238 research outputs found
Anti-truncated stellar light profiles in the outer regions of STAGES spiral galaxies: bulge or disc related?
We present a comparison of azimuthally averaged radial surface brightness
mu(r) profiles and analytical bulge-disc decompositions (de Vaucouleurs,
r^(1/4) bulge plus exponential disc) for spiral galaxies using Hubble Space
Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys V-band imaging from the Space Telescope
A901/2 Galaxy Evolution Survey (STAGES). In the established classification
scheme, antitruncated mu(r) profiles (Type III) have a broken exponential disc
with a shallower region beyond the break radius r_brk. The excess light at
large radii (r > r_brk) can either be caused by an outer exponential disc (Type
III-d) or an extended spheroidal component (Type III-s). Using our comparisons,
we determine the contribution of bulge light at r > r_brk for a large sample of
78 (barred/unbarred, Sa-Sd) spiral galaxies with outer disc antitruncations
(mu_brk > 24 mag arcsec^-2). In the majority of cases (~85 per cent), evidence
indicates that excess light at r > r_brk is related to an outer shallow disc
(Type III-d). Here, the contribution of bulge light at r > r_brk is either
negligible (~70 per cent) or too little to explain the antitruncation (~15 per
cent). However in the latter cases, bulge light can affect the measured disc
properties (e.g. mu_brk, outer scalelength). In the remaining cases (~15 per
cent), light at r > r_brk is dominated by the bulge (Type III-s). Here, for
most cases the bulge profile dominates at all radii and only occasionally (3
galaxies, ~5 per cent) extends beyond that of a dominant disc and explains the
excess light at r > r_brk. We thus conclude that in the vast majority of cases
antitruncated outer discs cannot be explained by bulge light and thus remain a
pure disc phenomenon.Comment: Accepted to MNRA
A Millikelvin Scanned Probe for Measurement of Nanostructures
We demonstrate a scanning force microscope, based upon a quartz tuning fork,
that operates below 100 mK and in magnetic fields up to 6 T. The microscope has
a conducting tip for electrical probing of nanostructures of interest, and it
incorporates a low noise cryogenic amplifier to measure both the vibrations of
the tuning fork and the electrical signals from the nanostructures. At
millikelvin temperatures the imaging resolution is below 1 um in a 22 um x 22
um range, and a coarse motion provides translations of a few mm. This scanned
probe is useful for high bandwidth measurement of many high impedance
nanostructures on a single sample. We show data locating an SET within an array
and measure its coulomb blockade with a sensitivity of 2.6 x 10^-5 e/Hz^1/2.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to RS
The environmental dependence of the structure of outer galactic discs in STAGES spiral galaxies
We present an analysis of V-band radial surface brightness profiles for
spiral galaxies from the field and cluster environments using Hubble Space
Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys imaging and data from the Space Telescope
A901/2 Galaxy Evolution Survey (STAGES). We use a large sample of ~330 face-on
to intermediately inclined spiral galaxies and assess the effect of the galaxy
environment on the azimuthally averaged radial surface brightness mu profiles
for each galaxy in the outer stellar disc (24 < mu < 26.5 mag per sq arcsec).
For galaxies with a purely exponential outer disc (~50 per cent), we determine
the significance of an environmental dependence on the outer disc scalelength
h_out. For galaxies with a broken exponential in their outer disc, either
down-bending (truncation, ~10 per cent) or up-bending (anti-truncation, ~40 per
cent), we measure the strength T (outer-to-inner scalelength ratio,
log_10(h_out/h_in) of the mu breaks and determine the significance of an
environmental dependence on break strength T. Surprisingly, we find no evidence
to suggest any such environmental dependence on either outer disc scalelength
h_out or break strength T, implying that the galaxy environment is not
affecting the stellar distribution in the outer stellar disc. We also find that
for galaxies with small effective radii (r_e < 3 kpc) there is a lack of outer
disc truncations in both the field and cluster environments. Our results
suggest that the stellar distribution in the outer disc of spiral galaxies is
not significantly affected by the galaxy environment.Comment: Accepted to MNRAS. Appendix A available at
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ppxdtm/STAGES_profiles_appendix.pd
Comment Regarding the Functional Form of the Schmidt Law
Star formation rates on the galactic scale are described phenomenologically
by two distinct relationships, as emphasized recently by Elmegreen (2002). The
first of these is the Schmidt law, which is a power-law relation between the
star formation rate and the column density. The other relationship is that
there is a cutoff in the gas density below which star formation shuts off.
The purpose of this paper is to argue that 1) these two relationships can be
accommodated by a single functional form of the Schmidt law, and 2) this
functional form is motivated by the hypothesis that star formation is a
critical phenomenon, and that as a corollary, 3) the existence of a sharp
cutoff may thus be an emergent property of galaxies, as was argued by Seiden
(1983), as opposed to the classical view that this cutoff is due to an
instability criterion.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, in press, New Astronomy. Figs provided in
original (png) format as well as ps format for ps/pdf generatio
Study of direct versus orbital entry for Mars missions. Volume 7 - Supplementary report Final report
Modification to direct versus orbital entry for Mars mission as result of Mars environmental mode
The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey: I. Luminosity functions
We describe the Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey (HeViCS) and the first data
obtained as part of the Science Demonstration Phase (SDP). The data cover a
central 4x4 sq deg region of the cluster. We use SPIRE and PACS photometry data
to produce 100, 160, 250, 350 and 500 micron luminosity functions (LFs) for
optically bright galaxies that are selected at 500 micron and detected in all
bands. We compare these LFs with those previously derived using IRAS, BLAST and
Herschel-ATLAS data. The Virgo Cluster LFs do not have the large numbers of
faint galaxies or examples of very luminous galaxies seen previously in surveys
covering less dense environments.Comment: Letter accepted for publication in A&A (Herschel special issue
The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey: II. Truncated dust disks in HI-deficient spirals
By combining Herschel-SPIRE observations obtained as part of the Herschel
Virgo Cluster Survey with 21 cm HI data from the literature, we investigate the
role of the cluster environment on the dust content of Virgo spiral galaxies.We
show for the first time that the extent of the dust disk is significantly
reduced in HI-deficient galaxies, following remarkably well the observed
'truncation' of the HI disk. The ratio of the submillimetre-to- optical
diameter correlates with the HI-deficiency, suggesting that the cluster
environment is able to strip dust as well as gas. These results provide
important insights not only into the evolution of cluster galaxies but also
into the metal enrichment of the intra-cluster medium.Comment: Letter accepted for publication in A&A (Herschel special issue
The Herschel Virgo cluster survey: V. Star-forming dwarf galaxies - dust in metal-poor environments
We present the dust properties of a small sample of Virgo cluster dwarf
galaxies drawn from the science demonstration phase data set of the Herschel
Virgo Cluster Survey. These galaxies have low metallicities (7.8 < 12 +
log(O/H) < 8.3) and star-formation rates < 10^{-1} M_{sun}/yr. We measure the
spectral energy distribution (SED) from 100 to 500 um and derive dust
temperatures and dust masses. The SEDs are fitted by a cool component of
temperature T < 20 K, implying dust masses around 10^{5} M_{sun} and
dust-to-gas ratios D within the range 10^{-3}-10^{-2}. The completion of the
full survey will yield a larger set of galaxies, which will provide more
stringent constraints on the dust content of star-forming dwarf galaxies.Comment: Letter accepted for publication in A&A (Herschel special issue
HI asymmetry in the isolated galaxy CIG 85 (UGC 1547)
We present the results from the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT)
interferometric HI and 20 cm radio continuum observations of CIG 85, an
isolated asymmetric galaxy from the AMIGA (Analysis of the Interstellar Medium
of Isolated GAlaxies) sample. Despite being an isolated galaxy, CIG 85 showed
an appreciable optical and HI spectral asymmetry and therefore was an excellent
candidate for resolved HI studies to understand the reasons giving rise to
asymmetries in isolated galaxies. The galaxy was imaged in HI and 20 cm radio
continuum using the GMRT. For a detailed discussion of the results we also made
use of multi-wavelength data from archival SDSS, GALEX and Halpha imaging. We
find the HI in CIG 85 to have a clumpy, asymmetric distribution which in the NW
part is correlated with optical tail like features, but the HI velocity field
displays a relatively regular rotation pattern. Evaluating all the
observational evidence, we come to a conclusion that CIG 85 is most likely a
case of a disturbed spiral galaxy which now appears to have the morphology of
an irregular galaxy. Although it is currently isolated from major companions,
the observational evidence is consistent with HI asymmetries, a highly
disturbed optical disk and recent increase in star formation having been caused
by a minor merger, remnants of which are now projected in front of the optical
disk. If this is correct, the companion will be fully accreted by CIG 85 in the
near future.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted in A&
The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey. IX. Dust-to-gas mass ratio and metallicity gradients in four Virgo spiral galaxies
Using Herschel data from the Open Time Key Project the Herschel Virgo Cluster
Survey (HeViCS), we investigated the relationship between the metallicity
gradients expressed by metal abundances in the gas phase as traced by the
chemical composition of HII regions, and in the solid phase, as traced by the
dust-to-gas mass ratio. We derived the radial gradient of the dust-to-gas mass
ratio for all galaxies observed by HeViCS whose metallicity gradients are
available in the literature. They are all late type Sbc galaxies, namely
NGC4254, NGC4303, NGC4321, and NGC4501. We examined different dependencies on
metallicity of the CO-to-H conversion factor (\xco), used to transform the
CO observations into the amount of molecular hydrogen. We found that in
these galaxies the dust-to-gas mass ratio radial profile is extremely sensitive
to choice of the \xco\ value, since the molecular gas is the dominant component
in the inner parts. We found that for three galaxies of our sample, namely
NGC4254, NGC4321, and NGC4501, the slopes of the oxygen and of the dust-to-gas
radial gradients agree up to 0.6-0.7R using \xco\ values in the
range 1/3-1/2 Galactic \xco. For NGC4303 a lower value of \xco
10 is necessary. We suggest that such low \xco\ values might be due to a
metallicity dependence of \xco (from close to linear for NGC4254, NGC4321, and
NGC4501 to superlinear for NGC4303), especially in the radial regions
R0.6-0.7R where the molecular gas dominates. On the other hand, the
outer regions, where the atomic gas component is dominant, are less affected by
the choice of \xco, and thus we cannot put constraints on its value.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, A&A accepte
- …