6,279 research outputs found
AVOCADO: A Virtual Observatory Census to Address Dwarfs Origins
Dwarf galaxies are by far the most abundant of all galaxy types, yet their
properties are still poorly understood -especially due to the observational
challenge that their intrinsic faintness represents. AVOCADO aims at
establishing firm conclusions on their formation and evolution by constructing
a homogeneous, multiwavelength dataset for a statistically significant sample
of several thousand nearby dwarfs (-18 < Mi < -14). Using public data and
Virtual Observatory tools, we have built GALEX+SDSS+2MASS spectral energy
distributions that are fitted by a library of single stellar population models.
Star formation rates, stellar masses, ages and metallicities are further
complemented with structural parameters that can be used to classify them
morphologically. This unique dataset, coupled with a detailed characterization
of each dwar's environment, allows for a fully comprehensive investigation of
their origins and to track the (potential) evolutionary paths between the
different dwarf types.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. To appear in the proceedings of IAU Symposium 277,
"Tracing the Ancestry of Galaxies on the Land of our Ancestors", Carignan,
Freeman, and Combes, ed
The sensitivity of harassment to orbit: Mass loss from early-type dwarfs in galaxy clusters
We conduct a comprehensive numerical study of the orbital dependence of harassment on early-type dwarfs consisting of 168 different orbits within a realistic, Virgo-like cluster, varying in eccentricity and pericentre distance. We find harassment is only effective at stripping stars or truncating their stellar discs for orbits that enter deep into the cluster core. Comparing to the orbital distribution in cosmological simulations, we find that the majority of the orbits (more than three quarters) result in no stellar mass loss. We also study the effects on the radial profiles of the globular cluster systems of early-type dwarfs. We find these are significantly altered only if harassment is very strong. This suggests that perhaps most early-type dwarfs in clusters such as Virgo have not suffered any tidal stripping of stars or globular clusters due to harassment, as these components are safely embedded deep within their dark matter halo. We demonstrate that this result is actually consistent with an earlier study of harassment of dwarf galaxies, despite the apparent contradiction. Those few dwarf models that do suffer stellar stripping are found out to the virial radius of the cluster at redshift = 0, which mixes them in with less strongly harassed galaxies. However when placed on phase-space diagrams, strongly harassed galaxies are found offset to lower velocities compared to weakly harassed galaxies. This remains true in a cosmological simulation, even when haloes have a wide range of masses and concentrations. Thus phase-space diagrams may be a useful tool for determining the relative likelihood that galaxies have been strongly or weakly harassed
Fossil group origins V. The dependence of the luminosity function on the magnitude gap
In nature we observe galaxy aggregations that span a wide range of magnitude
gaps between the two first-ranked galaxies of a system (). There
are systems with gaps close to zero (e.g., the Coma cluster), and at the other
extreme of the distribution, the largest gaps are found among the so-called
fossil systems. Fossil and non-fossil systems could have different galaxy
populations that should be reflected in their luminosity functions. In this
work we study, for the first time, the dependence of the luminosity function
parameters on using data obtained by the fossil group origins
(FOGO) project. We constructed a hybrid luminosity function for 102 groups and
clusters at . We stacked all the individual luminosity functions,
dividing them into bins of , and studied their best-fit
Schechter parameters. We additionally computed a relative luminosity function,
expressed as a function of the central galaxy luminosity, which boosts our
capacity to detect differences, especially at the bright end. We find trends as
a function of at both the bright and faint ends of the
luminosity function. In particular, at the bright end, the larger the magnitude
gap, the fainter the characteristic magnitude . We also find
differences at the faint end. In this region, the larger the gap, the flatter
the faint-end slope . The differences found at the bright end support a
dissipationless, dynamical friction-driven merging model for the growth of the
central galaxy in group- and cluster-sized halos. The differences in the faint
end cannot be explained by this mechanism. Other processes, such as enhanced
tidal disruption due to early infall and/or prevalence of eccentric orbits, may
play a role. However, a larger sample of systems with is
needed to establish the differences at the faint end.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Fossil Groups Origins III. The relation between optical and X-ray luminosities
This study is part of the FOssil Groups Origin (FOGO) project which aims at
carrying out a systematic and multiwavelength study of a large sample of fossil
systems. Here we focus on the relation between the optical luminosity (Lopt)
and X-ray luminosity (Lx). Out of a sample of 28 candidate fossil systems, we
consider a sample of 12 systems whose fossil classification has been confirmed
by a companion study. They are compared with the complementary sample of 16
systems whose fossil nature is not confirmed and with a subsample of 102 galaxy
systems from the RASS-SDSS galaxy cluster survey. Fossil and normal systems
span the same redshift range 0<z<0.5 and have the same Lx distribution. For
each fossil system, the Lx in the 0.1-2.4 keV band is computed using data from
the ROSAT All Sky Survey. For each fossil and normal system we homogeneously
compute Lopt in the r-band within the characteristic cluster radius, using data
from the SDSS DR7. We sample the Lx-Lopt relation over two orders of magnitude
in Lx. Our analysis shows that fossil systems are not statistically
distinguishable from the normal systems both through the 2D KS test and the fit
of the Lx-Lopt relation. The optical luminosity of the galaxy system does
strongly correlate with the X-ray luminosity of the hot gas component,
independently of whether the system is fossil or not. We conclude that our
results are consistent with the classical "merging scenario" of the brightest
galaxy formed via merger/cannibalism of other group galaxies, with conservation
of the optical light. We find no evidence for a peculiar state of the hot
intracluster medium.Comment: A&A, 12 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, typos corr. and paper re-numbe
The importance of major mergers in the build up of stellar mass in brightest cluster galaxies at z=1
Recent independent results from numerical simulations and observations have
shown that brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) have increased their stellar mass
by a factor of almost two between z~0.9 and z~0.2. The numerical simulations
further suggest that more than half this mass is accreted through major
mergers. Using a sample of 18 distant galaxy clusters with over 600
spectroscopically confirmed cluster members between them, we search for
observational evidence that major mergers do play a significant role. We find a
major merger rate of 0.38 +/- 0.14 mergers per Gyr at z~1. While the
uncertainties, which stem from the small size of our sample, are relatively
large, our rate is consistent with the results that are derived from numerical
simulations. If we assume that this rate continues to the present day and that
half of the mass of the companion is accreted onto the BCG during these
mergers, then we find that this rate can explain the growth in the stellar mass
of the BCGs that is observed and predicted by simulations. Major mergers
therefore appear to be playing an important role, perhaps even the dominant
one, in the build up of stellar mass in these extraordinary galaxies.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. Reduced data
will be made available through the ESO archiv
A close look at the dwarf AGN of NGC 4395: optical and near-IR integral field spectroscopy
Intermediate mass black holes (10-10 M) in the center of
dwarf galaxies are believed to be analogous to growing Active Galactic Nuclei
(AGN) in the early Universe. Their characterization can provide insight about
the early galaxies. We present optical and near-infrared integral field
spectroscopy of the inner 50 pc of the dwarf galaxy NGC4395, known to
harbor an AGN. NGC 4395 is an ideal candidate to investigate the nature of
dwarf AGN, as it is nearby ( Mpc) enough to allow a close look at
its nucleus. The optical data were obtained with the Gemini GMOS-IFU covering
the 4500 A to 7300 A spectral range at a spatial resolution of 10 pc. The J and
K-band spectra were obtained with the Gemini NIFS at spatial resolutions of
5 pc. The gas kinematics show a compact, rotation disk component with a
projected velocity amplitude of 25 km s. We estimate a mass of
M inside a radius of 10 pc. From the H broad
line component, we estimate the AGN bolometric luminosity as erg s and a mass M for the central black hole. The
mean surface mass densities for the ionized and molecular gas are in the ranges
(1-2) Mpc and (1-4) M pc and
the average ratio between ionized and hot molecular gas masses is 500.
The emission-line flux distributions reveal an elongated structure at 24 pc
west of the nucleus, which is blueshifted relative to the systemic velocity of
the galaxy by 30 km s. We speculate that this structure is
originated by the accretion of a gas-rich small satellite or by a low
metallicity cosmic cloud.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey. X. Properties of Ultra-Compact Dwarfs in the M87, M49 and M60 Regions
We use imaging from the Next Generation Virgo cluster Survey (NGVS) to
present a comparative study of ultra-compact dwarf (UCD) galaxies associated
with three prominent Virgo sub-clusters: those centered on the massive,
red-sequence galaxies M87, M49 and M60. We show how UCDs can be selected with
high completeness using a combination of half-light radius and location in
color-color diagrams ( or ). Although the central galaxies in
each of these sub-clusters have nearly identical luminosities and stellar
masses, we find large differences in the sizes of their UCD populations, with
M87 containing ~3.5 and 7.8 times more UCDs than M49 and M60, respectively. The
relative abundance of UCDs in the three regions scales in proportion to
sub-cluster mass, as traced by X-ray gas mass, total gravitating mass, number
of globular clusters, and number of nearby galaxies. We find that the UCDs are
predominantly blue in color, with ~85% of the UCDs having colors similar to
blue GCs and stellar nuclei of dwarf galaxies. We present evidence that UCDs
surrounding M87 and M49 may follow a morphological sequence ordered by the
prominence of their outer, low surface brightness envelope, ultimately merging
with the sequence of nucleated low-mass galaxies, and that envelope prominence
correlates with distance from either galaxy. Our analysis provides evidence
that tidal stripping of nucleated galaxies is an important process in the
formation of UCDs.Comment: 37 pages, 40 figures. To appear in The Astrophysical Journa
Effect of Anesthesia on Microelectrode Recordings during Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery in Tourette Syndrome Patients
Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an accepted treatment for patients with medication-resistant Tourette syndrome (TS). Sedation is commonly required during electrode implantation to attenuate anxiety, pain, and severe tics. Anesthetic agents potentially impair the quality of microelectrode recordings (MER). Little is known about the effect of these anesthetics on MER in patients with TS. We describe our experience with different sedative regimens on MER and tic severity in patients with TS. Methods: The clinical records of all TS patients who underwent DBS surgery between 2010 and 2018 were reviewed. Demographic data, stimulation targets, anesthetic agents, perioperative complications, and MER from each hemisphere were collected and analyzed. Single-unit activity was identified by filtering spiking activity from broadband MER data and principal component analysis with K-means clustering. Vocal and motor tics which caused artifacts in the MER data were manually selected using visual and auditory inspection. Results: Six patients underwent bilateral DBS electrode implantation. In all patients, the target was the anterior internal globus pallidus. Patient comfort and hemodynamic and respiratory stability were maintained with conscious sedation with one or more of the following anesthetic drugs: propofol, midazolam, remifentanil, clonidine, and dexmedetomidine. Good quality MER and clinical testing were obtained in 9 hemispheres of 6 patients. In 3 patients, MER quality was poor on one side. Conclusion: Cautiously applied sedative drugs can provide patient comfort, hemodynamic and respiratory stability, and suppress severe tics, with minimal interference with MER. (C) 2019 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger AG, Base
Spectroscopic study of MATLAS-2019 with MUSE:An ultra-diffuse galaxy with an excess of old globular clusters
The MATLAS deep imaging survey has uncovered a plethora of dwarf galaxies in
the low density environment it has mapped. A fraction of them are unusually
extended and have a low-surface brightness. Among these so-called ultra-diffuse
galaxies, a few seem to host an excess of globular clusters. With the
integral-field unit spectrograph MUSE we have observed one of these galaxies -
MATLAS J15052031+0148447 (MATLAS-2019) - located towards the nearby group NGC
5846 and measured its systemic velocity,age, and metallicity, and that of its
globular clusters candidates. For the stellar body of MATLAS-2019 we derive a
metallicity of -1.33+0.19-0.01 dex and an age of 11.2+1.8-0.8 Gyr. For some of
the individual GCs and the stacked GC population, we derive consistent ages and
metallicities. From the 11 confirmed globular clusters and using a Markov Chain
Monte Carlo approach we derived a dynamical mass-to-light ratio of
4.2+8.6-3.4M/L. This is at the lower end of the luminosity-mass scaling
relation defined by the Local Group dwarf galaxies. Furthermore, we couldn't
confirm nor reject the possibility of a rotational component of the GC system.
If present, this would further modify the inferred mass. Follow-up observations
of the globular cluster population and of the stellar body of the galaxy are
needed to assess whether this galaxy is lacking dark matter like it was
suggested for the pair of dwarf galaxies in the field of NGC 1052, or if this
is a miss-interpretation arising from systematic uncertainties of the method
commonly used for these systems and the large uncertainties of the individual
globular cluster velocities.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in A&
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