382 research outputs found
The Determination of the Star Formation Rate in Galaxies
A spectrophotometric model able to compute the integrated spectrum of a
galaxy, including the contribution both of the stellar populations and of the
ionized interstellar gas of the HII regions powered by young hot stars, has
been used to study several spectral features and photometric quantities in
order to derive calibrations of the star formation history of late type
galaxies. Attention has been paid to analyze the emission of the Balmer lines
and the [OII]3727 line to test their attitude at providing estimates
of the present star formation rate in galaxies. Other features, like D
and the equivalent width of the H line, influenced by the presence
of intermediate age stars, have been considered. Several ways of estimating the
star formation rates in normal galaxies are discussed and some considerations
concerning the applicability of the models are presented. Criteria have been
also studied for ascertaining the presence of a burst, current or ended not
long ago. Bursts usually hinder the determination of the past star formation
rate.Comment: 21 pages, needs A&A l-aa.sty, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Indicators of star formation: 4000 Angstrom break and Balmer lines
The behaviour of the 4000 Angstrom break index and of the equivalent width of
the main Balmer lines is investigated a) for a single star as a function of
effective temperature, gravity and metallicity and b) for a single stellar
population as a function of age and metallicity. Consequences for the
interpretation of integrated spectra are presented.Comment: 5 pages, needs A&A l-aa.sty, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysics, complete preprint with figures available on request at
[email protected]
Starbursts and the Butcher-Oemler effect in galaxy clusters
In order to explain the spectroscopic observations of most of the galaxies in intermediate redshift clusters, bursts of star formation superimposed to the traditional scenario of galactic evolution are needed. The analysis of spectral lines and colours by means of an evolutionary synthesis model, including both the stellar contribution and the emission of the ionized gas, allows in most of the cases the determination of the time elapsed since the end of the burst and the fraction of galactic mass involved in it. In the four clusters considered (AC103, AC114, AC118 at \rm z=0.31 and Cl1358+6245 at \rm z=0.33), the theoretical analysis demonstrates that the bursts affect substantial galactic mass fractions, typically 30 \% or more. The observations can be equally well reproduced by either elliptical+burst models or by spiral+burst models in which the star formation is truncated at the end of the burst. A way to determine the galactic original type is suggested
Chandra X-ray Observations of Galaxies in an Off-Center Region of the Coma Cluster
We have performed a pilot Chandra survey of an off-center region of the Coma
cluster to explore the X-ray properties and Luminosity Function of normal
galaxies. We present results on 13 Chandra-detected galaxies with optical
photometric matches, including four spectroscopically-confirmed Coma-member
galaxies. All seven spectroscopically confirmed giant Coma galaxies in this
field have detections or limits consistent with low X-ray to optical flux
ratios (fX/fR < 10^-3). We do not have sufficient numbers of X-ray detected
galaxies to directly measure the galaxy X-ray Luminosity Function (XLF).
However, since we have a well-measured optical LF, we take this low X-ray to
optical flux ratio for the 7 spectroscopically confirmed galaxies to translate
the optical LF to an XLF. We find good agreement with Finoguenov et al. (2004),
indicating that the X-ray emission per unit optical flux per galaxy is
suppressed in clusters of galaxies, but extends this work to a specific
off-center environment in the Coma cluster. Finally, we report the discovery of
a region of diffuse X-ray flux which might correspond to a small group
interacting with the Coma Intra-Cluster Medium (ICM).Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
The evolution of the number density of compact galaxies
We compare the number density of compact (small size) massive galaxies at low
and high redshift using our Padova Millennium Galaxy and Group Catalogue
(PM2GC) at z=0.03-0.11 and the CANDELS results from Barro et al. (2013) at
z=1-2. The number density of local compact galaxies with luminosity weighted
(LW) ages compatible with being already passive at high redshift is compared
with the density of compact passive galaxies observed at high-z. Our results
place an upper limit of a factor ~2 to the evolution of the number density and
are inconsistent with a significant size evolution for most of the compact
galaxies observed at high-z. The evolution may be instead significant (up to a
factor 5) for the most extreme, ultracompact galaxies. Considering all compact
galaxies, regardless of LW age and star formation activity, a minority of local
compact galaxies (<=1/3) might have formed at z<1. Finally, we show that the
secular decrease of the galaxy stellar mass due to simple stellar evolution may
in some cases be a non-negligible factor in the context of the evolution of the
mass-size relation, and we caution that passive evolution in mass should be
taken into account when comparing samples at different redshifts.Comment: ApJ in pres
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