (or a triaxial bulge), this leads to the polar disk stabilization - its axis of rotation usually coincides with the major axis of the bar. More than two thirds of all considered galaxies reveal one or another sign of recent interaction or merging. This fact indicates a direct relation between the external environment and the presence of an inner polar structure.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, accepted to Astrophysical Bulletin. Minor changes and corrections are still possibl

Resolving the Stellar Outskirts of M81: Evidence for a Faint, Extended Structural Component

We present a wide field census of resolved stellar populations in the northern half of M81, conducted with Suprime-Cam on the 8-m Subaru telescope and covering an area ~ 0.3 square degrees. The resulting color-magnitude diagram reaches over one magnitude below the red giant branch (RGB) tip, allowing a detailed comparison between the young and old stellar spatial distributions. The surface density of stars with ages <~ 100 Myr is correlated with that of neutral hydrogen in a manner similar to the disk-averaged Kennicutt-Schmidt relation. We trace this correlation down to gas densities of ~ 2 x 10^20 cm^{-2}, lower than typically probed with H-alpha flux. Both diffuse light and resolved RGB star counts show compelling evidence for a faint, extended structural component beyond the bright optical disk, with a much flatter surface brightness profile. The star counts allow us to probe this component to significantly fainter levels than is possible with the diffuse light alone. From the colors of its RGB stars, we estimate this component has a peak global metallicity [M/H] ~ -1.1 +/- 0.3 at deprojected radii 32 - 44 kpc assuming an age of 10 Gyr and distance of 3.6 Mpc. The spatial distribution of its RGB stars follows a power-law surface density profile, I(r) ~ r^{-gamma}, with gamma ~ 2. [Abridged]Comment: 17 pages including 2 tables and 20 figures, accepted to AJ, version with high resolution figures available at http://www.roe.ac.uk/~mkb/astroph/m81hires.pd

Conformal Mapping on Rough Boundaries I: Applications to harmonic problems

The aim of this study is to analyze the properties of harmonic fields in the vicinity of rough boundaries where either a constant potential or a zero flux is imposed, while a constant field is prescribed at an infinite distance from this boundary. We introduce a conformal mapping technique that is tailored to this problem in two dimensions. An efficient algorithm is introduced to compute the conformal map for arbitrarily chosen boundaries. Harmonic fields can then simply be read from the conformal map. We discuss applications to "equivalent" smooth interfaces. We study the correlations between the topography and the field at the surface. Finally we apply the conformal map to the computation of inhomogeneous harmonic fields such as the derivation of Green function for localized flux on the surface of a rough boundary