1,268 research outputs found
Comparison of Cultured and Wild Sheepshead Minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus) Health Condition Metrics Used in Toxicity Effects Assessment
Void Statistics in Large Galaxy Redshift Surveys: Does Halo Occupation of Field Galaxies Depend on Environment?
We use measurements of the projected galaxy correlation function w_p and
galaxy void statistics to test whether the galaxy content of halos of fixed
mass is systematically different in low density environments. We present new
measurements of the void probability function (VPF) and underdensity
probability function (UPF) from Data Release Four of the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey, as well as new measurements of the VPF from the full data release of
the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey. We compare these measurements to
predictions calculated from models of the Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD)
that are constrained to match both w_p and the space density of galaxies. The
standard implementation of the HOD assumes that galaxy occupation depends on
halo mass only, and is independent of local environment. For luminosity-defined
samples, we find that the standard HOD prediction is a good match to the
observations, and the data exclude models in which galaxy formation efficiency
is reduced in low-density environments. More remarkably, we find that the void
statistics of red and blue galaxies (at L ~ 0.4L_*) are perfectly predicted by
standard HOD models matched to the correlation function of these samples,
ruling out "assembly bias" models in which galaxy color is correlated with
large-scale environment at fixed halo mass. We conclude that the luminosity and
color of field galaxies are determined predominantly by the mass of the halo in
which they reside and have little direct dependence on the environment in which
the host halo formed. In broader terms, our results show that the sizes and
emptiness of voids found in the distribution of L > 0.2L_* galaxies are in
excellent agreement with the predictions of a standard cosmological model with
a simple connection between galaxies and dark matter halos. (abridged)Comment: 20 emulateapj pages, 9 figures. submitted to Ap
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) : refining the local galaxy merger rate using morphological information
KRVS acknowledges the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) for providing funding for this project, as well as the Government of Catalonia for a research travel grant (ref. 2010 BE-00268) to begin this project at the University of Nottingham. PN acknowledges the support of the Royal Society through the award of a University Research Fellowship and the European Research Council, through receipt of a Starting Grant (DEGAS-259586).We use the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey to measure the local Universe mass-dependent merger fraction and merger rate using galaxy pairs and the CAS (concentration, asymmetry, and smoothness) structural method, which identifies highly asymmetric merger candidate galaxies. Our goals are to determine which types of mergers produce highly asymmetrical galaxies and to provide a new measurement of the local galaxy major merger rate. We examine galaxy pairs at stellar mass limits down to M* = 108 M⊙ with mass ratios of 4:1) the lower mass companion becomes highly asymmetric, whereas the larger galaxy is much less affected. The fraction of highly asymmetric paired galaxies which have a major merger companion is highest for the most massive galaxies and drops progressively with decreasing mass. We calculate that the mass-dependent major merger fraction is fairly constant at ∼1.3–2 per cent within 109.5 < M* < 1011.5 M⊙, and increases to ∼4 per cent at lower masses. When the observability time-scales are taken into consideration, the major merger rate is found to approximately triple over the mass range we consider. The total comoving volume major merger rate over the range 108.0 < M* < 1011.5 M⊙ is (1.2 ± 0.5) × 10−3 h370 Mpc−3 Gyr−1.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Two massive star-forming regions at early evolutionary stages
We report sensitive ATCA radio-continuum observations toward IRAS 15596-5301
and 16272-4837, two luminous objects (> 2x10^4 Lsun) thought to represent
massive star-forming regions in early stages of evolution (due to previously
undetected radio emission at the 1-sigma level of 2 mJy per beam). Also
reported are 1.2-millimeter continuum and a series of molecular-line
observations made with the SEST telescope. For IRAS 15596-5301, the
observations reveal the presence of three distinct compact radio-continuum
sources associated with a dense molecular core. We suggest that this core
contains a cluster of B stars which are exciting compact HII regions that are
in pressure equilibrium with the dense molecular surroundings. No radio
continuum emission was detected from IRAS 16272-4837 (3-sigma limit of 0.2
mJy). However, a dense molecular core has been detected. The high luminosity
and lack of radio emission from this massive core suggests that it hosts an
embedded young massive protostar that is still undergoing an intense accretion
phase. This scenario is supported by the observed characteristics of the line
profiles and the presence of a bipolar outflow detected from observations of
the SiO emission. We suggest that IRAS 16272-4837 is a bona fide massive star-
forming region in a very early evolutionary stage, being the precursor of an
ultra compact HII region.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) : the large-scale structure of galaxies and comparison to mock universes
MA acknowledges funding from the University of St Andrews and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research. ASGR is supported by funding from a UWA Fellowship. PN acknowledges the support of the Royal Society through the award of a University Research Fellowship and the European Research Council, through receipt of a Starting Grant (DEGAS-259586). MJIB acknowledges the financial support of the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship 100100280. TMR acknowledges support from a European Research Council Starting Grant (DEGAS-259586).From a volume-limited sample of 45 542 galaxies and 6000 groups with z ≤ 0.213, we use an adapted minimal spanning tree algorithm to identify and classify large-scale structures within the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. Using galaxy groups, we identify 643 filaments across the three equatorial GAMA fields that span up to 200 h−1 Mpc in length, each with an average of eight groups within them. By analysing galaxies not belonging to groups, we identify a secondary population of smaller coherent structures composed entirely of galaxies, dubbed ‘tendrils’ that appear to link filaments together, or penetrate into voids, generally measuring around 10 h−1 Mpc in length and containing on average six galaxies. Finally, we are also able to identify a population of isolated void galaxies. By running this algorithm on GAMA mock galaxy catalogues, we compare the characteristics of large-scale structure between observed and mock data, finding that mock filaments reproduce observed ones extremely well. This provides a probe of higher order distribution statistics not captured by the popularly used two-point correlation function.Peer reviewe
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) : stellar mass functions by Hubble type
This work was supported by the Austrian Science Foundation FWF under grant P23946. AWG was supported under the Australian Research Council's funding scheme FT110100263.We present an estimate of the galaxy stellar mass function and its division by morphological type in the local (0.025 < z < 0.06) Universe. Adopting robust morphological classifications as previously presented (Kelvin et al.) for a sample of 3727 galaxies taken from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly survey, we define a local volume and stellar mass limited sub-sample of 2711 galaxies to a lower stellar mass limit of M = 109.0 MΘ. We confirm that the galaxy stellar mass function is well described by a double-Schechter function given by Μ* = 1010.64 MΘ, α1 = 0.43, φ1* = 4.18 dex-1 Mpc-3, α2 = −1.50 and φ2* = 0.74 dex-1 Mpc-3. The constituent morphological-type stellar mass functions are well sampled above our lower stellar mass limit, excepting the faint little blue spheroid population of galaxies. We find approximately 71-4+3 per cent of the stellar mass in the local Universe is found within spheroid-dominated galaxies; ellipticals and S0-Sas. The remaining 29-3+4 per cent falls predominantly within late-type disc-dominated systems, Sab-Scds and Sd-Irrs. Adopting reasonable bulge-to-total ratios implies that approximately half the stellar mass today resides in spheroidal structures, and half in disc structures. Within this local sample, we find approximate stellar mass proportions for E : S0-Sa : Sab-Scd : Sd-Irr of 34 : 37 : 24 :5.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
The Imperial IRAS-FSC Redshift Catalogue: luminosity functions, evolution and galaxy bias
We present the luminosity function and selection function of 60 micron
galaxies selected from the Imperial IRAS-FSC Redshift Catalogue (IIFSCz). Three
methods, including the 1/Vmax} and the parametric and non-parametric maximum
likelihood estimator, are used and results agree well with each other. A
density evolution proportional to (1+z)^3.4 or a luminosity evolution exp(1.7
t_L / \tau)$ where t_L is the look-back time is detected in the full sample in
the redshift range [0.02, 0.1], consistent with previous analyses. Of the four
infrared subpopulations, cirrus-type galaxies and M82-type starbursts show
similar evolutionary trends, galaxies with significant AGN contributions show
stronger positive evolution and Arp 220-type starbursts exhibit strong negative
evolution. The dominant subpopulation changes from cirrus-type galaxies to
M82-type starbursts at log (L_60 / L_Sun) ~ 10.3.
In the second half of the paper, we derive the projected two-point spatial
correlation function for galaxies of different infrared template type. The mean
relative bias between cirrus-type galaxies and M82-type starbursts, which
correspond to quiescent galaxies with optically thin interstellar dust and
actively star-forming galaxies respectively, is calculated to be around 1.25.
The relation between current star formation rate (SFR) in star-forming galaxies
and environment is investigated by looking at the the dependence of clustering
on infrared luminosity. We found that M82-type actively star-forming galaxies
show stronger clustering as infrared luminosity / SFR increases. The
correlation between clustering strength and SFR in the local Universe seems to
echo the basic trend seen in star-forming galaxies in the Great Observatories
Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) fields at z ~ 1.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
The dwarf galaxy population in Abell 2218
We present results from a deep photometric study of the rich galaxy cluster
Abell 2218 (z=0.18) based on archival HST WFPC2 F606W images. These have been
used to derive the luminosity function to extremely faint limits
(M_{F606W}=-13.2 mag, mu_{0}=24.7 mag arcsec^{-2}) over a wide field of view
(1.3 h^{-2} Mpc^2). We find the faint-end slope of the luminosity function to
vary with environment within the cluster, going from alpha=-1.23\pm0.13 within
the projected central core of the cluster (100 < r < 300 h^{-1} kpc) to
alpha=-1.49\pm 0.06 outside this radius (300 < r < 750 h^{-1} kpc). We infer
that the core is 'dwarf depleted', and further quantify this by studying the
ratio of 'dwarf' to 'giant' galaxies and its dependency as a function of
cluster-centric radius and local galaxy density. We find that this ratio varies
strongly with both quantities, and that the dwarf galaxy population in A2218
has a more extended distribution than the giant galaxy population.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 11 pages, 12 figure
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