532 research outputs found
Kinematic modelling of disk galaxies I. A new method to fit tilted rings to data cubes
This is the first of a series of papers in which the kinematics of disk
galaxies over a range of scales is scrutinised employing spectroscopy. A
fundamental aspect of these studies is presented here: the new publicly
available software tool TiRiFiC
(http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~gjozsa/tirific.html) enables a direct fit of a
``tilted-ring model'' to spectroscopic data cubes. The algorithm generates
model data cubes from the tilted-ring parametrisation of a rotating disk, which
are automatically adjusted to reach an optimum fit via a chi-squared
minimisation method to an observed data cube. The structure of the new
software, the shortcomings of the previously available programs to produce a
tilted-ring model, and the performance of TiRiFiC are discussed. Our method is
less affected by the well-known problem of beam smearing that occurs when
fitting to the velocity field. Since with our method we fit many data points in
a data cube simultaneously, TiRiFiC is sensitive to very faint structures and
can hence be used to derive tilted-ring models significantly extending in
radius beyond those derived from a velocity field. The software is able to
parametrise HI disks of galaxies that are intersected by the line-of-sight
twice or more, i.e. if the disks are heavily warped, and/or with a significant
shift of the projected centre of rotation, and/or if seen edge-on. Furthermore,
our method delivers the surface-brightness profile of the examined galaxy in
addition to the orientational parameters and the rotation curve. In order to
derive kinematic and morphological models of disk galaxies, especially reliable
rotation curves, a direct-fit method as implemented in our code should be the
tool of choice.Comment: 37 pages, 24 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Yield Measurements for ^7Be and ^<10>Be Productions from ^<nat>Cu, ^<nat>Ag and ^<197>Au by Bremsstrahlung Irradiation at E_0=200 MeV(II. Radiochemistry)
The yields of ^7Be and ^Be produced by bremsstrahlung having a maximum energy (E_0) of 200 MeV in ^Cu, ^Ag and ^Au targets were investigated by the AMS technique at MALT of the University of Tokyo. It was found that the yields at E_0 = 200 MeV were much lower than those at E_0 ≧250 MeV, obtained in our previous work. A change in the yields of the fragmentation component in the target-mass dependence was observed at E_0=200 MeV when compared with those at E_0≧250 MeV. However, the ratios of the fragmentation yield of ^Be to that of ^7Be remained unchanged throughout the concerned E_0
Adaptive Optics Imaging of Low-redshift Damped Lyman-alpha Quasar Absorbers
We have carried out a high angular resolution near-infrared imaging study of
the fields of 6 quasars with 7 strong absorption line systems at z < 0.5, using
the Hokupa'a adaptive optics system and the QUIRC near-infrared camera on the
Gemini-North telescope. These absorption systems include 4 classical damped
Lyman-alpha absorbers (DLAs), 2 sub-DLAs, and one Lyman-limit system. Images
were obtained in the H or K' filters with FWHM between 0.2"-0.5" with the goal
of detecting the absorbing galaxies and identifying their morphologies.
Features are seen at projected separations of 0.5"-16.0" from the quasars and
all of the fields show features at less than 2" separation. We find candidate
absorbers in all of the seven systems. With the assumption that some of these
are associated with the absorbers, the absorbers are low luminosity < 0.1 L*_H
or L*_K; we do not find any large bright candidate absorbers in any of our
fields. Some fields show compact features that are too faint for quantitative
morphology, but could arise in dwarf galaxies.Comment: 37 pages, 24 figures, 5 tables, Accepted on Oct. 26 2005 for
publication in Astronomical Journal. The figures have been lowered in
resolution to make them fit the size requirements for astroph submission. A
PDF file with original high-resolution figures can be found at
http://boson.physics.sc.edu/~kulkarni/dlahq.htm
New southern blue compact dwarf galaxies in the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey
Aiming to find new extremely metal-deficient star-forming galaxies we
extracted from the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) 100K Data
Release 14 emission-line galaxies with relatively strong [OIII] 4363 emission.
Spectroscopic and photometric studies of this sample and, in addition, of 7
Tololo and 2 UM galaxies were performed on the basis of observations with the
ESO 3.6m telescope. All sample galaxies qualify with respect to their
photometric and spectroscopic properties as blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies.
Additionally, they show a good overlap with a comparison sample of 100
well-studied emission-line galaxies on the 12+log(O/H) vs. log(Ne/O), log(Ar/O)
and log(Fe/O) planes. From the analysis of the 2dFGRS subsample we report the
discovery of two new extremely metal-deficient BCDs with an oxygen abundance
12+log(O/H) < 7.6 and of another seven galaxies with 12+log(O/H) < 7.8.
Furthermore, we confirm previous oxygen abundance determinations for the BCDs
Tol 1304-353, Tol 2146-391, UM 559 and UM 570 to be 12+log(O/H) < 7.8.Comment: 26 pages, 65 figures, 5 tables, uses psfig.sty, Accepted for
publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The paper with high-resolution
figures can be downloaded at
http://www.uni-sw.gwdg.de/~papade/Publications/Papaderos2006_2dF.pd
The impact of a major cluster merger on galaxy evolution in MACS\,J0025.4-1225
We present results of an extensive morphological, spectroscopic, and
photometric study of the galaxy population of MACS J0025.41225 (z=0.586), a
major cluster merger with clear segregation of dark and luminous matter, to
examine the impact of mergers on galaxy evolution. Based on 436 galaxy spectra
obtained with Keck DEIMOS, we identified 212 cluster members within 4 Mpc of
the cluster centre, and classified them using three spectroscopic types; we
find 111 absorption-line, 90 emission-line (including 23 e(a) and 11 e(b)), and
6 E+A galaxies. The fraction of absorption(emission)-line galaxies is a
monotonically increasing(decreasing) function of both projected galaxy density
and radial distance to the cluster center. More importantly, the 6 observed E+A
cluster members are all located between the dark-matter peaks of the cluster
and within ~0.3Mpc radius of the X-ray flux peak, unlike the E+A galaxies in
other intermediate-redshift clusters which are usually found to avoid the core
region. In addition, we use Hubble Space Telescope imaging to classify cluster
members according to morphological type. We find the global fraction of spiral
and lenticular galaxies in MACS J0025 to be among the highest observed to date
in clusters at z>0.5. The observed E+A galaxies are found to be of lenticular
type with Sersic indices of ~2, boosting the local fraction of S0 to 70 per
cent between the dark-matter peaks. Combing the results of our analysis of the
spatial distribution, morphology, and spectroscopic features of the galaxy
population, we propose that the starburst phase of these E+A galaxies was both
initiated and terminated during the first core-passage about 0.5--1Gyr ago, and
that their morphology has already been transformed into S0 due to ram pressure
and/or tidal forces near the cluster core. By contrast, ongoing starbursts are
observed predominantly in infalling galaxies, and thus appears to be unrelated
to the cluster merger.Comment: 18 pages, 17 figures, accepted by MNRA
Molecular description of eye defects in the zebrafish pax6b mutant, sunrise, reveals a pax6b-dependent genetic network in the developing anterior chamber
The cornea is a central component of the camera eye of vertebrates and even slight corneal disturbances severely affect vision. The transcription factor PAX6 is required for normal eye development, namely the proper separation of the lens from the developing cornea and the formation of the iris and anterior chamber. Human PAX6 mutations are associated with severe ocular disorders such as aniridia, Peters anomaly and chronic limbal stem cell insufficiency. To develop the zebrafish as a model for corneal disease, we first performed transcriptome and in situ expression analysis to identify marker genes to characterise the cornea in normal and pathological conditions. We show that, at 7 days post fertilisation (dpf), the zebrafish cornea expresses the majority of marker genes (67/84 tested genes) found also expressed in the cornea of juvenile and adult stages. We also characterised homozygous pax6b mutants. Mutant embryos have a thick cornea, iris hypoplasia, a shallow anterior chamber and a small lens. Ultrastructure analysis revealed a disrupted corneal endothelium. pax6b mutants show loss of corneal epithelial gene expression including regulatory genes (sox3, tfap2a, foxc1a and pitx2). In contrast, several genes (pitx2, ctnnb2, dcn and fabp7a) were ectopically expressed in the malformed corneal endothelium. Lack of pax6b function leads to severe disturbance of the corneal gene regulatory programme
Strong neuroprotection with a novel platinum nanoparticle against ischemic stroke- andtissue plasminogen activator-related brain damages in mice
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are major exacerbation factor in acute ischemic stroke, and thrombolytic agent tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) may worsen motor function and cerebral infarcts. The platinum nanoparticle (nPt) is a novel ROS scavenger, and thus we examined the clinical and neuroprotective effects of nPt in ischemic mouse brains. Mice were subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) for 60 min and divided into the following four groups by intravenous administration upon reperfusion, vehicle, tPA, tPA + nPt, and nPt. At 48 h after tMCAO, motor function, infarct volume, immunohistochemical analyses of neurovascular unit (NVU), in vivo imaging of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), and zymography for MMP-9 activity were examined. Superoxide anion generation at 2 h after tMCAO was also examined with hydroethidine (HEt). As a result, administration of tPA deteriorated the motor function and infarct volume as compared to vehicle. In vivo optical imaging of MMP showed strong fluorescent signals in affected regions of tMCAO groups. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed that tMCAO resulted in a minimal decrease of NAGO and occludin, but a great decrease of collagen IV and a remarkable increase of MMP-9. HEt stain showed increased ROS generation by tMCAO. All these results became pronounced with tPA administration, and were greatly reduced by nPt. The present study demonstrates that nPt treatment ameliorates neurological function and brain damage in acute cerebral infarction with neuroprotective effect on NVU and inactivation of MMP-9. The strong reduction of ROS production by nPt could account for these remarkable neurological and neuroprotective effects against ischemic stroke
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