Colour Gradients in the Optical and Near-IR

For many years broadband colours have been used to obtain insight into the contents of galaxies, in particular to estimate stellar and dust content. Broadband colours are easy to obtain for large samples of objects, making them ideal for statistical studies. In this paper I use the radial distribution of the colours in galaxies, which gives more insight into the local processes driving the global colour differences than integrated colours. Almost all galaxies in my sample of 86 face-on galaxies become systematically bluer with increasing radius. The radial photometry is compared to new dust extinction models and stellar population synthesis models. This comparison shows that the colour gradients in face-on galaxies are best explained by age and metallicity gradients in the stellar populations and that dust reddening plays a minor role. The colour gradients imply $M/L$ gradients, making the `missing light' problem as derived from rotation curve fitting even worse.Comment: 5 pages TeX file, 5 PostScript figures using epsf.sty To appear in proceedings of the ESO Workshop on "Spiral Galaxies in the Near-IR", eds.: D. Minniti, H.-W. Rix A gzipped PostScript version with figures in text can be obtained at http://star-www.dur.ac.uk/~rdejong/papers.htm

Search for the magnetic field of the O7.5 III star xi Persei

Cyclical wind variability is an ubiquitous but as yet unexplained feature among OB stars. The O7.5 III(n)((f)) star xi Persei is the brightest representative of this class on the Northern hemisphere. As its prominent cyclical wind properties vary on a rotational time scale (2 or 4 days) the star has been already for a long time a serious magnetic candidate. As the cause of this enigmatic behavior non-radial pulsations and/or a surface magnetic field are suggested. We present a preliminary report on our attempts to detect a magnetic field in this star with high-resolution measurements obtained with the spectropolarimeter Narval at TBL, France during 2 observing runs of 5 nights in 2006 and 5 nights in 2007. Only upper limits could be obtained, even with the longest possible exposure times. If the star hosts a magnetic field, its surface strength should be less than about 300 G. This would still be enough to disturb the stellar wind significantly. From our new data it seems that the amplitude of the known non-radial pulsations has changed within less than a year, which needs further investigation.Comment: 2 pages, 6 figures, contributed poster at IAU Symposium 259 "Cosmic Magnetic Fields: from Planets, to Stars and Galaxies", Tenerife, Spain, November 3-7, 200

The stellar populations of spiral galaxies

We have used a large sample of low-inclination spiral galaxies with radially-resolved optical and near-infrared photometry to investigate trends in star formation history with radius as a function of galaxy structural parameters. A maximum likelihood method was used to match all the available photometry of our sample to the colours predicted by stellar population synthesis models. The use of simplistic star formation histories, uncertainties in the stellar population models and regarding the importance of dust all compromise the absolute ages and metallicities derived in this work, however our conclusions are robust in a relative sense. We find that most spiral galaxies have stellar population gradients, in the sense that their inner regions are older and more metal rich than their outer regions. Our main conclusion is that the surface density of a galaxy drives its star formation history, perhaps through a local density dependence in the star formation law. The mass of a galaxy is a less important parameter; the age of a galaxy is relatively unaffected by its mass, however the metallicity of galaxies depends on both surface density and mass. This suggests that galaxy mass-dependent feedback is an important process in the chemical evolution of galaxies. In addition, there is significant cosmic scatter suggesting that mass and density may not be the only parameters affecting the star formation history of a galaxy.Comment: 25 pages; 17 figures; re-submitted to MNRAS after replying to referee's repor

Dark and Baryonic Matter in Bright Spiral Galaxies: I.Near-infrared and Optical Broadband Surface Photometry of 30 Galaxies

We present photometrically calibrated images and surface photometry in the B, V, R, J, H, and K-bands of 25, and in the g, r, and K-bands of 5 nearby bright (Bo_T<12.5 mag) spiral galaxies with inclinations between 30-65 degrees spanning the Hubble Sequence from Sa to Scd. Data are from The Ohio State University Bright Spiral Galaxy Survey, the Two Micron All Sky Survey, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Second Data Release. Radial surface brightness profiles are extracted, and integrated magnitudes are measured from the profiles. Axis ratios, position angles, and scale lengths are measured from the near-infrared images. A 1-dimensional bulge/disk decomposition is performed on the near-infrared images of galaxies with a non-negligible bulge component, and an exponential disk is fit to the radial surface brightness profiles of the remaining galaxies.Comment: 28 page