417 research outputs found
A Constant Bar Fraction out to Redshift z~1 in the Advanced Camera for Surveys Field of the Tadpole Galaxy
Bar-like structures were investigated in a sample of 186 disk galaxies larger
than 0.5 arcsec that are in the I-band image of the Tadpole galaxy taken with
the HST ACS. We found 22 clear cases of barred galaxies, 21 galaxies with small
bars that appear primarily as isophotal twists in a contour plot, and 11 cases
of peculiar bars in clump-cluster galaxies, which are face-on versions of chain
galaxies. The latter bars are probably young, as the galaxies contain only weak
interclump emission. Four of the clearly barred galaxies at z~0.8-1.2 have
grand design spirals. The bar fraction was determined as a function of galaxy
inclination and compared with the analogous distribution in the local Universe.
The bar fraction was also determined as a function of galaxy angular size.
These distributions suggest that inclination and resolution effects obscure
nearly half of the bars in our sample. The bar fraction was also determined as
a function of redshift. We found a nearly constant bar fraction of 0.23+-0.03
from z~0 to z=1.1. When corrected for inclination and size effects, this
fraction is comparable to the bar fraction in the local Universe, ~0.4, as
tabulated for all bar and Hubble types in the Third Reference Catalogue of
Galaxies. The average major axis of a barred galaxy in our sample is ~10 kpc
after correcting for redshift with a LambdaCDM cosmology. Galaxy bars were
present in normal abundance at least ~8 Gy ago (z~1); bar dissolution cannot be
common during a Hubble time unless the bar formation rate is comparable to the
dissolution rate.Comment: to appear in ApJ, Sept 1, 2004, Vol 612, 18 pg, 12 figure
Nuclear Black Hole Formation in Clumpy Galaxies at High Redshift
Massive stellar clumps in high redshift galaxies interact and migrate to the
center to form a bulge and exponential disk in <1 Gyr. Here we consider the
fate of intermediate mass black holes (BHs) that might form by massive-star
coalescence in the dense young clusters of these disk clumps. We find that the
BHs move inward with the clumps and reach the inner few hundred parsecs in only
a few orbit times. There they could merge into a supermassive BH by dynamical
friction. The ratio of BH mass to stellar mass in the disk clumps is
approximately preserved in the final ratio of BH to bulge mass. Because this
ratio for individual clusters has been estimated to be ~10^{-3}, the observed
BH-to-bulge mass ratio results. We also obtain a relation between BH mass and
bulge velocity dispersion that is compatible with observations of present-day
galaxies.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Ap
Rapid formation of exponential disks and bulges at high redshift from the dynamical evolution of clump cluster and chain galaxies
Many galaxies at high redshift have peculiar morphologies dominated by
10^8-10^9 Mo kpc-sized clumps. Using numerical simulations, we show that these
"clump clusters" can result from fragmentation in gravitationally unstable
primordial disks. They appear as "chain galaxies" when observed edge-on. In
less than 1 Gyr, clump formation, migration, disruption, and interaction with
the disk cause these systems to evolve from initially uniform disks into
regular spiral galaxies with an exponential or double-exponential disk profile
and a central bulge. The inner exponential is the initial disk size and the
outer exponential is from material flung out by spiral arms and clump torques.
A nuclear black hole may form at the same time as the bulge from smaller black
holes that grow inside the dense cores of each clump. The properties and
lifetimes of the clumps in our models are consistent with observations of the
clumps in high redshift galaxies, and the stellar motions in our models are
consistent with the observed velocity dispersions and lack of organized
rotation in chain galaxies. We suggest that violently unstable disks are the
first step in spiral galaxy formation. The associated starburst activity gives
a short timescale for the initial stellar disk to form.Comment: ApJ Accepted, 13 pages, 9 figure
The homeobox gene Hex is required in definitive endodermal tissues for normal forebrain, liver and thyroid formation
The homeobox gene Hex is expressed in the anterior visceral endoderm (AVE) and rostral definitive endoderm of early mouse embryos. Later, Hex transcripts are detected in liver, thyroid and endothelial precursor cells. A null mutation was introduced into the Hex locus by homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells. Hex mutant embryos exhibit varying degrees of anterior truncation as well as liver and thyroid dysplasia. The liver diverticulum is formed but migration of hepatocytes into the septum transversum fails to occur. Development of the thyroid is arrested at the thyroid bud stage at 9.5 dpc. Brain defects are restricted to the rostral forebrain and have a caudal limit at the zona limitans intrathalamica, the boundary between dorsal and ventral thalamus. Analysis of Hex(−/−) mutants at early stages shows that the prospective forebrain ectoderm is correctly induced and patterned at 7.5 days post coitum (dpc), but subsequently fails to develop. AVE markers are expressed and correctly positioned but development of rostral definitive endoderm is greatly disturbed in Hex(−/−) embryos. Chimeric embryos composed of Hex(−/−) cells developing within a wild-type visceral endoderm show forebrain defects indicating that Hex is required in the definitive endoderm. All together, these results demonstrate that Hex function is essential in definitive endoderm for normal development of the forebrain, liver and thyroid gland
A Turbulent Origin for Flocculent Spiral Structure in Galaxies
The flocculent structure of star formation in 7 galaxies has a Fourier
transform power spectrum for azimuthal intensity scans with a power law slope
that increases systematically from -1 at large scales to -1.7 at small scales.
This is the same pattern as in the power spectra for azimuthal scans of HI
emission in the Large Magellanic Clouds and for flocculent dust clouds in
galactic nuclei. The steep part also corresponds to the slope of -3 for
two-dimensional power spectra that have been observed in atomic and molecular
gas surveys of the Milky Way and the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. The
same power law structure for star formation arises in both flocculent and grand
design galaxies, which implies that the star formation process is the same in
each. Fractal Brownian motion models that include discrete stars and an
underlying continuum of starlight match the observations if all of the emission
is organized into a global fractal pattern with an intrinsic 1D power spectrum
having a slope between 1.3 and 1.8. We suggest that the power spectrum of
optical light in galaxies is the result of turbulence, and that large-scale
turbulent motions are generated by sheared gravitational instabilities which
make flocculent spiral arms first and then cascade to form clouds and clusters
on smaller scales.Comment: accepted for ApJ, 31 pg, 9 figure
Bulge Formation by the Coalescence of Giant Clumps in Primordial Disk Galaxies
Gas-rich disks in the early universe are highly turbulent and have giant
star-forming clumps. Models suggest the clumps form by gravitational
instabilities, and if they resist disruption by star formation, then they
interact, lose angular momentum, and migrate to the center to form a bulge.
Here we study the properties of the bulges formed by this mechanism. They are
all thick, slowly rotating, and have a high Sersic index, like classical
bulges. Their rapid formation should also give them relatively high
alpha-element abundances. We consider fourteen low-resolution models and four
high-resolution models, three of which have supernova feedback. All models have
an active halo, stellar disk, and gaseous disk, three of the models have a
pre-existing bulge and three others have a cuspy dark matter halo. All show the
same basic result except the one with the highest feedback, in which the clumps
are quickly destroyed and the disk thickens too much. The coalescence of
massive disk clumps in the center of a galaxy is like a major merger in terms
of orbital mixing. It differs by leaving a bulge with no specific dark matter
component, unlike the merger of individual galaxies. Normal supernova feedback
has little effect because the high turbulent speed in the gas produces tightly
bound clumps. A variety of indirect observations support the model, including
clumpy disks with young bulges at high redshift and bulges with relatively
little dark matter.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, ApJ 688, November 20 2008, in pres
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