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Clues to Nuclear Star Cluster Formation from Edge-on Spirals
We find nine nuclear cluster candidates in a sample of 14 edge-on,late-type galaxies observed with the Hubble Space Telescope AdvancedCamera for Surveys. These clusters have magnitudes (MI~-11)and sizes (reff~3 pc) similar to those found in previousstudies of face-on, late-type spirals and dE galaxies. However, three ofthe nuclear clusters are significantly flattened and show evidence formultiple, coincident structural components. The elongations of thesethree clusters are aligned to within ~10° of the galaxies' majoraxes. Structurally, the flattened clusters are well fit by a combinationof a spheroid and a disk or ring, with the disk preferred in two ofthree cases. The nuclear cluster disks/rings have F606W-F814W (~V-I)colors 0.3-0.6 mag bluer than the spheroid components, suggesting thatthe stars in these components have ages <1 Gyr. In NGC 4244, thenearest of the nuclear clusters, we further constrain the stellarpopulations via spectroscopy and multiband photometry. This nuclearcluster is equally well fit by single stellar populations with ages ofeither ~70 Myr or ~0.8 Gyr and with masses of ~3×106Msolar. However, significantly better fits to thespectroscopy and photometry are obtained by combining two or morestellar populations. Exploiting emission lines that appear to originate~1" from the NGC 4244 nucleus, we determine a lower limit on thedynamical mass of 2.5+1.7-1.2×106Msolar within 19 pc, typical of values found for othernuclear clusters. We also present tentative evidence that another of thenuclear clusters (in NGC 4206) may also host a supermassive black hole.Based on our observational results we propose an in situ formationmechanism for nuclear clusters in which stars form episodically incompact nuclear disks and then lose angular momentum or heat verticallyto form an older spheroidal structure. We estimate the period betweenstar formation episodes to be ~0.5 Gyr and discuss possible mechanismsfor transforming the disklike components into spheroids. We also notethe connection between our objects and massive globular clusters (e.g.,ω Cen), ultracompact dwarfs, and supermassive black holes.
| GHASP: an Hα kinematic survey of spiral and irregular galaxies - IV. 44 new velocity fields. Extension, shape and asymmetry of Hα rotation curves
We present Fabry-Perot observations obtained in the frame of the GHASPsurvey (Gassendi HAlpha survey of SPirals). We have derived the Hαmap, the velocity field and the rotation curve for a new set of 44galaxies. The data presented in this paper are combined with the datapublished in the three previous papers providing a total number of 85 ofthe 96 galaxies observed up to now. This sample of kinematical data hasbeen divided into two groups: isolated (ISO) and softly interacting(SOFT) galaxies. In this paper, the extension of the Hα discs, theshape of the rotation curves, the kinematical asymmetry and theTully-Fisher relation have been investigated for both ISO and SOFTgalaxies. The Hα extension is roughly proportional toR25 for ISO as well as for SOFT galaxies. The smallestextensions of the ionized disc are found for ISO galaxies. The innerslope of the rotation curves is found to be correlated with the centralconcentration of light more clearly than with the type or thekinematical asymmetry, for ISO as well as for SOFT galaxies. The outerslope of the rotation curves increases with the type and with thekinematical asymmetry for ISO galaxies but shows no special trend forSOFT galaxies. No decreasing rotation curve is found for SOFT galaxies.The asymmetry of the rotation curves is correlated with themorphological type, the luminosity, the (B-V) colour and the maximalrotational velocity of galaxies. Our results show that the brightest,the most massive and the reddest galaxies, which are fast rotators, arethe least asymmetric, meaning that they are the most efficient withwhich to average the mass distribution on the whole disc. Asymmetry inthe rotation curves seems to be linked with local star formation,betraying disturbances of the gravitational potential. The Tully-Fisherrelation has a smaller slope for ISO than for SOFT galaxies.
| The Molecular Interstellar Medium of Dwarf Galaxies on Kiloparsec Scales: A New Survey for CO in Northern, IRAS-detected Dwarf Galaxies
We present a new survey for CO in dwarf galaxies using the ARO Kitt Peak12 m telescope. This survey consists of observations of the centralregions of 121 northern dwarfs with IRAS detections and no known COemission. We detect CO in 28 of these galaxies and marginally detectanother 16, increasing by about 50% the number of such galaxies known tohave significant CO emission. The galaxies we detect are comparable instellar and dynamical mass to the Large Magellanic Cloud, althoughsomewhat brighter in CO and fainter in the far-IR. Within dwarfs, wefind that the CO luminosity LCO is most strongly correlatedwith the K-band and the far-infrared luminosities. There are also strongcorrelations with the radio continuum (RC) and B-band luminosities andlinear diameter. Conversely, we find that far-IR dust temperature is apoor predictor of CO emission within the dwarfs alone, although a goodpredictor of normalized CO content among a larger sample of galaxies. Wesuggest that LCO and LK correlate well because thestellar component of a galaxy dominates the midplane gravitational fieldand thus sets the pressure and density of the atomic gas, which controlthe formation of H2 from H I. We compare our sample with moremassive galaxies and find that dwarfs and large galaxies obey the samerelationship between CO and the 1.4 GHz RC surface brightness. Thisrelationship is well described by a Schmidt law withΣRC~Σ1.3CO. Therefore,dwarf galaxies and large spirals exhibit the same relationship betweenmolecular gas and star formation rate (SFR). We find that this result isrobust to moderate changes in the RC-to-SFR and CO-to-H2conversion factors. Our data appear to be inconsistent with large (orderof magnitude) variations in the CO-to-H2 conversion factor inthe star-forming molecular gas.
| Detections of CO in Late-Type, Low Surface Brightness Spiral Galaxies
Using the IRAM 30 m telescope, we have obtained 12CO J=1-0and 2-1 spectral line observations toward the nuclear regions of 15edge-on, low surface brightness (LSB) spiral galaxies. Our samplecomprises extreme late-type LSB spirals with disk-dominated morphologiesand rotational velocities Vrot<~120 km s-1. Wereport detections of four galaxies in at least one transition (>~5σ) for the remainder of the sample we provide upper limits on thenuclear CO content. Adopting a standard GalacticICO-to-H2 conversion factor implies molecular gasmasses of (3.3-9.8)×106 Msolar in thenuclear regions (inner 1.1-1.8 kpc) of the detected galaxies. Combiningour new data with samples of late-type spirals from the literature, wefind that CO-detected LSB spirals adhere to the sameMH2-far-infrared correlation as more luminous andhigher surface brightness galaxies. The amount of CO in the centralregions of late-type spirals appears to depend more strongly on massthan on central optical surface brightness, and CO detectabilitydeclines significantly for moderate to low surface brightness spiralswith Vrot<~90 km s-1 no LSB spirals have so farbeen detected in CO below this threshold. Metallicity effects alone areunlikely to account for this trend, and we speculate that we are seeingthe effects of a decrease in the mean fraction of a galaxy disk able tosupport giant molecular cloud formation with decreasing galaxy mass.
| A Study of Edge-On Galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys. I. Initial Results
We present the initial results of a Hubble Space Telescope/AdvancedCamera for Surveys snapshot survey of 16 nearby, edge-on, late-typegalaxies covering a range in distance from 2 to 19 Mpc. The images ofthese galaxies show significant resolved stellar populations. We deriveF606W and F814W photometry for more than 1.2 million stars and presentcolor-magnitude diagrams that show a mixture of young, intermediate, andold stars in each galaxy. In one of the fields we serendipitously detectstars from the Large Magellanic Cloud. We also identify a candidateyoung dwarf galaxy lying ~2 kpc above the plane of NGC 4631. For thenearest six galaxies, we derive tip of the red giant branch distancesand demonstrate that these galaxies fall on the K-band Tully-Fisherrelation established in clusters. From the color of the red giantbranch, we also find evidence that these galaxies possess a metal-poorthick-disk or halo population.
| The inner structure of ΛCDM haloes - II. Halo mass profiles and low surface brightness galaxy rotation curves
We use a set of high-resolution cosmological N-body simulations toinvestigate the inner mass profile of galaxy-sized cold dark matter(CDM) haloes. These simulations extend the numerical convergence studypresented in Paper I of this series, and demonstrate that the massprofile of CDM galaxy haloes can be robustly estimated beyond a minimumconverged radius of order rconv~ 1h-1 kpc in ourhighest-resolution runs. The density profiles of simulated haloes becomeprogressively shallower from the virial radius inwards, and show no signof approaching a well-defined power law near the centre. Atrconv, the density profile is steeper than expected from theformula proposed by Navarro, Frenk & White, which has aρ~r-1 cusp, but significantly shallower than the steeplydivergent ρ~r-1.5 cusp proposed by Moore et al. Weperform a direct comparison of the spherically averaged dark mattercircular velocity profiles with Hα rotation curves of a sample oflow surface brightness (LSB) galaxies. We find that most galaxies in thesample (about 70 per cent) have rotation curves that are consistent withthe structure of CDM haloes. Of the remainder, 20 per cent have rotationcurves which cannot be fit by any smooth fitting function with few freeparameters, and 10 per cent are inconsistent with CDM haloes. However,the latter consist mostly of rotation curves that do not extend to largeenough radii to accurately determine their shapes and maximumvelocities. We conclude that the inner structure of CDM haloes is notmanifestly inconsistent with the rotation curves of LSB galaxies.
| On the alignment between binary spiral galaxies
We show some significance against the null hypothesis of randominteractions of binary spiral galaxies, and in favour of the alternativethat more interactions than expected occur for axes either nearlyparallel (spins being parallel or anti-parallel) or nearly orthogonal.We discuss this in the context of similar prior studies, using adifferent statistical focus in such a way that we are able toincorporate additional data.
| GHASP: an Hα kinematic survey of spiral and irregular galaxies - III. 15 new velocity fields and study of 46 rotation curves
We present Fabry-Pérot observations obtained in the frame of theGHASP survey (Gassendi Hα survey of SPirals). We have derived theHα maps, the velocity fields and the rotation curves for a set of15 galaxies. The data presented in this paper are combined with the datapublished in our two previous papers in order to make a preliminaryanalysis of the rotation curves obtained for 46 galaxies. We check theconsistency of our data with the Tully-Fisher relationship and concludethat our Hα rotation curves reach the maximum velocity in most ofthe cases, even with solid-body rotating galaxies. We find that ourrotation curves, on average, almost reach the isophotal radiusR25. We confirm the trend, already mentioned by Rubin,Waterman & Kenney and Márquez et al., that the maximumextension of the Hα rotation curves increases with the type of thespiral galaxy, up to t~ 7-8 and we find that it decreases for magellanicand irregular galaxies. We also confirm the trend seen by Márquezet al. that later types tend to have lower values of the internal slopeof the rotation curve, in agreement with Rubin et al.
| Strong Emission Line H II Galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. I. Catalog of DR1 Objects with Oxygen Abundances from Te Measurements
We present the first edition of the SDSS H II galaxies with Oxygenabundances Catalog (SHOC), which is a listing of strong emission-linegalaxies (ELGs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Oxygenabundances have been obtained with the classic Te method. Wedescribe the method exploiting the SDSS database to construct thissample. The selection procedures are described and discussed in detail,as well as some problems encountered in the process of deriving reliableemission line parameters. The method was applied to the SDSS DataRelease 1 (DR1). We present 612 SDSS emission-line galaxies (624separate SDSS targets in total), for which the oxygen abundances12+log(O/H) have rms uncertainties <=0.20 dex. The subsample of 263ELGs (272 separate SDSS targets) have an uncertainty <=0.10 dex,while 459 ELGs (470 separate SDSS targets) have an uncertainty <=0.15dex. The catalog includes the main parameters of all selected ELGs, theintensities and equivalent widths of hydrogen and oxygen emission lines,as well as oxygen abundances with their uncertainties. The informationon the presence of Wolf-Rayet blue and/or red bumps in 109 galaxies isalso included. With the use of combined g, r, i SDSS images we performedvisual morphological classification of all SHOC galaxies. Four hundredsixty-one galaxies (~75%) are classified as confident or probable bluecompact galaxies (BCG/BCG?), 78 as irregular ones, 20 as low surfacebrightness galaxies (LSBG), 10 as obviously interacting, and 43 asspiral galaxies. In creating the catalog, 30 narrow-line active galacticnuclei and 69 LINERs were also identified; these are also presentedapart of the main catalog. We outline briefly the content of thecatalog, and the prospects of its use for statistical studies of thestar formation and chemical evolution issues. Some of these studies willbe presented in the forthcoming paper. Finally, we show that the methodpresented by Kniazev et al. for calculating O+/H+using intensities of the [O II] λλ7320, 7330 lines forSDSS emission-line spectra in the absence of [O II] λ3727 lineappears to yield reliable results over a wide range of studied oxygenabundances: 7.10<12+log(O/H)<8.5.
| H I Observations of Barred Magellanic Spirals. II. The Frequency and Impact of Companions
The results of an H I 21 cm line survey of a sample of Magellanic spiralgalaxies with apparent optical companions reveal that only four of 13systems have confirmed H I-detected neighbors. The current interactionsare affecting the morphology of the main galaxy in only two cases, NGC3664 and NGC 3995. The presence of companions near NGC 2537 and UGC 5391appears to have no effect on the morphology of those galaxies. Overall,there is little difference between the asymmetry of the H I profiles ofthose galaxies with and without companions, and on average, theseMagellanic spirals have H I profiles that are no more asymmetric than arandom sample of spirals in the field. We conclude that currentinteractions cannot be responsible for the lopsided morphology of mostof the galaxies in this sample and that, whatever its original cause,lopsidedness must be a long-lived characteristic of these galaxies.
| Extraplanar Emission-Line Gas in Edge-on Spiral Galaxies. II. Optical Spectroscopy
The results from deep long-slit spectroscopy of nine edge-on spiralgalaxies with known extraplanar line emission are reported. Emissionfrom Hα, [N II] λλ6548, 6583, and [S II]λλ6716, 6731 is detected out to heights of a fewkiloparsecs in all of these galaxies. Several other fainter diagnosticlines such as [O I] λ6300, [O III] λλ4959, 5007,and He I λ5876 are also detected over a smaller scale. Therelative strengths, centroids, and widths of the various emission linesprovide constraints on the electron density, temperature, reddening,source(s) of ionization, and kinematics of the extraplanar gas. In allbut one galaxy, photoionization by massive OB stars alone hasdifficulties explaining all of the line ratios in the extraplanar gas.Hybrid models that combine photoionization by OB stars and anothersource of ionization such as photoionization by turbulent mixing layersor shocks provide a better fit to the data. The (upper limits on the)velocity gradients measured in these galaxies are consistent with thepredictions of the galactic fountain model to within the accuracy of themeasurements.
| H I Imaging Observations of Superthin Galaxies. I. UGC 7321
We have used the Very Large Array to image the isolated ``superthin''galaxy UGC 7321 in the H I line with a spatial resolution of 16" and aspectral resolution of 24 kHz (5.2 km s-1). We have reached asensitivity of (0.36-0.40) mJy beam-1 channel-1,which correspond to a column density of (8-9)×1018atoms cm-2 (1 σ). UGC 7321 has a gas-rich disk, withMHI=(1.06+/-0.01)×109d210 Msolar andMHI/LB=1.0 (d10 is the distance to UGC7321 in units of 10 Mpc, the value adopted in this paper), and nodetectable radio continuum emission (FCONT=0.41+/-0.25 mJy).The global H I distribution of UGC 7321 is rather symmetric and extendsto ~1.5 times the optical radius(DHI=8.65′+/-0.15′ atnHI=3×1019 atoms cm-2). An``integral sign'' warp is observed in the H I disk, commencing near theedge of the stellar distribution and twisting back toward the equatorialplane in the outermost regions. In addition, the position-velocitydiagram suggests the presence of a bar or inner arm within ~40" from thecenter. The rotation curve of UGC 7321 is slowly rising; it reaches itsasymptotic velocity of ~110 km s-1 at ~2.5′ from thecenter (about 0.9 optical radii) and declines near the edge of the H Idisk. The ratio of the inferred dynamical mass to the mass in gas andstars is ~12d-110, implying that UGC 7321 is ahighly dark-matter-dominated galaxy.
| An Hα survey aiming at the detection of extraplanar diffuse ionized gas in halos of edge-on spiral galaxies. I. How common are gaseous halos among non-starburst galaxies?
In a series of two papers we present results of a new Hα imagingsurvey, aiming at the detection of extraplanar diffuse ionized gas inhalos of late-type spiral galaxies. We have investigated a sample of 74nearby edge-on spirals, covering the northern and southern hemisphere.In 30 galaxies we detected extraplanar diffuse emission at meandistances of |z| ~ 1-2 kpc. Individual filaments can be traced out to|z|<=6 kpc in a few cases. We find a good correlation between the FIRflux ratio (S60/S100) and the SFR per unit area(LFIR/D225), based on thedetections/non-detections. This is actually valid for starburst, normaland for quiescent galaxies. A minimal SFR per unit area for the lowestS60/S100 values, at which extended emission hasbeen detected, was derived, which amounts to dotEA25thres = (3.2+/-0.5)*E40ergs-1 kpc-2. There are galaxies where extraplanaremission was detected at smaller values ofLFIR/D225, however, only in combinationwith a significantly enhanced dust temperature. The results corroboratethe general view that the gaseous halos are a direct consequence of SFactivity in the underlying galactic disk.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory,Chile (ESO No. 63.N-0070, ESO No. 64.N-0034, ESO No. 65.N.-0002).
| A search for Low Surface Brightness galaxies in the near-infrared. I. Selection of the sample
A sample of about 3800 Low Surface Brightness (LSB) galaxies wasselected using the all-sky near-infrared (J, H and Ks-band)2MASS survey. The selected objects have a mean central surfacebrightness within a 5'' radius around their centre fainter than 18 magarcsec-2 in the Ks band, making them the lowestsurface brightness galaxies detected by 2MASS. A description is given ofthe relevant properties of the 2MASS survey and the LSB galaxy selectionprocedure, as well as of basic photometric properties of the selectedobjects. The latter properties are compared to those of other samples ofgalaxies, of both LSBs and ``classical'' high surface brightness (HSB)objects, which were selected in the optical. The 2MASS LSBs have aBT_c-KT colour which is on average 0.9 mag bluerthan that of HSBs from the NGC. The 2MASS sample does not appear tocontain a significant population of red objects.All tables and Figs. 2a-c are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| GHASP: A 3-D Survey of Spiral and Irregular Galaxies at Hα
Not Available
| Neutral hydrogen and optical observations of edge-on galaxies: Hunting for warps
We present 21-cm HI line and optical R-band observations for a sample of26 edge-on galaxies. The HI observations were obtained with theWesterbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, and are part of the WHISP database(Westerbork HI Survey of Spiral and Irregular Galaxies). We present HImaps, optical images, and radial HI density profiles. We have alsoderived the rotation curves and studied the warping and lopsidedness ofthe HI disks. 20 out of the 26 galaxies of our sample are warped,confirming that warping of the HI disks is a very common phenomenon indisk galaxies. Indeed, we find that all galaxies that have an extendedHI disk with respect to the optical are warped. The warping usuallystarts around the edge of the optical disk. The degree of warping variesconsiderably from galaxy to galaxy. Furthermore, many warps areasymmetric, as they show up in only one side of the disk or exhibitlarge differences in amplitude in the approaching and receding sides ofthe galaxy. These asymmetries are more pronounced in rich environments,which may indicate that tidal interactions are a source of warpasymmetry. A rich environment tends to produce larger warps as well. Thepresence of lopsidedness seems to be related to the presence of nearbycompanions. Full Fig. 13 is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| Warps and correlations with intrinsic parameters of galaxies in the visible and radio
From a comparison of the different parameters of warped galaxies in theradio, and especially in the visible, we find that: a) No large galaxy(large mass or radius) has been found to have high amplitude in thewarp, and there is no correlation of size/mass with the degree ofasymmetry of the warp. b) The disc density and the ratio of dark toluminous mass show an opposing trend: smaller values give moreasymmetric warps in the inner radii (optical warps) but show nocorrelation with the amplitude of the warp; however, in the externalradii is there no correlation with asymmetry. c) A third anticorrelationappears in a comparison of the amplitude and degree of asymmetry in thewarped galaxies. Hence, it seems that very massive dark matter haloeshave nothing to do with the formation of warps but only with the degreeof symmetry in the inner radii, and are unrelated to the warp shape forthe outermost radii. Denser discs show the same dependence.
| The Westerbork HI survey of spiral and irregular galaxies. II. R-band surface photometry of late-type dwarf galaxies
R-band surface photometry is presented for 171 late-type dwarf andirregular galaxies. For a subsample of 46 galaxies B-band photometry ispresented as well. We present surface brightness profiles as well asisophotal and photometric parameters including magnitudes, diameters andcentral surface brightnesses. Absolute photometry is accurate to 0.1 magor better for 77% of the sample. For over 85% of the galaxies the radialsurface brightness profiles are consistent with published data withinthe measured photometric uncertainty. For most of the galaxies in thesample H I data have been obtained with the Westerbork Synthesis RadioTelescope. The galaxies in our sample are part of the WHISP project(Westerbork H I Survey of Spiral and Irregular Galaxies), which aims atmapping about 500 nearby spiral and irregular galaxies in H I. Theavailability of H I data makes this data set useful for a wide range ofstudies of the structure, dark matter content and kinematics oflate-type dwarf galaxies. Based on observations made with INT operatedon the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the SpanishObservatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisicade Canarias. The tables in Appendix A are only available in electronicform at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5)or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/390/863. Thefigures in Appendix B are only available in electronic formhttp://www.edpsciences.org
| The Westerbork HI survey of spiral and irregular galaxies. I. HI imaging of late-type dwarf galaxies
Neutral hydrogen observations with the Westerbork Synthesis RadioTelescope are presented for a sample of 73 late-type dwarf galaxies.These observations are part of the WHISP project (Westerbork H I Surveyof Spiral and Irregular Galaxies). Here we present H I maps, velocityfields, global profiles and radial surface density profiles of H I, aswell as H I masses, H I radii and line widths. For the late-typegalaxies in our sample, we find that the ratio of H I extent to opticaldiameter, defined as 6.4 disk scale lengths, is on average 1.8 +/- 0.8,similar to that seen in spiral galaxies. Most of the dwarf galaxies inthis sample are rich in H I, with a typical Mion {Hi}/L_B of1.5. The relative H I content M_ion {HI}/L_R increases towards fainterabsolute magnitudes and towards fainter surface brightnesses. Dwarfgalaxies with lower average H I column densities also have lower averageoptical surface brightnesses. We find that lopsidedness is as commonamong dwarf galaxies as it is in spiral galaxies. About half of thedwarf galaxies in our sample have asymmetric global profiles, a thirdhas a lopsided H I distribution, and about half shows signs of kinematiclopsidedness.
| Neutral hydrogen in dwarf galaxies. II. The kinematics of HI
This paper is the second in a series presenting a sample of 29 late-typedwarf galaxies observed with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope inthe 21-cm line of neutral hydrogen (HI). Here we present rotationcurves, maps of the velocity field and maps of the velocity dispersionacross the sample galaxies.
| Neutral hydrogen in dwarf galaxies. I. The spatial distribution of HI
This paper is the first in a series presenting a sample of 30 late-typedwarf galaxies, observed with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope(WSRT) in the 21-cm line of neutral atomic hydrogen (HI). The sampleitself, the HI content of and the HI distribution in the sample galaxiesare briefly discussed. Four sample galaxies were also detected in thecontinuum.
| High-resolution rotation curves of low surface brightness galaxies
We present high-resolution rotation curves of a sample of 26 low surfacebrightness galaxies. From these curves we derive mass distributionsusing a variety of assumptions for the stellar mass-to-light ratio. Weshow that the predictions of current Cold Dark Matter models for thedensity profiles of dark matter halos are inconsistent with the observedcurves. The latter indicate a core-dominated structure, rather than thetheoretically preferred cuspy structure. based on observations at theObservatoire de Haute Provence.
| CO Detections of Edge-on Low Surface Brightness Galaxies
We have obtained deep CO (1-0) observations of eight nearby, edge-on,low surface brightness (LSB) spiral galaxies using the NRAO 12 mtelescope. We report detections of three of our targets at a greaterthan 4 σ level as well as one marginal (~3 σ) detection.These are among the first direct detections of molecular gas inlate-type, LSB spiral galaxies. Using a Galactic CO-to-H2conversion factor, we deriveMH2~(1.4-3.5)×107Msolar andMH2/MHI~0.010-0.055 for the detectedsources, with 3 σ upper limits ofMH2<~(0.7-5.7)×107Msolar andMH2/MHI<~0.006-0.029 for theundetected objects.
| Properties of tidally-triggered vertical disk perturbations
We present a detailed analysis of the properties of warps andtidally-triggered perturbations perpendicular to the plane of 47interacting/merging edge-on spiral galaxies. The derived parameters arecompared with those obtained for a sample of 61 non-interacting edge-onspirals. The entire optical (R-band) sample used for this study waspresented in two previous papers. We find that the scale height of disksin the interacting/merging sample is characterized by perturbations onboth large ( =~ disk cut-off radius) and short ( =~ z0)scales, with amplitudes of the order of 280 pc and 130 pc on average,respectively. The size of these large (short) -scale instabilitiescorresponds to 14% (6%) of the mean disk scale height. This is a factorof 2 (1.5) larger than the value found for non-interacting galaxies. Ahallmark of nearly all tidally distorted disks is a scale height thatincreases systematically with radial distance. The frequent occurrenceand the significantly larger size of these gradients indicate that diskasymmetries on large scales are a common and persistent phenomenon,while local disturbances and bending instabilities decline on shortertimescales. Nearly all (93%) of the interacting/merging and 45% of thenon-interacting galaxies studied are noticeably warped. Warps ofinteracting/merging galaxies are ~ 2.5 times larger on average thanthose observed in the non-interacting sample, with sizes of the order of340 pc and 140 pc, respectively. This indicates that tidal distortionsdo considerably contribute to the formation and size of warps. However,they cannot entirely explain the frequent occurrence of warped disks.Based on observations obtained at the European Southern Observatory(ESO, La Silla, Chile), Calar Alto Observatory operated by the MPIA(DSAZ, Spain), Lowell Observatory (Flagstaff,AZ, USA), and Hoher ListObservatory (Germany).
| A list of peculiar velocities of RFGC galaxies
A list of radial velocities, HI line widths and peculiar velocities of1327 galaxies from the RFGC catalogue has been compiled using actualobservations and literature data. The list can be used for studying bulkmotions of galaxies, construction of the field of peculiar velocitiesand other tasks.
| Nearby Optical Galaxies: Selection of the Sample and Identification of Groups
In this paper we describe the Nearby Optical Galaxy (NOG) sample, whichis a complete, distance-limited (cz<=6000 km s-1) andmagnitude-limited (B<=14) sample of ~7000 optical galaxies. Thesample covers 2/3 (8.27 sr) of the sky (|b|>20deg) andappears to have a good completeness in redshift (97%). We select thesample on the basis of homogenized corrected total blue magnitudes inorder to minimize systematic effects in galaxy sampling. We identify thegroups in this sample by means of both the hierarchical and thepercolation ``friends-of-friends'' methods. The resulting catalogs ofloose groups appear to be similar and are among the largest catalogs ofgroups currently available. Most of the NOG galaxies (~60%) are found tobe members of galaxy pairs (~580 pairs for a total of ~15% of objects)or groups with at least three members (~500 groups for a total of ~45%of objects). About 40% of galaxies are left ungrouped (field galaxies).We illustrate the main features of the NOG galaxy distribution. Comparedto previous optical and IRAS galaxy samples, the NOG provides a densersampling of the galaxy distribution in the nearby universe. Given itslarge sky coverage, the identification of groups, and its high-densitysampling, the NOG is suited to the analysis of the galaxy density fieldof the nearby universe, especially on small scales.
| Box- and peanut-shaped bulges. I. Statistics
We present a classification for bulges of a complete sample of ~ 1350edge-on disk galaxies derived from the RC3 (Third Reference Catalogue ofBright Galaxies, de Vaucouleurs et al. \cite{rc3}). A visualclassification of the bulges using the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) inthree types of b/p bulges or as an elliptical type is presented andsupported by CCD images. NIR observations reveal that dust extinctiondoes almost not influence the shape of bulges. There is no substantialdifference between the shape of bulges in the optical and in the NIR.Our analysis reveals that 45% of all bulges are box- and peanut-shaped(b/p). The frequency of b/p bulges for all morphological types from S0to Sd is > 40%. In particular, this is for the first time that such alarge frequency of b/p bulges is reported for galaxies as late as Sd.The fraction of the observed b/p bulges is large enough to explain theb/p bulges by bars. Partly based on observations collected at ESO/LaSilla (Chile), DSAZ/Calar Alto (Spain), and Lowell Observatory/Flagstaff(AZ/U.S.A.). Tables 6 and 7 are only available in electronic form at CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Mapping the star formation history of Mrk 86. I. Data and models
We have obtained optical (BVR, [O Iii]lambda 5007 Å and Hα), near infrared (JHK) imaging and long-slit optical spectroscopy forthe Blue Compact Dwarf galaxy Mrk 86 (NGC2537). In this paper, the first of two, we presentoptical-near-infrared colors and emission-line fluxes for the currentlystar-forming regions, intermediate aged starburst and underlying stellarpopulation. We also describe the evolutionary synthesis models used inPaper II. The R and Hα luminosity distributions of the galaxystar-forming regions show maxima at M_R=-9.5m andLHalpha = 1037.3 erg s-1. Theunderlying stellar population shows an exponential surface brigthnessprofile with central value, muE,0=21.5 magarcsec-2, and scale, alpha =0.88 kpc, both measured in theR-band image. In the galaxy outer regions, dominated by this component,no significant color gradients are observed. Finally, a complete set ofevolutionary synthesis models have been developed, covering a wide rangein metallicity, 1/50 Zsun
| Dust outflows from quiescent spiral disks.
We have conducted a search for ``dust chimneys'' in a sample of 10highly-inclined spiral galaxies (i=86-90deg) which we hadpreviously observed in the Hα emission line (Rand 1996). We haveprocured B-band CCD images for this purpose and employed unsharp-maskingtechniques to accentuate the structure of the dust lane. Ascattering+absorption radiation transfer model enabled us to separate 5galaxies from the sample which are sufficiently inclined(i>87deg) for us to reliably identify and quantify dustclouds residing at over 2 scale-heights above the disk. Three of thesegalaxies possess numerous curvi-linear chimney structures stretching upto 2 kpc from the midplane and the fraction of total galactic dustcontained in such structures is of order 1%. Optical extinction offers alower limit to the amount of dust contained in the extraplanar layerbut, by examining the transparent submm thermal emission from NGC 891,we fix an upper limit of 5%. Our results are consistent with a similarrecent study by Howk & Savage (1999) which indicates that about halfof quiescent spiral disks possess detectable dust chimneys. We havecompared our optical images with the corresponding Hαemission-line radiation. We do not find a detailed spatialcorrespondance between dust chimneys and either sites of recentstar-formation or the extraplanar diffuse ionized gas. This is somewhatsurprising given that FIR-bright galaxies, such as M 82, are known toentrain dust at the working surface of the starburst-driven outflow(traced in Hα ). It is possible a global correlation exists, withdisks experiencing overall higher rates of star-formation alsopossessing the greatest number of chimneys. This may indicate atimescale difference between the two phenomena with the Hα phaselasting ~ 106 yr but chimneys requiring ~ 107 yrto form. Additionally, we have investigated the edge-on disk NGC 55which, being ten times closer than galaxies in our main sample, allowsus to examine in greater spatial detail the relationship betweenchimneys and recent star-formation. Our discussion touches upon highlatitude dust and supershells observed in the Milky Way. We rule outquiescent disks as prolific sources of intergalactic grains and metalsbut note that the rate at which dust is expelled from the main dustlayer is comparable to the rate at which it is produced by disk stars(suggesting that it may be an important regulatory process).
| The influence of interactions and minor mergers on the structure of galactic disks I. Observations and disk models
This paper is the first part in our series on the influence of tidalinteractions and minor mergers on the radial and vertical disk structureof spiral galaxies. We report on the sample selection, our observations,and data reduction. Surface photometry of the optical and near infrareddata of a sample of 110 highly-inclined/edge-on disk galaxies arepresented. This sample consists of two subsamples of 61 non-interactinggalaxies (control sample) and of 49 interacting galaxies/minor mergingcandidates. Additionally, 41 of these galaxies were observed in the nearinfrared. We show that the distribution of morphological types of bothsubsamples is almost indistinguishable, covering the range between 0<= T <= 9. An improved, 3-dimensional disk modelling- and fittingprocedure is described in order to analyze and to compare the diskstructure of our sample galaxies by using characteristic parameters. Wefind that the vertical brightness profiles of galactic disks respondvery sensitive even to small deviations from the perfect edge-onorientation. Hence, projection effects of slightly inclined disks maycause substantial changes in the value of the disk scale height and musttherefore be considered in the subsequent study. Based on observationsobtained at the European Southern Observatory (ESO, La Silla, Chile),Calar Alto Observatory operated by the MPIA (DSAZ, Spain), LowellObservatory (Flagstaff/AZ, USA), and Hoher List Observatory (Germany).
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