1.65mic (H-band) surface photometry of galaxies. VI: The history of star formation in normal late-type galaxies

We have collected a large body of NIR (H band), UV (2000 A) and Halpha measurements of late-type galaxies. These are used, jointly with spectral evolutionary synthesis models, to study the initial mass function (IMF) in the mass range m > 2 Mo. For spirals (Sa-Sd), Magellanic irregulars (Im) and blue compact dwarfs (BCD), our determination is consistent with a Salpeter IMF with an upper mass cutoff M_up = 80 Mo. The history of star formation and the amount of total gas (per unit mass) of galaxies are found to depend primarily on their total masses (as traced by the H band luminosities) and only secondarily on morphological type. The present star formation activity of massive spirals is up to 100 times smaller than that average over their lifetime, while in low mass galaxies it is comparable to or higher than that at earlier epochs. Dwarf galaxies have presently larger gas reservoirs per unit mass than massive spirals. The efficiency in transforming gas into stars and the time scale for gas depletion (10 Gyrs) are independent of the luminosity and/or of the morphological type. These evidences are consistent with the idea that galaxies are coeval systems,that they evolved as closed-boxes forming stars following a simple, universal star formation law whose characteristic time scale is small (1 Gyr) in massive spirals and large (10 Gyr) in low mass galaxies. A similar conclusion was drawn by Gavazzi and Scodeggio (1996) to explain the colour-magnitude relation of late-type galaxies. The consequences of this interpretation on the evolution of the star formation rate and of the gas density per comoving volume of the Universe with look-back time are discussed.Comment: LaTex, 24 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication on Astronomical Journa

Introducing GOLDMine: A new Galaxy Database on the WEB

The new World Wide Web site "GOLDMine" (Galaxy On Line Database Milano Network) (http://goldmine.mib.infn.it) contains a multiwavelength data-base of an optically selected sample of 3267 galaxies in the Virgo cluster and in the Coma Supercluster. It is designed for professional astronomers who wish to find data and images for these galaxies. Data, gathered in 15 years of observational campaigns by the authors or taken from the literature include general parameters (catalogue names, celestial coordinates, morphological type, recessional velocity etc.); multiwavelength continuum photometry (total UV, U, B, V, J, H, K, FIR and radio magnitudes/flux densities); line photometry (HI, H_2, H_alpha); dynamical parameters (rotational velocity from the HI and H_alpha lines, velocity dispersion) and structural parameters (light concentration index, effective radius and brightness, asymptotic magnitude) in the optical (B and V) and Near Infrared (H or K) bands. Images include finding charts, optical (B and V), H_alpha, Near Infrared (H and/or K) and true color RGB frames (when available). Radial light profiles obtained from the B, V, H or K band images are also available. Integrated optical spectra along with broad Spectral Energy Distributions (SED) from the UV to the radio domain are given. All images can be obtained in JPG format, but the original (reduced) FITS images can be downloaded as well. The database will be updated regularly and will be extended to other local clusters and superclusters. Astronomers who wish to have their images included in GOLDMine are strongly encouraged to send us their material.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for pubblication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Radio continuum spectra of galaxies in the Virgo cluster region

New radio continuum observations of galaxies in the Virgo cluster region at 4.85, 8.6, and 10.55 GHz are presented. These observations are combined with existing measurements at 1.4 and 0.325 GHz. The sample includes 81 galaxies were spectra with more than two frequencies could be derived. Galaxies that show a radio-FIR excess exhibit central activity (HII, LINER, AGN). The four Virgo galaxies with the highest absolute radio excess are found within 2 degrees of the center of the cluster. Galaxies showing flat radio spectra also host active centers. There is no clear trend between the spectral index and the galaxy's distance to the cluster center.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in A&

Mid--IR emission of galaxies in the Virgo cluster: II. Integrated properties

We analyse the integrated properties of the Mid-IR emission of a complete, optically selected sample of galaxies in the Virgo cluster observed with the ISOCAM instrument on board the ISO satellite. The analysis shows that the Mid-IR emission up to 15 mic of optically-selected, normal early-type galaxies (E, S0 and S0a) is dominated by the Rayleigh-Jeans tail of the cold stellar component. The Mid-IR emission of late-type galaxies is instead dominated by the thermal emission from dust. The small dust grains emitting in the Mid-IR have an excess of emission if compared to big grains emitting in the Far-IR. While the Far-IR emission increases with the intensity of the interstellar radiation field, their Mid-IR emission is non--linearly related to the UV radiation field. The spectral energy distributions of the target galaxies indicate that there is a linear relationship between the UV radiation field and the Mid-IR emission of galaxies for low or intermediate activities of star formation, while the emission from the hot dust seems to drop for strong UV fields. The Mid-IR colour of late-type galaxies is not related to their activity of star formation. The properties of the dust emission in the Mid-IR seem more related to the mass than to the morphological type of the target galaxy. Since the activity of star formation is anticorrelated to the mass of galaxies, this reflects a relationship between the emission of dust in the Mid-IR and the UV radiation field: galaxies with the lowest Mid-IR emission for a given UV field are low mass, dwarf galaxies. These observational evidences are easily explained if the carriers of the Unidentified Infrared Bands that dominate the 6.75 mic emission are destroyed by the intense UV radiation field of dwarf galaxies, although abundance effects can also play a role.Comment: 17 pages, Latex, 7 figures; to be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Main Journal; Figure legend should be corrected in: 1 - 1a; 2 - 1b; 3 - 2; 4 - 3a; 5 - 3b; 6 - 3c; 7 - 3d; 8 - 3e; 9 - 4; 10 - 5; 11 - 6; 12 -

The census of nuclear activity of late-type galaxies in the Virgo cluster

The first spectroscopic census of AGNs associated to late-type galaxies in the Virgo cluster is carried on by observing 213 out of a complete set of 237 galaxies more massive than M_dyn>10^{8.5} solar masses. Among them, 77 are classified as AGNs (including 21 transition objects, 47 LINERs and 9 Seyferts), and comprize 32% of the late-type galaxies in Virgo. Due to spectroscopic incompleteness at most 21 AGNs are missed in the survey, so that the fraction would increase up to 41%. Using corollary Near-IR observations, that enable us to estimate galaxies dynamical masses, it is found that AGNs are hosted exclusively in massive galaxies, i.e. M_dyn\gsim 10^{10} solar masses. Their frequency increases steeply with the dynamical mass from zero at M_dyn\approx10^{9.5} solar masses to virtually 1 at M_dyn>10^{11.5} solar masses. These frequencies are consistent with the ones of low luminosity AGNs found in the general field by the SDSS. Massive galaxies that harbor AGNs commonly show conspicuous r-band star-like nuclear enhancements. Conversely they often, but not necessarily contain massive bulges. Few well known AGNs (e.g. M61, M100, NGC4535) are found in massive Sc galaxies with little or no bulge. The AGN fraction seems to be only marginally sensitive to galaxy environment. We infer the black hole masses using the known scaling relations of quiescent black holes. No black holes lighter than $\sim 10^6$ \msol are found active in our sample.Comment: The paper contains 13 figures and 5 tables; accepted for publication in MNRA

Campus and Community Leadership in the Spotlight: How University Presidents and City Managers View Town/Gown Relationships

This paper begins by reviewing literature that underscores the critical role university presidents play in establishing functional campus/community relationships. Using the metaphor of marriage, a conceptual and methodological framework is offered for understanding and assessing the quality of the town/gown interaction. The presentation of a town/gown relationship model based on the twin dimensions of effort and comfort levels sets the stage for the presentation of results from interviews conducted with university presidents and city managers that focused specific attention on their perceptions of town/gown relationship types. More specifically, these leaders were asked to discuss the type of relationship they inherited at the start of their tenure, as well as how the town/gown interactions in which they were immersed had evolved over time. Finally, themes are presented as a set of “Town/Gown Ten Commandments” that highlight the critical role both campus and community leaders play in the development and maintenance of harmonious town/gown relationships

Teaching Excellence: The Core of the Land-Grant Mission

The tripartite mission of the land-grant university – teaching, research, and community engagement – has evolved over the course of the past 150 years. The intensified concentration on empirical activities in the last half century, however, is thought to have created a mission-related imbalance that often has relegated teaching and community engagement activities to second-tier status within the academy. In tandem, there have been several unforced errors on the part of universities that have diminished the public’s belief in the return on investment associated with a college degree. The argument is made for an increased emphasis on teaching and learning activities in order to properly align the land-grant mission for the 21st century needs of our nation

The tilt of the Fundamental Plane of Early-type galaxies: wavelength dependence

The photometric parameters R_e and mu_e of 74 early-type (E+S0+S0a) galaxies in the Coma cluster are derived for the first time in the near IR H band. These are used, coupled with measurements of the central velocity dispersion found in the literature, to determine the H band Fundamental Plane (FP) relation of this cluster. The same procedure is applied to previously available photometric data in the B, V, r, I, and K bands, to perform a multi-wavelength study of the FP. Because systematic uncertainties in the value of the FP parameters are introduced both by the choice of the fitting algorithm, and by the presence of statistical biases connected with the sample selection procedure, we emphasize the importance of deriving the FP parameters in the six photometric bands using an identical fitting algorithm, and appropriate corrections to eliminate the effects of sample incompleteness. We find that the FP mu_e coefficient is stable with wavelength, while the sigma coefficient increases significantly with increasing wavelength, in agreement with an earlier result presented by Pahre & Djorgovski. The slope of the FP relation, although changing with wavelength, never approaches the virial theorem expectation. We also find that the magnitude of the slope change can be entirely explained by the presence of the well known relation between color and magnitude among early-type galaxies. We conclude that the tilt of the Fundamental Plane is significant, and must be due to some form of broken homology among early-type galaxies, while its wavelength dependence derives from whatever mechanism (currently the preferred one is the existence of a mass-metal content sequence) produces the color-magnitude relation in those galaxies.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables; table 3 should be printed in landscape mode, and inserted into the text. Accepted for publication in MNRA

1.65 micron (H-band) surface photometry of galaxies. VIII: the near-IR k-space at z=0

We present the distribution of a statistical sample of nearby galaxies in the k-space (k1 ~ log M, k2 ~ log Ie, k3 ~ log M/L). Our study is based on near-IR (H-band: lambda = 1.65 micron) observations, for the first time comprising early- and late-type systems. Our data confirm that the mean effective dynamical mass-to-light ratio M/L of the E+S0+S0a galaxies increases with increasing effective dynamical mass M, as expected from the existence of the Fundamental Plane relation. Conversely, spiral and Im/BCD galaxies show a broad distribution in M/L with no detected trend of M/L with M, the former galaxies having M/L values about twice larger than the latter, on average. For all the late-type galaxies, the M/L increases with decreasing effective surface intensity Ie, consistent with the existence of the Tully--Fisher relation. These results are discussed on the basis of the assumptions behind the construction of the k-space and their limitations. Our study is complementary to a previous investigation in the optical (B-band: lambda = 0.44 micron) and allows us to study wavelength-dependences of the galaxy distribution in the k-space. As a first result, we find that the galaxy distribution in the k1--k2 plane reproduces the transition from bulge-less to bulge-dominated systems in galaxies of increasing dynamical mass. Conversely, it appears that the M/L of late-types is higher (lower) than that of early-types with the same M in the near-IR (optical). The origins of this behaviour are discussed in terms of dust attenuation and star formation history.Comment: 11 pages, 1 Postscript table, 3 Postscript figures, accepted for publication in MNRA