Contents
Images
Upload your image
DSS Images Other Images
Related articles
The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. VIII. The Nuclei of Early-Type Galaxies
The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey is a Hubble Space Telescope program toobtain high-resolution imaging in widely separated bandpasses (F475W~gand F850LP~z) for 100 early-type members of the Virgo Cluster, spanninga range of ~460 in blue luminosity. We use this large, homogenous dataset to examine the innermost structure of these galaxies and tocharacterize the properties of their compact central nuclei. We presenta sharp upward revision in the frequency of nucleation in early-typegalaxies brighter than MB~-15 (66%<~fn<~82%)and show that ground-based surveys underestimated the number of nucleidue to surface brightness selection effects, limited sensitivity andpoor spatial resolution. We speculate that previously reported claimsthat nucleated dwarfs are more concentrated toward the center of Virgothan their nonnucleated counterparts may be an artifact of theseselection effects. There is no clear evidence from the properties of thenuclei, or from the overall incidence of nucleation, for a change atMB~-17.6, the traditional dividing point between dwarf andgiant galaxies. There does, however, appear to be a fundamentaltransition at MB~-20.5, in the sense that the brighter,``core-Sérsic'' galaxies lack resolved (stellar) nuclei. A searchfor nuclei that may be offset from the photocenters of their hostgalaxies reveals only five candidates with displacements of more than0.5", all of which are in dwarf galaxies. In each case, however, theevidence suggests that these ``nuclei'' are, in fact, globular clustersprojected close to the galaxy photocenter. Working from a sample of 51galaxies with prominent nuclei, we find a median half-light radius of=4.2 pc, with the sizes of individual nucleiranging from 62 pc down to <=2 pc (i.e., unresolved in our images) inabout a half-dozen cases. Excluding these unresolved objects, the nucleisizes are found to depend on nuclear luminosity according to therelation rh L0.50+/-0.03. Because the largemajority of nuclei are resolved, we can rule out low-level AGNs as anexplanation for the central luminosity excess in almost all cases. Onaverage, the nuclei are ~3.5 mag brighter than a typical globularcluster. Based on their broadband colors, the nuclei appear to have oldto intermediate age stellar populations. The colors of the nuclei ingalaxies fainter than MB~-17.6 are tightly correlated withtheir luminosities, and less so with the luminosities of their hostgalaxies, suggesting that their chemical enrichment histories weregoverned by local or internal factors. Comparing the nuclei to the``nuclear clusters'' found in late-type spiral galaxies reveals a closematch in terms of size, luminosity, and overall frequency. A formationmechanism that is rather insensitive to the detailed properties of thehost galaxy properties is required to explain this ubiquity andhomogeneity. The mean of the frequency function for thenucleus-to-galaxy luminosity ratio in our nucleated galaxies,=-2.49+/-0.09 dex (σ=0.59+/-0.10), isindistinguishable from that of the SBH-to-bulge mass ratio,=-2.61+/-0.07dex (σ=0.45+/-0.09), calculated in 23 early-type galaxies withdetected supermassive black holes (SBHs). We argue that the compactstellar nuclei found in many of our program galaxies are the low-masscounterparts of the SBHs detected in the bright galaxies. If thisinterpretation is correct, then one should think in terms of ``centralmassive objects''-either SBHs or compact stellar nuclei-that accompanythe formation of almost all early-type galaxies and contain a meanfraction ~0.3% of the total bulge mass. In this view, SBHs would be thedominant formation mode above MB~-20.5.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 NAS5-26555.
| The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. IX. The Color Distributions of Globular Cluster Systems in Early-Type Galaxies
We present the color distributions of globular cluster (GC) systems for100 early-type galaxies observed in the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey, thedeepest and most homogeneous survey of this kind to date. On average,galaxies at all luminosities in our study (-22
| The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. X. Half-Light Radii of Globular Clusters in Early-Type Galaxies: Environmental Dependencies and a Standard Ruler for Distance Estimation
We have measured half-light radii, rh, for thousands ofglobular clusters (GCs) belonging to the 100 early-type galaxiesobserved in the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey and the elliptical galaxy NGC4697. An analysis of the dependencies of the measured half-light radiion both the properties of the GCs themselves and their host galaxiesreveals that, in analogy with GCs in the Galaxy but in a milder fashion,the average half-light radius increases with increasing galactocentricdistance or, alternatively, with decreasing galaxy surface brightness.For the first time, we find that the average half-light radius decreaseswith the host galaxy color. We also show that there is no evidence for avariation of rh with the luminosity of the GCs. Finally, wefind in agreement with previous observations that the averagerh depends on the color of GCs, with red GCs being ~17%smaller than their blue counterparts. We show that this difference isprobably a consequence of an intrinsic mechanism, rather than projectioneffects, and that it is in good agreement with the mechanism proposed byJordán. We discuss these findings in light of two simple picturesfor the origin of the rh of GCs and show that both lead to abehavior in rough agreement with the observations. After accounting forthe dependencies on galaxy color, galactocentric radius, and underlyingsurface brightness, we show that the average GC half-light radii can be successfully used as a standard ruler fordistance estimation. We outline the methodology, provide a calibrationfor its use, and discuss the prospects for this distance estimator withfuture observing facilities. We find =2.7+/-0.35 pcfor GCs with (g-z)=1.2 mag in a galaxy with color(g-z)gal=1.5 mag and at an underlying surface z-bandbrightness of μz=21 mag arcsec-2. Using thistechnique, we place an upper limit of 3.4 Mpc on the 1 σline-of-sight depth of the Virgo Cluster. Finally, we examine the formof the rh distribution for our sample galaxies and provide ananalytic expression that successfully describes this distribution.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.
| 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
| Measuring shapes of galaxy images - II. Morphology of 2MASS galaxies
We study a sample of 112 galaxies of various Hubble types imaged in theTwo Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) in the near-infrared (NIR; 1-2 μm)J, H and Ks bands. The sample contains (optically classified)32 ellipticals, 16 lenticulars and 64 spirals acquired from the 2MASSExtended Source Catalogue (XSC).We use a set of non-parametric shape measures constructed from theMinkowski functionals (MFs) for galaxy shape analysis. We useellipticity (ɛ) and orientation angle (Φ) as shapediagnostics. With these parameters as functions of area within theisophotal contour, we note that the NIR elliptical galaxies withɛ > 0.2 show a trend of being centrally spherical andincreasingly flattened towards the edge, a trend similar to images inoptical wavelengths. The highly flattened elliptical galaxies showstrong change in ellipticity between the centre and the edge. Thelenticular galaxies show morphological properties resembling eitherellipticals or disc galaxies. Our analysis shows that almost half of thespiral galaxies appear to have bar-like features while the rest arelikely to be non-barred. Our results also indicate that almost one-thirdof spiral galaxies have optically hidden bars.The isophotal twist noted in the orientations of elliptical galaxiesdecreases with the flattening of these galaxies, indicating that twistand flattening are also anticorrelated in the NIR, as found in opticalwavelengths. The orientations of NIR lenticular and spiral galaxies showa wide range of twists.
| A multibeam HI survey of the Virgo cluster - two isolated HI clouds?
We have carried out a fully sampled large area (4°× 8°)21-cm HI line survey of part of the Virgo cluster using the Jodrell Bankmultibeam instrument. The survey has a sensitivity some three timesbetter than the standard HIJASS (HI Jodrell All Sky Survey) and HIPASS(HI Parkes All Sky Survey) surveys. We detect 31 galaxies, 27 of whichare well-known cluster members. The four new detections have beenconfirmed in the HIPASS data and by follow-up Jodrell Bank pointedobservations. One object lies behind M86, but the other three have noobvious optical counterparts upon inspection of the digital sky surveyfields. These three objects were mapped at Arecibo with a smaller3.6-arcmin half power beam width (HPBW) and a four times bettersensitivity than the Jodrell Bank data, which allow an improveddetermination of the dimensions and location of two of the objects, butsurprisingly failed to detect the third. The two objects are resolved bythe Arecibo beam, giving them a size far larger than any optical imagesin the nearby field. To our mass limit of 5 ×107(Δv/50 km s-1) Msolar andcolumn density limit of 3 × 1018(Δv/50 kms-1) atom cm-2, these new detections representonly about 2 per cent of the cluster atomic hydrogen mass. Ourobservations indicate that the HI mass function of the cluster turnsdown at the low-mass end, making it very different to the field galaxyHI mass function. This is quite different to the Virgo cluster opticalluminosity function, which is much steeper than that in the generalfield. Many of the sample galaxies are relatively gas-poor compared withHI selected samples of field galaxies, confirming the `anaemic spirals'view of Virgo cluster late-type galaxies. The velocity distribution ofthe HI detected galaxies is also very different to that of the clusteras a whole. There are relatively more high-velocity galaxies in the HIsample, suggesting that they form part of a currently infallingpopulation. The HI sample with optical identifications has a minimum HIcolumn density cut-off more than an order of magnitude above thatexpected from the sensitivity of the survey. This observed columndensity is above the normally expected level for star formation tooccur. The two detections with no optical counterparts have very muchlower column densities than that of the rest of the sample, below thestar formation threshold.
| The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. II. Data Reduction Procedures
The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey is a large program to carry out multicolorimaging of 100 early-type members of the Virgo Cluster using theAdvanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope. DeepF475W and F850LP images (~SDSS g and z) are being used to study thecentral regions of the program galaxies, their globular cluster systems,and the three-dimensional structure of Virgo itself. In this paper, wedescribe in detail the data reduction procedures used for the survey,including image registration, drizzling strategies, the computation ofweight images, object detection, the identification of globular clustercandidates, and the measurement of their photometric and structuralparameters.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.
| The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. I. Introduction to the Survey
The Virgo Cluster is the dominant mass concentration in the LocalSupercluster and the largest collection of elliptical and lenticulargalaxies in the nearby universe. In this paper, we present anintroduction to the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey: a program to image, in theF475W and F850LP bandpasses (~Sloan g and z), 100 early-type galaxies inthe Virgo Cluster using the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the HubbleSpace Telescope. We describe the selection of the program galaxies andtheir ensemble properties, the choice of filters, the field placementand orientation, the limiting magnitudes of the survey, coordinatedparallel observations of 100 ``intergalactic'' fields with WFPC2, andsupporting ground-based spectroscopic observations of the programgalaxies. In terms of depth, spatial resolution, sample size, andhomogeneity, this represents the most comprehensive imaging survey todate of early-type galaxies in a cluster environment. We brieflydescribe the main scientific goals of the survey, which include themeasurement of luminosities, metallicities, ages, and structuralparameters for the many thousands of globular clusters associated withthese galaxies, a high-resolution isophotal analysis of galaxiesspanning a factor of ~450 in luminosity and sharing a commonenvironment, the measurement of accurate distances for the full sampleof galaxies using the method of surface brightness fluctuations, and adetermination of the three-dimensional structure of Virgo itself.ID="FN1"> 1Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble SpaceTelescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which isoperated by the association of Universities for Research in Astronomy,Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.
| Star Formation Histories of Early-Type Galaxies. I. Higher Order Balmer Lines as Age Indicators
We have obtained blue integrated spectra of 175 nearby early-typegalaxies, covering a wide range in galaxy velocity dispersion andemphasizing those with σ<100 km s-1. Galaxies havebeen observed both in the Virgo Cluster and in lower densityenvironments. The main goals are the evaluation of higher order Balmerlines as age indicators and differences in stellar populations as afunction of mass, environment, and morphology. In this first paper, ouremphasis is on presenting the methods used to characterize the behaviorof the Balmer lines through evolutionary population synthesis models.Lower σ galaxies exhibit a substantially greater intrinsicscatter, in a variety of line-strength indicators, than do higherσ galaxies, with the large intrinsic scatter setting in below aσ of 100 km s-1. Moreover, a greater contrast inscatter is present in the Balmer lines than in the lines of metalfeatures. Evolutionary synthesis modeling of the observed spectralindexes indicates that the strong Balmer lines found primarily among thelow-σ galaxies are caused by young age, rather than by lowmetallicity. Thus we find a trend between the population age and thecentral velocity dispersion, such that low-σ galaxies have youngerluminosity-weighted mean ages. We have repeated this analysis usingseveral different Balmer lines and find consistent results from onespectral indicator to another.
| 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.
| Low-Luminosity Early-Type Galaxies in the Coma Cluster: Variations in Spectral Properties
We present spectra of nine low-luminosity early-type galaxies (M_B >-17.5) in the Coma Cluster. The spectra, which were obtained with theMultiple Mirror Telescope and cover the spectral region 3300-5350Å, exhibit a large variation in Balmer line strengths. In fact,the line-strength variation among the Coma low-luminosity galaxies is aslarge as that found among a sample of low-luminosity elliptical galaxiesin the Virgo Cluster and lower density environments. When compared withdetailed population synthesis models, the variation in Balmer linestrengths among the Coma galaxies indicates a range inluminosity-weighted mean age from ~1 to ~12 Gyr. The two youngestgalaxies are shown to be in a poststarburst state, i.e., they are notsimply former spirals whose star formation was recently terminated.Moreover, the ~1 Gyr ages of these two youngest low-luminosity galaxiesare similar to those of the brighter poststarburst galaxies in the ComaCluster.
| Extended LY alpha -absorbing Halos around Nearby Galaxies
In order to establish the Lyα absorption cross section ofpresent-day galaxies, we have identified 38 galaxies with z = 0-0.08that lie within 40-500 h^-1^ kpc of the line of sight to a QSO observedwith the Faint Object Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope(HST). Including three galaxies in the field of 3C 273 investigated byprevious authors, we find that nine of 41 galaxies have associatedLyα absorption. If the identified Lyα absorption systems aregenuinely associated with the galaxies, then the covering factor of gasaround galaxies remains roughly constant at ~40% between 100 and 300h^-1^ kpc. Beyond 300 h^-1^ kpc, the incidence of absorption dropssharply. We conclude that (1) nearby galaxies do not possessLyα-absorbing halos beyond 300 h^-1^ kpc in radius and (2) thecovering factor of present-day galaxies between 50 and 300 h^-1^ kpc is44% at an equivalent width limit of W >= 0.3 A. For the nine galaxieswith associated Lyα absorption lines, differences in the galaxiessystemic velocities and the velocity of the absorption line, {DELTA}v,range over +/- 300 km s^-1^, consistent with the distribution found atredshifts > 0.1 by Lanzetta et al. and Le Brun, Bergeron, &Boisse. Values of {DELTA}v spanning several hundred km s^-1^ areprobably real for some of the QSO-galaxy pairs, however, and do notsimply arise from errors in measuring cz_gal_ or cz_abs_. This suggeststhat the absorbing clouds are kinematically tied to the galaxy disks andthat the distribution of {DELTA}v may arise because of the effects ofgalaxy inclination. We find no evidence for a correlation betweenLyα equivalent width and galaxy line-of-sight separation, whichweakens the argument that the identified galaxies are directlyassociated with the Lyα lines. Also, we find that absorption doesnot arise only from bright galaxies, since there are several examples inwhich low-luminosity galaxies apparently cause absorption. Yet we showthat the absorbing halos around galaxies cannot be independent of galaxyluminosity because if all low- redshift galaxies were surrounded byextended halos, the number of Lyα absorption systems found in HSTspectra would be much larger than has recently been determined. Thisresult leads us to question whether the galaxies are actuallyresponsible for the Lyα absorption lines or whether theassociation in redshift is fortuitous. Our results support the picturesuggested by others that Lyα lines arise in filaments or sheetsthat connect and contain the overdense regions that galaxies inhabit.This conclusion, however, remains at odds with the results of Lanzettaet al., who find that Lyα systems are more intimately linked withgalaxies. It may be, therefore, that we are seeing an evolution of theway in which Ly& lines associate with galaxies over the last fewbillion years. We suggest that at least some of the Lyα cloudsthat are not associated with galaxies at z ~ 0.5 have been slowlymerging with galaxies over time, creating larger but less uniform gasdistributions around the galaxies we see today.
| General study of group membership. II - Determination of nearby groups
We present a whole sky catalog of nearby groups of galaxies taken fromthe Lyon-Meudon Extragalactic Database. From the 78,000 objects in thedatabase, we extracted a sample of 6392 galaxies, complete up to thelimiting apparent magnitude B0 = 14.0. Moreover, in order to considersolely the galaxies of the local universe, all the selected galaxieshave a known recession velocity smaller than 5500 km/s. Two methods wereused in group construction: a Huchra-Geller (1982) derived percolationmethod and a Tully (1980) derived hierarchical method. Each method gaveus one catalog. These were then compared and synthesized to obtain asingle catalog containing the most reliable groups. There are 485 groupsof a least three members in the final catalog.
| A list of some corrections to Zwicky's Catalogue of Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies
Not Available
| HI-observations of galaxies in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. I - The data
New H I-data for a large number of bright galaxies inside the 10 degradius area of the Virgo cluster of galaxies have been obtained with the100 m radiotelescope at Effelsberg. A total of 234 galaxies was observedfor the first time. Among them, 53 have been detected providing newaccurate radial velocities. Data from the literature have been compiled.Together with the new data, they form a (nearly homogeneous) set of H Iobservations for more than 450 galaxies.
| Studies of the Virgo Cluster. II - A catalog of 2096 galaxies in the Virgo Cluster area.
The present catalog of 2096 galaxies within an area of about 140 sq degapproximately centered on the Virgo cluster should be an essentiallycomplete listing of all certain and possible cluster members,independent of morphological type. Cluster membership is essentiallydecided by galaxy morphology; for giants and the rare class of highsurface brightness dwarfs, membership rests on velocity data. While 1277of the catalog entries are considered members of the Virgo cluster, 574are possible members and 245 appear to be background Zwicky galaxies.Major-to-minor axis ratios are given for all galaxies brighter than B(T)= 18, as well as for many fainter ones.
|
Submit a new article
Related links
Submit a new link
Member of following groups:
|
Observation and Astrometry data
Catalogs and designations:
|
