576 research outputs found
Galaxy threshing and the origin of intracluster stellar objects
We numerically investigate dynamical evolution of non-nucleated dwarf
elliptical/spiral galaxies (dE) and nucleated ones (dE,Ns) in clusters of
galaxies in order to understand the origin of intracluster stellar objects,
such as intracluster stars (ICSs), GCs (ICGCs), and ``ultra-compact dwarf''
(UCDs) recently discovered by all-object spectroscopic survey centred on the
Fornax cluster of galaxies. We find that the outer stellar components of a
nucleated dwarf are removed by the strong tidal field of the cluster, whereas
the nucleus manages to survive as a result of its initially compact nature. The
developed naked nucleus is found to have physical properties (e.g., size and
mass) similar to those observed for UCDs. We also find that the UCD formation
processes does depend on the radial density profile of the dark halo in the
sense that UCDs are less likely to be formed from dwarfs embedded in dark
matter halos with central `cuspy' density profiles. Our simulations also
suggest that very massive and compact stellar systems can be rapidly and
efficiently formed in the central regions of dwarfs through the merging of
smaller GCs. GCs initially in the outer part of dE and dE,Ns are found to be
stripped to form ICGCs.Comment: 6 pages and 3 figures (JPG file for Fig. 1), in the proceedings of
IAU 217 ``Recycling intergalactic and interstellar matter'
Passive spiral formation from halo gas starvation: Gradual transformation into S0s
Recent spectroscopic and high resolution -imaging observations have
revealed significant numbers of ``passive'' spiral galaxies in distant
clusters, with all the morphological hallmarks of a spiral galaxy (in
particular, spiral arm structure), but with weak or absent star formation.
Exactly how such spiral galaxies formed and whether they are the progenitors of
present-day S0 galaxies is unclear. Based on analytic arguments and numerical
simulations of the hydrodynamical evolution of a spiral galaxy's halo gas
(which is a likely candidate for the source of gas replenishment for star
formation in spirals), we show that the origin of passive spirals may well be
associated with halo gas stripping. Such stripping results mainly from the
hydrodynamical interaction between the halo gas and the hot intracluster gas.
Our numerical simulations demonstrate that even if a spiral orbits a cluster
with a pericenter distance 3 times larger than the cluster core radius,
80 % of the halo gas is stripped within a few Gyr and, accordingly,
cannot be accreted by the spiral. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that this
dramatic decline in the gaseous infall rate leads to a steady increase in the
parameter for the disk, with the spiral arm structure, although persisting,
becoming less pronounced as the star formation rate gradually decreases. These
results suggest that passive spirals formed in this way, gradually evolve into
red cluster S0s.Comment: 13 pages 4 figures (fig.1 = jpg format), accepted by Ap
Observations of Stripped Edge-on Virgo Cluster Galaxies
We present observations of highly inclined, HI deficient, Virgo cluster
spiral galaxies. Our high-resolution VLA HI observations of edge-on galaxies
allow us to distinguish extraplanar gas from disk gas. All of our galaxies have
truncated H-alpha disks, with little or no disk gas beyond a truncation radius.
While all the gas disks are truncated, the observations show evidence for a
continuum of stripping states: symmetric, undisturbed truncated gas disks
indicate galaxies that were stripped long ago, while more asymmetric disks
suggest ongoing or more recent stripping. We compare these timescale estimates
with results obtained from two-dimensional stellar spectroscopy of the outer
disks of galaxies in our sample. One of the galaxies in our sample, NGC 4522 is
a clear example of active ram-pressure stripping, with 40% of its detected HI
being extraplanar. As expected, the outer disk stellar populations of this
galaxy show clear signs of recent (and, in fact, ongoing) stripping. Somewhat
less expected, however, is the fact that the spectrum of the outer disk of this
galaxy, with very strong Balmer absorption and no observable emission, would be
classified as ``k+a'' if observed at higher redshift. Our observations of NGC
4522 and other galaxies at a range of cluster radii allow us to better
understand the role that clusters play in the structure and evolution of disk
galaxies.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the Island
Universes conference held in Terschelling, Netherlands, July 2005, ed. R. de
Jong, version with high resolution figures can be downloaded from
ftp://ftp.astro.yale.edu/pub/hugh/papers/iu_crowl_h.ps.g
Evolution of the Fraction of Clumpy Galaxies at 0.2<z<1.0 in the COSMOS field
Using the Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys data in the
COSMOS field, we systematically searched clumpy galaxies at 0.2<z<1.0 and
investigated the fraction of clumpy galaxies and its evolution as a function of
stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), and specific SFR (SSFR). The fraction
of clumpy galaxies in star-forming galaxies with Mstar > 10^9.5 Msun decreases
with time from ~0.35 at 0.8<z<1.0 to ~0.05 at 0.2<z<0.4 irrespective of the
stellar mass, although the fraction tends to be slightly lower for massive
galaxies with Mstar > 10^10.5 Msun at each redshift. On the other hand, the
fraction of clumpy galaxies increases with increasing both SFR and SSFR in all
the redshift ranges we investigated. In particular, we found that the SSFR
dependences of the fractions are similar among galaxies with different stellar
masses, and the fraction at a given SSFR does not depend on the stellar mass in
each redshift bin. The evolution of the fraction of clumpy galaxies from z~0.9
to z~0.3 seems to be explained by such SSFR dependence of the fraction and the
evolution of SSFRs of star-forming galaxies. The fraction at a given SSFR also
appears to decrease with time, but this can be due to the effect of the
morphological K-correction. We suggest that these results are understood by the
gravitational fragmentation model for the formation of giant clumps in disk
galaxies, where the gas mass fraction is a crucial parameter.Comment: 14 Pages, 13 Figures, 1 Table, Accepted for publication in Ap
On the Hidden Nuclear Starburst in Arp 220
We construct a starburst model for the hidden starbursts in Arp 220 based on
the new Starburst99 models of Leitherer et al. Comparing these stellar
population synthesis models with observations, we show that the hidden power
source must be due to star formation (as opposed to an AGN) at the 50% level or
more in order to avoid an ionizing photon excess problem, and this starburst
must be young ( yr). We derive a current star formation rate
of yr, and an extinction mag for our line of
sight to this hidden starburst.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, Accepted for publication in ApJ
Photometric evolution of dusty starburst mergers:On the nature of ultra-luminous infrared galaxies
By performing N-body simulations of chemodynamical evolution of galaxies with
dusty starbursts, we investigate photometric evolution of gas-rich major
mergers in order to explore the nature of ultraluminous infrared galaxies
(ULIRGs) with the total infrared luminosity ( for
m) of . Main results are the following three.
(1) Global colors and absolute magnitudes the during dusty starburst of a major
merger do not change with time significantly, because interstellar dust heavily
obscures young starburst populations that could cause rapid evolution of
photometric properties of the merger. (2) Dust extinction of stellar
populations in a galaxy merger with large infrared luminosity (
) is selective in the sense that younger stellar
populations are preferentially obscured by dust than old ones. This is because
younger populations are located in the central region where a larger amount of
dusty interstellar gas can be transferred from the outer gas-rich regions of
the merger. (3) Both and the ratio of to band
luminosity ) increases as the star formation rate increase during
the starburst of the present merger model, resulting in the positive
correlation between and .Comment: 32 pages 25 figures,2001,ApJ,in press. For all 25 PS figures
(including fig25.ps), see
http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/~bekki/res.dir/paper.dir/apj06.dir/fig.tar.g
The Discovery of a Very Narrow-Line Star Forming Obat a Redshift of 5.66ject
We report on the discovery of a very narrow-line star forming object beyond
redshift of 5. Using the prime-focus camera, Suprime-Cam, on the 8.2 m Subaru
telescope together with a narrow-passband filter centered at
= 8150 \AA with passband of = 120 \AA, we have obtained a very
deep image of the field surrounding the quasar SDSSp J104433.04012502.2 at a
redshift of 5.74. Comparing this image with optical broad-band images, we have
found an object with a very strong emission line. Our follow-up optical
spectroscopy has revealed that this source is at a redshift of
, forming stars at a rate
yr. Remarkably, the velocity dispersion of Ly-emitting gas is
only 22 km s. Since a blue half of the Ly emission could be
absorbed by neutral hydrogen gas, perhaps in the system, a modest estimate of
the velocity dispersion may be 44 km s. Together with a linear
size of 7.7 kpc, we estimate a lower limit of the dynamical mass
of this object to be . It is thus suggested that
LAE J10440123 is a star-forming dwarf galaxy (i.e., a subgalactic object or
a building block) beyond redshift 5 although we cannot exclude a possibility
that most Ly emission is absorbed by the red damping wing of neutral
intergalactic matter.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. ApJ Letters, in pres
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