155 research outputs found
Spectral Classification of Galaxies Along the Hubble Sequence
We develop a straightforward and quantitative two-step method for
spectroscopically classifying galaxies from the low signal-to-noise (S/N)
optical spectra typical of galaxy redshift surveys. First, using \chi^2-fitting
of characteristic templates to the object spectrum, we determine the relative
contributions of the old stellar component, the young stellar component, and
various emission line spectra. Then, we classify the galaxy by comparing the
relative strengths of the components with those of galaxies of known
morphological type. In particular, we use the ratios of (1) the emission line
to absorption line contribution, (2) the young to old stellar contribution, and
(3) the oxygen to hydrogen emission line contribution. We calibrate and test
the method using published morphological types for 32 galaxies from the
long-slit spectroscopic survey of Kennicutt (1992) and for 304 galaxies from a
fiber spectroscopic survey of nearby galaxy clusters. From an analysis of a
sample of long-slit spectra of spiral galaxies in two galaxy clusters, we
conclude that the majority of the galaxies observed in the fiber survey are
sufficiently distant that their spectral classification is unaffected by
aperture bias. Our spectral classification is consistent with the morphological
classification to within one type (e.g. E to S0 or Sa to Sb) for \gtsim 80% of
the galaxies. Disagreements between the spectral and morphological
classifications of the remaining galaxies reflect a divergence in the
correspondence between spectral and morphological types, rather than a problem
with the data or method.Comment: 13 pages, uuencoded gzip'ed ps-file that includes 8 of 9 Figures,
accepted for publication in A
The Environment of ``E+A'' Galaxies
The violent star formation history of ``E+A'' galaxies and their detection
almost exclusively in distant clusters is frequently used to link them to the
``Butcher-Oemler effect'' and to argue that cluster environment influences
galaxy evolution. From 11113 spectra in the Las Campanas Redshift Survey, we
have obtained a unique sample of 21 nearby ``E+A" galaxies. Surprisingly, a
large fraction (about 75%) of these ``E+A''s lie in the field. Therefore,
interactions with the cluster environment, in the form of the ICM or cluster
potential, are not essential for ``E+A'' formation. If one mechanism is
responsible for ``E+A''s, their existence in the field and the tidal features
in at least 5 of the 21 argue that galaxy-galaxy interactions and mergers are
that mechanism. The most likely environments for such interactions are poor
groups, which have lower velocity dispersions than clusters and higher galaxy
densities than the field. In hierarchical models, groups fall into clusters in
greater numbers at intermediate redshifts than they do today. Thus, the
Butcher-Oemler effect may reflect the typical evolution of galaxies in groups
and in the field rather than the influence of clusters on star formation in
galaxies. This abstract is abridged.Comment: 39 uuencoded, compressed pages (except Fig 1), complete preprint at
ftp://ociw.edu/pub/aiz/eplusa.ps, ApJ, submitte
A Spectroscopic Survey of the Fields of 28 Strong Gravitational Lenses: The Group Catalog
With a large, unique spectroscopic survey in the fields of 28 galaxy-scale
strong gravitational lenses, we identify groups of galaxies in the 26
adequately-sampled fields. Using a group finding algorithm, we find 210 groups
with at least five member galaxies; the median number of members is eight. Our
sample spans redshifts of 0.04 0.76 with a median of 0.31,
including 174 groups with . Groups have radial velocity
dispersions of 60 1200 km s with a median of 350
km s. We also discover a supergroup in field B0712+472 at 0.29
consisting of three main groups. We recover groups similar to 85% of
those previously reported in these fields within our redshift range of
sensitivity and find 187 new groups with at least five members. The properties
of our group catalog, specifically 1) the distribution of , 2)
the fraction of all sample galaxies that are group members, and 3) the fraction
of groups with significant substructure, are consistent with those for other
catalogs. The distribution of group virial masses agrees well with theoretical
expectations. Of the lens galaxies, 12 of 26 (46%) (B1422+231, B1600+434,
B2114+022, FBQS J0951+2635, HE0435-1223, HST J14113+5211, MG0751+2716,
MGJ1654+1346, PG 1115+080, Q ER 0047-2808, RXJ1131-1231, and WFI J2033-4723)
are members of groups with at least five galaxies, and one more (B0712+472)
belongs to an additional, visually identified group candidate. There are groups
not associated with the lens that still are likely to affect the lens model; in
six of 25 (24%) fields (excluding the supergroup), there is at least one
massive ( 500 km s) group or group candidate projected
within 2 of the lens.Comment: 87 pages, 8 figures, a version of this was published in Ap
The U-band Galaxy Luminosity Function of Nearby Clusters
Despite the great potential of the U-band galaxy luminosity function (GLF) to
constrain the history of star formation in clusters, to clarify the question of
variations of the GLF across filter bands, to provide a baseline for
comparisons to high-redshift studies of the cluster GLF, and to estimate the
contribution of bound systems of galaxies to the extragalactic near-UV
background, determinations have so far been hampered by the generally low
efficiency of detectors in the U-band and by the difficulty of constructing
both deep and wide surveys. In this paper, we present U-band GLFs of three
nearby, rich clusters to a limit of M_U=-17.5 (M*_U+2). Our analysis is based
on a combination of separate spectroscopic and R-band and U-band photometric
surveys. For this purpose, we have developed a new maximum-likelihood algorithm
for calculating the luminosity function that is particularly useful for
reconstructing the galaxy distribution function in multi-dimensional spaces
(e.g., the number of galaxies as a simultaneous function of luminosity in
different filter bands, surface brightness, star formation rate, morphology,
etc.), because it requires no prior assumptions as to the shape of the
distribution function.
The composite luminosity function can be described by a Schechter function
with characteristic magnitude M*_U=-19.82+/-0.27 and faint end slope
alpha_U=-1.09+/-0.18. The total U-band GLF is slightly steeper than the R-band
GLF, indicating that cluster galaxies are bluer at fainter magnitudes.
Quiescent galaxies dominate the cumulative U-band flux for M_U<-14. The
contribution of galaxies in nearby clusters to the U-band extragalactic
background is <1% Gyr^-1 for clusters of masses ~3*10^14 to 2*10^15 M_solar.Comment: 44 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
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