447 research outputs found
Properties of bars in the local universe
We studied the fraction and properties of bars in a sample of about 3000
galaxies extracted from SDSS-DR5. This represents a volume limited sample with
galaxies located between redshift 0.01-20, and
inclination i < 60. Interacting galaxies were excluded from the sample. The
fraction of barred galaxies in our sample is 45%. We found that 32% of S0s, 55%
of early-type spirals, and 52% of late-type spirals are barred galaxies. The
bars in S0s galaxies are weaker than those in later-type galaxies. The bar
length and galaxy size are correlated, being larger bars located in larger
galaxies. Neither the bar strength nor bar length correlate with the local
galaxy density. On the contrary, the bar properties correlate with the
properties of their host galaxies. Galaxies with higher central light
concentration host less and weaker bars.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure to appear in the proceedings of "Formation and
Evolution of Galaxy Disks", Rome, October 2007, Eds. J. Funes and E. M.
Corsin
Optical Surface Photometry of a Sample of Disk Galaxies. II Structural Components
This work presents the structural decomposition of a sample of 11 disk
galaxies, which span a range of different morphological types. The U, B, V, R,
and I photometric information given in Paper I (color and color-index images
and luminosity, ellipticity, and position-angle profiles) has been used to
decide what types of components form the galaxies before carrying out the
decomposition. We find and model such components as bulges, disks, bars, lenses
and rings.Comment: 14 figures. Accepted for publication in A&
Structural properties of disk galaxies I. The intrinsic ellipticity of bulges
(Abridged) A variety of formation scenarios was proposed to explain the
diversity of properties observed in bulges. Studying their intrinsic shape can
help in constraining the dominant mechanism at the epochs of their assembly.
The structural parameters of a magnitude-limited sample of 148 unbarred S0--Sb
galaxies were derived in order to study the correlations between bulges and
disks as well as the probability distribution function (PDF) of the intrinsic
equatorial ellipticity of bulges. It is presented a new fitting algorithm
(GASP2D) to perform the two-dimensional photometric decomposition of galaxy
surface-brightness distribution. This was assumed to be the sum of the
contribution of a bulge and disk component characterized by elliptical and
concentric isophotes with constant (but possibly different) ellipticity and
position angles. Bulge and disk parameters of the sample galaxies were derived
from the J-band images which were available in the Two Micron All Sky Survey.
The PDF of the equatorial ellipticity of the bulges was derived from the
distribution of the observed ellipticities of bulges and misalignments between
bulges and disks. Strong correlations between the bulge and disk parameters
were found. About 80% of bulges in unbarred lenticular and
early-to-intermediate spiral galaxies are not oblate but triaxial ellipsoids.
Their mean axial ratio in the equatorial plane is = 0.85. There is not
significant dependence of their PDF on morphology, light concentration, and
luminosity. The interplay between bulge and disk parameters favors scenarios in
which bulges assembled from mergers and/or grew over long times through disk
secular evolution. But all these mechanisms have to be tested against the
derived distribution of bulge intrinsic ellipticities.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, corrected
proof
Harassment Origin for Kinematic Substructures in Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies?
We have run high resolution N-body models simulating the encounter of a dwarf
galaxy with a bright elliptical galaxy. The dwarf absorbs orbital angular
momentum and shows counter-rotating features in the external regions of the
galaxy. To explain the core-envelope kinematic decoupling observed in some
dwarf galaxies in high-density environments requires nearly head-on collisions
and very little dark matter bound to the dwarf. These kinematic structures
appear under rather restrictive conditions. As a consequence, in a cluster like
Virgo ~1% of dwarf galaxies may present counter-rotation formed by harassment.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures; Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Direct Confirmation of Two Pattern Speeds in the Double Barred Galaxy NGC 2950
We present surface photometry and stellar kinematics of NGC 2950, which is a
nearby and undisturbed SB0 galaxy hosting two nested stellar bars. We use the
Tremaine-Weinberg method to measure the pattern speed of the primary bar. This
also permits us to establish directly and for the first time that the two
nested bars are rotating with different pattern speeds, and in particular that
the rotation frequency of the secondary bar is higher than that of the primary
one.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures. To appear in ApJ Letter
The relation between bar formation, galaxy luminosity, and environment
We derive the bar fraction in three different environments ranging from the
field to Virgo and Coma clusters, covering an unprecedentedly large range of
galaxy luminosities (or, equivalently, stellar masses). We confirm that the
fraction of barred galaxies strongly depends on galaxy luminosity. We also show
that the difference between the bar fraction distributions as a function of
galaxy luminosity (and mass) in the field and Coma cluster are statistically
significant, with Virgo being an intermediate case. We interpret this result as
a variation of the effect of environment on bar formation depending on galaxy
luminosity. We speculate that brighter disk galaxies are stable enough against
interactions to keep their cold structure, thus, the interactions are able to
trigger bar formation. For fainter galaxies the interactions become strong
enough to heat up the disks inhibiting bar formation and even destroying the
disks. Finally, we point out that the controversy regarding whether the bar
fraction depends on environment could be resolved by taking into account the
different luminosity ranges of the galaxy samples studied so far.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of EWASS 2012
Special Session 4, Structure of galaxy disks shaped by secular evolution and
environmental processes, ed. P. Di Matteo and C. Jog, Memorie della Societ\`a
Astronomica Italiana Supplement Serie
The intrinsic three-dimensional shape of galactic bars
We present the first statistical study on the intrinsic three-dimensional
(3D) shape of a sample of 83 galactic bars extracted from the CALIFA survey. We
use the galaXYZ code to derive the bar intrinsic shape with a statistical
approach. The method uses only the geometric information (ellipticities and
position angles) of bars and discs obtained from a multi-component photometric
decomposition of the galaxy surface-brightness distributions. We find that bars
are predominantly prolate-triaxial ellipsoids (68%), with a small fraction of
oblate-triaxial ellipsoids (32%). The typical flattening (intrinsic C/A
semiaxis ratio) of the bars in our sample is 0.34, which matches well the
typical intrinsic flattening of stellar discs at these galaxy masses. We
demonstrate that, for prolate-triaxial bars, the intrinsic shape of bars
depends on the galaxy Hubble type and stellar mass (bars in massive S0 galaxies
are thicker and more circular than those in less massive spirals). The bar
intrinsic shape correlates with bulge, disc, and bar parameters. In particular
with the bulge-to-total (B/T) luminosity ratio, disc g-r color, and central
surface brightness of the bar, confirming the tight link between bars and their
host galaxies. Combining the probability distributions of the intrinsic shape
of bulges and bars in our sample we show that 52% (16%) of bulges are thicker
(flatter) than the surrounding bar at 1 level. We suggest that these
percentages might be representative of the fraction of classical and disc-like
bulges in our sample, respectively.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
A minor-merger origin for inner disks and rings in early-type galaxies
Nuclear disks and rings are frequent galaxy substructures, for a wide range
of morphological types (from S0 to Sc). We have investigated the possible
minor-merger origin of inner disks and rings in spiral galaxies through
collisionless N-body simulations. The models confirm that minor mergers can
drive the formation of thin, kinematically-cold structures in the center of
galaxies out of satellite material, without requiring the previous formation of
a bar. Satellite core particles tend to be deposited in circular orbits in the
central potential, due to the strong circularization experienced by the
satellite orbit through dynamical friction. The material of the satellite core
reaches the remnant center if satellites are dense or massive, building up a
thin inner disk; whereas it is fully disrupted before reaching the center in
the case of low-mass satellites, creating an inner ring instead.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of the conference "Hunting for the
Dark: The Hidden Side of Galaxy Formation", held in Malta, 19-23 Oct. 2009,
ed. V. Debattista and C. C. Popescu, AIP Conf. Ser., in pres
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