Bar pattern speed evolution over the last 7 Gyr

The tumbling pattern of a bar is the main parameter characterising its dynamics. From numerical simulations, its evolution since bar formation is tightly linked to the dark halo in which the bar is formed through dynamical friction and angular momentum exchange. Observational measurements of the bar pattern speed with redshift can restrict models of galaxy formation and bar evolution. We aim to determine, for the first time, the bar pattern speed evolution with redshift based on morphological measurements. We have selected a sample of 44 low inclination ringed galaxies from the SDSS and COSMOS surveys covering the redshift range 0 <z< 0.8 to investigate the evolution of the bar pattern speed. We have derived morphological ratios between the deprojected outer ring radius (R_{ring}) and the bar size (R_{bar}). This quantity is related to the parameter {\cal R}=R_{CR}/R_{bar} used for classifiying bars in slow and fast rotators, and allow us to investigate possible differences with redshift. We obtain a similar distribution of $R$ at all redshifts. We do not find any systematic effect that could be forcing this result. The results obtained here are compatible with both, the bulk of the bar population (~70%) being fast-rotators and no evolution of the pattern speed with redshift. We argue that if bars are long-lasting structures, the results presented here imply that there has not been a substantial angular momentum exchange between the bar and halo, as predicted by numerical simulations. In consequence, this might imply that the discs of these high surface-brightness galaxies are maximal.Comment: 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

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$\sigma$ 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

Peanut-shaped bulges in face-on disk galaxies

We present high resolution absorption-line spectroscopy of 3 face-on galaxies, NGC 98, NGC 600, and NGC 1703 with the aim of searching for box/peanut (B/P)-shaped bulges. These observations test and confirm the prediction of Debattista et al. (2005) that face-on B/P-shaped bulges can be recognized by a double minimum in the profile of the fourth-order Gauss-Hermite moment h_4. In NGC 1703, which is an unbarred control galaxy, we found no evidence of a B/P bulge. In NGC 98, a clear double minimum in h_4 is present along the major axis of the bar and before the end of the bar, as predicted. In contrast, in NGC 600, which is also a barred galaxy but lacks a substantial bulge, we do not find a significant B/P shape.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. To appear in "Tumbling, twisting, and winding galaxies: Pattern speeds along the Hubble sequence", E. M. Corsini and V. P. Debattista (eds.), Memorie della Societa` Astronomica Italian

Metallicity inhomogeneities in local star-forming galaxies as sign of recent metal-poor gas accretion

We measure the oxygen metallicity of the ionized gas along the major axis of seven dwarf star-forming galaxies. Two of them, SDSSJ1647+21 and SDSSJ2238+14, show 0.5 dex metallicity decrements in inner regions with enhanced star-formation activity. This behavior is similar to the metallicity drop observed in a number of local tadpole galaxies by Sanchez Almeida et al. (2013) and interpreted as showing early stages of assembling in disk galaxies, with the star formation sustained by external metal-poor gas accretion. The agreement with tadpoles has several implications: (1) it proves that galaxies other than the local tadpoles present the same unusual metallicity pattern. (2) Our metallicity inhomogeneities were inferred using the direct method, thus discarding systematic errors usually attributed to other methods. (3) Taken together with the tadpole data, our findings suggest a threshold around one tenth the solar value for the metallicity drops to show up. Although galaxies with clear metallicity drops are rare, the physical mechanism responsible for them may sustain a significant part of the star-formation activity in the local Universe. We argue that the star-formation dependence of the mass-metallicity relationship, as well as other general properties followed by most local disk galaxies, are naturally interpreted as side effects of pristine gas infall. Alternatives to the metal poor gas accretion are examined too.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 10 pages. 5 Fig