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Correlations of near-infrared, optical and X-ray luminosity for early-type galaxies
The relation between X-ray luminosity and near-infrared (NIR) luminosityfor early-type galaxies has been examined. NIR luminosities shouldprovide a superior measure of stellar mass compared to opticalluminosities used in previous studies, especially if there issignificant star formation or dust present in the galaxies. However, weshow that the X-ray-NIR relations are remarkably consistent with theX-ray-optical relations. This indicates that the large scatter of therelations is dominated by scatter in the X-ray properties of early-typegalaxies, and is consistent with early-types consisting of old,quiescent stellar populations.We have investigated scatter in terms of environment, surface brightnessprofile, Mg2, Hβ, Hγ line strength indices,spectroscopic age and nuclear Hα emission. We found that galaxieswith high Mg2 index, low Hβ and Hγ indices or a`core' profile have a large scatter in LX, whereas galaxieswith low Mg2, high Hβ and Hγ indices or`power-law' profiles generally have LX < 1041erg s-1. There is no clear trend in the scatter withenvironment or nuclear Hα emission.
| A data-driven Bayesian approach for finding young stellar populations in early-type galaxies from their ultraviolet-optical spectra
Efficient predictive models and data analysis techniques for theanalysis of photometric and spectroscopic observations of galaxies arenot only desirable, but also required, in view of the overwhelmingquantities of data becoming available. We present the results of a novelapplication of Bayesian latent variable modelling techniques, where wehave formulated a data-driven algorithm that allows one to explore thestellar populations of a large sample of galaxies from their spectra,without the application of detailed physical models. Our only assumptionis that the galaxy spectrum can be expressed as a linear superpositionof a small number of independent factors, each a spectrum of a stellarsubpopulation that cannot be individually observed. A probabilisticlatent variable architecture that explicitly encodes this assumption isthen formulated, and a rigorous Bayesian methodology is employed forsolving the inverse modelling problem from the available data. Apowerful aspect of this method is that it formulates a density model ofthe spectra, based on which we can handle observational errors. Further,we can recover missing data both from the original set of spectra whichmight have incomplete spectral coverage of each galaxy, or frompreviously unseen spectra of the same kind.We apply this method to a sample of 21 ultraviolet-optical spectra ofwell-studied early-type galaxies, for which we also derive detailedphysical models of star formation history (i.e. age, metallicity andrelative mass fraction of the component stellar populations). We alsoapply it to synthetic spectra made up of two stellar populations,spanning a large range of parameters. We apply four different datamodels, starting from a formulation of principal component analysis(PCA), which has been widely used. We explore alternative factor models,relaxing the physically unrealistic assumption of Gaussian factors, aswell as constraining the possibility of negative flux values that areallowed in PCA, and show that other models perform equally well orbetter, while yielding more physically acceptable results. Inparticular, the more physically motivated assumptions of our rectifiedfactor analysis enable it to perform better than PCA, and to recoverphysically meaningful results.We find that our data-driven Bayesian modelling allows us to identifythose early-type galaxies that contain a significant stellar populationthat is <~1-Gyr old. This experiment also concludes that our sampleof early-type spectra showed no evidence of more than two major stellarpopulations differing significantly in age and metallicity. This methodwill help us to search for such young populations in a large ensemble ofspectra of early-type galaxies, without fitting detailed models, andthereby to study the underlying physical processes governing theformation and evolution of early-type galaxies, particularly thoseleading to the suppression of star formation in dense environments. Inparticular, this method would be a very useful tool for automaticallydiscovering various interesting subclasses of galaxies, for example,post-starburst or E+A galaxies.
| Novel Methods for Predicting Photometric Redshifts from Broadband Photometry Using Virtual Sensors
We calculate photometric redshifts from the Sloan Digital Sky SurveyMain Galaxy Sample, the Galaxy Evolution Explorer All Sky Survey, andthe Two Micron All Sky Survey using two new training-set methods. Weutilize the broadband photometry from the three surveys alongside SloanDigital Sky Survey measures of photometric quality and galaxymorphology. Our first training-set method draws from the theory ofensemble learning while the second employs Gaussian process regression,both of which allow for the estimation of redshift along with a measureof uncertainty in the estimation. The Gaussian process models the datavery effectively with small training samples of approximately 1000points or less. These two methods are compared to a well-knownartificial neural network training-set method and to simple linear andquadratic regression. We also demonstrate the need to provide confidencebands on the error estimation made by both classes of models. Ourresults indicate that variations due to the optimization procedure usedfor almost all neural networks, combined with the variations due to thedata sample, can produce models with variations in accuracy that span anorder of magnitude. A key contribution of this paper is to quantify thevariability in the quality of results as a function of model andtraining sample. We show how simply choosing the ``best'' model given adata set and model class can produce misleading results.
| Kinematics of Interstellar Gas in Nearby UV-selected Galaxies Measured with HST STIS Spectroscopy
We measure Doppler shifts of interstellar absorption lines in HST STISspectra of individual star clusters in nearby UV-selected galaxies.Values for systemic velocities, which are needed to quantify outflowspeeds, are taken from the literature and verified with stellar lines.We detect outflowing gas in 8 of 17 galaxies via low-ionization lines(e.g., C II, Si II, Al II), which trace cold and/or warm gas. Thestarbursts in our sample are intermediate in luminosity (and mass) todwarf galaxies and luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs), and we confirmthat their outflow speeds (ranging from -100 to nearly -520 kms-1, with an accuracy of ~80 km s-1) areintermediate to those previously measured in dwarf starbursts and LIRGs.We do not detect the outflow in high-ionization lines (such as C IV orSi IV); higher quality data will be needed to empirically establish howvelocities vary with the ionization state of the outflow. We do verifythat the low-ionization UV lines and optical Na I doublet give roughlyconsistent outflow velocities, solidifying an important link betweenstudies of galactic winds at low and high redshift. To obtain a highersignal-to-noise ratio (S/N), we create a local average compositespectrum and compare it to the high-z Lyman break composite spectrum. Itis surprising that the low-ionization lines show similar outflowvelocities in the two samples. We attribute this to a combination ofweighting toward higher luminosities in the local composite, as well asboth samples being, on average, brighter than the ``turnover''luminosity in the v-SFR relation.Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope,obtained from the Data Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute,which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research inAstronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations areassociated with program GO-9036.
| Scaling Mass Profiles around Elliptical Galaxies Observed with Chandra and XMM-Newton
We investigated the dynamical structure of 53 elliptical galaxies usingthe Chandra archival X-ray data. In X-ray-luminous galaxies, temperatureincreases with radius and gas density is systematically higher at theoptical outskirts, indicating the presence of a significant amount ofthe group-scale hot gas. In contrast, X-ray-dim galaxies show a flat ordeclining temperature profile against radius and the gas density isrelatively lower at the optical outskirts. Thus, it is found thatX-ray-bright and faint elliptical galaxies are clearly distinguished bythe temperature and gas density profile. The mass profile is well scaledby a virial radius r200 rather than an optical half-radiusre, is quite similar at (0.001-0.03)r200 betweenX-ray-luminous and dim galaxies, and smoothly connects to those profilesof clusters of galaxies. At the inner region of(0.001-0.01)r200 or (0.1-1)re, the mass profilewell traces a stellar mass with a constant mass-to-light ratio ofM/LB=3-10 Msolar/Lsolar. TheM/LB ratio of X-ray-bright galaxies rises up steeply beyond0.01r200 and thus requires a presence of massive dark matterhalo. From the deprojection analysis combined with the XMM-Newton data,we found that X-ray-dim galaxies NGC 3923, NGC 720, and IC 1459 alsohave a high M/LB ratio of 20-30 at 20 kpc, comparable to thatof X-ray-luminous galaxies. Therefore, dark matter is indicated to becommon in elliptical galaxies; their dark matter distribution, as wellas that of galaxy clusters, almost follows the NFW profile.
| Masses of the local group and of the M81 group estimated from distortions in the local velocity field
Based on high precision measurements of the distances to nearby galaxieswith the Hubble telescope, we have determined the radii of the zerovelocity spheres for the local group, R0 =0.96±0.03Mpc, and for the group of galaxies around M 81/M 82,0.89±0.05Mpc. These yield estimates of MT =(1.29±0.14)· 1012 Mȯ and(1.03±0.17)· 1012 Mȯ,respectively, for the total masses of these groups. The R0method allows us to determine the mass ratios for the two brightestmembers in both groups, as well. By varying the position of the centerof mass between the two principal members of a group to obtain minimalscatter in the galaxies on a Hubble diagram, we find mass ratios of0.8:1.0 for our galaxy and Andromeda and 0.54:1.00 for the M82 and M81galaxies, in good agreement with the observed ratios of the luminositiesof these galaxies.
| Dwarf elliptical galaxies in Centaurus A group: stellar populations in AM 1339-445 and AM 1343-452
We study the red giant populations of two dE galaxies, AM 1339-445 andAM 1343-452, with the aim of investigating the number and luminosity ofany upper asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars present. The galaxies aremembers of the Centaurus A group (D ≈ 3.8 Mpc) and are classified asoutlying (R ≈ 350 kpc) satellites of Cen A. The analysis is based onnear-IR photometry for individual red giant stars, derived from imagesobtained with ISAAC on the VLT. The photometry, along with optical dataderived from WFPC2 images retrieved from the HST science archive, enableus to investigate the stellar populations of the dEs in the vicinity ofthe red giant branch (RGB) tip. In both systems we find stars above theRGB tip, which we interpret as intermediate-age upper-AGB stars. Thepresence of such stars is indicative of extended star formation in thesedEs similar to that seen in many, but not all, dEs in the Local Group.For AM 1339-445, the brightest of the upper-AGB stars haveMbol ≈-4.5 while those in AM 1343-452 have Mbol≈ -4.8 mag. These luminosities suggest ages of approximately 6.5± 1 and 4 ± 1 Gyr as estimates for the epoch of the lastepisode of significant star formation in these systems. In both casesthe number of upper-AGB stars suggests that ~15% of the total stellarpopulation is in the form of intermediate-age stars, considerably lessthan is the case for outlying dE satellites of the Milky Way such asFornax and Leo I.
| Deep ACS Imaging of the Halo of NGC 5128: Reaching the Horizontal Branch
Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera (WFC) of theAdvanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), we have obtained deep (V, I)photometry of an outer halo field in NGC 5128, to a limiting magnitudeof I~=29. Our photometry directly reveals the core helium burningstellar population (the ``red clump'' or horizontal branch) in a giantE/S0 galaxy for the first time. The color-magnitude diagram displays avery wide red giant branch (RGB), an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) bump,and the red clump; no noticeable population of blue horizontal branchstars is present, confirming previous suggestions that old, verymetal-poor population is not ubiquitous in the halo of this galaxy. Fromthe upper RGB we derive the metallicity distribution, which we find tobe very broad and moderately metal-rich, with average [M/H]=-0.64 anddispersion 0.49 dex. The metallicity distribution function is virtuallyidentical to that found in other halo fields observed previously withHST, but with an enhanced metal-rich population that was partiallymissed in the previous surveys due to V-band incompleteness for thesevery red stars. Combining the metallicity-sensitive colors of the RGBstars with the metallicity- and age-sensitive features of the AGB bumpand the red clump, we infer the average age of the halo stars to be~8+3-3.5 Gyr. As part of our study, we present anempirical calibration of the ACS F606W and F814W filters to the standardV and I bands, achieved with ground-based observations of the same fieldmade from the EMMI camera of the New Technology Telescope of the ESO LaSilla Observatory.Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope,obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated bythe Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., underNASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated withprogram GO-9373. Also partially based on observations collected at theEuropean Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile, in Observing Programme071.D-0560.
| Close Binaries as the Progenitors of the Brightest Planetary Nebulae
We investigate the possible progenitors of the planetary nebulae (PNs)that populate the top 0.5 mag of the [O III] λ5007 planetarynebula luminosity function (PNLF). We show that the absolute luminosityof the PNLF cutoff demands that the central stars of these most luminousPNs be >~0.6 Msolar and that such high-mass PN cores mustexist in every galaxy. We also use the bolometric luminosity-specific PNnumber density to show that in early-type galaxies, [O III]-bright PNsare relatively rare, with only ~10% of stars evolving to these brightmagnitudes. We demonstrate that the combination of these two factsimplies that either all early-type systems contain a small, smoothlydistributed component of young (<~1 Gyr old) stars or that anothermechanism exists for creating high core mass PNs. We argue that binarystar evolution is this second mechanism and demonstrate that bluestragglers have the appropriate core properties and number density toexplain the observations. We discuss the implications of thisalternative mode of stellar evolution and speculate on how coalescedbinaries might affect the use of PNs for measuring a galaxy's starformation history and chemical evolution.
| A Chandra Observation of the Nearby Lenticular Galaxy NGC 5102: Where are the X-Ray Binaries?
We present results from a 34 ks Chandra ACIS-S observation of thelow-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) population and the hot interstellar medium(ISM) in the nearby (d=3.1 Mpc) lenticular galaxy NGC 5102, previouslyshown to have an unusually low X-ray luminosity. We detect 11 X-raypoint sources within the D25 optical boundary of the galaxy(93% of the light), one-third to one-half of which are likely to bebackground active galactic nuclei (AGNs). One of the X-ray sources iscoincident with the optical nucleus and may be a low-luminosity AGN.Only two sources with an X-ray luminosity greater than 1037ergs s-1 in the 0.5-5.0 keV band were detected, one of whichis statistically likely to be a background AGN. We expected to detectseven or five such luminous sources if the X-ray binary (XRB) populationscales linearly with the B-band or J-band magnitudes, respectively, ofthe host galaxy. By this measure, NGC 5102 has an unusually low numberof XRBs. The deficit of LMXBs is even more striking, because some ofthese sources may in fact be high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs). NGC 5102is unusually blue for its morphological type and has undergone at leasttwo recent bursts of star formation only ~1.5×107 and~3×108 yr ago. We present the results of optical/UVspectral synthesis analysis and demonstrate that a significant fraction(>50%) of the stars in this galaxy are comparatively young(<3×109 yr old). We discuss the relationship betweenthe XRB population, the globular cluster (GC) population, and therelative youth of the majority of stars in this galaxy. If the lack ofX-ray binaries is related to the relative youth of most of the stars,this would support models of LMXB formation and evolution that requirewide binaries to shed angular momentum on a timescale of Gyr. We havealso analyzed archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of NGC 5102and find that it has an unusually low specific frequency of GCs(SN~0.4). The lack of LMXBs could also be explained by thesmall number of GCs. We have also detected diffuse X-ray emission in thecentral ~1 kpc of the galaxy with an X-ray luminosity of4.1×1037 ergs s-1 in the 0.1-2.0 keV band.This hot gas is most likely a superbubble created by multiple supernovaeof massive stars born during the most recent star burst and is drivingthe shock into the ISM, which was inferred from previous [O III]λ5007 and Hα observations.
| The Local Group and Other Neighboring Galaxy Groups
Over the last few years, rapid progress has been made in distancemeasurements for nearby galaxies based on the magnitude of stars on thetip of the red giant branch. Current CCD surveys with the Hubble SpaceTelescope (HST) and large ground-based telescopes bring ~10% accuratedistances for roughly a hundred galaxies within 5 Mpc. The new data ondistances to galaxies situated in (and around) the nearest groups-theLocal Group, M81 Group, Cen A/M83 Group, IC 342/Maffei Group, Sculptorfilament, and Canes Venatici cloud-allowed us to determine their totalmass from the radius of the zero-velocity surface, R0, whichseparates a group as bound against the homogeneous cosmic expansion. Thevalues of R0 for the virialized groups turn out to be closeeach other, in the range of 0.9-1.3 Mpc. As a result, the total massesof the groups are close to each other, as well, yielding total mass toblue luminosity ratios of 10-40 MsolarL-1solar. The new total mass estimates are 3-5times lower than old virial mass estimates of these groups. Becauseabout half of galaxies in the Local volume belong to such loose groups,the revision of the amount of dark matter (DM) leads to a low localdensity of matter, Ωm~=0.04, which is comparable withthe global baryonic fraction Ωb but much lower than theglobal density of matter, Ωm=0.27. To remove thediscrepancy between the global and local quantities ofΩm, we assume the existence of two different DMcomponents: (1) compact dark halos around individual galaxies and (2) anonbaryonic dark matter ``ocean'' with ΩDM1~=0.07 andΩDM2~=0.20, respectively.Based in part on observations made 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.
| The Ultraluminous X-Ray Source Population from the Chandra Archive of Galaxies
One hundred fifty-four discrete non-nuclear ultraluminous X-ray (ULX)sources, with spectroscopically determined intrinsic X-ray luminositiesgreater than 1039 ergs s-1, are identified in 82galaxies observed with Chandra's Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer.Source positions, X-ray luminosities, and spectral and timingcharacteristics are tabulated. Statistical comparisons between theseX-ray properties and those of the weaker discrete sources in the samefields (mainly neutron star and stellar-mass black hole binaries) aremade. Sources above ~1038 ergs s-1 display similarspatial, spectral, color, and variability distributions. In particular,there is no compelling evidence in the sample for a new and distinctclass of X-ray object such as the intermediate-mass black holes.Eighty-three percent of ULX candidates have spectra that can bedescribed as absorbed power laws with index <Γ>=1.74 andcolumn density =2.24×1021cm-2, or ~5 times the average Galactic column. About 20% ofthe ULXs have much steeper indices indicative of a soft, and likelythermal, spectrum. The locations of ULXs in their host galaxies arestrongly peaked toward their galaxy centers. The deprojected radialdistribution of the ULX candidates is somewhat steeper than anexponential disk, indistinguishable from that of the weaker sources.About 5%-15% of ULX candidates are variable during the Chandraobservations (which average 39.5 ks). Comparison of the cumulative X-rayluminosity functions of the ULXs to Chandra Deep Field results suggests~25% of the sources may be background objects, including 14% of the ULXcandidates in the sample of spiral galaxies and 44% of those inelliptical galaxies, implying the elliptical galaxy ULX population isseverely compromised by background active galactic nuclei. Correlationswith host galaxy properties confirm the number and total X-rayluminosity of the ULXs are associated with recent star formation andwith galaxy merging and interactions. The preponderance of ULXs instar-forming galaxies as well as their similarities to less-luminoussources suggest they originate in a young but short-lived populationsuch as the high-mass X-ray binaries with a smaller contribution (basedon spectral slope) from recent supernovae. The number of ULXs inelliptical galaxies scales with host galaxy mass and can be explainedmost simply as the high-luminosity end of the low-mass X-ray binarypopulation.
| NGC 3125-1: The Most Extreme Wolf-Rayet Star Cluster Known in the Local Universe
We use Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph long-slit ultravioletspectroscopy of local starburst galaxies to study the massive starcontent of a representative sample of super-star clusters, with aprimary focus on their Wolf-Rayet (W-R) content as measured from the HeII λ1640 emission feature. The goals of this work are threefold.First, we quantify the W-R and O-star content for selected massive youngstar clusters. These results are compared with similar estimates madefrom optical spectroscopy available in the literature. We conclude thatthe He II λ4686 equivalent width is a poor diagnostic measure ofthe true W-R content. Second, we present the strongest known He IIλ1640 emission feature in a local starburst galaxy. This featureis clearly of stellar origin in the massive cluster NGC 3125-1, as it isbroadened (~1000 km s-1). Strong N IV λ1488 and N Vλ1720 emission lines commonly found in the spectra of individualW-R stars of WN subtype are also observed in the spectrum of NGC 3125-1.Finally, we create empirical spectral templates to gain a basicunderstanding of the recently observed strong He II λ1640 featureseen in Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at redshifts z~3. The UV fieldobserved in local starbursts provides a good overall match to thecontinuum and weak photospheric features in LBGs in the spectral rangeλλ1300-1700 but cannot reproduce the He II λ1640emission seen in the composite LBG sample of Shapley et al. Anadditional (ad hoc) 10%-15% contribution from ``extreme'' W-R clusterssimilar to NGC 3125-1 on top of the field provides a good match to thestrength of this feature.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 Lack of Very Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in Early-Type Galaxies
We have searched for ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in a sample of28 elliptical and S0 galaxies observed with Chandra. We find that thenumber of X-ray sources detected at a flux level that would correspondto a 0.3-10 keV X-ray luminosity of ~2×1039 ergss-1 or greater (for which we have used the designation veryultraluminous X-ray sources [VULXs]) at the distance of each galaxy isequal to the number of expected foreground/background objects. Inaddition, the VULXs are uniformly distributed over the Chandra field ofview rather than distributed like the optical light of the galaxies,strengthening the argument that the high-flux sources are unassociatedwith the galaxies. We have also taken the VULX candidate list of Colbertand Ptak and determined the spatial distribution of VULXs in early-typegalaxies and late-type galaxies separately. While the spiral galaxyVULXs are clearly concentrated toward the centers of the galaxies, theearly-type galaxy VULXs are distributed randomly over the ROSAT HRIfield of view, again indicating that they are not associated with thegalaxies themselves. We conclude that with the exception of two rarehigh-luminosity objects within globular clusters of the ellipticalgalaxy NGC 1399, VULXs are generally not found within old stellarsystems. However, we do find a significant population of sources withluminosities of (1-2)×1039 ergs s-1 thatreside within the sample galaxies that can be explained by accretiononto 10-20 Msolar black holes. Given our results, we proposethat ULXs be defined as X-ray sources with LX(0.3-10keV)>2×1039 ergs s-1.
| Nuclear Stellar Populations in the Infrared Space Observatory Atlas of Bright Spiral Galaxies
To understand the nuclear stellar populations and star formationhistories of the nuclei of spiral galaxies, we have obtained K-bandnuclear spectra for 41 galaxies and H-band spectra for 20 galaxies inthe Infrared Space Observatory's Atlas of Bright Spiral Galaxies. In thevast majority of the subsample (80%), the near-infrared spectra suggestthat evolved red stars completely dominate the nuclear stellarpopulations and that hot young stars are virtually nonexistent. Thesignatures of recent star formation activity are only found in 20% ofthe subsample, even though older red stars still dominate the stellarpopulations in these galaxies. Given the dominance of evolved stars inmost galaxy nuclei and the nature of the emission lines in the galaxieswhere they were detected, we suggest that nuclear star formationproceeds in the form of instantaneous bursts. The stars produced bythese bursts comprise only ~2% of the total nuclear stellar mass inthese galaxies, but we demonstrate how the nuclear stellar populationsof normal spiral galaxies can be built up through a series of thesebursts. The bursts were detected only in Sbc galaxies and later, andboth bars and interactions appeared to be sufficient, but not necessary,triggers for the nuclear star formation activity. The vast majority ofgalaxies with nuclear star formation were classified as H II galaxies.With one exception, LINERs and transition objects were dominated byolder red stars, which suggested that star formation was not responsiblefor generating these galaxies' optical line emission.
| A Catalog of Neighboring Galaxies
We present an all-sky catalog of 451 nearby galaxies, each having anindividual distance estimate D<~10 Mpc or a radial velocityVLG<550 km s-1. The catalog contains data onbasic optical and H I properties of the galaxies, in particular, theirdiameters, absolute magnitudes, morphological types, circumnuclearregion types, optical and H I surface brightnesses, rotationalvelocities, and indicative mass-to-luminosity and H I mass-to-luminosityratios, as well as a so-called tidal index, which quantifies the galaxyenvironment. We expect the catalog completeness to be roughly 70%-80%within 8 Mpc. About 85% of the Local Volume population are dwarf (dIr,dIm, and dSph) galaxies with MB>-17.0, which contributeabout 4% to the local luminosity density, and roughly 10%-15% to thelocal H I mass density. The H I mass-to-luminosity and the H Imass-to-total (indicative) mass ratios increase systematically fromgiant galaxies toward dwarfs, reaching maximum values about 5 in solarunits for the most tiny objects. For the Local Volume disklike galaxies,their H I masses and angular momentum follow Zasov's linear relation,expected for rotating gaseous disks being near the threshold ofgravitational instability, favorable for active star formation. We foundthat the mean local luminosity density exceeds 1.7-2.0 times the globaldensity, in spite of the presence of the Tully void and the absence ofrich clusters in the Local Volume. The mean local H I density is 1.4times its ``global'' value derived from the H I Parkes Sky Survey.However, the mean local baryon densityΩb(<8Mpc)=2.3% consists of only a half of the globalbaryon density, Ωb=(4.7+/-0.6)% (Spergel et al.,published in 2003). The mean-square pairwise difference of radialvelocities is about 100 km s-1 for spatial separations within1 Mpc, increasing to ~300 km s-1 on a scale of ~3 Mpc. alsoWe calculated the integral area of the sky occupied by the neighboringgalaxies. Assuming the H I size of spiral and irregular galaxies to be2.5 times their standard optical diameter and ignoring any evolutioneffect, we obtain the expected number of the line-of-sight intersectionswith the H I galaxy images to be dn/dz~0.4, which does not contradictthe observed number of absorptions in QSO spectra.
| The ISOPHOT 170 μm Serendipity Survey II. The catalog of optically identified galaxies%
The ISOPHOT Serendipity Sky Survey strip-scanning measurements covering≈15% of the far-infrared (FIR) sky at 170 μm were searched forcompact sources associated with optically identified galaxies. CompactSerendipity Survey sources with a high signal-to-noise ratio in at leasttwo ISOPHOT C200 detector pixels were selected that have a positionalassociation with a galaxy identification in the NED and/or Simbaddatabases and a galaxy counterpart visible on the Digitized Sky Surveyplates. A catalog with 170 μm fluxes for more than 1900 galaxies hasbeen established, 200 of which were measured several times. The faintest170 μm fluxes reach values just below 0.5 Jy, while the brightest,already somewhat extended galaxies have fluxes up to ≈600 Jy. For thevast majority of listed galaxies, the 170 μm fluxes were measured forthe first time. While most of the galaxies are spirals, about 70 of thesources are classified as ellipticals or lenticulars. This is the onlycurrently available large-scale galaxy catalog containing a sufficientnumber of sources with 170 μm fluxes to allow further statisticalstudies of various FIR properties.Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments fundedby ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, TheNetherlands and the UK) and with the participation of ISAS and NASA.Members of the Consortium on the ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey (CISS) areMPIA Heidelberg, ESA ISO SOC Villafranca, AIP Potsdam, IPAC Pasadena,Imperial College London.Full Table 4 and Table 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/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/422/39
| Dust emission in early-type galaxies: The mid-infrared view
We present mid-infrared (MIR) maps for a sample of 18 early-typegalaxies observed at 4.5, 6.7 and 15 μ m with the ISOCAM instrumenton board the ISO satellite with a 6'' spatial resolution. We model theSpectral Energy Distribution (SED) of these galaxies using the stellarevolutionary synthesis model PÉGASE and we derive the MIR excessover the stellar component. We then explore the nature of this excess interms of dust and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon molecules (PAHs). Wefind that out of 18 galaxies, 10 show excess at 6.7 μ m (due to thepresence of PAH features) and 14 show excess at 15 μ m (due to thepresence of warm dust). In two galaxies, where a more completewavelength coverage exists, an excess around 9.7 μ m is seen(presumably due to silicate dust emission), while two other galaxies aretotally devoid of dust. We also examine the morphology of the galaxiesin these wavelengths by plotting the azimuthally averaged radialprofiles as well as the MIR color profiles. We find that for themajority of the galaxies the 4.5 μ m emission is well described by ade Vaucouleurs profile. The 6.7 μ m and 15 μ m emission issmoothly distributed throughout the galaxy while only a few galaxiesshow MIR emission which is more concentrated close to the center. Twodwarf galaxies in our sample show patchy distributions of the MIRemission while two other galaxies show edge-on disks. With color-colordiagrams we delineate the regions occupied by late-type and early-typegalaxies. Finally we show that the MIR excess found in strong radiogalaxies like NGC 4486 (M87) can be explained by synchrotron emission.Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments fundedby ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, TheNetherlands and the UK) and with the participation of ISAS and NASA.Appendix A is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| Exploring the Resolved Stellar Contents of E/S0 Galaxies
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| Quasars and active galaxies.
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| FLASH redshift survey - I. Observations and catalogue
The FLAIR Shapley-Hydra (FLASH) redshift survey catalogue consists of4613 galaxies brighter than bJ= 16.7 (corrected for Galacticextinction) over a 700-deg2 region of sky in the generaldirection of the Local Group motion. The survey region is a70°× 10° strip spanning the sky from the ShapleySupercluster to the Hydra cluster, and contains 3141 galaxies withmeasured redshifts. Designed to explore the effect of the galaxyconcentrations in this direction (in particular the Supergalactic planeand the Shapley Supercluster) upon the Local Group motion, the 68 percent completeness allows us to sample the large-scale structure betterthan similar sparsely-sampled surveys. The survey region does notoverlap with the areas covered by ongoing wide-angle (Sloan or 2dF)complete redshift surveys. In this paper, the first in a series, wedescribe the observation and data reduction procedures, the analysis forthe redshift errors and survey completeness, and present the surveydata.
| The Contribution of H I-rich Galaxies to the Damped Lyα Absorber Population at z = 0
We present a study of the expected properties of the low-redshift dampedLyα absorber population determined from a sample of H I-selectedgalaxies in the local universe. Because of a tight correlation betweenthe H I mass and H I cross section, which we demonstrate spans allgalaxy types, we can use our H I-selected sample to predict theproperties of the absorption-line systems. We use measurements of thenumber density and H I cross section of galaxies to show that the totalH I cross section at column densities sufficient to produce dampedLyα absorption is consistent with no evolution of the absorberpopulation. We also find that the dN/dz distribution is dominated bygalaxies with H I masses near 109 Msolar. However,because of the large dispersion in the correlation between H I mass andstellar luminosity, we find that the distribution of dN/dz as a functionof LJ is fairly flat. In addition, we examine the line widthsof the H I-selected galaxies and show that there may be evolution in thekinematics of H I-rich galaxies, but it is not necessary for the higherredshift population to contain a greater proportion of high-massgalaxies than we find locally.
| New Optical and Near-Infrared Surface Brightness Fluctuation Models: A Primary Distance Indicator Ranging from Globular Clusters to Distant Galaxies?
We present new theoretical models for surface brightness fluctuations(SBFs) both for optical and near-infrared bands in standard ground-basedand Hubble Space Telescope filter systems. Simple stellar populationsimulations are adopted. Models cover the age and metallicity rangesfrom 5 to 15 Gyr and from Z=0.0001 to Z=0.04, respectively. Effects dueto variation of the initial mass function and the stellarcolor-temperature relation are explored. Particular attention is devotedto very bright stars in the color-magnitude diagram and to investigatingthe effects of mass loss along the red giant branch (RGB) and theasymptotic giant branch (AGB). It is found that U- and B-band SBFamplitudes are powerful diagnostics for the morphology of the horizontalbranch and the post-AGB star population. We point out that a carefultreatment of the mass-loss process along the RGB and AGB is fundamentalto determining reliable SBF evaluations. The SBF measurements are usedto place robust constraints on the evolution of AGB stars, suggestingthat the mass-loss activity of AGB stars should be twice as efficient asthat of RGB stars. Our models are able to reproduce the absolute SBFmagnitudes of Galactic globular clusters and of galaxies and theirintegrated colors. New calibrations of absolute SBF magnitude in V, R,I, and K photometric filters are provided, which appear reliable enoughto directly gauge distances, bypassing other distance indicators. TheSBF technique is also used as a stellar population tracer to derive theage and metallicity of a selected sample of galaxies of known distances.Finally, SBF color versus integrated color diagrams are proposed asparticularly useful in removing the well-known age-metallicitydegeneracy affecting our knowledge of remote stellar systems.
| The 2MASS Large Galaxy Atlas
We present the largest galaxies as seen in the near-infrared (1-2μm), imaged with the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), ranging inangular size from 1' to 1.5d. We highlight the 100 largest in thesample. The galaxies span all Hubble morphological types, includingelliptical galaxies, normal and barred spirals, and dwarf and peculiarclasses. The 2MASS Large Galaxy Atlas provides the necessary sensitivityand angular resolution to examine in detail morphologies in thenear-infrared, which may be radically different from those in theoptical. Internal structures such as spirals, bulges, warps, rings,bars, and star formation regions are resolved by 2MASS. In addition tolarge mosaic images, the atlas includes astrometric, photometric, andshape global measurements for each galaxy. A comparison of fundamentalmeasures (e.g., surface brightness, Hubble type) is carried out for thesample and compared with the Third Reference Catalogue. We furthershowcase NGC 253 and M51 (NGC 5194/5195) to demonstrate the quality anddepth of the data. The atlas represents the first uniform, all-sky,dust-penetrated view of galaxies of every type, as seen in thenear-infrared wavelength window that is most sensitive to the dominantmass component of galaxies. The images and catalogs are availablethrough the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database and Infrared ScienceArchive and are part of the 2MASS Extended Source Catalog.
| A new catalogue of ISM content of normal galaxies
We have compiled a catalogue of the gas content for a sample of 1916galaxies, considered to be a fair representation of ``normality''. Thedefinition of a ``normal'' galaxy adopted in this work implies that wehave purposely excluded from the catalogue galaxies having distortedmorphology (such as interaction bridges, tails or lopsidedness) and/orany signature of peculiar kinematics (such as polar rings,counterrotating disks or other decoupled components). In contrast, wehave included systems hosting active galactic nuclei (AGN) in thecatalogue. This catalogue revises previous compendia on the ISM contentof galaxies published by \citet{bregman} and \citet{casoli}, andcompiles data available in the literature from several small samples ofgalaxies. Masses for warm dust, atomic and molecular gas, as well asX-ray luminosities have been converted to a uniform distance scale takenfrom the Catalogue of Principal Galaxies (PGC). We have used twodifferent normalization factors to explore the variation of the gascontent along the Hubble sequence: the blue luminosity (LB)and the square of linear diameter (D225). Ourcatalogue significantly improves the statistics of previous referencecatalogues and can be used in future studies to define a template ISMcontent for ``normal'' galaxies along the Hubble sequence. The cataloguecan be accessed on-line and is also available at the Centre desDonnées Stellaires (CDS).The catalogue is available in electronic form athttp://dipastro.pd.astro.it/galletta/ismcat and at the CDS via anonymousftp to\ cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via\http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/405/5
| Local galaxy flows within 5 Mpc
We present Hubble Space Telescope/WFPC2 images of sixteen dwarf galaxiesas part of our snapshot survey of nearby galaxy candidates. We derivetheir distances from the luminosity of the tip of the red giant branchstars with a typical accuracy of ~ 12%. The resulting distances are4.26 Mpc (KKH 5), 4.74 Mpc (KK 16), 4.72 Mpc (KK 17), 4.66 Mpc (ESO115-021), 4.43 Mpc (KKH 18), 3.98 Mpc (KK 27), 4.61 Mpc (KKH 34), 4.99Mpc (KK 54), 4.23 Mpc (ESO 490-017), 4.90 Mpc (FG 202), 5.22 Mpc (UGC3755), 5.18 Mpc (UGC 3974), 4.51 Mpc (KK 65), 5.49 Mpc (UGC 4115), 3.78Mpc (NGC 2915), and 5.27 Mpc (NGC 6503). Based on distances and radialvelocities of 156 nearby galaxies, we plot the local velocity-distancerelation, which has a slope of H0 = 73 km s-1Mpc-1 and a radial velocity dispersion of 85 kms-1. When members of the M81 and Cen A groups are removed,and distance errors are taken into account, the radial velocitydispersion drops to sigmav = 41 km s-1. The localHubble flow within 5 Mpc exhibits a significant anisotropy, with twoinfall peculiar velocity regions directed towards the Supergalacticpoles. However, two observed regions of outflow peculiar velocity,situated on the Supergalactic equator, are far away ( ~ 50degr ) fromthe Virgo/anti-Virgo direction, which disagrees with a sphericallysymmetric Virgo-centric flow. About 63% of galaxies within 5 Mpc belongto known compact and loose groups. Apart from them, we found six newprobable groups, consisting entirely of dwarf galaxies.Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. TheSpace Telescope Science Institute is operated by the Association ofUniversities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under NASA contract NAS5-26555.}\fnmsep\thanks{Table 2, and Figs. 1 and 2, are only availablein electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org
| A New Database of Observed Spectral Energy Distributions of Nearby Starburst Galaxies from the Ultraviolet to the Far-Infrared
We present a database of UV-to-FIR data of 83 nearby starburst galaxies.The galaxies are selected based upon the availability of IUE data. Wehave recalibrated the IUE UV spectra for these galaxies by incorporatingthe most recent improvements. For 45 of these galaxies we useobservations by Storchi-Bergmann et al. and McQuade et al. for thespectra in the optical range. The NIR data are from new observationsobtained at the NASA/IRTF and the Mount Laguna Observatory, combinedwith the published results from observations at the Kitt Peak NationalObservatory. In addition, published calibrated ISO data are included toprovide mid-IR flux densities for some of the galaxies. Theoptical-to-IR data are matched as closely as possible to the IUE largeaperture. In conjunction with IRAS and ISO FIR flux densities, all thesedata form a set of observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of thenuclear regions of nearby starburst galaxies. The SEDs should be usefulin studying star formation and dust/gas attenuation in galaxies. We alsopresent the magnitudes in the standard BVRI and various HST/WFPC2bandpasses synthesized from the UV and optical wavelength ranges ofthese SEDs. For some of the galaxies, the HST/WFPC2 magnitudessynthesized from the SEDs are checked with those directly measured fromWFPC2 images to test the photometric errors of the optical data andtheir effective matching of apertures with the UV data. The implicationsof the new SEDs on the star formation rates and dust/gas attenuation arebriefly discussed.
| Planetary Nebulae as Standard Candles. XII. Connecting the Population I and Population II Distance Scales
We report the results of [O III] λ5007 surveys for planetarynebulae (PNe) in six galaxies: NGC 2403, NGC 3115, NGC 3351, NGC 3627,NGC 4258, and NGC 5866. Using on-band/off-band [O III] λ5007images, as well as images taken in Hα, we identify samples of PNein these galaxies and derive their distances using the planetary nebulaluminosity function (PNLF). We then combine these measurements withprevious data to compare the PNLF, Cepheid, and surface brightnessfluctuation (SBF) distance scales. We use a sample of 13 galaxies toshow that the absolute magnitude of the PNLF cutoff is fainter in small,low-metallicity systems, but the trend is well modeled by thetheoretical relation of Dopita, Jacoby, & Vassiliadis. When thismetallicity dependence is removed, the scatter between the Cepheid andPNLF distances becomes consistent with the internal errors of themethods and independent of any obvious galaxy parameter. We then usethese data to recalibrate the zero point of the PNLF distance scale. Weuse a sample of 28 galaxies to show that the scatter between the PNLFand SBF distance measurements agrees with that predicted from thetechniques' internal errors and that there is no systematic trendbetween the distance residuals and stellar population. However, we alsofind that the PNLF and SBF methods have a significant scale offset:Cepheid-calibrated PNLF distances are, on average, ~0.3 mag smaller thanCepheid-calibrated SBF distances. We discuss the possible causes of thisoffset and suggest that internal extinction in the bulges of the SBFcalibration galaxies is the principal cause of the discrepancy. If thishypothesis is correct, then the SBF-based Hubble constant must beincreased by ~7%. We also use our distance to NGC 4258 to argue that theshort distance scale to the LMC is correct and that the global Hubbleconstant inferred from the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project should beincreased by 8%+/-3% to H0=78+/-7 km s-1Mpc-1.
| Mid-Infrared Observation of Mass Loss in Elliptical Galaxies
Early-type galaxies exhibit thermal and molecular resonance emissionfrom dust that is shed and heated through stellar mass loss as a subsetof the population moves through the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phaseof evolution. Because this emission can give direct insight into stellarevolution in addition to galactic stellar mass loss and interstellarmedium injection rates, we conducted a program to search for thissignature emission with CAM on the Infrared Space Observatory. Weobtained 6-15 μm imaging observations in six narrow bands for nineelliptical galaxies; every galaxy is detected in every band. Forwavelengths shorter than 9 μm, the spectra are well matched by ablackbody originating from the K and M stars that dominate theintegrated light of elliptical galaxies. At wavelengths between 9 and 15μm, however, the galaxies display excess emission relative to thestellar photospheric radiation. Additional data taken with thefine-resolution circular variable filter on one source clearly showsbroad emission from 9 to 15 μm, peaking around 10 μm. This resultis consistent with the known broad silicate feature at 9.7 μmoriginating in the circumstellar envelopes of AGB stars. This emissionis compared with studies of Galactic and Large Magellanic Cloud AGBstars to derive cumulative mass-loss rates. In general, these mass-lossrates agree with the expected ~0.8 Msolar yr-1value predicted by stellar evolutionary models. Both the photosphericand circumstellar envelope emission follow a de VaucouleursR1/4 law, supporting the conclusion that the mid-infraredexcess emission originates in the stellar component of the galaxies andacts as a tracer of AGB mass loss and mass injection into theinterstellar medium.
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