259 research outputs found
Ultra-compact dwarf galaxies: a new class of compact stellar system discovered in the Fornax Cluster
We have used the 2dF spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope to obtain
a complete spectroscopic sample of all objects in the magnitude range, Bj= 16.5
to 19.8, regardless of morphology, in an area centred on the Fornax Cluster of
galaxies. Among the unresolved targets are five objects which are members of
the Fornax Cluster. They are extremely compact stellar systems with scale
lengths less than 40 parsecs. These ultra-compact dwarfs are unlike any known
type of stellar system, being more compact and significantly less luminous than
other compact dwarf galaxies, yet much brighter than any globular cluster.Comment: To appear in IAU Symposium 207: Extragalactic Star Cluster
A new species of mudfish, Neochanna (Teleostei: Galaxidae), from northern New Zealand
A new species of mudfish, Neochanna, is described from Northland. Neochanna heleios n.sp. is known from only three ephemeral wetland sites on the Kerikeri volcanic plateau and is abundant only at the type locality. The new species has a head resembling that of the brown mudfish, Neochanna apoda, and a caudal region resembling that of the black mudfish, Neochanna diversus. It can be distinguished from all Neochanna species in having a reduced number of principal caudal fin rays (13 or less). Morphometric and meristic comparisons with N. apoda and N. diversus are provided
Atmospheric circulation of tidally locked exoplanets: II. Dual-band radiative transfer and convective adjustment
Improving upon our purely dynamical work, we present three-dimensional simulations of the atmospheric circulation on Earth-like (exo)planets and hot Jupiters using the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL)-Princeton Flexible Modelling System (fms). As the first steps away from the dynamical benchmarks of Heng, Menou & Phillipps, we add dual-band radiative transfer and dry convective adjustment schemes to our computational set-up. Our treatment of radiative transfer assumes stellar irradiation to peak at a wavelength shorter than and distinct from that at which the exoplanet re-emits radiation (‘shortwave' versus ‘longwave'), and also uses a two-stream approximation. Convection is mimicked by adjusting unstable lapse rates to the dry adiabat. The bottom of the atmosphere is bounded by a uniform slab with a finite thermal inertia. For our models of hot Jupiter, we include an analytical formalism for calculating temperature-pressure profiles, in radiative equilibrium, which accounts for the effect of collision-induced absorption via a single parameter. We discuss our results within the context of the following: the predicted temperature-pressure profiles and the absence/presence of a temperature inversion; the possible maintenance, via atmospheric circulation, of the putative high-altitude, shortwave absorber expected to produce these inversions; the angular/temporal offset of the hotspot from the substellar point, its robustness to our ignorance of hyperviscosity and hence its utility in distinguishing between different hot Jovian atmospheres; and various zonal-mean flow quantities. Our work bridges the gap between three-dimensional simulations which are purely dynamical and those which incorporate multiband radiative transfer, thus contributing to the construction of a required hierarchy of three-dimensional theoretical model
Morphological number-count and redshift distributions to I < 26 from the Hubble Deep Field: Implications for the evolution of Ellipticals, Spirals and Irregulars
We combine the photometric redshift data of Fernandez-Soto et al. (1997) with
the morphological data of Odewahn et al. (1996) for all galaxies with I < 26.0
detected in the Hubble Deep Field. From this combined catalog we generate the
morphological galaxy number-counts and corresponding redshift distributions and
compare these to the predictions of high normalization zero- and passive-
evolution models. From this comparison we conclude the following: (1) E/S0s are
seen in numbers and over a redshift range consistent with zero- or minimal
passive- evolution to I = 24. Beyond this limit fewer E/S0s are observed than
predicted implying a net negative evolutionary process --- luminosity dimming,
disassembly or masking by dust --- at I > 24. (2) Spiral galaxies are present
in numbers consistent with zero- evolution predictions to I = 22. Beyond this
magnitude some net- positive evolution is required. Although the number-counts
are consistent with the passive-evolution predictions to I=26.0 the redshift
distributions favor number AND luminosity evolution. (3) There is no obvious
explanation for the late-type/irregular class and this category requires
further subdivision. While a small fraction of the population lies at low
redshift (i.e. true irregulars), the majority lie at redshifts, 1 < z < 3. At z
> 1.5 mergers are frequent and, taken in conjunction with the absence of normal
spirals at z > 2, the logical inference is that they represent the progenitors
of normal spirals forming via hierarchical merging.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters, colour plates available from
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~spd/bib.htm
An Infrared Determination of the Reddening and Distance to Dwingeloo 1
We present for the first time infrared observations of the nearby highly
obscured galaxy Dwingeloo 1 (Dw1), including deep H-band imaging covering a
total of 4.9x4.9 arcmin, together with J and Ks imaging of the central 2.5x2.5
arcmin. We used the small dispersion of the intrinsic infrared colors of spiral
galaxies to determine an infrared H-band extinction of A_H = 0.47+/-0.11 mag
towards Dw1. In using infrared colors, the uncertainties in the reddening and
distance are reduced by a factor of three. The H-band magnitude corrected for
extinction and the infrared Tully-Fisher relation are then used to estimate a
distance modulus of (m-M)_0 = 28.62+/-0.27, and thus a distance of d = 5.3
{+0.7/-0.6} Mpc, which puts Dw1 at the far end of the IC342/Maffei 1 & 2 group.
Our result is largely independent of the nature of the reddening law because we
estimated both the reddening and the distance at the same wavelength range.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, see
http://nicmos2.as.arizona.edu/~aalonso/Dw1/dw1_paper.htm
The local space density of dwarf galaxies
We estimate the luminosity function of field galaxies over a range of ten
magnitudes (-22 < M_{B_J} < -12 for H_0 = 100 km/s/Mpc) by counting the number
of faint APM galaxies around Stromlo-APM redshift survey galaxies at known
distance. The faint end of the luminosity function rises steeply at M_{B_J}
\approx -15, implying that the space density of dwarf galaxies is at least two
times larger than predicted by a Schechter function with flat faint-end slope.
Such a high abundance of dwarf galaxies at low redshift can help explain the
observed number counts and redshift distributions of faint galaxies without
invoking exotic models for galaxy evolution.Comment: 20 pages, 5 included postscript figures, uses AAS LaTex macros.
Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. Two figures and
associated discussion added; results and conclusions unchange
2MASS Galaxies in the Fornax Cluster Spectroscopic Survey
The Fornax Cluster Spectroscopic Survey (FCSS) is an all-object survey of a
region around the Fornax Cluster of galaxies undertaken using the 2dF
multi-object spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. Its aim was to
obtain spectra for a complete sample of all objects with 16.5 < b_j < 19.7
irrespective of their morphology (i.e. including `stars', `galaxies' and
`merged' images). We explore the extent to which (nearby) cluster galaxies are
present in 2MASS. We consider the reasons for the omission of 2MASS galaxies
from the FCSS and vice versa. We consider the intersection (2.9 square degrees
on the sky) of our data set with the infra-red 2 Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS),
using both the 2MASS Extended Source Catalogue (XSC) and the Point Source
Catalogue (PSC). We match all the XSC objects to FCSS counterparts by position
and also extract a sample of galaxies, selected by their FCSS redshifts, from
the PSC. We confirm that all 114 XSC objects in the overlap sample are
galaxies, on the basis of their FCSS velocities. A total of 23 Fornax Cluster
galaxies appear in the matched data, while, as expected, the remainder of the
sample lie at redshifts out to z = 0.2 (the spectra show that 61% are early
type galaxies, 18% are intermediate types and 21% are strongly star
forming).The PSC sample turns out to contain twice as many galaxies as does the
XSC. However, only one of these 225 galaxies is a (dwarf) cluster member. On
the other hand, galaxies which are unresolved in the 2MASS data (though almost
all are resolved in the optical) amount to 71% of the non-cluster galaxies with
2MASS detections and have redshifts out to z=0.32.Comment: 5 pages, accepted by A&A, resubmitted due to missing reference
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