739 research outputs found
Diffuse light and galaxy interactions in the core of nearby clusters
The kinematics of the diffuse light in the densest regions of the nearby
clusters can be unmasked using the planetary nebulae (PNs) as probes of the
stellar motions. The position-velocity diagrams around the brightest cluster
galaxies (BCGs) identify the relative contributions from the outer halos and
the intracluster light (ICL), defined as the light radiated by the stars
floating in the cluster potential. The kinematics of the ICL can then be used
to asses the dynamical status of the nearby cluster cores and to infer their
formation histories. The cores of the Virgo and Coma are observed to be far
from equilibrium, with mergers currently on-going, while the ICL properties in
the Fornax and Hydra clusters show the presence of sub-components being
accreted in their cores, but superposed to an otherwise relaxed population of
stars. Finally the comparison of the observed ICL properties with those
predicted from Lambda-CDM simulations indicates a qualitative agreement and
provides insights on the ICL formation. Both observations and simulations
indicate that BCG halos and ICL are physically distinct components, with the
``hotter" ICL dominating at large radial distances from the BCGs halos as the
latter become progressively fainter.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures. Invited review to appear in the proceedings of
"Galaxies and their masks" eds. Block, D.L., Freeman, K.C. and Puerari, I.,
2010, Springer (New York
Tracing the Peculiar Dark Matter Structure in the Galaxy Cluster CL 0024+17 with Intracluster Stars and Gas
ICL is believed to originate from the stars stripped from cluster galaxies.
They are no longer gravitationally bound to individual galaxies, but to the
cluster, and their smooth distribution potentially makes them serve as much
denser tracers of the cluster dark matter than the sparsely distributed cluster
galaxies. We present our study of the ICL in Cl 0024+17 using both ACS and
Subaru data, where we previously reported discovery of a ringlike dark matter
structure with gravitational lensing. The ACS images provide much lower sky
levels than ground data, and enable us to measure relative variation of surface
brightness reliably. This analysis is repeated with the Subaru images to
examine if consistent features are recovered despite different reduction scheme
and instrumental characteristics. We find that the ICL profile clearly
resembles the peculiar mass profile, which stops decreasing at r~50" (~265 kpc)
and slowly increases until it turns over at r~75" (~397 kpc). This feature is
seen in both ACS and Subaru images for nearly all available passband images
while the features are stronger in red filters. The consistency across
different filters and instruments strongly rules out the possibility that the
feature might come from any residual, uncorrected calibration errors. In
addition, our re-analysis of the cluster X-ray data shows that the peculiar
mass structure is also indicated by a non-negligible bump in the intracluster
gas profile when the geometric center of the dark matter ring, not the peak of
the X-ray emission, is chosen as the center of the radial bin. The location of
the gas ring is closer to the center by ~15" (~80 kpc), raising an interesting
possibility that the ring-like structure is expanding and the gas ring is
lagging behind perhaps because of the ram pressure if both features in mass and
gas share the same dynamical origin.Comment: Accepted to ApJ for publicatio
Wandering Stars: an Origin of Escaped Populations
We demonstrate that stars beyond the virial radii of galaxies may be
generated by the gravitational impulse received by a satellite as it passes
through the pericenter of its orbit around its parent. These stars may become
energetically unbound (escaped stars), or may travel to further than a few
virial radii for longer than a few Gyr, but still remain energetically bound to
the system (wandering stars). Larger satellites (10-100% the mass of the
parent), and satellites on more radial orbits are responsible for the majority
of this ejected population. Wandering stars could be observable on Mpc scales
via classical novae, and on 100 Mpc scales via SNIa. The existence of such
stars would imply a corresponding population of barely-bound, old, high
velocity stars orbiting the Milky Way, generated by the same physical mechanism
during the Galaxy's formation epoch. Sizes and properties of these combined
populations should place some constraints on the orbits and masses of the
progenitor objects from which they came, providing insight into the merging
histories of galaxies in general and the Milky Way in particular.Comment: 13 pages, 3 encapsulated postscript figure
Stellar population and the origin of intra-cluster stars around brightest cluster galaxies: the case of NGC 3311
Context. We investigate the stellar population and the origin of diffuse
light around brightest cluster galaxies.
Aims. We study the stellar population of the dynamically hot stellar halo of
NGC 3311, the brightest galaxy in the Hydra I cluster, and that of photometric
substructures in the diffuse light to constrain the origin of these components.
Methods. We analyze absorption lines in medium-resolution, long-slit spectra
in the wavelength range 4800-5800 angstrom obtained with FORS2 at the Very
Large Telescope. We measure the equivalent width of Lick indices out to 20 kpc
from the center of NGC 3311 and fit them with stellar population models that
account for the [alpha/Fe] overabundance.
Results. Stars in the dynamically hot halo of NGC 3311 are old (age > 13
Gyr), metal-poor ([Z/H] ~ -0.35), and alpha-enhanced ([alpha/Fe] ~ 0.48).
Together with the high velocity dispersion, these measurements indicate that
the stars in the halo were accreted from the outskirts of other early-type
galaxies, with a possible contribution from dwarf galaxies. We identify a
region in the halo of NGC 3311 associated with a photometric substructure where
the stellar population is even more metal-poor ([Z/H] ~ -0.73). In this region,
our measurements are consistent with a composite stellar population superposed
along the line of sight, consisting of stars from the dynamically hot halo of
NGC 3311 and stars stripped from dwarf galaxies. The latter component
contributes < 28% to the local surface brightness.
Conclusions. The build-up of diffuse light around NGC 3311 is on-going. Based
on the observed stellar population properties, the dominant part of these stars
may have come from the outskirts of bright early-type galaxies, while stars
from stripped dwarf galaxies are presently being added.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Glycine receptor in rat hippocampal and spinal cord neurons as a molecular target for rapid actions of 17-β-estradiol
Glycine receptors (GlyRs) play important roles in regulating hippocampal neural network activity and spinal nociception. Here we show that, in cultured rat hippocampal (HIP) and spinal dorsal horn (SDH) neurons, 17-β-estradiol (E2) rapidly and reversibly reduced the peak amplitude of whole-cell glycine-activated currents (IGly). In outside-out membrane patches from HIP neurons devoid of nuclei, E2 similarly inhibited IGly, suggesting a non-genomic characteristic. Moreover, the E2 effect on IGly persisted in the presence of the calcium chelator BAPTA, the protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine, the classical ER (i.e. ERα and ERβ) antagonist tamoxifen, or the G-protein modulators, favoring a direct action of E2 on GlyRs. In HEK293 cells expressing various combinations of GlyR subunits, E2 only affected the IGly in cells expressing α2, α2β or α3β subunits, suggesting that either α2-containing or α3β-GlyRs mediate the E2 effect observed in neurons. Furthermore, E2 inhibited the GlyR-mediated tonic current in pyramidal neurons of HIP CA1 region, where abundant GlyR α2 subunit is expressed. We suggest that the neuronal GlyR is a novel molecular target of E2 which directly inhibits the function of GlyRs in the HIP and SDH regions. This finding may shed new light on premenstrual dysphoric disorder and the gender differences in pain sensation at the CNS level
The Burrell-Optical-Kepler-Survey (BOKS). I. Survey Description and Initial Results
We present the initial results of a 40 night contiguous ground-based campaign of time series photometric observations of a 1.39 deg^2 field located within the NASA Kepler Mission field of view. The goal of this pre-launch survey was to search for transiting extrasolar planets and to provide independent variability information of stellar sources. We have gathered a data set containing light curves of 54,687 stars from which we have created a statistical sub-sample of 13,786 stars between 14 < r < 18.5 and have statistically examined each light curve to test for variability. We present a summary of our preliminary photometric findings including the overall level and content of stellar variability in this portion of the Kepler field and give some examples of unusual variable stars found within. We present a preliminary catalog of 2,457 candidate variable stars, of which 776 show signs of periodicity. We also present three potential exoplanet candidates, all of which should be observable by the Kepler mission
Excessive Biologic Response to IFNβ Is Associated with Poor Treatment Response in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis
Interferon-beta (IFNβ) is used to inhibit disease activity in multiple sclerosis (MS), but its mechanisms of action are incompletely understood, individual treatment response varies, and biological markers predicting response to treatment have yet to be identified.he relationship between the molecular response to IFNβ and treatment response was determined in 85 patients using a longitudinal design in which treatment effect was categorized by brain magnetic resonance imaging as good (n = 70) or poor response (n = 15). Molecular response was quantified using a customized cDNA macroarray assay for 166 IFN-regulated genes (IRGs).The molecular response to IFNβ differed significantly between patients in the pattern and number of regulated genes. The molecular response was strikingly stable for individuals for as long as 24 months, however, suggesting an individual ‘IFN response fingerprint’. Unexpectedly, patients with poor response showed an exaggerated molecular response. IRG induction ratios demonstrated an exaggerated molecular response at both the first and 6-month IFNβ injections.MS patients exhibit individually unique but temporally stable biological responses to IFNβ. Poor treatment response is not explained by the duration of biological effects or the specific genes induced. Rather, individuals with poor treatment response have a generally exaggerated biological response to type 1 IFN injections. We hypothesize that the molecular response to type I IFN identifies a pathogenetically distinct subset of MS patients whose disease is driven in part by innate immunity. The findings suggest a strategy for biologically based, rational use of IFNβ for individual MS patients
The effect of dwarf galaxies disruption in semi-analytic models
We present results for a galaxy formation model that includes a simple
treatment for the disruption of dwarf galaxies by gravitational forces and
galaxy encounters within galaxy clusters. This is implemented a posteriori in a
semi-analytic model by considering the stability of cluster dark matter
sub-haloes at z=0. We assume that a galaxy whose dark matter substructure has
been disrupted will itself disperse, while its stars become part of the
population of intracluster stars responsible for the observed intracluster
light. Despite the simplicity of this assumption, our results show a
substantial improvement over previous models and indicate that the inclusion of
galaxy disruption is indeed a necessary ingredient of galaxy formation models.
We find that galaxy disruption suppresses the number density of dwarf galaxies
by about a factor of two. This makes the slope of the faint end of the galaxy
luminosity function shallower, in agreement with observations. In particular,
the abundance of faint, red galaxies is strongly suppressed. As a result, the
luminosity function of red galaxies and the distinction between the red and the
blue galaxy populations in colour-magnitude relationships are correctly
predicted. Finally, we estimate a fraction of intracluster light comparable to
that found in clusters of galaxies.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS, 2 figures
changed and references adde
Shallow Dark Matter Cusps in Galaxy Clusters
We study the evolution of the stellar and dark matter components in a galaxy
cluster of from to the present epoch using
the high-resolution collisionless simulations of Ruszkowski & Springel (2009).
At the dominant progenitor halos were populated with spherical model
galaxies with and without accounting for adiabatic contraction. We apply a
weighting scheme which allows us to change the relative amount of dark and
stellar material assigned to each simulation particle in order to produce
luminous properties which agree better with abundance matching arguments and
observed bulge sizes at . This permits the study of the effect of initial
compactness on the evolution of the mass-size relation. We find that for more
compact initial stellar distributions the size of the final Brightest Cluster
Galaxy grows with mass according to , whereas for more extended
initial distributions, . Our results show that collisionless
mergers in a cosmological context can reduce the strength of inner dark matter
cusps with changes in logarithmic slope of 0.3 to 0.5 at fixed radius. Shallow
cusps such as those found recently in several strong lensing clusters thus do
not necessarily conflict with CDM, but may rather reflect on the initial
structure of the progenitor galaxies, which was shaped at high redshift by
their formation process.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted to MNRA
The outer halos of elliptical galaxies
Recent progress is summarized on the determination of the density
distributions of stars and dark matter, stellar kinematics, and stellar
population properties, in the extended, low surface brightness halo regions of
elliptical galaxies. With integral field absorption spectroscopy and with
planetary nebulae as tracers, velocity dispersion and rotation profiles have
been followed to ~4 and ~5-8 effective radii, respectively, and in M87 to the
outer edge at ~150 kpc. The results are generally consistent with the known
dichotomy of elliptical galaxy types, but some galaxies show more complex
rotation profiles in their halos and there is a higher incidence of
misalignments, indicating triaxiality. Dynamical models have shown a range of
slopes for the total mass profiles, and that the inner dark matter densities in
ellipticals are higher than in spiral galaxies, indicating earlier assembly
redshifts. Analysis of the hot X-ray emitting gas in X-ray bright ellipticals
and comparison with dynamical mass determinations indicates that non-thermal
components to the pressure may be important in the inner ~10 kpc, and that the
properties of these systems are closely related to their group environments.
First results on the outer halo stellar population properties do not yet give a
clear picture. In the halo of one bright galaxy, lower [alpha/Fe] abundances
indicate longer star formation histories pointing towards late accretion of the
halo. This is consistent with independent evidence for on-going accretion, and
suggests a connection to the observed size evolution of elliptical galaxies
with redshift.Comment: 8 pages. Invited review to appear in the proceedings of "Galaxies and
their Masks" eds. Block, D.L., Freeman, K.C. & Puerari, I., 2010, Springer
(New York
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