238 research outputs found
[OIII] Emission and Gas Kinematics in a Lyman-alpha Blob at z ~ 3.1
We present spectroscopic measurements of the [OIII] emission line from two
subregions of strong Lyman-alpha emission in a radio-quiet Lyman-alpha blob
(LAB). The blob under study is LAB1 (Steidel et al. 2000) at z ~ 3.1, and the
[OIII] detections are from the two Lyman break galaxies embedded in the blob
halo. The [OIII] measurements were made with LUCIFER on the 8.4m Large
Binocular Telescope and NIRSPEC on 10m Keck Telescope. Comparing the redshift
of the [OIII] measurements to Lyman-alpha redshifts from SAURON (Weijmans et
al. 2010) allows us to take a step towards understanding the kinematics of the
gas in the blob. Using both LUCIFER and NIRSPEC we find velocity offsets
between the [OIII] and Lyman-alpha redshifts that are modestly negative or
consistent with 0 km/s in both subregions studied (ranging from -72 +/- 42 --
+6 +/- 33 km/s). A negative offset means Lyman-alpha is blueshifted with
respect to [OIII], a positive offset then implies Lyman-alpha is redshifted
with respect to [OIII]. These results may imply that outflows are not primarily
responsible for Lyman alpha escape in this LAB, since outflows are generally
expected to produce a positive velocity offset (McLinden et al. 2011). In
addition, we present an [OIII] line flux upper limit on a third region of LAB1,
a region that is unassociated with any underlying galaxy. We find that the
[OIII] upper limit from the galaxy-unassociated region of the blob is at least
1.4 -- 2.5 times fainter than the [OIII] flux from one of the LBG-associated
regions and has an [OIII] to Lyman-alpha ratio measured at least 1.9 -- 3.4
times smaller than the same ratio measured from one of the LBGs.Comment: submitted to Ap
The challenges of a public data release : behind the scenes of SDSS DR13
The Sloan Digitial Sky Surveys (SDSS) have been collecting imaging and spectoscopic data since 1998. These data as well as their derived data products are made publicly available through regular data releases, of which the 13th took place summer 2016. Although public data releases can be challenging to manage, they significantly increase the impact of a survey, both scientifically and educationally.Postprin
Quadruple-peaked spectral line profiles as a tool to constrain gravitational potential of shell galaxies
Stellar shells observed in many giant elliptical and lenticular as well as a
few spiral and dwarf galaxies, presumably result from galaxy mergers.
Line-of-sight velocity distributions of the shells could, in principle, if
measured with a sufficiently high S/N, constitute one of methods to constrain
the gravitational potential of the host galaxy. Merrifield & Kuijken (1998)
predicted a double-peaked line profile for stationary shells resulting from a
nearly radial minor merger. In this paper, we aim at extending their analysis
to a more realistic case of expanding shells, inherent to the merging process,
whereas we assume the same type of merger and the same orbital geometry. We use
analytical approach as well as test particle simulations to predict the
line-of-sight velocity profile across the shell structure. Simulated line
profiles are convolved with spectral PSFs to estimate the peak detectability.
The resulting line-of-sight velocity distributions are more complex than
previously predicted due to non-zero phase velocity of the shells. In
principle, each of the Merrifield & Kuijken (1998) peaks splits into two,
giving a quadruple-peaked line profile, which allows more precise determination
of the potential of the host galaxy and, moreover, contains additional
information. We find simple analytical expressions that connect the positions
of the four peaks of the line profile and the mass distribution of the galaxy,
namely the circular velocity at the given shell radius and the propagation
velocity of the shell. The analytical expressions were applied to a
test-particle simulation of a radial minor merger and the potential of the
simulated host galaxy was successfully recovered. The shell kinematics can thus
become an independent tool to determine the content and distribution of the
dark matter in shell galaxies, up to ~100 kpc from the center of the host
galaxy.Comment: 15 pages, 16 figures | v2: accepted for publication in A&A, minor
language correction
The HI Tully-Fisher Relation of Early-Type Galaxies
We study the HI K-band Tully-Fisher relation and the baryonic Tully-Fisher
relation for a sample of 16 early-type galaxies, taken from the ATLAS3D sample,
which all have very regular HI disks extending well beyond the optical body (>
5 R_eff). We use the kinematics of these disks to estimate the circular
velocity at large radii for these galaxies. We find that the Tully-Fisher
relation for our early-type galaxies is offset by about 0.5-0.7 magnitudes from
the relation for spiral galaxies. The residuals with respect to the spiral
Tully-Fisher relation correlate with estimates of the stellar mass-to-light
ratio, suggesting that the offset between the relations is mainly driven by
differences in stellar populations. We also observe a small offset between our
Tully-Fisher relation with the relation derived for the ATLAS3D sample based on
CO data representing the galaxies' inner regions (< 1 R_eff). This indicates
that the circular velocities at large radii are systematically 10% lower than
those near 0.5-1 R_eff, in line with recent determinations of the shape of the
mass profile of early-type galaxies. The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation of our
sample is distinctly tighter than the standard one, in particular when using
mass-to-light ratios based on dynamical models of the stellar kinematics. We
find that the early-type galaxies fall on the spiral baryonic Tully-Fisher
relation if one assumes M/L_K = 0.54 M_sun/L_sun for the stellar populations of
the spirals, a value similar to that found by recent studies of the dynamics of
spiral galaxies. Such a mass-to-light ratio for spiral galaxies would imply
that their disks are 60-70% of maximal. Our analysis increases the range of
galaxy morphologies for which the baryonic Tully-Fisher relations holds,
strengthening previous claims that it is a more fundamental scaling relation
than the classical Tully-Fisher relation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
The ATLAS3D project - XXV: Two-dimensional kinematic analysis of simulated galaxies and the cosmological origin of fast and slow rotators
We present a detailed two-dimensional stellar dynamical analysis of as ample of 44 cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of individual central galaxies with stellar masses of 2 x 1010Msun ∼≤ Mstar ∼≤ 6x 1011Msun. Kinematic maps of the stellar line-of-sight velocity, velocity dispersion, and higher-order Gauss-Hermite moments h3 and h4 are constructed for each central galaxy and for the most massive satellites. The amount of rotation is quantified using the λR-parameter. The velocity, velocity dispersion, h3, and h4 fields of the simulated galaxies show a diversity similar to observed kinematic maps of early-type galaxies in the ATLAS3D survey. This includes fast (regular), slow, and misaligned rotation, hot spheroids with embedded cold disk components as well as galaxies with counter-rotating cores or central depressions in the velocity dispersion. We link the present-day kinematic properties to the individual cosmological formation histories of the galaxies. In general, major galaxy mergers have a significant influence on the rotation properties resulting in both a spin-down as well as a spin-up of the merger remnant. Lower mass galaxies with significant in-situ formation of stars, or with additional gas-rich major mergers - resulting in a spin-up - in their formation history, form elongated fast rotators with a clear anti-correlation of h3 and v/σ. An additional formation path for fast rotators includes gas-poor major mergers leading to a spin-up of the remnants. This formation path does not result in anti-correlated h3 and v/σ. The galaxies most consistent with the rare class of non-rotating round early-type galaxies grow by gas-poor minor mergers alone. In general, more massive galaxies have less in-situ star formation since z ∼ 2, rotate slower and have older stellar populations. (shortened)PostprintPeer reviewe
Connection between dynamically derived initial mass function normalization and stellar population parameters
Date of Acceptance: 10/08/2014We report on empirical trends between the dynamically determined stellar initial mass function (IMF) and stellar population properties for a complete, volume-limited sample of 260 early-type galaxies from the ATLAS3D project. We study trends between our dynamically derived IMF normalization αdyn ≡ (M/L)stars/(M/L)Salp and absorption line strengths, and interpret these via single stellar population-equivalent ages, abundance ratios (measured as [α/Fe]), and total metallicity, [Z/H]. We find that old and alpha-enhanced galaxies tend to have on average heavier (Salpeter-like) mass normalization of the IMF, but stellar population does not appear to be a good predictor of the IMF, with a large range of αdyn at a given population parameter. As a result, we find weak αdyn-[α/Fe] and αdyn -Age correlations and no significant αdyn -[Z/H] correlation. The observed trends appear significantly weaker than those reported in studies that measure the IMF normalization via the low-mass star demographics inferred through stellar spectral analysis.Peer reviewe
The ATLAS3D project - XXVI : H I discs in real and simulated fast and slow rotators
One quarter of all nearby early-type galaxies (ETGs) outside Virgo host a disc/ring of H I with size from a few to tens of kpc and mass up to ∼109 M⊙. Here we investigate whether this H I is related to the presence of a stellar disc within the host making use of the classification of ETGs in fast and slow rotators (FR/SR). We find a large diversity of H I masses and morphologies within both families. Surprisingly, SRs are detected as often, host as much H I and have a similar rate of H I discs/rings as FRs. Accretion of H I is therefore not always linked to the growth of an inner stellar disc. The weak relation between H I and stellar disc is confirmed by their frequent kinematical misalignment in FRs, including cases of polar and counterrotating gas. In SRs the H I is usually polar. This complex picture highlights a diversity of ETG formation histories which may be lost in the relative simplicity of their inner structure and emerges when studying their outer regions. We find that Λ CDM hydrodynamical simulations have difficulties reproducing the H I properties of ETGs. The gas discs formed in simulations are either too massive or too small depending on the star formation feedback implementation. Kinematical misalignments match the observations only qualitatively. The main point of conflict is that nearly all simulated FRs and a large fraction of all simulated SRs host corotating H I. This establishes the H I properties of ETGs as a novel challenge to simulationsPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
A systematic variation of the stellar initial mass function in early-type galaxies
Much of our knowledge of galaxies comes from analysing the radiation emitted
by their stars. It depends on the stellar initial mass function (IMF)
describing the distribution of stellar masses when the population formed.
Consequently knowledge of the IMF is critical to virtually every aspect of
galaxy evolution. More than half a century after the first IMF determination,
no consensus has emerged on whether it is universal in different galaxies.
Previous studies indicated that the IMF and the dark matter fraction in galaxy
centres cannot be both universal, but they could not break the degeneracy
between the two effects. Only recently indications were found that massive
elliptical galaxies may not have the same IMF as our Milky Way. Here we report
unambiguous evidence for a strong systematic variation of the IMF in early-type
galaxies as a function of their stellar mass-to-light ratio, producing
differences up to a factor of three in mass. This was inferred from detailed
dynamical models of the two-dimensional stellar kinematics for the large
Atlas3D representative sample of nearby early-type galaxies spanning two orders
of magnitude in stellar mass. Our finding indicates that the IMF depends
intimately on a galaxy's formation history.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX. Accepted for publication as a Nature
Letter. More information about our Atlas3D project is available at
http://purl.org/atlas3
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