7 research outputs found
Stellar Populations in Bulges
We present line strengths in the bulges and inner disks of 38 galaxies in the
local universe, including several galaxies whose bulges were previously
identified as being disk-like in their colors or kinematics, to see if their
spectral properties reveal evidence for secular evolution. We find that red
bulges of all Hubble types are similar to luminous ellipticals in their central
stellar populations. They have large luminosity-weighted ages, metallicities,
and alpha/Fe ratios. Blue bulges can be separated into a metal-poor class that
is restricted to late-types with small velocity dispersion and a young,
metal-rich class that includes all Hubble types and velocity dispersions.
Luminosity-weighted metallicities and alpha/Fe ratios are sensitive to central
velocity dispersion and maximum disk rotational velocity. Red bulges and
ellipticals follow the same scaling relations. We see differences in some
scaling relations between blue and red bulges and between bulges of barred and
unbarred galaxies. Most bulges have decreasing metallicity with increasing
radius; galaxies with larger central metallicities have steeper gradients.
Where positive age gradients (with the central regions being younger) are
present, they are invariably in barred galaxies. The metallicities of bulges
are correlated with those of their disks. While this and the differences
between barred and unbarred galaxies suggest that secular evolution cannot be
ignored, our results are generally consistent with the hypothesis that mergers
have been the dominant mechanism responsible for bulge formation.Comment: 30 pages, 21 figures; submitted to MNRA
The rotation curves of dwarf galaxies: a problem for Cold Dark Matter?
We address the issue of accuracy in recovering density profiles from
observations of rotation curves of galaxies. We ``observe'' and analyze our
models in much the same way as observers do the real galaxies. We find that the
tilted ring model analysis produces an underestimate of the central rotational
velocity. In some cases the galaxy halo density profile seems to have a flat
core, while in reality it does not. We identify three effects, which explain
the systematic biases: (1) inclination (2), small bulge, and (3) bar. The
presence of even a small non-rotating bulge component reduces the rotation
velocity. In the case of a disk with a bar, the underestimate of the circular
velocity is larger due to a combination of non-circular motions and random
velocities. Signatures of bars can be difficult to detect in the surface
brightness profiles of the model galaxies. The variation of inclination angle
and isophote position angle with radius are more reliable indicators of bar
presence than the surface brightness profiles. The systematic biases in the
central ~ 1 kpc of galaxies are not large. Each effect separately gives
typically a few kms error, but the effects add up. In some cases the error in
circular velocity was a factor of two, but typically we get about 20 percent.
The result is the false inference that the density profile of the halo flattens
in the central parts. Our observations of real galaxies show that for a large
fraction of galaxies the velocity of gas rotation (as measured by emission
lines) is very close to the rotation of stellar component (as measured by
absorption lines). This implies that the systematic effects discussed in this
paper are also applicable both for the stars and emission-line gas.Comment: ApJ, in press, 30 pages, Latex, 21 .eps figure
The First Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has validated and made publicly available its
First Data Release. This consists of 2099 square degrees of five-band (u, g, r,
i, z) imaging data, 186,240 spectra of galaxies, quasars, stars and calibrating
blank sky patches selected over 1360 square degrees of this area, and tables of
measured parameters from these data. The imaging data go to a depth of r ~ 22.6
and are photometrically and astrometrically calibrated to 2% rms and 100
milli-arcsec rms per coordinate, respectively. The spectra cover the range
3800--9200 A, with a resolution of 1800--2100. Further characteristics of the
data are described, as are the data products themselves.Comment: Submitted to The Astronomical Journal. 16 pages. For associated
documentation, see http://www.sdss.org/dr
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The First Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has validated and made publicly available its First Data Release. This consists of 2099 deg2 of five-band (u, g, r, i, z) imaging data, 186,240 spectra of galaxies, quasars, stars and calibrating blank sky patches selected over 1360 deg2 of this area, and tables of measured parameters from these data. The imaging data go to a depth of r ≈ 22.6 and are photometrically and astrometrically calibrated to 2% rms and 100 mas rms per coordinate, respectively. The spectra cover the range 3800–9200 Å, with a resolution of 1800–2100. This paper describes the characteristics of the data with emphasis on improvements since the release of commissioning data (the SDSS Early Data Release) and serves as a pointer to extensive published and on-line documentation of the survey.Astronom