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The structure of elliptical galaxies in the Virgo cluster. Results from the INT Wide Field Survey
We report on a complete CCD imaging survey of 226 elliptical galaxies inthe North-East quadrant of the Virgo cluster, representative of theproperties of giant and dwarf elliptical galaxies in this cluster. Wefit their radial light profiles with the Sersic r1/n model oflight distribution. We confirm the result of Graham & Guzman(\cite{Graham03}, AJ, 125, 2936) that the apparent dichotomy between Eand dE galaxies in the luminosity-< μ>e plane nolonger appears when other structural parameters are considered and canbe entirely attributed to the onset of ``core'' galaxies atBT -20.5 mag. When ``core'' galaxies are notconsidered, E and dE form a unique family with n linearly increasingwith the luminosity. For 90 galaxies we analyze the B-I color indices,both in the nuclear and in the outer regions. Both indices are bluertoward fainter luminosities. We find also that the outer color gradientsdo not show any significant correlation with the luminosity. The scatterin all color indicators increases significantly toward lowerluminosities, e.g. galaxies fainter than BT -15 have aB-I spread > 0.5 mag.Table 2, Figs. 13 and 14 are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| Spectrophotometry of galaxies in the Virgo cluster. II. The data
Drift-scan mode (3600-6800 Å) spectra with 500
| Spectroscopy of Dwarf Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. I. Data, Chemical Abundances, and Ionization Structure
Long-slit spectroscopy has been obtained for a sample of 22 blue dwarfgalaxies selected in the direction of the Virgo Cluster, as part of alarger sample of Virgo blue dwarf galaxies for which deep Hαimaging has been collected. Most of the galaxies in the present sampleare classified as BCDs or dwarf Irregulars in the Virgo Cluster Catalog.Line fluxes, Hβ equivalent widths, extinction coefficients, spatialemission profiles, ionization structure, and physical conditions arepresented for each galaxy. Chemical abundances have been derived eitherusing a direct determination of the electron temperature or afterdetailed examination of the predictions of different abundancecalibrations. The oxygen abundances derived for the sample of Virgodwarf galaxies span the range 7.6<=12+log(O/H)<=8.9, and thecorresponding nitrogen-to-oxygen abundance ratio ranges from valuestypical of low-metallicity field BCD galaxies to near solar.
| UV to radio centimetric spectral energy distributions of optically-selected late-type galaxies in the Virgo cluster
We present a multifrequency dataset for an optically-selected,volume-limited, complete sample of 118 late-type galaxies (>=S0a) inthe Virgo cluster. The database includes UV, visible, near-IR, mid-IR,far-IR, radio continuum photometric data as well as spectroscopic dataof Hα , CO and HI lines, homogeneously reduced, obtained from ourown observations or compiled from the literature. Assuming the energybalance between the absorbed stellar light and that radiated in the IRby dust, we calibarte an empirical attenuation law suitable forcorrecting photometric and spectroscopic data of normal galaxies. Thedata, corrected for internal extinction, are used to construct thespectral energy distribution (SED) of each individual galaxy, andcombined to trace the median SED of galaxies in various classes ofmorphological type and luminosity. Low-luminosity, dwarf galaxies haveon average bluer stellar continua and higher far-IR luminosities perunit galaxy mass than giant, early-type spirals. If compared to nearbystarburst galaxies such as M 82 and Arp 220, normal spirals haverelatively similar observed stellar spectra but 10-100 times lower IRluminosities. The temperature of the cold dust component increases withthe far-IR luminosity, from giant spirals to dwarf irregulars. The SEDare used to separate the stellar emission from the dust emission in themid-IR regime. We show that the contribution of the stellar emission at6.75 mu m to the total emission of galaxies is generally important, from~ 80% in Sa to ~ 20% in Sc.Tables 2-5, 7, 8, and Fig. 2 are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.orgTables 10-12 are only available in electronic form 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/402/37
| The luminosity function of the Virgo Cluster from MB=-22 to -11
We measure the galaxy luminosity function (LF) for the Virgo Clusterbetween blue magnitudes MB=-22 and -11 from wide-fieldcharge-coupled device (CCD) imaging data. The LF is only graduallyrising for -22
| The Three-dimensional Structure of the Virgo Cluster Region from Tully-Fisher and H I Data
The distances and H I contents of 161 spiral galaxies in the region ofthe Virgo cluster are used to gain insight into the complicatedstructure of this galaxy system. Special attention has been paid to theinvestigation of the suggestion presented in an earlier work that someperipheral Virgo groups may contain strongly gas-deficient spiralgalaxies. The three-dimensional galaxy distribution has been inferredfrom quality distance estimates obtained by averaging distance modulibased on the Tully-Fisher relationship taken from eight published datasets previously homogenized, resulting in a relation with a dispersionof 0.41 mag. Previous findings that the spiral distribution issubstantially more elongated along the line of sight than in the planeof the sky are confirmed by the current data. In addition, an importanteast-west disparity in this effect has been detected. The overallwidth-to-depth ratio of the Virgo cluster region is about 1:4, with themost distant objects concentrated in the western half. The filamentarystructure of the spiral population and its orientation are alsoreflected by the H I-deficient objects alone. The H I deficiency patternshows a central enhancement extending from ~16 to 22 Mpc inline-of-sight distance; most of this enhancement arises from galaxiesthat belong to the Virgo cluster proper. However, significant gasdeficiencies are also detected outside the main body of the cluster in aprobable group of galaxies at line-of-sight distances ~25-30 Mpc, lyingin the region dominated by the southern edge of the M49 subcluster andclouds W' and W, as well as in various foreground galaxies. In the Virgoregion, the H I content of the galaxies then is not a straightforwardindicator of cluster membership.
| The UZC-SSRS2 Group Catalog
We apply a friends-of-friends algorithm to the combined Updated ZwickyCatalog and Southern Sky Redshift Survey to construct a catalog of 1168groups of galaxies; 411 of these groups have five or more members withinthe redshift survey. The group catalog covers 4.69 sr, and all groupsexceed the number density contrast threshold, δρ/ρ=80. Wedemonstrate that the groups catalog is homogeneous across the twounderlying redshift surveys; the catalog of groups and their membersthus provides a basis for other statistical studies of the large-scaledistribution of groups and their physical properties. The medianphysical properties of the groups are similar to those for groupsderived from independent surveys, including the ESO Key Programme andthe Las Campanas Redshift Survey. We include tables of groups and theirmembers.
| Hα surface photometry of galaxies in the Virgo cluster. IV. The current star formation in nearby clusters of galaxies
Hα +[NII] imaging observations of 369 late-type (spiral) galaxiesin the Virgo cluster and in the Coma/A1367 supercluster are analyzed,covering 3 rich nearby clusters (A1367, Coma and Virgo) and nearlyisolated galaxies in the Great-Wall. They constitute an opticallyselected sample (mp<16.0) observed with ~ 60 %completeness. These observations provide us with the current(T<107 yrs) star formation properties of galaxies that westudy as a function of the clustercentric projected distances (Theta ).The expected decrease of the star formation rate (SFR), as traced by theHα EW, with decreasing Theta is found only when galaxies brighterthan Mp ~ -19.5 are considered. Fainter objects show no orreverse trends. We also include in our analysis Near Infrared data,providing information on the old (T>109 yrs) stars. Puttogether, the young and the old stellar indicators give the ratio ofcurrently formed stars over the stars formed in the past, or``birthrate'' parameter b. For the considered galaxies we also determinethe ``global gas content'' combining HI with CO observations. We definethe ``gas deficiency'' parameter as the logarithmic difference betweenthe gas content of isolated galaxies of a given Hubble type and themeasured gas content. For the isolated objects we find that b decreaseswith increasing NIR luminosity. In other words less massive galaxies arecurrently forming stars at a higher rate than their giant counterpartswhich experienced most of their star formation activity at earliercosmological epochs. The gas-deficient objects, primarily members of theVirgo cluster, have a birthrate significantly lower than the isolatedobjects with normal gas content and of similar NIR luminosity. Thisindicates that the current star formation is regulated by the gaseouscontent of spirals. Whatever mechanism (most plausibly ram-pressurestripping) is responsible for the pattern of gas deficiency observed inspiral galaxies members of rich clusters, it also produces the observedquenching of the current star formation. A significant fraction of gas``healthy'' (i.e. with a gas deficiency parameter less than 0.4) andcurrently star forming galaxies is unexpectedly found projected near thecenter of the Virgo cluster. Their average Tully-Fisher distance isfound approximately one magnitude further away (muo = 31.77)than the distance of their gas-deficient counterparts (muo =30.85), suggesting that the gas healthy objects belong to a cloudprojected onto the cluster center, but in fact lying a few Mpc behindVirgo, thus unaffected by the dense IGM of the cluster. Based onobservations taken at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional(Mexico), the OHP (France), Calar Alto and NOT (Spain) observatories.Table \ref{tab4} is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| Hα surface photometry of galaxies in the Virgo cluster. II. Observations with the OHP and Calar Alto 1.2 m telescopes
We present Hα line imaging observations of 122 galaxies obtainedwith the 1.20 m telescopes of the Observatoire de Haute Provence (OHP)and of Calar Alto. The observed galaxies are mostly Virgo clustermembers (95), along with 10 objects in the Coma/A1367 supercluster, 6 inthe clusters A2197 and A2199, and 11 nearby galaxies taken as fillers.Hα +[NII] fluxes and equivalent widths, as well as images of allthe detected targets, are presented. Based on observations taken at theObservatoire de Haute Provence (OHP) (France), operated by the FrenchCNRS, and Calar Alto Observatory (Spain), operated by theMax-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (Heidelberg) jointly with theSpanish National Commission for Astronomy. Figure 1 is only available inelectronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org
| Total Magnitudes of Virgo Galaxies. I. Construction of a Self-Consistent Reference Dataset Spanning 8th to 18th Magnitude
The main objectives of this series of papers are: (1) to demonstrate theexistence of serious mutual disagreements between established total (andother integrated) magnitude scales for Virgo galaxies; (2) to attempt toquantify both the systematic and random errors present within thesemagnitude scales; (3) to investigate the origins of any large erroruncovered; and thereby (4) to encourage the general adoption of rigoroustotal-magnitude measurement procedures by the astronomical community.The ramifications of the findings presented in this series of paperswill be discussed in detail at a later date. In this paper, the first inthe series, a self-consistent dataset of trustworthy total-magnitudemeasurements is compiled for a sample of Virgo galaxies spanning a rangeof 10 000 in apparent brightness, based on only the most reliablemeasurements and photometry currently available. This reference dataset,which includes luminosity profile shape information, will be used insubsequent papers as one of the bases for assessing existing magnitudescales for Virgo galaxies. As most published magnitudes are based onB-band observations, this series of papers will also focus primarily onB-band measurements.
| Faint Features of Interacting Galaxies Revealed by the Digital Coaddition of 13 Tech-Pan Films of the Virgo Cluster
We have digitally coadded APM scans of 13 Kodak TechPan films of the SEregion of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. The ~6.2°×6.2°field of the R-band films combined with the resolution of ~2 arcsecpixel^- results in data-file sizes of about 222 MBytes. The 13 scannedfilms have been aligned, coadded, corrected for vignetting effects andcleaned of stellar features. To illustrate the astrophysical uses ofthis technique, we present high-contrast images of a sample ofinteracting galaxies in the field. Several very faint features (but veryclearly seen in the coadded array) - such as the interaction between IC3481, IC 3481A and IC 3483, and NGC 4410A and B and IC 790 - have beenpresented with clarity for the first time.
| Structure, mass and distance of the Virgo cluster from a Tolman-Bondi model
We have applied a relativistic Tolman-Bondi model of the Virgo clusterto a sample of 183 galaxies with measured distances within a radius of 8degrees from M 87. We find that the sample is significantly contaminatedby background galaxies which lead to too large a cluster mean distanceif not excluded. The Tolman-Bondi model predictions, together with theHI deficiency of spiral galaxies, allows one to identify thesebackground galaxies. One such galaxy is clearly identified among the 6calibrating galaxies with Cepheid distances. As the Tolman-Bondi modelpredicts the expected distance ratio to the Virgo distance, this galaxycan still be used to estimate the Virgo distance, and the average valueover the 6 galaxies is 15.4 +/- 0.5 Mpc. Well-known background groups ofgalaxies are clearly recovered, together with filaments of galaxieswhich link these groups to the main cluster, and are falling into it. Noforeground galaxy is clearly detected in our sample. Applying the B-bandTully-Fisher method to a sample of 51 true members of the Virgo clusteraccording to our classification gives a cluster distance of 18.0 +/- 1.2Mpc, larger than the mean Cepheid distance. Finally, the same model isused to estimate the Virgo cluster mass, which is M = 1.2x1015 Msun within 8 degrees from the cluster center(2.2 Mpc radius), and amounts to 1.7 virial mass.
| 1.65 μm (H-band) surface photometry of galaxies. V. Profile decomposition of 1157 galaxies
We present near-infrared H-band (1.65 μm) surface brightness profiledecomposition for 1157 galaxies in five nearby clusters of galaxies:Coma, A1367, Virgo, A262 and Cancer, and in the bridge between Coma andA1367 in the ``Great Wall". The optically selected (mpg≤16.0) sample is representative of all Hubble types, from E to Irr+BCD,except dE and of significantly different environments, spanning fromisolated regions to rich clusters of galaxies. We model the surfacebrightness profiles with a de Vaucouleurs r1/4 law (dV), withan exponential disk law (E), or with a combination of the two (B+D).From the fitted quantities we derive the H band effective surfacebrightness (μe) and radius (re) of each component, theasymptotic magnitude HT and the light concentration indexC31. We find that: i) Less than 50% of the Ellipticalgalaxies have pure dV profiles. The majority of E to Sb galaxies is bestrepresented by a B+D profile. All Scd to BCD galaxies have pureexponential profiles. ii) The type of decomposition is a strong functionof the total H band luminosity (mass), independent of the Hubbleclassification: the fraction of pure exponential decompositionsdecreases with increasing luminosity, that of B+D increases withluminosity. Pure dV profiles are absent in the low luminosity rangeLH<1010 L\odot and become dominantabove 1011 L\odot . Based on observations taken atTIRGO, Gornergrat, Switzerland (operated by CAISMI-CNR, Arcetri,Firenze, Italy) and at the Calar Alto Observatory (operated by theMax-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (Heidelberg) jointly with theSpanish National Commission for Astronomy). Table 2 and Figs. 2, 3, 4are available in their entirety only in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| A linear near-IR Tully-Fisher relation for giant and dwarf late-type galaxies
We present the near-IR (K(') -band, i.e.: lambda = 2.1 ^mu m)Tully-Fisher (TF) relation for a sample of 50 giant and dwarf late-typegalaxies, selected from the Virgo Cluster Catalogue. We find that L ~VMax(4) along a range of 8 K(') -mag for galaxies withdifferent Hubble types (from Sa to Im-BCD), phenomenologies, structures,star-formation histories, masses, dark-to-luminous mass ratios,metallicities and, perhaps, ages. The linearity of the near-IR TFrelation is in contrast with recent determinations of the optical TFrelations for samples of extreme late-type and dwarf galaxies. Thenear-IR TF law is in agreement both with the expectation from theFundamental Plane for disk systems and with the scenario ofself-regulating star-formation in disks. The previous results suggestthat the TF relation reflects the connection between thestructural/dynamical properties and the star-formation process of bothgiant and dwarf late-type galaxies, through a gas supply forstar-formation regulated by the gravitational potential of the galaxy.
| The relative size of the Milky Way
Not Available
| The Virgo Cluster Distance from 21 Centimeter Line Widths
The distance of the Virgo cluster is derived in the B band from the 21cm line width-absolute magnitude relation. This relation is calibratedusing 18 spirals with Cepheid distances, mainly from the Hubble SpaceTelescope. The calibration is applied to a complete sample ofnonpeculiar spirals with i > 45 deg lying within the optical (n = 49)or X-ray (n = 35) contour of the cluster, resulting in a mean clusterdistance of (m - M)0 = 31.58 +/- 0.24 mag (external error), or 20.7 +/-2.4 Mpc. The mean distance of subcluster A is 0.46 +/- 0.18 mag smallerthan that of subcluster B, but the individual distances of the membersof the two substructures show considerable overlap. Cluster spirals with30 deg < i < 45 deg yield distances almost as good as those ofmore inclined galaxies. H I-truncated galaxies are overluminous by 0.8mag at a given line width. The distance modulus is corrected by -0.07mag for the fact that cluster members have lower H I surface fluxes andare redder in (B-I) at a given line width than the (field) calibrators.Different sources for the B magnitudes and line widths have littleeffect on the resulting distance. Different precepts for the internalabsorption correction change the result by no more than +/-0.17 mag. Theindividual distances of the cluster members do not show any dependenceon recession velocity, inclination, Hubble type, or line width. Thedependence on apparent magnitude reflects the considerable depth effectof the cluster. The adopted distance is in good agreement withindependent distance determinations of the cluster. Combining thecluster distance with the corrected cluster velocity of 1142 +/- 61 kms-1 gives H0 = 55 +/- 7 km s-1 Mpc-1 (external error). If the Virgocluster distance is inserted into the tight Hubble diagram of clustersout to 11,000 km s-1 using relative distances to the Virgo cluster, oneobtains a global value of H0 = 57 +/- 7 km s-1 Mpc-1.
| Results of the digital co-addition of thirteen Schmidt films of the Virgo cluster of galaxies
We have digitally co-added APM scans of 13 Kodak TechPan films of the SEregion of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. The ~ 6.2degr x 6.2degr fieldof the R-band films combined with the resolution of ~ 2 arcsec pixel(-1)results in data file sizes of about 222 MBytes. The 13 scanned filmshave been aligned, co-added, corrected for vignetting effects andcleaned of stellar features. To illustrate the astrophysical uses ofthis technique, we present high contrast images of a sample of Virgocluster and background galaxies. Several very faint, but very clearlyseen features, such as the interaction between IC 3481, IC 3481A and IC3483 and filaments outside of the common envelope of NGC 4438 & NGC4435, can be seen for the first time. We present an image of the halo ofM 87 showing its great extent, and an image of the central regions ofthe cluster which shows no real evidence for interactions between thegalaxies in this region. We also present high-quality images of thepreviously-identified ``jet" and shell features around M 89. We alsopresent an image of the whole field which appears to show largevariations in brightness of the intra-cluster medium across the region,with the brightest regions in the northern part in the central regionsof the cluster, though we caution against this interpretation until wehave investigated the large variation in emulsion sensitivity acrossindividual films more thoroughly.
| Total magnitude, radius, colour indices, colour gradients and photometric type of galaxies
We present a catalogue of aperture photometry of galaxies, in UBVRI,assembled from three different origins: (i) an update of the catalogueof Buta et al. (1995) (ii) published photometric profiles and (iii)aperture photometry performed on CCD images. We explored different setsof growth curves to fit these data: (i) The Sersic law, (ii) The net ofgrowth curves used for the preparation of the RC3 and (iii) A linearinterpolation between the de Vaucouleurs (r(1/4) ) and exponential laws.Finally we adopted the latter solution. Fitting these growth curves, wederive (1) the total magnitude, (2) the effective radius, (3) the colourindices and (4) gradients and (5) the photometric type of 5169 galaxies.The photometric type is defined to statistically match the revisedmorphologic type and parametrizes the shape of the growth curve. It iscoded from -9, for very concentrated galaxies, to +10, for diffusegalaxies. Based in part on observations collected at the Haute-ProvenceObservatory.
| The ``Virgo photometry catalogue''; a catalogue of 1180 galaxies in the direction of the Virgo Cluster's core
We present a new catalogue of galaxies in the direction of the VirgoCluster's core: the Virgo Photometry Catalogue (VPC)*. This cataloguecontains 1180 galaxies (including background objects) within a 23square-degree area of the sky centred on R.A._{1950.0} = 12h 26m anddec._{1950.0} = 13(deg) 08'. The VPC galaxy sample comprises ofnon-stellar objects brighter than B_J25 = 19.0; thecompleteness limits being B_J25 ~18.5 for the northern halfof the survey area and B_J25 ~18.0 for the southern half.Independently-calibrated photographic surface photometry is presentedfor over 1000 galaxies in the U, B_J and R_C bands. Parameters listedfor catalogued galaxies include: equatorial coordinates, morphologicaltypes, surface-brightness profile parameters (which preserve themajority of the original surface photometry information), U, B_J &R_C isophotal magnitudes, B_J and [transformed] B total magnitudes,(U-B_J) and (B_J-R_C) equal-area and total colours, apparent angularradii, ellipticities, position angles, heliocentric radial velocitiesand alternative designations. All total magnitudes and total colours areextrapolated according to a new system denoted t in order to distinguishit from the T system already in use. The VPC is based primarily on four(one U, two B_J and one R_C) UK-Schmidt plates, all of which weredigitised using the Royal Observatory Edinburgh's (ROE) COSMOS measuringmachine. All magnitudes, colours and surface-brightness parameters arederived from numerical integrations of segmented plate-scan data, exceptfor (in 109 cases) saturated or (in 51 cases) inextricably-mergedimages; our segmentation software being able to cope with the vastmajority of image mergers. * Appendices B, C and E, which contain thesurface photometry, the main catalogue and the summary cataloguerespectively, are only available in electronic form. They can beobtained from La Centre des Donees astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS) viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html.
| Study of the Virgo Cluster Using the B-Band Tully-Fisher Relation
The distances to spiral galaxies of the Virgo cluster are estimatedusing the B-band Tully-Fisher (TF) relation, and the three-dimensionalstructure of the cluster is studied. The analysis is made for a completespiral sample taken from the Virgo Cluster catalog of Binggeli, Sandage,& Tammann. The sample contains virtually all spiral galaxies down toM_{BT}=-15 mag at 40 Mpc. A careful examination is made ofthe selection effect and errors of the data. We estimate distance to 181galaxies, among which distances to 89 galaxies are reasonably accurate.We compare these distances to those obtained by other authors on agalaxy-by-galaxy basis. We find reasonable consistency of theTully-Fisher distance among various authors. In particular, it is foundthat the discrepancy in the distance among the different analyses withdifferent data is about 15%, when good H I and photometric data areavailable. We clarify that the different results on the Virgo distanceamong authors arise from the choice of the sample and interpretation ofthe data. We confirm that the Tully-Fisher relation for the Virgocluster shows an unusually large scatter sigma = 0.67 mag, compared tothat for other clusters. We conclude that this scatter is not due to theintrinsic dispersion of the Tully-Fisher relation, but due to a largedepth effect of the Virgo cluster, which we estimate to be extended from12 Mpc to 30 Mpc. The distribution of H I--deficient galaxies isconcentrated at around 14--20 Mpc, indicating the presence of a core atthis distance, and this agrees with the distance estimated for M87 andother elliptical galaxies with other methods. We show also that thespatial number density of spiral galaxies takes a peak at this distance,while a simple average of all spiral galaxy distances gives 20 Mpc. Thefact that the velocity dispersion of galaxies takes a maximum at 14--18Mpc lends an additional support for the distance to the core. Thesefeatures cannot be understood if the large scatter of the TF relation ismerely due to the intrinsic dispersion. The structure of the VirgoCluster we infer from the Tully-Fisher analysis looks like a filamentwhich is familiar to us in a late phase of structure formation in thepancake collapse in hierarchical clustering simulations. This Virgofilament lies almost along the line of sight, and this is the originthat has led a number of authors to much confusion in the Virgo distancedeterminations. We show that the M87 subcluster is located around 15--18Mpc, and it consists mainly of early-type type spiral galaxies inaddition to elliptical and S0 galaxies. There are very few late-typespiral galaxies in this subcluster. The spiral rich M49 subclusterconsists of a mixture of all types of spiral galaxies and is located atabout 22 Mpc. The two other known clouds, W and M, are located at about30--40 Mpc and undergo infall toward the core. The M cloud contains fewearly type spirals. We cannot discriminate, however, whether thesesubclusters or clouds are isolated aggregates or merely parts offilamentary structure. Finally, we infer the Hubble constant to be 82+/- 10 km s-1 Mpc-1.
| Near infrared surface photometry of late-type Virgo cluster galaxies
Near Infrared (K' band) surface photometry has been obtained for 102 (88late-type) Virgo cluster galaxies. A subset of 20 galaxies was alsoimaged in the H band. Magnitudes and diameters within the 21.5 and 22.0mag arcsec$^{-2}$ isophote, concentration indices and total H and K'magnitudes are derived. Basic statistical properties of a completesample of spiral galaxies spanning the range 6.3 < K'_T < 13.5 aregiven. Tables 3, 5 and 6 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html} Based on observations taken atthe Calar Alto Observatory, operated by the Max-Planck-Institut furAstronomie (Heidelberg) jointly with the Spanish National Commission forAstronomy.
| Blue compact dwarf galaxies and new velocities in Virgo
We present new spectral observations of 303 galaxies brighter thanB_J=17.6 in the central 30 deg^2 of the Virgo cluster field. Thegalaxies were selected from two overlapping samples designed for asearch for blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies and for a more generalstudy of Virgo dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxies. Many of these galaxieswere designated `background' (i.e., not members of the Virgo cluster) onmorphological grounds by Binggeli, Sandage & Tammann in their VirgoCluster Catalog (VCC). Our principal aim was to measure radialvelocities of these galaxies in order to determine which were members ofthe cluster, looking in particular for any cluster members previouslymisclassified as background galaxies. We measured reliable velocitiesfor 291 galaxies, of which nine were found to be cluster members. Fiveof these were listed in the VCC as `members' and four as `possiblemembers'. We also confirmed that 10 VCC `background' galaxies werecorrectly identified, and determined that an additional three VCC`possible members' were background galaxies. These results show that theVCC membership estimates were generally correct. Our sample of candidateBCD galaxies was defined by objective criteria from digitized platematerial and therefore allows us to place new limits on the dwarf-galaxypopulation. We confirm the drop in the BCD luminosity function at anabsolute magnitude of M_B=-14 reported by Binggeli, Sandage &Tammann (using their Virgo distance modulus). We also show that if BCDsfade at the end of the current burst of star formation, such `dead'BCDs, if they exist, would all have to be fainter than our sample limitof B_J=17.6. We use a (U-B_J)(B_J-R_F) colour-colour diagram plottedfrom our photographic data to separate the different dwarf-galaxy typeseffectively and use this colour information to argue that there are noblue star-forming progenitors of dE galaxies in the cluster. Most of thegalaxies of compact appearance we selected were background objects whichwe show to be significantly younger than general field galaxies; thissample also shows considerable clustering in redshift space.
| New aperture photometry for 217 galaxies in the Virgo and Fornax clusters.
We present photo electric multi-aperture photometry in UBVRI of 171 and46 galaxies in the Virgo and Fornax clusters, respectively. Many of thegalaxies have not been observed in at least one of these passbandsbefore. We discuss the reduction and transformation into the Cousinsphotometric system as well as the extinction coefficients obtainedbetween 1990 and 1993.
| An image database. II. Catalogue between δ=-30deg and δ=70deg.
A preliminary list of 68.040 galaxies was built from extraction of35.841 digitized images of the Palomar Sky Survey (Paper I). For eachgalaxy, the basic parameters are obtained: coordinates, diameter, axisratio, total magnitude, position angle. On this preliminary list, weapply severe selection rules to get a catalog of 28.000 galaxies, wellidentified and well documented. For each parameter, a comparison is madewith standard measurements. The accuracy of the raw photometricparameters is quite good despite of the simplicity of the method.Without any local correction, the standard error on the total magnitudeis about 0.5 magnitude up to a total magnitude of B_T_=17. Significantsecondary effects are detected concerning the magnitudes: distance toplate center effect and air-mass effect.
| The phenomenology of disk galaxies.
Multifrequency observations from the radio (21cm line and 115GHz COline) to the UV (λ2000A) of 928 nearby (z<0.03) late-type(giant+dwarf-Irr) galaxies are analyzed. The metric properties (radius,surface brightness, concentration index) of these objects have beendetermined in the visible and, for the first time, in the near-infrared(NIR) by means of an extensive imaging campaign carried out at H and K'bands. We revise the phenomenology of late-type galaxies in the localUniverse as follows: 1) M/L in the NIR is constant (M/L_H_=4.6, solarunits); 2) population I indicators, namely: the atomic and molecularhydrogen content, the current star formation rate, the luminosity andthe surface brightness of the young stellar population, traced by theblue and UV light are anticorrelated with the mass of galaxies; 3)conversely, the luminosity and the surface brightness of the old stellarpopulation, traced by NIR light, increase with mass; 4) the fraction ofcentrally peaked NIR structures (bulges, nuclei) and their surfacebrightness increase non-linearly with mass; 5) the above properties areindependent of the detailed morphological type and on the environmentalconditions. Bearing in mind that the above evidences are limited tolate-type (disk) galaxies, and cannot be generalized to the ellipticaland dwarf-elliptical population, they provide observational constraintsto models of disk galaxy evolution. They find a natural interpretationif it is assumed that the efficiency of protogalaxy collapse is governedprimarily by the system initial mass.
| Surface photometry of spiral galaxies in the Virgo cluster region
Photographic surface photometry is carried out for 246 spiral galaxiesin the Virgo cluster region north of declination + 5 deg. The samplecontains all spiral galaxies of 'certain' and 'possible' Virgo membersin the Virgo Cluster Catalogue of Binggeli, Sandage, & Tammann. Thesample also includes those galaxies which were used in the Tully-Fisheranalyses of the Virgo cluster given in the literature. A catalog ispresented for positions, B-band total magnitudes and inclinations forthese galaxies, and they are compared with the data given in previousstudies.
| The UV properties of normal galaxies. III. Standard luminosity profiles and total magnitudes.
In the previous papers of this series we collected and reduced to thesame system all the available photometric data obtained in theultraviolet (UV) range for normal (i.e. non active) galaxies. Here weuse these data to derive standard UV luminosity profiles for threemorphological bins (E/S0; Sa/Sb; Sc/Sd) and extrapolated totalmagnitudes for almost 400 galaxies. We find that: 1) the UV growthcurves are well matched by the B-band revised standard luminosityprofiles, once a proper shift in the effective radius is applied, and 2)the UV light in early-type galaxies is more centrally concentrated thanthe visible light.
| The UV properties of normal galaxies. II. The ``non-IUE'' data.
In the last decade several satellite and balloon borne experiments havecollected a large number of ultraviolet fluxes of normal galaxiesmeasured through apertures of various sizes and shapes. We havehomogenized this data set by deriving scale corrections with respect toIUE. In a forthcoming paper these data will be used to derive standardluminosity profiles and total magnitudes.
| The kinematics of the Virgo cluster revisited
The paper updates the velocity data of Virgo cluster galaxies andreconsiders the kinematic structure of the Virgo cluster. New velocitiesare given for 144 galaxies listed in the Virgo Cluster Catalog (VCC).Improved velocities are given for another 131 VCC galaxies. The Virgocluster is disentangled from its surrounding clouds of galaxies, and thelikely members of each of these clouds are listed. The velocitydistribution of dwarf elliptical cluster members is found to be highlyasymmetric. This phenomenon is interpreted as evidence for the imminentmerging of two subclusters in the core region, which points to thedynamical youth of the Virgo cluster. The mean heliocentric velocity ofthe Virgo cluster is estimated at 1050 +/- 35 km/s.
| The Tully-Fisher relation in different environments
The Tully-Fisher relation (TFR) in different environments wasinvestigated in 13 galaxy samples spanning a large range in galaxydensities, using two statistical tests to compare the TFR of differentsamples. Results of the analysis of TFR parameters in severalenvironments showed that, when samples of similar data-accuracy andmagnitude-range were compared, there was no significant differencebetween the galaxy samples. It is suggested that a comparison of sampleswith very different data accuracy or those biased by incompletenesseffects may lead to misleading results.
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