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Scale Heights of Non-Edge-on Spiral Galaxies
We present a method of calculating the scale height of non-edge-onspiral galaxies, together with a formula for errors. The method is basedon solving Poisson's equation for a logarithmic disturbance of matterdensity in spiral galaxies. We show that the spiral arms can not extendto inside the ``forbidden radius'' r0, due to the effect ofthe finite thickness of the disk. The method is tested by re-calculatingthe scale heights of 71 northern spiral galaxies previously calculatedby Ma, Peng & Gu. Our results differ from theirs by less than 9%. Wealso present the scale heights of a further 23 non-edge-on spiralgalaxies.
| On the Role of the Galactic Magnetic Halo in Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic-Ray Propagation
The study of the propagation of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs)is a key step to unveiling the secret of their origin. Up to now onlythe influence of the galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields wasconsidered. In this article we focus our analysis on the influence ofthe magnetic field of the galaxies standing between possible UHECRsources and us. Our main approach is to start from the well-known galaxydistribution up to 120 Mpc. We use the most complete galaxy catalog: theLEDA catalog. Inside a sphere of 120 Mpc, we extract 60,130 galaxieswith known positions. In our simulations we assign a halo dipolemagnetic field (HDMF) to each galaxy. The code developed is able toretro-propagate a charged particle from the arrival points of UHECR dataacross our galaxy sample. We present simulations in the case of theVirgo Cluster and show that there is a nonnegligible deviation in thecase of protons of 7×1019 eV, even if the B value isconservative. Then special attention is devoted to the AGASA triplet,where we find that NGC 3998 and NGC 3992 could be possible sourcecandidates.
| Dark and Baryonic Matter in Bright Spiral Galaxies. II. Radial Distributions for 34 Galaxies
We decompose the rotation curves of 34 bright spiral galaxies intobaryonic and dark matter components. Stellar mass profiles are createdby applying color-M/L relations to near-infrared and optical photometry.We find that the radial profile of the baryonic-to-dark-matter ratio isself-similar for all galaxies, when scaled to the radius at which thecontribution of the baryonic mass to the rotation curve equals that ofthe dark matter (RX). We argue that this is due to thequasi-exponential nature of disks and rotation curves that are nearlyflat after an initial rise. The radius RX is found tocorrelate most strongly with baryonic rotation speed, such that galaxieswith RX measurements that lie further out in their disksrotate faster. This quantity also correlates very strongly with stellarmass, Hubble type, and observed rotation speed; B-band central surfacebrightness is less related to RX than these other galaxyproperties. Most of the galaxies in our sample appear to be close tomaximal disk. For these galaxies, we find that maximum observed rotationspeeds are tightly correlated with maximum rotation speeds predictedfrom the baryon distributions, such that one can create a Tully-Fisherrelation based on surface photometry and redshifts alone. Finally, wecompare our data to the NFW parameterization for dark matter profileswith and without including adiabatic contraction as it is most commonlyimplemented. Fits are generally poor, and all but two galaxies arebetter fit if adiabatic contraction is not performed. In order to havebetter fits, and especially to accommodate adiabatic contraction,baryons would need to contribute very little to the total mass in theinner parts of galaxies, seemingly in contrast with other observationalconstraints.
| Objective Classification of Spiral Galaxies Having Extended Rotation Curves Beyond the Optical Radius
We carry out an objective classification of four samples of spiralgalaxies having extended rotation curves beyond the optical radius. Amultivariate statistical analysis (viz., principal component analysis[PCA]) shows that about 96% of the total variation is due to twocomponents, one being the combination of absolute blue magnitude andmaximum rotational velocity beyond the optical region and the otherbeing the central density of the halo. On the basis of PCA a fundamentalplane has been constructed that reduces the scatter in the Tully-Fisherrelation up to a maximum of 16%. A multiple stepwise regression analysisof the variation of the overall shape of the rotation curves shows thatit is mainly determined by the central surface brightness, while theshape purely in the outer part of the galaxy (beyond the optical radius)is mainly determined by the size of the galactic disk.
| Low-Luminosity Active Galaxies and Their Central Black Holes
Central black hole masses for 117 spiral galaxies representingmorphological stages S0/a through Sc and taken from the largespectroscopic survey of Ho et al. are derived using Ks-banddata from the Two Micron All Sky Survey. Black hole masses are foundusing a calibrated black hole-Ks bulge luminosity relation,while bulge luminosities are measured by means of a two-dimensionalbulge-disk decomposition routine. The black hole masses are correlatedagainst a variety of parameters representing properties of the nucleusand host galaxy. Nuclear properties such as line width (FWHM [N II]), aswell as emission-line ratios (e.g., [O III]/Hβ, [O I]/Hα, [NII]/Hα, and [S II]/Hα), show a very high degree ofcorrelation with black hole mass. The excellent correlation with linewidth supports the view that the emission-line gas is in virialequilibrium with either the black hole or bulge potential. The very goodemission-line ratio correlations may indicate a change in ionizingcontinuum shape with black hole mass in the sense that more massiveblack holes generate harder spectra. Apart from theinclination-corrected rotational velocity, no excellent correlations arefound between black hole mass and host galaxy properties. Significantdifferences are found between the distributions of black hole masses inearly-, mid-, and late-type spiral galaxies (subsamples A, B, and C) inthe sense that early-type galaxies have preferentially larger centralblack holes, consistent with observations that Seyfert galaxies arefound preferentially in early-type systems. The line width distributionsshow a marked difference among subsamples A, B, and C in the sense thatearlier type galaxies have larger line widths. There are also cleardifferences in line ratios between subsamples A+B and C that likely arerelated to the level of ionization in the gas. Finally, aKs-band Simien & de Vaucouleurs diagram shows excellentagreement with the original B-band relation, although there is a largedispersion at a given morphological stage.
| The structure of galactic disks. Studying late-type spiral galaxies using SDSS
Using imaging data from the SDSS survey, we present the g' and r' radialstellar light distribution of a complete sample of ~90 face-on tointermediate inclined, nearby, late-type (Sb-Sdm) spiral galaxies. Thesurface brightness profiles are reliable (1 σ uncertainty lessthan 0.2 mag) down to μ27 mag/''. Only ~10% of all galaxies havea normal/standard purely exponential disk down to our noise limit. Thesurface brightness distribution of the rest of the galaxies is betterdescribed as a broken exponential. About 60% of the galaxies have abreak in the exponential profile between 1.5-4.5 times thescalelength followed by a downbending, steeper outer region. Another~30% shows also a clear break between 4.0-6.0 times thescalelength but followed by an upbending, shallower outer region. A fewgalaxies have even a more complex surface brightness distribution. Theshape of the profiles correlates with Hubble type. Downbending breaksare more frequent in later Hubble types while the fraction of upbendingbreaks rises towards earlier types. No clear relation is found betweenthe environment, as characterised by the number of neighbours, and theshape of the profiles of the galaxies.
| BHαBAR: big Hα kinematical sample of barred spiral galaxies - I. Fabry-Perot observations of 21 galaxies
We present the Hα gas kinematics of 21 representative barredspiral galaxies belonging to the BHαBAR sample. The galaxies wereobserved with FaNTOmM, a Fabry-Perot integral-field spectrometer, onthree different telescopes. The three-dimensional data cubes wereprocessed through a robust pipeline with the aim of providing the mosthomogeneous and accurate data set possible useful for further analysis.The data cubes were spatially binned to a constant signal-to-noiseratio, typically around 7. Maps of the monochromatic Hα emissionline and of the velocity field were generated and the kinematicalparameters were derived for the whole sample using tilted-ring models.The photometrical and kinematical parameters (position angle of themajor axis, inclination, systemic velocity and kinematical centre) arein relative good agreement, except perhaps for the later-type spirals.
| MOND predictions of `halo' phenomenology in disc galaxies
We examine two corollaries of MOND pertaining to properties of theequivalent dark matter halo. MOND predicts for pure exponential discs atight relation involving the halo and disc scalelengths and the meanacceleration in the disc, which we find to test favourably against theVerheijen sample of Ursa Major galaxies. A correlation between halo anddisc length-scales is also apparent when the `maximum disc' contributionis assumed, but we demonstrate that this follows from the more generalMOND prediction. The second MOND prediction involves the existence of amaximum halo acceleration, which also tests favourably against the UrsaMajor sample for different assumptions on the disc contribution.
| The Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation of Galaxies with Extended Rotation Curves and the Stellar Mass of Rotating Galaxies
I investigate the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation for a sample ofgalaxies with extended 21 cm rotation curves spanning the range 20 kms-1<~Vf<=300 km s-1. A variety ofscalings of the stellar mass-to-light ratio Υ* areconsidered. For each prescription for Υ*, I give fitsof the form Md=AVxf.Presumably, the prescription that comes closest to the correct valuewill minimize the scatter in the relation. The fit with minimum scatterhas A=50 Msolar km-4 s4 andx=4. This relation holds over five decades in mass. Galaxy color,stellar fraction, and Υ* are correlated with eachother and with Md, in the sense that more massivegalaxies tend to be more evolved. There is a systematic dependence ofthe degree of maximality of disks on surface brightness. High surfacebrightness galaxies typically have Υ*~3/4 of themaximum disk value, while low surface brightness galaxies typicallyattain ~1/4 of this amount.
| On the Relevance of the Tremaine-Weinberg Method Applied to an Hα Velocity Field: Pattern Speed Determination in M100 (NGC 4321)
The relevance of the Tremaine-Weinberg (TW) method is tested formeasuring bar, spiral, and inner structure pattern speeds using agaseous velocity field. The TW method is applied to various simulatedbarred galaxies in order to demonstrate its validity in seven differentconfigurations, including star formation and/or dark matter halo. Thereliability of the different physical processes involved and of thevarious observational parameters is also tested. The simulations showthat the TW method could be applied to gaseous velocity fields to get agood estimate of the bar pattern speed, under the condition that regionsof shocks are avoided and measurements are confined to regions where thegaseous bar is well formed. We successfully apply the TW method to theHα velocity field of the Virgo Cluster galaxy M100 (NGC 4321) andderive pattern speeds of 55+/-5 km s-1 kpc-1 forthe nuclear structure, 30+/-2 km s-1 kpc-1 for thebar, and 20+/-1 km s-1 kpc-1 for the spiralpattern, in full agreement with published determinations using the samemethod or alternative ones.
| Secular Evolution via Bar-driven Gas Inflow: Results from BIMA SONG
We present an analysis of the molecular gas distributions in the 29barred and 15 unbarred spirals in the BIMA CO (J=1-0) Survey of NearbyGalaxies (SONG). For galaxies that are bright in CO, we confirm theconclusion by Sakamoto et al. that barred spirals have higher moleculargas concentrations in the central kiloparsec. The SONG sample alsoincludes 27 galaxies below the CO brightness limit used by Sakamoto etal. Even in these less CO-bright galaxies we show that high central gasconcentrations are more common in barred galaxies, consistent withradial inflow driven by the bar. However, there is a significantpopulation of early-type (Sa-Sbc) barred spirals (6 of 19) that have nomolecular gas detected in the nuclear region and have very little out tothe bar corotation radius. This suggests that in barred galaxies withgas-deficient nuclear regions, the bar has already driven most of thegas within the bar corotation radius to the nuclear region, where it hasbeen consumed by star formation. The median mass of nuclear moleculargas is over 4 times higher in early-type bars than in late-type (Sc-Sdm)bars. Since previous work has shown that the gas consumption rate is anorder of magnitude higher in early-type bars, this implies that theearly types have significantly higher bar-driven inflows. The loweraccretion rates in late-type bars can probably be attributed to theknown differences in bar structure between early and late types. Despitethe evidence for bar-driven inflows in both early and late Hubble-typespirals, the data indicate that it is highly unlikely for a late-typegalaxy to evolve into an early type via bar-induced gas inflow.Nonetheless, secular evolutionary processes are undoubtedly present, andpseudobulges are inevitable; evidence for pseudobulges is likely to beclearest in early-type galaxies because of their high gas inflow ratesand higher star formation activity.
| The Stellar Populations in the Central Parsecs of Galactic Bulges
We present Hubble Space Telescope blue spectra at intermediate spectralresolution for the nuclei of 23 nearby disk galaxies. These objects wereselected to have nebular emission in their nuclei and span a range ofemission-line classifications, as well as Hubble types. In this paper wefocus on the stellar population as revealed by the continuum spectralenergy distribution measured within the central 0.13" (~8 pc) of thesegalaxies. The data were modeled with linear combinations of single-agestellar population synthesis models. The large majority (~80%) of thesurveyed nuclei have spectra whose features are consistent with apredominantly old (>~5×109 yr) stellar population.Approximately 25% of these nuclei show evidence of a component with ageyounger than 1 Gyr, with the incidence of these stars related to thenebular classification. Successful model fits imply an average reddeningcorresponding to AV~0.4 mag and a stellar metallicity of1-2.5 Zsolar. We discuss the implications of these resultsfor understanding the star formation history in the environment ofquiescent and active supermassive black holes. Our findings reinforcethe picture wherein Seyfert nuclei and the majority of low-ionizationnuclear emission-line regions are predominantly accretion-powered andsuggest that much of the central star formation in H II nuclei isactually circumnuclear.Based on observations obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, which isoperated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.
| Propeller Orbits in Barred Galaxy Models
The central, or x1, family of periodic orbits is the mostimportant one in almost all two-dimensional numerical models of galacticbars in the literature. However, we present evidence that intwo-dimensional models with sufficiently large bar axial ratios(a/c>~6), stable orbits having propeller shapes play the dominantrole. In our models this propeller family is in fact a distant relativeof the x1 family. There are also intermediate cases in whichboth families are important. The dominance of one family over the othermay have direct consequences on the morphological properties of the barsthat can be constructed from them, properties such as face-on barthinness and strength as well as the boxiness of the outer isophotes.
| Cosmic magnetic fields - as observed in the Universe, in galactic dynamos, and in the Milky Way
Cosmic magnetism has that exotic ``Je ne sais quoi''! Magnetism has beenobserved in various objects, located near the edge of the Universe andall the way down to the Milky Way's center. The observed magnetic fieldcan take the cell-type shape in randomly-oriented large blobs found inintracluster gas or outside of clusters of galaxies, the helix shape insynchrotron jets, the longitudinal shape in ram-pressured shocks inradio lobes near elliptical galaxies, the spiral shape of logarithmicarms in spiral galaxies, or the egg shape of an enlarged interstellarbubble. In strength, the magnetic field varies from 0.1 nG(cosmological), to 20 μG (galaxies, jets, superbubbles), and to 1 mGin the Milky Way filaments.Magnetism plays a small physical role in the formation of largestructures. It acts as a tracer of the dynamical histories ofcosmological and intracluster events, it guides the motion of theinterstellar ionised gas, and it aligns the charged dust particles.Batteries and dynamos are often employed in models to create and amplifyseed magnetic fields. Starting soon after the Big Bang (redshiftz>2000), this review covers the cosmological background surface(z~1100, distance ~4.3 Gpc), the epoch of first stars (z~20 distance~4.1 Gpc), the currently observable Universe (z~10, distance ~3.9 Gpc),superclusters of galaxies (size ~50 Mpc), intracluster gas (size ~10Mpc), galaxies (~30 kpc), spiral arms (~10 kpc), interstellarsuperbubbles (~100 pc), synchrotron filaments (~10 pc), and the MilkyWay's center.
| Cores of dark matter haloes correlate with stellar scalelengths
We investigate in detail the mass distribution obtained by means ofhigh-resolution rotation curves of 25 galaxies of differentmorphological types. The dark matter contribution to the circularrotation velocity is well-described by resorting to a dark component,the density of which shows an inner core, i.e. a central constantdensity region. We find a very strong correlation between the coreradius size RC and the stellar exponential scalelengthRD: RC~=13[RD/(5kpc)]1.05kpc, and between RCand the galaxy dynamical mass at this distance,Mdyn(RC). These relationships would not beexpected if the core radii were the product of an incorrectdecomposition procedure, or the biased result of wrong or misunderstoodobservational data. The very strong correlation between the dark andluminous scalelengths found here seems to hold also for different Hubbletypes and opens new scenarios for the nature of the dark matter ingalaxies.
| Observational Constraints on the Physical Parameters of Dark Matter Halos
After looking at the difference in the mass distribution between massivespiral and dwarf irregular (dIrr) and low surface brightness (LSB)galaxies, the central Dark Matter (DM) concentration (flat vs cuspy) indwarf and LSB galaxies, derived from observations, will be examined. Wewill then present what kind of observational constraints can be put onthe total mass and total extent of DM halos from the studies ofindividual galaxies, small groups, satellites' dynamics and tidal tailsof interacting systems. Finally, we will discuss how limits on thephysical parameters of DM halos could be set by deriving extendedrotation curves beyond the HI radius (r > rHI), usingeither Lyα absorption or Hα emission observations.
| The visible matter -- dark matter coupling
In the inner parts of spiral galaxies, of high or low surfacebrightness, there is a close correlation between rotation curve shapeand light distribution. For any feature in the luminosity profile thereis a corresponding feature in the rotation curve and vice versa. Thisimplies that the gravitational potential is strongly correlated with thedistribution of luminosity: either the luminous mass dominates or thereis a close coupling between luminous and dark matter. In a similar way,the declining rotation curves observed in the outer parts of highluminosity systems are a clear signature of the stellar disk whicheither dominates or traces the distribution of mass.The notion that the baryons are dynamically important in the centres ofgalaxies, including LSBs, undermines the whole controversy over thecusps in CDM halos and the comparison with the observations. If thebaryons dominate in the central regions of all spirals, including LSBs,how can the CDM profiles be compared with the observations?Alternatively, if the baryons do not dominate but simply trace the DMdistribution, why, in systems of comparable luminosity, are some DMhalos cuspy (like the light) and others (also like the light) are not?
| The Stellar Populations of Low-Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei. II. Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Observations
We present a study of the stellar populations of low-luminosity activegalactic nuclei (LLAGNs). Our goal is to search for spectroscopicsignatures of young and intermediate-age stars and to investigate theirrelationship with the ionization mechanism in LLAGNs. The method used isbased on the stellar population synthesis of the optical continuum ofthe innermost (20-100 pc) regions in these galaxies. For this purpose,we have collected high spatial resolution optical (2900-5700 Å)STIS spectra of 28 nearby LLAGNs that are available in the Hubble SpaceTelescope archive. The analysis of these data is compared with a similaranalysis also presented here for 51 ground-based spectra of LLAGNs. Ourmain findings are as follows: (1) No features due to Wolf-Rayet starswere convincingly detected in the STIS spectra. (2) Young starscontribute very little to the optical continuum in the ground-basedaperture. However, the fraction of light provided by these stars ishigher than 10% in most of the weak-[O I] ([OI]/Hα<=0.25) LLAGNSTIS spectra. (3) Intermediate-age stars contribute significantly to theoptical continuum of these nuclei. This population is more frequent inobjects with weak than with strong [O I]. Weak-[O I] LLAGNs that haveyoung stars stand out for their intermediate-age population. (4) Most ofthe strong-[O I] LLAGNs have predominantly old stellar population. A fewof these objects also show a featureless continuum that contributessignificantly to the optical continuum. These results suggest that youngand intermediate-age stars do not play a significant role in theionization of LLAGNs with strong [O I]. However, the ionization inweak-[O I] LLAGNs with young and/or intermediate-age populations couldbe due to stellar processes. A comparison of the properties of theseobjects with Seyfert 2 galaxies that harbor a nuclear starburst suggeststhat weak-[O I] LLAGNs are the lower luminosity counterparts of theSeyfert 2 composite nuclei.Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtainedat the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASAcontract NAS 5-26555. Based on observations made with the Nordic OpticalTelescope (NOT), operated on the island of La Palma jointly by Denmark,Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, in the Spanish Observatorio delRoque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica deCanarias.
| Inner-truncated Disks in Galaxies
We present an analysis of the disk brightness profiles of 218 spiral andlenticular galaxies. At least 28% of disk galaxies exhibit innertruncations in these profiles. There are no significant trends oftruncation incidence with Hubble type, but the incidence among barredsystems is 49%, more than 4 times that for nonbarred galaxies. However,not all barred systems have inner truncations, and not allinner-truncated systems are currently barred. Truncations represent areal dearth of disk stars in the inner regions and are not an artifactof our selection or fitting procedures nor the result of obscuration bydust. Disk surface brightness profiles in the outer regions are wellrepresented by simple exponentials for both truncated and nontruncateddisks. However, truncated and nontruncated systems have systematicallydifferent slopes and central surface brightness parameters for theirdisk brightness distributions. Truncation radii do not appear tocorrelate well with the sizes or brightnesses of the bulges. Thissuggests that the low angular momentum material apparently missing fromthe inner disk was not simply consumed in forming the bulge population.Disk parameters and the statistics of bar orientations in our sampleindicate that the missing stars of the inner disk have not simply beenredistributed azimuthally into bar structures. The sharpness of thebrightness truncations and their locations with respect to othergalactic structures suggest that resonances associated with diskkinematics, or tidal interactions with the mass of bulge stars, might beresponsible for this phenomenon.
| Minor-axis velocity gradients in disk galaxies
We present the ionized-gas kinematics and photometry of a sample of 4spiral galaxies which are characterized by a zero-velocity plateau alongthe major axis and a velocity gradient along the minor axis,respectively. By combining these new kinematical data with thoseavailable in the literature for the ionized-gas component of the S0s andspirals listed in the Revised Shapley-Ames Catalog of Bright Galaxies werealized that about 50% of unbarred galaxies show a remarkable gasvelocity gradient along the optical minor axis. This fraction rises toabout 60% if we include unbarred galaxies with an irregular velocityprofile along the minor axis. This phenomenon is observed all along theHubble sequence of disk galaxies, and it is particularly frequent inearly-type spirals. Since minor-axis velocity gradients are unexpectedif the gas is moving onto circular orbits in a disk coplanar to thestellar one, we conclude that non-circular and off-plane gas motions arenot rare in the inner regions of disk galaxies.Based on observations carried out at the European Southern Observatoryin La Silla (Chile) (ESO 69.B-0706 and 70.B-0338), with the MultipleMirror Telescope which is a joint facility of the SmithsonianInstitution and the University of Arizona, and with the ItalianTelescopio Nazionale Galileo (AOT-5, 3-18) at the Observatorio del Roquede los Muchachos in La Palma (Spain).Table 1 is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org. Table 5 is only available in electronic format the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) orvia http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/416/507
| Model-independent measurements of bar pattern speeds
The pattern speed is one of the fundamental parameters that determinesthe structure of barred galaxies. This quantity is usually derived fromindirect methods or by employing model assumptions. The number of barpattern speeds derived using the model-independent Tremaine &Weinberg technique is still very limited. We present the results ofmodel-independent measurements of the bar pattern speed in four galaxiesranging in Hubble type from SB0 to SBbc. Three of the four galaxies inour sample are consistent with bars being fast rotators. The lack ofslow bars is consistent with previous observations and suggests thatbarred galaxies do not have centrally concentrated dark matter haloes.This contradicts simulations of cosmological structure formation andobservations of the central mass concentration in nonbarred galaxies.
| Orbital dynamics of three-dimensional bars - IV. Boxy isophotes in face-on views
We study the conditions that favour boxiness of isodensities in theface-on views of orbital 3D models for barred galaxies. Using orbitalweighted profiles we show that boxiness is in general a composite effectthat appears when one considers stable orbits belonging to severalfamilies of periodic orbits. 3D orbits that are introduced due tovertical instabilities play a crucial role in the face-on profiles andenhance their rectangularity. This happens because at the 4:1 radialresonance region we have several orbits with boxy face-on projections,instead of a few rectangular-like x1 orbits, which, in a fair fractionof the models studied so far, are unstable in this region. Massive barsare characterized by rectangular-like orbits. However, we find that itis the pattern speed that affects the elongation of the boxy featuremost, in the sense that fast bars are more elongated than slow ones.Boxiness in intermediate distances between the centre of the model andthe end of the bar can be attributed to x1v1 orbits, or to a combinationof families related to the radial 3:1 resonance.
| The BIMA Survey of Nearby Galaxies (BIMA SONG). II. The CO Data
The BIMA Survey of Nearby Galaxies is a systematic imaging study of the3 mm CO J=1-0 molecular emission within the centers and disks of 44nearby spiral galaxies. The typical spatial resolution of the survey is6" or 360 pc at the average distance (12 Mpc) of the sample. Thevelocity resolution of the CO observations is 4 km s-1,though most maps are smoothed to 10 km s-1 resolution. For 33galaxies, multifield observations ensured that a region >~190"(=10 kpc) in diameter was imaged. For the remaining 11galaxies, which had smaller optical diameters and were on averagefarther away, single-pointing observations imaged a 100" diameter(=11 kpc) region. The sample was not chosen based on CO orinfrared brightness; instead, all spirals were included that met theselection criteria of vsolar<=2000 km s-1,δ>=-20deg, i<=70deg,D25<70', and BT<11.0. Thedetection rate was 41/44 sources or 93%; of the three nondetections, one(M81) is known to have CO emission at locations outside the survey fieldof view. Fully sampled single-dish CO data were incorporated into themaps for 24 galaxies; these single-dish data comprise the most extensivecollection of fully sampled, two-dimensional single-dish CO maps ofexternal galaxies to date. We also tabulate direct measurements of theglobal CO flux densities for these 24 sources. For the remaining 20sources, we collected sensitive single-dish spectra in order to evaluatethe large-scale flux recovery. We demonstrate that the measured ratiosof flux density recovered are a function of the signal-to-noise of theinterferometric data. We examine the degree of central peakedness of themolecular surface density distributions and show that the distributionsexhibit their brightest CO emission within the central 6" in only 20/44or 45% of the sample. We show that all three Local Group spiral galaxieshave CO morphologies that are represented in SONG, though the Milky WayCO luminosity is somewhat below the SONG average, and M31 and M33 arewell below average. This survey provides a unique public database ofintegrated intensity maps, channel maps, spectra, and velocity fields ofmolecular emission in nearby galaxies. It also lays the groundwork forextragalactic surveys by more powerful future millimeter-wavelengthinterferometers like CARMA and ALMA.
| The Contribution of H I-rich Galaxies to the Damped Lyα Absorber Population at z = 0
We present a study of the expected properties of the low-redshift dampedLyα absorber population determined from a sample of H I-selectedgalaxies in the local universe. Because of a tight correlation betweenthe H I mass and H I cross section, which we demonstrate spans allgalaxy types, we can use our H I-selected sample to predict theproperties of the absorption-line systems. We use measurements of thenumber density and H I cross section of galaxies to show that the totalH I cross section at column densities sufficient to produce dampedLyα absorption is consistent with no evolution of the absorberpopulation. We also find that the dN/dz distribution is dominated bygalaxies with H I masses near 109 Msolar. However,because of the large dispersion in the correlation between H I mass andstellar luminosity, we find that the distribution of dN/dz as a functionof LJ is fairly flat. In addition, we examine the line widthsof the H I-selected galaxies and show that there may be evolution in thekinematics of H I-rich galaxies, but it is not necessary for the higherredshift population to contain a greater proportion of high-massgalaxies than we find locally.
| A Search for ``Dwarf'' Seyfert Nuclei. VI. Properties of Emission-Line Nuclei in Nearby Galaxies
We use the database from Paper III to quantify the global and nuclearproperties of emission-line nuclei in the Palomar spectroscopic surveyof nearby galaxies. We show that the host galaxies of Seyferts, LINERs,and transition objects share remarkably similar large-scale propertiesand local environments. The distinguishing traits emerge on nuclearscales. Compared with LINERs, Seyfert nuclei are an order of magnitudemore luminous and exhibit higher electron densities and internalextinction. We suggest that Seyfert galaxies possess characteristicallymore gas-rich circumnuclear regions and hence a more abundant fuelreservoir and plausibly higher accretion rates. The differences betweenthe ionization states of the narrow emission-line regions of Seyfertsand LINERs can be partly explained by the differences in their nebularproperties. Transition-type objects are consistent with being composite(LINER/H II) systems. With very few exceptions, the stellar populationwithin the central few hundred parsecs of the host galaxies is uniformlyold, a finding that presents a serious challenge to starburst orpost-starburst models for these objects. Seyferts and LINERs havevirtually indistinguishable velocity fields as inferred from their linewidths and line asymmetries. Transition nuclei tend to have narrowerlines and more ambiguous evidence for line asymmetries. All threeclasses of objects obey a strong correlation between line width and lineluminosity. We argue that the angular momentum content of circumnucleargas may be an important factor in determining whether a nucleus becomesactive. Finally, we discuss some possible complications for theunification model of Seyfert galaxies posed by our observations.
| Companions of Bright Barred Shapley-Ames Galaxies
Companion galaxy environment for a subset of 78 bright and nearby barredgalaxies from the Shapley-Ames Catalog is presented. Among the spiralbarred galaxies, there are Seyfert galaxies, galaxies with circumnuclearstructures, galaxies not associated with any large-scale galaxy cloudstructure, galaxies with peculiar disk morphology (crooked arms), andgalaxies with normal disk morphology; the list includes all Hubbletypes. The companion galaxy list includes the number of companiongalaxies within 20 diameters, their Hubble type, and projectedseparation distance. In addition, the companion environment was searchedfor four known active spiral galaxies, three of them are Seyfertgalaxies, namely, NGC 1068, NGC 1097, and NGC 5548, and one is astarburst galaxy, M82. Among the results obtained, it is noted that theonly spiral barred galaxy classified as Seyfert 1 in our list has nocompanions within a projected distance of 20 diameters; six out of 10Seyfert 2 bar galaxies have no companions within 10 diameters, six outof 10 Seyfert 2 galaxies have one or more companions at projectedseparation distances between 10 and 20 diameters; six out of 12 galaxieswith circumnuclear structures have two or more companions within 20diameters.
| The 2MASS Large Galaxy Atlas
We present the largest galaxies as seen in the near-infrared (1-2μm), imaged with the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), ranging inangular size from 1' to 1.5d. We highlight the 100 largest in thesample. The galaxies span all Hubble morphological types, includingelliptical galaxies, normal and barred spirals, and dwarf and peculiarclasses. The 2MASS Large Galaxy Atlas provides the necessary sensitivityand angular resolution to examine in detail morphologies in thenear-infrared, which may be radically different from those in theoptical. Internal structures such as spirals, bulges, warps, rings,bars, and star formation regions are resolved by 2MASS. In addition tolarge mosaic images, the atlas includes astrometric, photometric, andshape global measurements for each galaxy. A comparison of fundamentalmeasures (e.g., surface brightness, Hubble type) is carried out for thesample and compared with the Third Reference Catalogue. We furthershowcase NGC 253 and M51 (NGC 5194/5195) to demonstrate the quality anddepth of the data. The atlas represents the first uniform, all-sky,dust-penetrated view of galaxies of every type, as seen in thenear-infrared wavelength window that is most sensitive to the dominantmass component of galaxies. The images and catalogs are availablethrough the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database and Infrared ScienceArchive and are part of the 2MASS Extended Source Catalog.
| The luminous and dark matter content of disk galaxies
We have compiled a sample of disk galaxies with available photometry inthe B and K bands, velocity line-widths and HI integral fluxes. Severalparameters that trace the luminous, baryonic and dark matter contentswere inferred. We investigated how these parameters vary with differentgalaxy properties, and compared the results with predictions of galaxyevolutionary models in the context of the Λ Cold Dark Matter(ΛCDM) cosmogony. The ratio of disk-to-total maximum circularvelocity, (Vd,m/Vt,m), depends mainly on thecentral disk surface density Σd,0 (or surfacebrightness, SB), increasing roughly asΣd,00.15. While a fraction of high SBgalaxies have a (Vd,m/Vt,m) ratio corresponding tothe maximum disk solution, the low SB are completely dark matterdominated. The trend is similar for the models, although they haveslightly smaller (Vd,m/Vt,m) ratios thanobservations, in particular at the highest SBs and when small baryonfractions are used. The scatter in the(Vd,m/Vt,m)- Σd,0 plot is large.An analysis of residuals shows that (Vd,m/Vt,m)tends to decrease as the galaxy is redder, more luminous (massive), andof earlier type. The models allow us to explain the physics of theseresults, which imply a connexion between halo structure and luminousproperties. The dynamical-to-baryon mass and dynamical mass-to-light (Band K) ratios at a given radius were also estimated. All these ratios,for observations and models, decrease with Σd,0; (orSB) and do not correlate significantly with the galaxy scale, contraryto what has been reported in previous works, based on the analysis ofrotation curve shapes. We discuss this difference and state theimportance of solving the controversy of whether the dark and luminouscontents in disk galaxies depend on SB or luminosity. The broadagreement between the models and observations presented here regardingthe trends of the dynamical-to-baryon matter and mass-to-light ratioswith several galaxy properties favors the ΛCDM scenario. However,the excess of dark matter inside the optical region of disk galaxiesremains the main difficulty.Appendices A and B are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org. Table 1 is only available at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/412/633
| Urban Astronomy: Observing the Messier Objects from the City
Not Available
| An Efficient Strategy to Select Targets for Gasdynamical Measurements of Black Hole Masses Using the Hubble Space Telescope
Gasdynamical studies using the Hubble Space Telescope are an integralcomponent for future progress in the search for massive black holes ingalactic nuclei. Here we present an extensive set of gas rotation curvesobtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph for the centralregions of 23 disk galaxies. We find that the bulges of randomlyselected, nearby spiral and S0 galaxies generally do not containwell-defined gaseous disks. Only 15%-20% of disk galaxies have regular,symmetric velocity fields useful for dynamical analysis. Throughcomparison of the kinematics with Hubble Space Telescope images of thenuclear regions, we show that the probability of success can besignificantly boosted by preselecting objects whose central dust lanesfollow a well-ordered, circularly symmetric pattern. The dust morphologycan be ascertained efficiently by visual inspection of unsharp-maskedimages. Based on observations made with the Hubble Space Telescope,which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.
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