MeerKAT-16 H I observation of the dIrr galaxy WLM

We present observations and models of the kinematics and the distribution of the neutral hydrogen (HI) in the isolated dwarf irregular galaxy, Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte (WLM). We observed WLM with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) and as part of the MeerKAT Early Science Programme, where 16 dishes were available. The HI disc of WLM extends out to a major axis diameter of 30 arcmin (8.5 kpc), and a minor axis diameter of 20 arcmin (5.6 kpc) as measured by the GBT. We use the MeerKAT data to model WLM using the TiRiFiC software suite, allowing us to fit different tilted-ring models and select the one that best matches the observation. Our final best-fitting model is a flat disc with a vertical thickness, a constant inclination and dispersion, and a radially-varying surface brightness with harmonic distortions. To simulate bar-like motions, we include second-order harmonic distortions in velocity in the tangential and the vertical directions. We present a model with only circular motions included and a model with non-circular motions. The latter describes the data better. Overall, the models reproduce the global distribution and the kinematics of the gas, except for some faint emission at the 2-sigma level. We model the mass distribution of WLM with a pseudo-isothermal (ISO) and a Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) dark matter halo models. The NFW and the ISO models fit the derived rotation curves within the formal errors, but with the ISO model giving better reduced chi-square values. The mass distribution in WLM is dominated by dark matter at all radii.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 25 pages, 21 figures, 5 table

JINGLE, a JCMT legacy survey of dust and gas for galaxy evolution studies: II. SCUBA-2 850 μm data reduction and dust flux density catalogues

We present the SCUBA-2 850μm component of JINGLE, the new JCMT large survey for dust and gas in nearby galaxies, which with 193 galaxies is the largest targeted survey of nearby galaxies at 850 μm. We provide details of our SCUBA-2 data reduction pipeline, optimized for slightly extended sources, and including a calibration model adjusted to match conventions used in other far-infrared (FIR) data. We measure total integrated fluxes for the entire JINGLE sample in 10 infrared/submillimetre bands, including all WISE, Herschel-PACS, Herschel-SPIRE, and SCUBA-2 850 μm maps, statistically accounting for the contamination by CO(J = 3-2) in the 850 μm band. Of our initial sample of 193 galaxies, 191 are detected at 250 μm with a ≥5σ significance. In the SCUBA-2 850 μm band we detect 126 galaxies with ≥3σ significance. The distribution of the JINGLE galaxies in FIR/sub-millimetre colour-colour plots reveals that the sample is not well fit by single modified-blackbody models that assume a single dust-emissivity index (β). Instead, our new 850 μm data suggest either that a large fraction of our objects require β < 1.5, or that a model allowing for an excess of sub-mm emission (e.g. a broken dust emissivity law, or a very cold dust component ≲10 K) is required. We provide relations to convert FIR colours to dust temperature and β for JINGLE-like galaxies. For JINGLE the FIR colours correlate more strongly with star-formation rate surface-density rather than the stellar surface-density, suggesting heating of dust is greater due to younger rather than older stellar-populations, consistent with the low proportion of early-type galaxies in the sample

The extended H I halo of NGC 4945 as seen by MeerKAT

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Observations of the neutral atomic hydrogen (H I) in the nuclear starburst galaxy NGC 4945 with MeerKAT are presented. We find a large amount of halo gas, previously missed by H I observations, accounting for 6.8 per cent of the total H I mass. This is most likely gas blown into the halo by star formation. Our maps go down to a 3σ column density level of 5 × 1018 cm−2. We model the H I distribution using tilted-ring fitting techniques and find a warp on the galaxy’s approaching and receding sides. The H I in the northern side of the galaxy appears to be suppressed. This may be the result of ionization by the starburst activity in the galaxy, as suggested by a previous study. The origin of the warp is unclear but could be due to past interactions or ram pressure stripping. Broad, asymmetric H I absorption lines extending throughout the H I emission velocity channels are present towards the nuclear region of NGC 4945. Such broad lines suggest the existence of a nuclear ring moving at a high circular velocity. This is supported by the clear rotation patterns in the H I absorption velocity field. The asymmetry of the absorption spectra can be caused by outflows or inflows of gas in the nuclear region of NGC 4945. The continuum map shows small extensions on both sides of the galaxy’s major axis that might be signs of outflows resulting from the starburst activity. © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.RI acknowledges financial support from grant RTI2018-096228-B-C31 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE) and from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the ‘Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa’ awarded to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017-0709), from the grant IAA4SKA (Ref. R18-RT-3082) from the Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge and Universities Council of the Regional Government of Andalusia and the European Regional Development Fund from the European Union. The MeerKAT telescope is operated by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, which is a facility of the National Research Foundation, an agency of the Department of Science and Innovation. This work is based upon research supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation. The financial assistance of the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) towards this research is hereby acknowledged (www.sarao.ac.za). At Ruhr University Bochum, this research is supported by BMBF Verbundforschung grant 05A20PC4 and by DFG Sonderforschungsbereich SFB1491. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme grant agreement no. 882793, project name MeerGas. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no.679627; project name FORNAX).Peer reviewe

Anomalous gas in ESO 149-G003: A MeerKAT-16 view

ESO 149-G003 is a close-by, isolated dwarf irregular galaxy. Previous observations with the ATCA indicated the presence of anomalous neutral hydrogen (H I) deviating from the kinematics of a regularly rotating disc. We conducted follow-up observations with the MeerKAT radio telescope during the 16-dish Early Science programme as well as with the MeerLICHT optical telescope. Our more sensitive radio observations confirm the presence of anomalous gas in ESO 149-G003, and further confirm the formerly tentative detection of an extraplanar H I component in the galaxy. Employing a simple tilted-ring model, in which the kinematics is determined with only four parameters but including morphological asymmetries, we reproduce the galaxy's morphology, which shows a high degree of asymmetry. By comparing our model with the observed H I, we find that in our model, we cannot account for a significant (but not dominant) fraction of the gas. From the differences between our model and the observed data cube, we estimate that at least 7-8 per cent of the H I in the galaxy exhibits anomalous kinematics, while we estimate a minimum mass fraction of less than 1 per cent for the morphologically confirmed extraplanar component

Star formation and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ELAIS N1 galaxies as seen by AKARI

International audienceWe have examined the relationship between star formation and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a variety of galaxies. PAHs are excited by the ultraviolet photons of young stars, but they are disassociated by strong UV radiation in starbursts. Therefore their emission (which is in the wavelength range covered by AKARI) can be used as a star formation tracer in main sequence galaxies. We selected our targets in the ELAIS N1 field with AKARI detections, matched them with the Herschel Point Source Catalog, and collected other publicly available photometric data. Their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) were fitted, and several parameters of the galaxies were estimated, e.g., star formation rate (SFR), stellar mass, and the fraction of PAHs compared to dust mass (qPAH), and we examined the relationships between these parameters. The final sample consisted of 48 galaxies, with redshifts from 0.04 to 2.36. The estimated qPAH values were lower on average than typical values in the literature. This could be due to various reasons, such as low metallicity, or ongoing active galactic nucleus or starburst activity. Of our sample, 83% of the objects fell in the star-forming main sequence of galaxies, while only 8% could be considered as starbursts. We found a decreasing qPAH trend with increasing AV and consequently LIR, suggesting the possible presence of compact star-forming regions. We compared the qPAH values with the known relations of the PAH luminosities, but they did not always follow the same trends (SFR, LIR), and showed only slight correlation with the PAH luminosities

CARACal:Containerized Automated Radio Astronomy Calibration pipeline

CARACal (Containerized Automated Radio Astronomy Calibration, formerly MeerKATHI) reduces radio-interferometric data. Developed originally as an end-to-end continuum- and line imaging pipeline for MeerKAT, it can also be used with other radio telescopes. CARACal reduces large data sets and produces high-dynamic-range continuum images and spectroscopic data cubes. The pipeline is platform-independent and delivers imaging quality metrics to efficiently assess the data quality