3,521 research outputs found
Completing HI observations of galaxies II. The Coma Supercluster
High sensitivity 21-cm HI line observations, with an rms noise level of \sim
0.5 mJy, were made of 35 spiral galaxies in the Coma Supercluster, using the
refurbished Arecibo telescope, which resulted in the detection of 25 objects.
These data, combined with the measurements available from the literature,
provide the set of HI data for 94% of all late-type galaxies in the Coma
Supercluster with an apparent photographic magnitude m_p <15.7 mag. We confirm
that the typical scale of HI deficiency around the Coma cluster is 2 Mpc, i.e.
one virial radius. Comparing the HI mass function (HIMF) of cluster with
non-cluster members of the Coma Supercluster we detect a shortage of high HI
mass galaxies among cluster members that can be ascribed to the pattern of HI
deficiency found in rich clusters.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication on A&
The dependence of HII region properties on global and local surface brightness within galaxy discs
Using B, R, and H-alpha images of roughly equal-sized samples of low surface
brightness (LSB) and high surface brightness (HSB) galaxies (~40 galaxies
apiece), we have explored the dependence of HII region properties on local and
global disc surface brightness. We have done this by constructing co-added HII
region luminosity functions (LFs) according to local and central disc surface
brightness and fitting Schechter functions to these LFs. The results show that
the shape of the HII region LF within LSB galaxies does not change noticeably
as different limiting (i.e., mu>mu_lim) local surface brightness values are
used. However, the LFs for HSB galaxies have larger values of L_* and are less
steep at the faint-end than those of LSB galaxies for limiting B-band local
surface brightness values as faint as mu_B,lim~23-24. Both the LFs and the data
for individual HII regions show that luminous (log L>39 ergs/s) HII regions are
much more common within HSB discs than within LSB discs, implying that the
newly formed star clusters are also larger. Taking this into account along with
the results of Monte Carlo simulations, the shapes of the LFs imply that the
regions within LSB discs and those within the LSB areas of HSB discs are
relatively old (~5 Myr) while the regions within HSB discs for mu_B<24 are
significantly younger (<1 Myr). Since the majority of the LSB galaxies do not
have noticeable spiral arms and the majority of the HSB galaxies do, this may
indicate a transition within HSB discs from spiral arm-driven star formation to
a more locally driven, possibly sporadic form of star formation at mu_B~24, a
transition that does not appear to occur within LSB discs.Comment: Accepted to MNRA
Completing HI observations of galaxies in the Virgo cluster
High sensitivity (rms noise mJy) 21-cm HI line observations were
made of 33 galaxies in the Virgo cluster, using the refurbished Arecibo
telescope, which resulted in the detection of 12 objects. These data, combined
with the measurements available from the literature, provide the first set of
HI data that is complete for all 355 late-type (Sa-Im-BCD) galaxies in the
Virgo cluster with mag. The Virgo cluster HI mass function
(HIMF) that was derived for this optically selected galaxy sample is in
agreement with the HIMF derived for the Virgo cluster from the blind HIJASS HI
survey and is inconsistent with the Field HIMF. This indicates that both in
this rich cluster and in the general field, neutral hydrogen is primarily
associated with late-type galaxies, with marginal contributions from early-type
galaxies and isolated HI clouds. The inconsistency between the cluster and the
field HIMF derives primarily from the difference in the optical luminosity
function of late-type galaxies in the two environments, combined with the HI
deficiency that is known to occur in galaxies in rich clusters.Comment: accepted for publication on A&
Strangers in the night: Discovery of a dwarf spheroidal galaxy on its first Local Group infall
We present spectroscopic observations of the AndXII dwarf spheroidal galaxy
using DEIMOS/Keck-II, showing it to be moving rapidly through the Local Group
(-556 km/s heliocentric velocity, -281 km/s relative to Andromeda from the MW),
falling into the Local Group from ~115 kpc beyond Andromeda's nucleus. AndXII
therefore represents a dwarf galaxy plausibly falling into the Local Group for
the first time, and never having experienced a dense galactic environment. From
Green Bank Telescope observations, a limit on the H{I} gas mass of <3000 Msun
suggests that AndXII's gas could have been removed prior to experiencing the
tides of the Local Group galaxies. Orbit models suggest the dwarf is close to
the escape velocity of M31 for published mass models. AndXII is our best direct
evidence for the late infall of satellite galaxies, a prediction of
cosmological simulations.Comment: 4 pages 5 figures 1 table, accepted in ApJ, july issu
Improving Orbit Estimates for Incomplete Orbits with a New Approach to Priors -- with Applications from Black Holes to Planets
We propose a new approach to Bayesian prior probability distributions
(priors) that can improve orbital solutions for low-phase-coverage orbits,
where data cover less than approximately 40% of an orbit. In instances of low
phase coverage such as with stellar orbits in the Galactic center or with
directly-imaged exoplanets, data have low constraining power and thus priors
can bias parameter estimates and produce under-estimated confidence intervals.
Uniform priors, which are commonly assumed in orbit fitting, are notorious for
this. We propose a new observable-based prior paradigm that is based on
uniformity in observables. We compare performance of this observable-based
prior and of commonly assumed uniform priors using Galactic center and
directly-imaged exoplanet (HR 8799) data. The observable-based prior can reduce
biases in model parameters by a factor of two and helps avoid under-estimation
of confidence intervals for simulations with less than about 40% phase
coverage. Above this threshold, orbital solutions for objects with sufficient
phase coverage such as S0-2, a short-period star at the Galactic center with
full phase coverage, are consistent with previously published results. Below
this threshold, the observable-based prior limits prior influence in regions of
prior dominance and increases data influence. Using the observable-based prior,
HR 8799 orbital analyses favor lower eccentricity orbits and provide stronger
evidence that the four planets have a consistent inclination around 30 degrees
to within 1-sigma. This analysis also allows for the possibility of
coplanarity. We present metrics to quantify improvements in orbital estimates
with different priors so that observable-based prior frameworks can be tested
and implemented for other low-phase-coverage orbits.Comment: Published in AJ. 23 pages, 14 figures. Monte Carlo chains are
available in the published article, or are available upon reques
Where are the Baryons?
New, high resolution, large-scale, cosmological hydrodynamic galaxy formation
simulations of a standard cold dark matter model (with a cosmological constant)
are utilized to predict the distribution of baryons at the present and at
moderate redshift. It is found that the average temperature of baryons is an
increasing function of time, with most of the baryons at the present time
having a temperature in the range 10^{5-7} K. Thus, not only is the universe
dominated by dark matter, but more than one half of the normal matter is yet to
be detected. Detection of this warm/hot gas poses an observational challenge,
requiring sensitive EUV and X-ray satellites. Signatures include a soft, cosmic
X-ray background, apparent warm components in hot clusters due to both
intrinsic warm intra-cluster gas and warm inter-cluster gas projected onto
clusters along the line of sight, absorption lines in X-ray and UV quasar
spectra [e.g., O VI (1032,1038)A lines, OVII 574 eV line], strong emission
lines (e.g., O VIII 653 eV line) and low redshift, broad, low column density
\lya absorption lines. We estimate that approximately 1/4 of the
extragalactic soft X-ray background (SXRB) (at 0.7 keV) arises from the
warm/hot gas, half of it coming from and three-quarters from ,
so the source regions should be identifiable on deep optical images.Comment: ApJ in press, revised (fig 3 is in jpg). Whole paper including
fig3.ps can be obtained at
"http://astro.princeton.edu/~cen/PAPERS_TO_APPEAR/64
NP108, an Antimicrobial Polymer with Activity against Methicillin- and Mupirocin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
D.K.M., L.K.K., D.W.S., J.R., and D.A.O. are employees of NovaBiotics Ltd. D.A.O. is a director and shareholder of NovaBiotics Ltd. D.K.M., L.K.K., F.H., D.W.S., and J.R. carried out the experiments described in the manuscript. D.K.M., L.K.K., and D.A.O. came up with the ideas and designed the experiments conducted in the manuscript. D.K.M., D.A.O., and L.K.K. wrote and edited the manuscript. Samples for electron microscopy were prepared by the microscopy and histology facility at the University of Aberdeen. The work of Laura K. Katvars was partly funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (1091582). Carol Munro was supported by the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (MR/N006364/1). AUTHOR CORRECTION Volume 61, no. 9, e00502-17, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00502-17. Page 1: Carol A. Munro should be added to the list of authors. The updated byline and affiliations are shown above. Page 11: the last paragraph of Acknowledgments should be replaced with the following sentences. The work of Laura K. Katvars was partly funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (1091582). Carol Munro was supported by the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (MR/N006364/1). Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Witnessing galaxy preprocessing in the local Universe: the case of a star-bursting group falling into Abell 1367
We present a multiwavelength analysis of a compact group of galaxies
infalling at high speed into the dynamically young cluster Abell 1367. Peculiar
morphologies and unusually high Halpha emission are associated with two giant
galaxies and at least ten dwarfs/extragalactic HII regions, making this group
the region with the highest density of star formation activity ever observed in
the local clusters. Moreover Halpha imaging observations reveal extraordinary
complex trails of ionized gas behind the galaxies, with projected lengths
exceeding 150 kpc. These unique cometary trails mark the gaseous trajectory of
galaxies, witnessing their dive into the hot cluster intergalactic medium.
Under the combined action of tidal forces among group members and the
ram-pressure by the cluster ambient medium, the group galaxies were fragmented
and the ionized gas was blown out. The properties of this group suggest that
environmental effects within infalling groups may have represented a
preprocessing step of the galaxy evolution during the high redshift cluster
assembly phase.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figures, 5 table. Accepted for publication in Astronomy
& Astrophysics main journal. Version with high-resolution images available at
http://goldmine.mib.infn.it/papers/preprocessing.htm
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