475 research outputs found
The Unusual Spectral Energy Distribution of a Galaxy Previously Reported to be at Redshift 6.68
Observations of distant galaxies are important both for understanding how
galaxies form and for probing the physical conditions of the universe at the
earliest epochs. It is, however, extremely difficult to identify galaxies at
redshift z>5, because these galaxies are faint and exhibit few spectral
features. In a previous work, we presented observations that supported the
identification of a galaxy at redshift z = 6.68 in a deep STIS field. Here we
present new ground-based photometry of the galaxy. We find that the galaxy
exhibits moderate detections of flux in the optical B and V images that are
inconsistent with the expected absence of flux at wavelength shortward of the
redshifted Lyman-alpha emission line of a galaxy at redshift z>5. In addition,
the new broad-band imaging data not only show flux measurements of this galaxy
that are incompatible with the previous STIS measurement, but also suggest a
peculiar spectral energy distribution that cannot be fit with any galaxy
spectral template at any redshift. We therefore conclude that the redshift
identification of this galaxy remains undetermined.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures; To appear in Nature (30 November 2000
Photometry and Photometric Redshifts of Faint Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field South NICMOS Field
We present a catalog of photometry and photometric redshifts of 335 faint
objects in the HDF-S NICMOS field. The analysis is based on (1) infrared images
obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) using the Near Infrared Camera
and Multi-Object Spectrograph (NICMOS) with the F110W, F160W, and F222M
filters, (2) an optical image obtained with HST using the Space Telescope
Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) with no filter, and (3) optical images obtained
with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) with U,
B, V, R, and I filters. The primary utility of the catalog of photometric
redshifts is as a survey of faint galaxies detected in the NICMOS F160W and
F222M images. The sensitivity of the survey varies significantly with position,
reaching a limiting depth of AB(16,000) ~ 28.7 and covering 1.01 arcmin^2 to
AB(16,000) = 27 and 1.05 arcmin^2 to AB(16,000) = 26.5. The catalog of
photometric redshifts identifies 21 galaxies (or 6% of the total) of redshift z
> 5, 8 galaxies (or 2% of the total) of redshift z > 10, and 11 galaxies (or 3%
of the total) of best-fit spectral type E/S0, of which 5 galaxies (or 1% of the
total) are of redshift z > 1.Comment: 33 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal, August 1, 2000 issu
The Star Formation Rate Intensity Distribution Function--Implications for the Cosmic Star Formation Rate History of the Universe
We address the effects of cosmological surface brightness dimming on
observations of faint galaxies by examining the distribution of "unobscured"
star formation rate intensities versus redshift. We use the star formation rate
intensity distribution function to assess the ultraviolet luminosity density
versus redshift, based on our photometry and photometric redshift measurements
of faint galaxies in the HDF and the HDF--S WFPC2 and NICMOS fields. We find
that (1) previous measurements have missed a dominant fraction of the
ultraviolet luminosity density of the universe at high redshifts by neglecting
cosmological surface brightness dimming effects, which are important at
redshifts larger than z = 2, (2) the incidence of the highest intensity star
forming regions increases monotonically with redshift, and (3) the ultraviolet
luminosity density plausibly increases monotonically with redshift through the
highest redshifts observed. By measuring the spectrum of the luminosity density
versus redshift, we also find that (4) previous measurements of the ultraviolet
luminosity density at redshifts z < 2 must be reduced by a factor 2 to allow
for the spectrum of the luminosity density between rest-frame wavelengths 1500
and 2800 A. And by comparing with observations of high-redshift damped
Lyman-alpha absorption systems detected toward background QSOs, we further find
that (5) the distribution of star formation rate intensities matches the
distribution of neutral hydrogen column densities at redshifts z = 2 through 5,
which establishes a quantitative connection between high-redshift galaxies and
high column density gas and suggests that high-redshift damped Lyman-alpha
absorption systems trace lower star formation rate intensity regions of the
same galaxies detected in star light in the HDF and HDF--S.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
A unique talin homologue with a villin headpiece-like domain is required for multicellular morphogenesis in Dictyostelium
AbstractMolecules involved in the interaction between the extracellular matrix, cell membrane and cytoskeleton are of central importance in morphogenesis. Talin is a large cytoskeletal protein with a modular structure consisting of an amino-terminal membrane-interacting domain, with sequence similarities to members of the band 4.1 family, and a carboxy-terminal region containing F-actin-binding and vinculin-binding domains [1,2]. It also interacts with the cytoplasmic tail of ÎČ integrins which, on the external face of the membrane, bind to extracellular matrix proteins [3]. The possible roles of talin in multicellular morphogenesis in development remain largely unexplored. In Dictyostelium, a eukaryotic microorganism capable of multicellular morphogenesis, a talin homologue (TALA) has previously been identified and shown to play an important role in cell-to-substrate adhesion and maintenance of normal elastic properties of the cell [4â6]. Here, we describe a second talin homologue (TALB) that is required for multicellular morphogenesis in the development of Dictyostelium. Unlike any other talin characterised to date, it contains an additional carboxy-terminal domain homologous to the villin headpiece
Damped Lyman-alpha Absorption Associated with an Early-Type Galaxy at Redshift z = 0.16377
We report new HST and ground-based observations of a damped Lyman-alpha
absorption system toward the QSO 0850+4400. The redshift of the absorption
system is z = 0.163770 and the neutral hydrogen column density of the
absorption system is log N = 19.81 cm**-2. The absorption system is by far the
lowest redshift confirmed damped Lyman-alpha absorption system yet identified,
which provides an unprecedented opportunity to examine the nature, impact
geometry, and kinematics of the absorbing galaxy in great detail. The
observations indicate that the absorption system is remarkable in three
respects: First, the absorption system is characterized by weak metal
absorption lines and a low metal abundance, possibly less than 4% of the solar
metal abundance. This cannot be explained as a consequence of dust, because the
neutral hydrogen column density of the absorption system is far too low for
obscuration by dust to introduce any significant selection effects. Second, the
absorption system is associated with a moderate-luminosity early-type S0
galaxy, although the absorption may actually arise in one of several very faint
galaxies detected very close to the QSO line of sight. Third, the absorbing
material moves counter to the rotating galaxy disk, which rules out the
possibility that the absorption arises in a thin or thick co-rotating gaseous
disk. These results run contrary to the expectation that low-redshift damped
Lyman-alpha absorption systems generally arise in the gas- and metal-rich inner
parts of late-type spiral galaxies. We suggest instead that mounting evidence
indicates that low-redshift galaxies of a variety of morphological types may
contain significant quantities of low metal abundance gas at large
galactocentric distances.Comment: 15 pages, LaTex, 4 figures, to be published in The Astronomical
Journa
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