315 research outputs found
Spectral decomposition of the stellar kinematics in the polar disk galaxy NGC 4650A
Context. The prototype of Polar Ring Galaxies NGC 4650A contains two main
structural components, a central spheroid, which is the host galaxy, and an
extended polar disk. Both photometric and kinematic studies revealed that these
two components co-exist on two different planes within the central regions of
the galaxy. Aims. The aim of this work is to study the spectroscopic and
kinematic properties of the host galaxy and the polar disk in the central
regions of NGC 4650A by disentangling their contributions to the observed
galaxy spectrum.
Methods. We applied the spectral decomposition technique introduced in
previous works to long-slit spectroscopic observations in the CaII triplet
region. We focused the analysis along the PA = 152 that corresponds to the
photometric minor axis of the host galaxy, where the superimposition of the two
components is more relevant and the spectral decomposition is necessary. We aim
to disentangle the stars that move in the equatorial plane of the host galaxy
from those that move in the meridan plane, which is along the polar disk.
Results. We successfully disentangled the spectra of the two structural
components of NGC 4650A and measured their line-of-sight velocity and velocity
dispersion profiles, and the stellar content along PA = 152. The host galaxy
shows significant rotation along its photometric minor axis, indicating that
the gravitational potential is not axisymmetric. The polar disk shows a
kinematic decoupling: the inner regions counter-rotating with respect the
outer-regions and the host spheroid. This suggests a complex formation history
for the polar disk, characterised by mass accretion with decoupled angular
momenta.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 7 pages, 5
figure
The dynamically hot stellar halo around NGC 3311: a small cluster-dominated central galaxy
An important open question is the relation between intracluster light and the
halos of central galaxies in galaxy clusters. Here we report results from an on
going project with the aim to characterize the dynamical state in the core of
the Hydra I (Abell 1060) cluster around NGC 3311. Methods: We analyze deep
long-slit absorption line spectra reaching out to ~25 kpc in the halo of NGC
3311. Results: We find a very steep increase in the velocity dispersion profile
from a central sigma_0=150 km/s to sigma_out ~450 km/s at R ~ 12 kpc. Farther
out, to ~25 kpc, sigma appears to be constant at this value, which is ~60% of
the velocity dispersion of the Hydra I galaxies. With its dynamically hot halo
kinematics, NGC 3311 is unlike other normal early-type galaxies. Conclusions:
These results and the large amount of dark matter inferred from X-rays around
NGC 3311 suggest that the stellar halo of this galaxy is dominated by the
central intracluster stars of the cluster, and that the transition from
predominantly galaxy-bound stars to cluster stars occurs in the radial range 4
to 12 kpc from the center of NGC 3311. We comment on the wide range of halo
kinematics observed in cluster central galaxies, depending on the evolutionary
state of their host clusters.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in A&
Dissecting Kinematics and Stellar Populations of Counter-Rotating Galaxies with 2-Dimensional Spectroscopy
We present a spectral decomposition technique and its applications to a
sample of galaxies hosting large-scale counter-rotating stellar disks. Our
spectral decomposition technique allows to separate and measure the kinematics
and the properties of the stellar populations of both the two counter-rotating
disks in the observed galaxies at the same time. Our results provide new
insights on the epoch and mechanism of formation of these galaxies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Contributed talk presented at the Conference
"Multi-Spin galaxies", September 30 - October 3, 2013, INAF-Astronomical
Observatory of Capodimonte, Naples, Italy. To be published in ASP Conf. Ser.,
Multi-Spin Galaxies, ed. E. Iodice & E. M. Corsini (San Francisco: ASP
The Black Hole Mass of Abell 1836-BCG and Abell 3565-BCG
Two brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), namely Abell 1836-BCG and Abell
3565-BCG, were observed with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the
Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on board the Hubble Space
Telescope. By modeling the available photometric and kinematic data, it
resulted that the mass of Abell 1836-BCG and Abell 3565-BCG are
M_bh=4.8(+0.8,-0.7)x10^9 M_sun and M_bh=1.3(+0.3,-0.4)x10^9 M_sun at 1 sigma
confidence level, respectively.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Mem SAIt in press, Proceedings of the 51st Annual
Meeting of the Italian Astronomical Society, Florence, April 17-20, 200
Signatures of accretion events in the halos of early-type galaxies from comparing PNe and GCs kinematics
We have compared the halo kinematics traced by globular clusters (GCs) and
planetary nebulae (PNe) for two elliptical galaxies in the Fornax and Virgo
clusters NGC 1399 and NGC 4649, and for the merger remnant NGC 5128 (Centaurus
A). We find differences in the rotational properties of the PN, red GC, and
blue GC systems in all these three galaxies. NGC 1399 PNe and GCs show line of
sight velocity distributions in specific regions that are significantly
different, based on Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. The PN system shows multi-spin
components, with nearly opposite direction of rotation in the inner and the
outer parts. The GCs velocity field is not point-symmetric in the outer regions
of the galaxy, indicating that the system has not reached dynamical equilibrium
yet. In NGC 4649 PNe, red and blue GCs have different rotation axes and
rotational velocities. Finally, in NGC 5128 both PNe and GCs deviate from
equilibrium in the outer regions of the galaxy, and in the inner regions the PN
system is rotationally supported, whereas the GC system is dominated by
velocity dispersion. The observed different kinematic properties, including
deviations from point-symmetry, between PNe and GCs suggest that these systems
are accreted at different times by the host galaxy, and the most recent
accretion took place only few Gyr ago.We discuss two scenarios which may
explain some of these differences: i) tidal stripping of loosely-bound GCs, and
ii) multiple accretion of low luminosity and dwarf galaxies. Because these two
mechanisms affect mostly the GC system, differences with the PNe kinematics can
be expected.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS. This new
version contains an improved analysis, which includes the study of
point-symmetry in the velocity fields and its implications for dynamical
equilibriu
Injunction Against Prosecution of Divorce Actions in Other States
Aims: The formation scenario of extended counter-rotating stellar disks in galaxies is still debated. In this paper, we study the S0 galaxy IC 719 known to host two large-scale counter-rotating stellar disks in order to investigate their formation mechanism.
Methods: We exploit the large field of view and wavelength coverage of the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) spectrograph to derive two-dimensional (2D) maps of the various properties of the counter-rotating stellar disks, such as age, metallicity, kinematics, spatial distribution, the kinematical and chemical properties of the ionized gas, and the dust map.
Results: Due to the large wavelength range, and in particular to the presence of the Calcium Triplet \u3bb\u3bb8498, 8542, 8662 \uc5 (CaT hereafter), the spectroscopic analysis allows us to separate the two stellar components in great detail. This permits precise measurement of both the velocity and velocity dispersion of the two components as well as their spatial distribution. We derived a 2D map of the age and metallicity of the two stellar components, as well as the star formation rate and gas-phase metallicity from the ionized gas emission maps.
Conclusions: The main stellar disk of the galaxy is kinematically hotter, older, thicker and with larger scale-length than the secondary disk. There is no doubt that the latter is strongly linked to the ionized gas component: they have the same kinematics and similar vertical and radial spatial distribution. This result is in favor of a gas accretion scenario over a binary merger scenario to explain the origin of counter-rotation in IC 719. One source of gas that may have contributed to the accretion process is the cloud that surrounds IC 719
The V_c-sigma_c relation in high and low surface brightness galaxies
We investigate the relation between the asymptotic circular velocity, V_c,
and the central stellar velocity dispersion, sigma_c, in galaxies. We consider
a new sample of high surface brightness spiral galaxies (HSB), low surface
brightness spiral galaxies (LSB), and elliptical galaxies with HI-based V_c
measurements. We find that: 1) elliptical galaxies with HI measurements fit
well within the relation; 2) a linear law can reproduce the data as well as a
power law (used in previous works) even for galaxies with sigma_c < 70 km/s; 3)
LSB galaxies, considered for the first time with this respect, seem to behave
differently, showing either larger V_c values or smaller sigma_c values.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Proc. IAU Symp. 222, "The Interplay
among Black Holes, Stars and ISM in Galactic Nuclei" eds. Th. Storchi
Bergmann, L.C. Ho & H.R. Schmitt (Cambridge University Press
The planetary nebula population in the halo of M87
We investigate the diffuse light in the outer regions of the nearby
elliptical galaxy M87 in the Virgo cluster, using planetary nebulas (PNs) as
tracers. The surveyed areas (0.43 squared degrees) cover M87 up to a radial
distance of 150 kpc, in the ransition region between galaxy halo and
intracluster light (ICL). All PNs are identified through the on-off band
technique using automatic selection criteria based on the distribution of the
detected sources in the colour-magnitude diagram and the properties of their
point-spread function. We extract a catalogue of 688 objects down to
m_5007=28.4, with an estimated residual contamination from foreground stars and
background Lyalpha galaxies, which amounts to ~35% of the sample. This is one
of the largest extragalactic PN samples in number of candidates, magnitude
depth, and radial extent, which allows us to carry out an unprecedented
photometric study of the PN population in the outer regions of M87. We find
that the logarithmic density profile of the PN distribution is shallower than
the surface brightness profile at large radii. This behaviour is consistent
with the superposition of two components associated with the halo of M87 and
with the ICL, which have different luminosity specific PN numbers, the ICL
contributing three times more PNs per unit light. Because of the depth of this
survey we are also able to study the shape of the PN luminosity function (PNLF)
in the outer regions of M87. We find a slope for the PNLF that is steeper at
fainter magnitudes than the standard analytical PNLF formula and adopt a
generalised model that treats the slope as a free parameter. Comparing the PNLF
of M87 and the M31 bulge, both normalised by the sampled luminosity, the M87
PNLF contains fewer bright PNs and has a steeper slope towards fainter
magnitudes.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in A&
- …