780 research outputs found
Coupling MOAO with Integral Field Spectroscopy: specifications for the VLT and the E-ELT
[Abridged] We have developed an end-to-end simulation to specify the science
requirements of a MOAO-fed integral field spectrograph on either an 8m or 42m
telescope. Our simulations re-scales observations of local galaxies or results
from numerical simulations of disk or interacting galaxies. For the current
analysis, we limit ourselves to a local disk galaxy which exhibits simple
rotation and a simulation of a merger. We have attempted to generalize our
results by introducing the simple concepts of "PSF contrast" which is the
amount of light polluting adjacent spectra which we find drives the smallest EE
at a given spatial scale. The choice of the spatial sampling is driven by the
"scale-coupling", i.e., the relationship between the IFU pixel scale and the
size of the features that need to be recovered by 3D spectroscopy in order to
understand the nature of the galaxy and its substructure. Because the dynamical
nature of galaxies are mostly reflected in their large-scale motions, a
relatively coarse spatial resolution is enough to distinguish between a
rotating disk and a major merger. Although we used a limited number of
morpho-kinematic cases, our simulations suggest that, on a 42m telescope, the
choice of an IFU pixel scale of 50-75 mas seems to be sufficient. Such a coarse
sampling has the benefit of lowering the exposure time to reach a specific
signal-to-noise as well as relaxing the performance of the MOAO system. On the
other hand, recovering the full 2D-kinematics of z~4 galaxies requires high
signal-to-noise and at least an EE of 34% in 150 mas (2 pixels of 75 mas).
Finally, we carried out a similar study at z=1.6 with a MOAO-fed spectrograph
for an 8m, and find that at least an EE of 30% at 0.25 arcsec spatial sampling
is required to understand the nature of disks and mergers.Comment: 17 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in the MNRA
The Physics and Mass Assembly of distant galaxies with the E-ELT
One of the main science goal of the future European Extremely Large Telescope
will be to understand the mass assembly process in galaxies as a function of
cosmic time. To this aim, a multi-object, AO-assisted integral field
spectrograph will be required to map the physical and chemical properties of
very distant galaxies. In this paper, we examine the ability of such an
instrument to obtain spatially resolved spectroscopy of a large sample of
massive (0.1<Mstellar<5e11Mo) galaxies at 2<z<6, selected from future large
area optical-near IR surveys. We produced a set of about one thousand numerical
simulations of 3D observations using reasonable assumptions about the site,
telescope, and instrument, and about the physics of distant galaxies. These
data-cubes were analysed as real data to produce realistic kinematic
measurements of very distant galaxies. We then studied how sensible the
scientific goals are to the observational (i.e., site-, telescope-, and
instrument-related) and physical (i.e., galaxy-related) parameters. We
specifically investigated the impact of AO performance on the science goal. We
did not identify any breaking points with respect to the parameters (e.g., the
telescope diameter), with the exception of the telescope thermal background,
which strongly limits the performance in the highest (z>5) redshift bin. We
find that a survey of Ngal galaxies that fulfil the range of science goals can
be achieved with a ~90 nights program on the E-ELT, provided a multiplex
capability M Ngal/8.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, 7 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
A forming disk at z~0.6: Collapse of a gaseous disk or major merger remnant?
[Abridged] We present and analyze observations of J033241.88-274853.9 at
z=0.6679, using multi-wavelength photometry and imaging with FLAMES/GIRAFFE 3D
spectroscopy. J033241.88-274853.9 is found to be a blue, young (~320Myr)
stellar disk embedded in a very gas-rich (fgas=73-82% with
log(Mstellar/Mo)=9.45) and turbulent phase that is found to be rotating on
large spatial scales. We identified two unusual properties of
J033241.88-274853.9. (1) The spatial distributions of the ionized gaseous and
young stars show a strong decoupling; while almost no stars can be detected in
the southern part down to the very deep detection limit of ACS/UDF images,
significant emission from the [OII] ionized gas is detected. (2) We detect an
excess of velocity dispersion in the southern part of J033241.88-274853.9 in
comparison to expectations from a rotating disk model. We considered two disk
formation scenarios, depending on the gaseous phase geometry. In the first one,
we examined whether J033241.88-274853.9 could be a young rotating disk that has
been recently collapsed from a pre-existing, very gas-rich rotating disk. This
scenario requires two (unknown) additional assumptions to explain the
decoupling between the distribution of stars and gas and the excess of velocity
dispersion in the same region. In a second scenario, we examine whether
J033241.88-274853.9 could be a merger remnant of two gas-rich disks. In this
case, the asymmetry observed between the gas and star distributions, as well as
the excess of velocity dispersion, find a common explanation. Shocks produced
during the merger in this region can be ionized easily and heat the gas while
preventing star formation. This makes this scenario more satisfactory than the
collapse of a pre-existing, gas-rich rotating disk.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 8 pages & 5 figure
How was the Hubble sequence 6 Gyrs ago?
The way galaxies assemble their mass to form the well-defined Hubble sequence
is amongst the most debated topic in modern cosmology. One difficulty is to
link distant galaxies to those at present epoch. We aim at establishing how
were the galaxies of the Hubble sequence, 6 Gyrs ago. We intend to derive a
past Hubble sequence that can be causally linked to the present-day one. We
selected samples of nearby galaxies from the SDSS and of distant galaxies from
the GOODS survey. We verified that each sample is representative of galaxies.
We further showed that the observational conditions necessary to retrieve their
morphological classification are similar in an unbiased way. Morphological
analysis has been done in an identical way for all galaxies in the two samples.
We found an absence of number evolution for elliptical and lenticular galaxies,
which strikingly contrasts with the strong evolution of spiral and peculiar
galaxies. Spiral galaxies were 2.3 times less abundant in the past, that is
exactly compensated by the strong decrease by a factor 5 of peculiar galaxies.
It strongly suggests that more than half of the present-day spirals had
peculiar morphologies, 6 Gyrs ago, and this has to be accounted by any scenario
of galactic disk evolution and formation. The past Hubble sequence can be used
to test these scenarios as well as to test evolution of fundamental planes for
spirals and bulges.Comment: Version accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics, October 21 2009.
Including low resolution images. 11 pages, 8 figure
Update on the ICUD-SIU consultation on multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging in localised prostate cancer
Introduction: Prostate cancer (PCa) imaging is a rapidly evolving field. Dramatic improvements in prostate MRI during the last decade will probably change the accuracy of diagnosis. This chapter reviews recent current evidence about MRI diagnostic performance and impact on PCa management. Materials and methods: The International Consultation on Urological Diseases nominated a committee to review the literature on prostate MRI. A search of the PubMed database was conducted to identify articles focussed on MP-MRI detection and staging protocols, reporting and scoring systems, the role of MP-MRI in diagnosing PCa prior to biopsy, in active surveillance, in focal therapy and in detecting local recurrence after treatment. Results: Differences in opinion were reported in the use of the strength of magnets [1.5 Tesla (T) vs. 3T] and coils. More agreement was found regarding the choice of pulse sequences; diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI), dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE MRI), and/or MR spectroscopy imaging (MRSI) are recommended in addition to conventional T2-weighted anatomical sequences. In 2015, the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS version 2) was described to standardize image acquisition and interpretation. MP-MRI improves detection of clinically significant PCa (csPCa) in the repeat biopsy setting or before the confirmatory biopsy in patients considering active surveillance. It is useful to guide focal treatment and to detect local recurrences after treatment. Its role in biopsy-naive patients or during the course of active surveillance remains debated. Conclusion: MP-MRI is increasingly used to improve detection of csPCa and for the selection of a suitable therapeutic approach
The Formation of Large Galactic Disks: Revival or Survival?
Using the deepest and the most complete set of observations of distant
galaxies, we investigate how extended disks could have formed. Observations
include spatially-resolved kinematics, detailed morphologies and photometry
from UV to mid-IR. Six billion years ago, half of the present-day spiral
progenitors had anomalous kinematics and morphologies, as well as relatively
high gas fractions. We argue that gas-rich major mergers, i.e., fusions between
gas-rich disk galaxies of similar mass, can be the likeliest driver for such
strong peculiarities. This suggests a new channel of disk formation, e.g. many
disks could be reformed after gas-rich mergers. This is found to be in perfect
agreement with predictions from the state-of-the-art LCDM semi-empirical
models: due to our sensitivity in detecting mergers at all phases, from pairs
to relaxed post-mergers, we find a more accurate merger rate. The scenario can
be finally confronted to properties of nearby galaxies, including M31 and
galaxies showing ultra-faint, gigantic structures in their haloes.Comment: Proceedings of the annual meeting of the French Astronomical Society,
2011, 6 pages, 1 Figur
Environment, morphology and stellar populations of bulgeless low surface brightness galaxies
Based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR 7, we investigate the environment,
morphology and stellar population of bulgeless low surface brightness (LSB)
galaxies in a volume-limited sample with redshift ranging from 0.024 to 0.04
and . The local density parameter is used to
trace their environments. We find that, for bulgeless galaxies, the surface
brightness does not depend on the environment. The stellar populations are
compared for bulgeless LSB galaxies in different environments and for bulgeless
LSB galaxies with different morphologies. The stellar populations of LSB
galaxies in low density regions are similar to those of LSB galaxies in high
density regions. Irregular LSB galaxies have more young stars and are more
metal-poor than regular LSB galaxies. These results suggest that the evolution
of LSB galaxies may be driven by their dynamics including mergers rather than
by their large scale environment.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, Accepted by A&
Galaxy disks do not need to survive in the L-CDM paradigm: the galaxy merger rate out to z~1.5 from morpho-kinematic data
About two-thirds of present-day, large galaxies are spirals such as the Milky
Way or Andromeda, but the way their thin rotating disks formed remains
uncertain. Observations have revealed that half of their progenitors, six
billion years ago, had peculiar morphologies and/or kinematics, which exclude
them from the Hubble sequence. Major mergers, i.e., fusions between galaxies of
similar mass, are found to be the likeliest driver for such strong
peculiarities. However, thin disks are fragile and easily destroyed by such
violent collisions, which creates a critical tension between the observed
fraction of thin disks and their survival within the L-CDM paradigm. Here we
show that the observed high occurrence of mergers amongst their progenitors is
only apparent and is resolved when using morpho-kinematic observations which
are sensitive to all the phases of the merging process. This provides an
original way of narrowing down observational estimates of the galaxy merger
rate and leads to a perfect match with predictions by state-of-the-art L-CDM
semi-empirical models with no particular fine-tuning needed. These results
imply that half of local thin disks do not survive but are actually rebuilt
after a gas-rich major merger occurring in the past nine billion years, i.e.,
two-thirds of the lifetime of the Universe. This emphasizes the need to study
how thin disks can form in halos with a more active merger history than
previously considered, and to investigate what is the origin of the gas
reservoir from which local disks would reform.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables. Accepted in ApJ. V2 to match proof
corrections and added reference
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