83 research outputs found
Surface photometry of low surface brightness galaxies
Low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies are galaxies dominated by an exponential disc whose central surface brightness is much fainter than the value of mu(B)(0) = 21.65 +/- 0.30 mag arcsec(-2) found by Freeman. In this paper we present broadband photometry of a sample of 21 late-type LSB galaxies. The median central surface brightness of the sample is mu(B)(0) = 23.2 mag arcsec(-2) and the median scale length is 3.2 kpc, showing that LSB galaxies are normal-sized galaxies. We find colours that are comparable to or bluer than those of the more widely studied 'normal' high surface brightness (HSB) galaxies. LSB galaxies are therefore not faded discs that have no current star formation. The colours cannot on the other hand be ascribed entirely to metallicity effects, but we can explain them by assuming a sporadic star formation rate scenario. LSB galaxies hence appear to be unevolved and quiescent objects, which give us an insight into the evolution of galaxies in an unperturbed environment
Mirror Dark Matter
There appear to be three challenges that any theory of dark matter must face:
(i) why is of the same order as ? (ii) what
are the near solar mass objects () observed by the MACHO
microlensing project ? and (iii) understanding the shallow core density profile
of the halos of dwarf as well as low surface brightness galaxies. The popular
cold dark matter candidates, the SUSY LSP and the axion fail to meet these
challenges. We argue that in the mirror model suggested recently to explain the
neutrino anomalies, the mirror baryons being 15-20 times heavier than familiar
baryons, can play the role of the cold dark matter and provide reasonable
explanation of all three above properties without extra assumptions.Comment: Latex, 10 pages; Invited talk presented in PASCOS99 workshop, held in
Lake Tahoe, Dec. 1999 and DM2000 workshop held in Los Angeles, February, 200
HALOGAS observations of NGC 4414: fountains, interaction, and ram pressure
We present deep H I imaging of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 4414, taken as part of the Westerbork HALOGAS (Hydrogen Accretion in LOcal GAlaxieS) survey. The observations show that NGC 4414 can be characterized by a regularly rotating inner H I disk, and a more disturbed outer disk. Modeling of the kinematics shows that the outer disk is best described by a U-shaped warp. Deep optical imaging also reveals the presence of a low surface brightness stellar shell, indicating a minor interaction with a dwarf galaxy at some stage in the past. Modeling of the inner disk suggests that about 4 percent of the inner H I is in the form of extra-planar gas. Because of the disturbed nature of the outer disk, this number is difficult to constrain for the galaxy as a whole. These new, deep observations of NGC 4414 presented here show that even apparently undisturbed galaxies are interacting with their environment
Comparing [C II], H I, and CO dynamics of nearby galaxies
The HI and CO components of the interstellar medium (ISM) are usually used to derive the dynamical mass M-dyn of nearby galaxies. Both components become too faint to be used as a tracer in observations of high-redshift galaxies. In those cases, the 158 mu m line of atomic carbon ([CII]) may be the only way to derive M-dyn. As the distribution and kinematics of the ISM tracer affects the determination of M-dyn, it is important to quantify the relative distributions of HI, CO, and [CII]. HI and CO are well-characterized observationally, however, for [CII] only very few measurements exist. Here we compare observations of CO, HI, and [CII] emission of a sample of nearby galaxies, drawn from the HERACLES, THINGS, and KINGFISH surveys. We find that within R-25, the average [CII] exponential radial profile is slightly shallower than that of the CO, but much steeper than the HI distribution. This is also reflected in the integrated spectrum ("global profile"), where the [CII] spectrum looks more like that of the CO than that of the HI. For one galaxy, a spectrally resolved comparison of integrated spectra was possible; other comparisons were limited by the intrinsic line-widths of the galaxies and the coarse velocity resolution of the [CII] data. Using high-spectral-resolution SOFIA [CII] data of a number of star forming regions in two nearby galaxies, we find that their [CII] linewidths agree better with those of the CO than the HI. As the radial extent of a given ISM tracer is a key input in deriving M-dyn from spatially unresolved data, we conclude that the relevant length-scale to use in determining M-dyn based on [CII] data, is that of the well-characterized CO distribution. This length scale is similar to that of the optical disk
Universality of galactic surface densities within one dark halo scale-length
It was recently discovered that the mean dark matter surface density within
one dark halo scale length - the radius within which the volume density profile
of dark matter remains approximately flat - is constant across a wide range of
galaxies. This scaling relation holds for galaxies spanning a luminosity range
of 14 magnitudes and the whole Hubble sequence. Here we report that the
luminous matter surface density is also constant within one scale length of the
dark halo. This means that the gravitational acceleration generated by the
luminous component in galaxies is always the same at this radius. Although the
total luminous-to-dark matter ratio is not constant, within one halo scale
length it is constant. Our finding can be interpreted as a close correlation
between the enclosed surface densities of luminous and dark matter in galaxies.Comment: Accepted as a Letter to Natur
Modified Newtonian Dynamics as an Alternative to Dark Matter
Modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) is an empirically motivated modification
of Newtonian gravity or inertia suggested by Milgrom as an alternative to
cosmic dark matter. The basic idea is that at accelerations below a0 ~ 10^{-8}
cm/s^2 ~ cH0/6 the effective gravitational attraction approaches sqrt{gN*a0}
where gN is the usual Newtonian acceleration. This simple algorithm yields flat
rotation curves for spiral galaxies and a mass-rotation velocity relation of
the form M ~ V^4 that forms the basis for the observed luminosity-rotation
velocity relation-- the Tully-Fisher law. We review the phenomenological
success of MOND on scales ranging from dwarf spheroidal galaxies to
superclusters, and demonstrate that the evidence for dark matter can be equally
well interpreted as evidence for MOND. We discuss the possible physical basis
for an acceleration-based modification of Newtonian dynamics as well as the
extension of MOND to cosmology and structure formation.Comment: To be published in volume 40 of Annual Reviews of Astronomy &
Astrophysics. 36 pages plus 12 figures and 1 tabl
The Distribution of Dark Matter in Galaxies: the Core Radius Issue
I review the up-to-date status on the properties of the Dark Matter density
distribution around Galaxies. The rotation curves of spirals all conform to a
same Universal profile which can be uniquely decomposed as the sum of an
exponential thin stellar disk and a dark halo with a flat density core.
From dwarfs to giants galaxies, the halos embedding the stellar component
feature a constant density region of size and value , which are
inversely correlated. The fine structure of dark halos in the region of the
stellar disk has been derived for a number of low--luminosity disk galaxies:
the halo circular velocity increases almost linearly with radius out to the
edge of the stellar disk, implying, up there, an almost constant dark matter
density. This sets a serious discrepancy between the cuspy density distribution
predicted by N-body simulations of CDM cosmology, and those actually
detected around galaxies. The small scatter around the Fundamental Plane (FP)
of elliptical galaxies constraints the distribution of dark and luminous matter
in these systems. The measured central velocity dispersion in the FP
is linked to both photometric and dynamical properties of luminous and dark
matter. As a consequence, the well-known features of the FP imply that, inside
the effective radius , the stellar spheroid must dominate over the dark
matter, in contrast with CDM predictions.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, invited talk given at Beyond the Desert '03,
Ringberg, 11-15 July 200
Early Gas Stripping as the Origin of the Darkest Galaxies in the Universe
The known galaxies most dominated by dark matter (Draco, Ursa Minor and
Andromeda IX) are satellites of the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxies. They
are members of a class of faint galaxies, devoid of gas, known as dwarf
spheroidals, and have by far the highest ratio of dark to luminous matter. None
of the models proposed to unravel their origin can simultaneously explain their
exceptional dark matter content and their proximity to a much larger galaxy.
Here we report simulations showing that the progenitors of these galaxies were
probably gas-dominated dwarf galaxies that became satellites of a larger galaxy
earlier than the other dwarf spheroidals. We find that a combination of tidal
shocks and ram pressure swept away the entire gas content of such progenitors
about ten billion years ago because heating by the cosmic ultraviolet
background kept the gas loosely bound: a tiny stellar component embedded in a
relatively massive dark halo survived until today. All luminous galaxies should
be surrounded by a few extremely dark-matter-dominated dwarf spheroidal
satellites, and these should have the shortest orbital periods among dwarf
spheroidals because they were accreted early.Comment: Published in Nature (15 February 2007), 28 pages, 8 figures,
Supplementary Information include
Results from PAMELA, ATIC and FERMI : Pulsars or Dark Matter ?
It is well known that the dark matter dominates the dynamics of galaxies and
clusters of galaxies. Its constituents remain a mystery despite an assiduous
search for them over the past three decades. Recent results from the
satellite-based PAMELA experiment detect an excess in the positron fraction at
energies between 10-100 GeV in the secondary cosmic ray spectrum. Other
experiments namely ATIC, HESS and FERMI show an excess in the total electron
(\ps + \el) spectrum for energies greater 100 GeV. These excesses in the
positron fraction as well as the electron spectrum could arise in local
astrophysical processes like pulsars, or can be attributed to the annihilation
of the dark matter particles. The second possibility gives clues to the
possible candidates for the dark matter in galaxies and other astrophysical
systems. In this article, we give a report of these exciting developments.Comment: 27 Pages, extensively revised and significantly extended, to appear
in Pramana as topical revie
Star forming dwarf galaxies
Star forming dwarf galaxies (SFDGs) have a high gas content and low
metallicities, reminiscent of the basic entities in hierarchical galaxy
formation scenarios. In the young universe they probably also played a major
role in the cosmic reionization. Their abundant presence in the local volume
and their youthful character make them ideal objects for detailed studies of
the initial stellar mass function (IMF), fundamental star formation processes
and its feedback to the interstellar medium. Occasionally we witness SFDGs
involved in extreme starbursts, giving rise to strongly elevated production of
super star clusters and global superwinds, mechanisms yet to be explored in
more detail. SFDGs is the initial state of all dwarf galaxies and the relation
to the environment provides us with a key to how different types of dwarf
galaxies are emerging. In this review we will put the emphasis on the exotic
starburst phase, as it seems less important for present day galaxy evolution
but perhaps fundamental in the initial phase of galaxy formation.Comment: To appear in JENAM Symposium "Dwarf Galaxies: Keys to Galaxy
Formation and Evolution", P. Papaderos, G. Hensler, S. Recchi (eds.). Lisbon,
September 2010, Springer Verlag, in pres
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