126 research outputs found
Intergalactic Gas in Groups of Galaxies: Implications for Dwarf Spheroidal Formation and The Missing Baryons Problem
Radio galaxies with bent jets are predominantly located in groups and
clusters of galaxies. We use bent-double radio sources, under the assumption
that their jets are bent by ram-pressure, to probe intragroup medium (IGM) gas
densities in galaxy groups. This method provides a direct measurement of the
intergalactic gas density and allows us to probe IGM gas at large radii and in
systems whose IGM is too cool to be detected by the current generation of X-ray
telescopes. We find gas with densities of 10^(-3)-10^(-4) per cubic centimeter
at group radii from 15-700 kpc. A rough estimate of the total baryonic mass in
intergalactic gas is consistent with the missing baryons being located in the
IGM of galaxy groups. The neutral gas will be easily stripped from dwarf
galaxies with total masses of 10^6-10^7 solar masses in the groups studied
here. Indications are that IGM gas densities in less-massive systems like the
Local Group should be high enough to strip gas from dwarfs like Leo T and, in
combination with tides, produce dwarf spheroidals.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Tidally Induced Offset Disks in Magellanic Spiral Galaxies
Magellanic spiral galaxies are a class of one-armed systems that often
exhibit an offset stellar bar, and are rarely found around massive spiral
galaxies. Using a set of N-body and hydrodynamic simulations we consider a
dwarf-dwarf galaxy interaction as the driving mechanism for the formation of
this peculiar class of systems. We investigate here the relation between the
dynamical, stellar and gaseous disk center and the bar. In all our simulations
the bar center always coincides with the dynamical center, while the stellar
disk becomes highly asymmetric during the encounter causing the photometric
center of the Magellanic galaxy disk to become mismatched with both the bar and
the dynamical center. The disk asymmetries persist for almost 2 Gyrs, the time
that it takes for the disk to be re-centered with the bar, and well after the
companion has passed. This explains the nature of the offset bar found in many
Magellanic-type galaxies, including the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and NGC
3906. In particular, these results, once applied to the LMC, suggest that the
dynamical center should reside in the bar center instead of the HI center as
previously assumed, pointing to a variation in the current estimate of the
north component of the LMC proper motion.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, corrected for referee comment
Bent-Double Radio Sources as Probes of Intergalactic Gas
As the most common environment in the universe, groups of galaxies are likely
to contain a significant fraction of the missing baryons in the form of
intergalactic gas. The density of this gas is an important factor in whether
ram pressure stripping and strangulation affect the evolution of galaxies in
these systems. We present a method for measuring the density of intergalactic
gas using bent-double radio sources that is independent of temperature, making
it complementary to current absorption line measurements. We use this method to
probe intergalactic gas in two different environments: inside a small group of
galaxies as well as outside of a larger group at a 2 Mpc radius and measure
total gas densities of and per cubic centimeter (random and systematic
errors) respectively. We use X-ray data to place an upper limit of K on the temperature of the intragroup gas in the small group.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Ap
Proper Motions in the Andromeda Subgroup
This article presents results of VLBI observations of regions of H2O maser
activity in the Local Group galaxies M33 and IC10. Since all position
measurements were made relative to extragalactic background sources, the proper
motions of the two galaxies could be measured. For M33, this provides this
galaxy's three dimensional velocity, showing that this galaxy is moving with a
velocity of 190 +/- 59 km\s relative to the Milky Way. For IC10, we obtain a
motion of 215 +/- 42 km/s relative to the Milky Way. These measurements promise
a new handle on dynamical models for the Local Group and the mass and dark
matter halo of Andromeda and the Milky Way.Comment: 4 pages 1 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "Galaxies in the
Local Volume", Astrophysics and Space Science, editors B. Koribalski and H.
Jerjen also available at
http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/staff/abrunthaler/pub.shtm
Structure and Star Formation in NGC 925
We present the results from an optical study of the stellar & star formation
properties of NGC 925 using the WIYN 3.5m telescope. Images in B,V,R, & H-alpha
reveal a galaxy that is fraught with asymmetries. From isophote fits we
discover that the bar center is not coincident with the center of the outer
isophotes nor with the dynamical center (from Pisano et al. 1998). Cuts across
the spiral arms reveal that the northern arms are distinctly different from the
southern arm. The southern arm not only appears more coherent, but the peaks in
stellar and H-alpha emission are found to be coincident with those of the HI
distribution, while no such consistency is present in the northern disk. We
also examine the gas surface density criterion for massive star formation in
NGC 925, and find that its behavior is more consistent with that for irregular
galaxies, than with late-type spirals. In particular, star formation persists
beyond the radius at which the gas surface density falls below the predicted
critical value for star formation for late-type spirals. Such properties are
characteristic of Magellanic spirals, but are present at a less dramatic level
in NGC 925, a late-type spiral.Comment: accepted for publication in the August 2000 Astronomical Journal 12
pages, 3 tables, 14 figure
A High-Resolution Study of the HI Content of Local Group Dwarf Irregular Galaxy WLM
Dwarf irregular galaxies are unique laboratories for studying the interaction
between stars and the interstellar medium in low mass environments. We present
the highest spatial resolution observations to date of the neutral hydrogen
content of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy WLM. We find that WLM's
neutral hydrogen distribution is typical for a galaxy of its type and size and
derive an HI mass of 6.3e7 Msun for WLM. In addition, we derive an HI extent
for WLM of 30 arcmin, which is much less than the 45 arcmin extent found by
Huchtmeier, Seiradakis, and Materne (1981). We show that the broken ring of
high column density neutral hydrogen surrounding the center of WLM is likely
the result of star formation propagating out from the center of the galaxy. The
young stars and Ha emission in this galaxy are mostly correlated with the high
column density neutral hydrogen. The gap in the central ring is the result of
star formation in that region using up, blowing out, or ionizing all of the
neutral hydrogen. Like many late-type galaxies, WLM's velocity field is
asymmetric with the approaching (northern) side appearing to be warped and a
steeper velocity gradient for the approaching side than for the receding side
in the inner region of the galaxy. We derive a dynamical mass for WLM of 2.16e9
Msun.Comment: 38 pages, 15 figures, 5 tables, accepted by AJ, high resolution
version at http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~kepley/kepley_wlm.p
VII Zw 403: H I structure in a blue compact dwarf galaxy
‘In these times, during the rise in the popularity of institutional repositories, the Society does not forbid authors from depositing their work in such repositories. However, the AAS regards the deposit of scholarly work in such repositories to be a decision of the individual scholar, as long as the individual's actions respect the diligence of the journals and their reviewers.’ Original article can be found at : http://iopscience.iop.org/ Copyright American Astronomical SocietyWe present optical (UBVJ), ultraviolet (FUV, NUV), and high-resolution atomic hydrogen (H I) observations of the nearby blue compact dwarf (BCD), VII Zw 403. We find that VII Zw 403 has a relatively high H I mass-to-light ratio for a BCD. The rotation velocity is nominally 10-15 km s(-1), but rises to similar to 20 km s(-1) after correction for the similar to 8-10 km s(-1) random motions present in the gas. The velocity field is complex, including a variation in the position angle of the major axis going from the northeast to the southwest parts of the galaxy. Our high-resolution Hi maps reveal structure in the central gas, including a large, low-density Hi depression or hole between the southern and northern halves of the galaxy, coincident with an unresolved X-ray source. Although interactions have been proposed as the triggering mechanism for the vigorous star formation occurring in BCDs, VII Zw 403 does not seem to have been tidally triggered by an external interaction, as we have found no nearby possible perturbers. It also does not appear to fall in the set of galaxies that exhibit a strong central mass density concentration, as its optical scale length is large in comparison to similar systems. However, there are some features that are compatible with an accretion event: optical/Hi axis misalignment, a change in position angle of the kinematic axis, and a complex velocity field.Peer reviewe
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